Only within a few years of its inception, Chinese hardware manufacturer, Xiaomi is giving a tough time to long established market players including Apple and Samsung in India. According to a report by Strategy Analytics, a technology-focused research firm, Xiaomi was ranked among the top three vendors in Q4 2016 and the top “next preferred” brand amid for Indian Android users looking to upgrade their devices in 2017.
The survey analysed about 2,000 smartphone users, out of which 26% listed Xiaomi as their next preferred brand. While both Apple and Samsung gained only 12% of the votes. The other brands such Lenovo and Motorola nabbed 6% and 7% of the share respectively, Micromax was the choice of only 2% of the subjects. Despite the survey constituted a large number of Samsung users (18%), Xiaomi outperformed the South Korean giant.
During the survey, researchers even found that Android users in the country consider a smartphone’s network speed and processor performance before completing the purchase. However, Android biggies are focused on marketing features such as camera quality, megapixels, screen resolution among others. The difference in the thought process has hence resulted in a downfall. This unfolds a serious problem for smartphone brands such as Sony, LG, and Lenovo, lagging behind in internal technology aspects.
However, Xiaomi has other past concerns to address before it can rejoice over the current report. In its face, CEO Lei Jun accepted that their company has grown ‘too fast’ in the last couple of years. In 2016, the Chinese company slipped from its top position in the sales chart to the fourth, courtesy of bombastic sales of Huawei devices in the country. There is also the concern of the company not being able to meet its revenue targets due to a sharp drop in hardware sales — which it says does not make them money.
In addition, the company skipped the most important events of the year — MWC 2017; unable to debut any new smartphones. The company’s disappearance left a betrayed mark on Xiaomi fans all over the world. If you think these issues relate to the past and are not worth considering, you might want to recall yesterday quiet launch of MiPad3.
The tablet was launched without any prior word and has landed in the Chinese market. There is no information on when the company plans to introduce the tablet in other markets, especially India. Xiaomi has a long way to go before it emerges as the most preferential brand, till then it should bask in the glory of being recognized as the ‘next preferred brand’ among the masses.
