Chinese manufacturer Xiaomi is set to reaffirm its commitment to the Indian market by opening up brick-and-mortar stores in India. Xiaomi has been dominating the Indian market for quite some time thanks to its aggressive pricing and viral marketing strategies.
The company has teamed up with one of the country’s biggest consumer electronics distribution companies, Redington, to sell its phones at physical retail stores at more than 15 major cities. According to reports, they will initially sell four of its products in these stores. These will be the Redmi 2, Mi 4, Mi 4i, and the Mi Pad. Xiaomi plans to keep the price the same on online and offline platforms but, it is also expected that the company will give preference to its online platform when it comes to the launch of new phones. Xiaomi also has a retail model right now, with its partnership with Airtel for some of its 4G enabled devices.
The Chinese upstart launched exclusively on Flipkart last year, but was soon available on other online retailers such as Amazon India and Snapdeal as well as on its own website (Mi.com). As mentioned above, it also had a partnership with The Mobile Store for selling its Redmi Note 4G and the Mi 4 smartphones.
Earlier today, Xiaomi’s global VP, Hugo Barra posted a tweet along with a photograph stating, “We are about to take a huge step forward here in India!” Andhra Pradesh’s Chief Minister, Chandrababu Naidu will also be launching the first made-in-India Xiaomi phone today.
https://twitter.com/hbarra/status/630219263467487232
In other news, the Xiaomi’s Redmi Note 2’s images and pricing were leaked by tipster, @Kjuma. According the the images, the price of the phone will be $128, which is about Rs. 8,161. The specs of the smartphone include a 5.5-inch display with 1080p resolution, 2GB RAM, 16GB of non expandable storage, 3100mAh battery capacity, 13MP rear camera, and 5MP front camera.The phone will also come with Android 5.0.2. The phone will be launched in two variants, one with a Snapdragon 615 SoC and the other with a MediaTek MT6795 chipset.