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VP Hugo Barra indicates that demand is stronger than ever in China and said the company has the U.S. in its sights.
Xiaomi vice president Hugo Barra insisted that the company’s market position in China was not as gloomy as some analyst houses have recently painted, and also said Xiaomi is preparing to enter the U.S. market “in the near future”.
In an interview with Bloomberg TV, Barra said IDC’s estimate that the company shipped 10.5 million smartphones in China in the second quarter was “not accurate”, adding that Xiaomi shipped just below 7 million units in June alone.
“We are seeing a relatively flat year-on-year trajectory” in China, Barra conceded, but insisted that demand has never been as high in China as it is now. He indicated that there is more of an issue with the supply chain than demand, noting that the company needs to make sure that “our supply chain catches up”.
On the subject of the U.S., Barra said Xiaomi definitely has this market in its sights but plans to take a slow and careful approach here. The first product should arrive here in October and the company again plans to make use of social media channels in order to target young people.
“The U.S. is a very important market for any consumer electronics and lifestyle brand, certainly for us as well. Obviously we’ve got to time things carefully,” he said.
Xiaomi will certainly be aware of the challenges it faces here from Apple and Samsung. However, it has smoothed its path into the U.S. market through the recent acquisition of 1,500 patents from Microsoft, Reuters reported in June.
Although the two companies did not specifically reveal the number of patents that would be transferred to Xiaomi, they did announce an expansion of their global partnership including a cross-licence and patent transfer agreement.
From September, Xiaomi will preload Microsoft applications onto Xiaomi Android devices, including Mi 5, Mi Max, Mi 4s, Redmi Note 3 and Redmi 3.
With regard to other regions, Barra was also very bullish on the Indian market, saying that Xiaomi is achieving 72% year-on-year growth here. He emphasised that Xiaomi is still a relatively young company, and said its focus on the online sales channel has worked well.
As well as smartphones, Xiaomi sells a number of different product lines including smart home products. Barra pointed out that the company focuses its own development on smartphones and smart TV and invests in a “large number of start-ups” for other product segments.
“This has a very positive effect on our brand,” he said.
In terms of financing, Barra ruled out an IPO at least for the time being and said Xiaomi has no need to raise money at present.
