While Xiaomi launched its Redmi 2 and MiPad models in India yesterday, its plans for Indian market aren;t just limited to smartphones or tablets. The world’s most valuable tech startup is also exploring options to bring in its smart-home products, like the Mi Air purifier to India, Hugo Barra said in an interview.
Talking on the occasion of launch, Barra said,
I want to bring the Mi air purifier to India this year
He further added, that Xiaomi is looking at options to bring its smart television series to India too.
While the Indian market may still not have matured as much as the Chinese or the western market, Xiami’s push to bring a more diversified range of its products seems the next logical step. As is the case with most present day startups, India is Xiaomi’s largest overseas market, thus making Barra’s smart home push feasible.
According to an IDC report, the market for Web-linked appliances will grow to $7.1 trillion by 2020, from $1.9 trillion in 2013, and as Indian middle-class continues to adopt to more tech-savy lifestyle, India’s role in that $7.1 Trillion becomes important.
Xiaomi, ever since its first flash sale in India, has become an instant ‘people’s favorite’ due to its cheap-priced yet solidly built smartphones. This can be more easily understood from the fact, that Xiaomi’s flagship device in India, the Mi4, cost under Rs.18,000 through numerous channels. It offers brilliant performance and boasts of the best-in-class hardware, at a price where most other brands start their mid-range devices.
Xiaomi just recently closed a $1.1 Billion funding round and earned a massive $12 Billion in revenues last year, with its smartphone shipments tripling to more 60 million units.
