Industry analyst Pan Jiutang posted on Weibo that Xiaomi's supply chain is still far behind Apple, Samsung and even Huawei, which is leading to nowhere near enough stock to meet demands for the Mi 8.
Xiaomi has often struggled with issues related to its supply chain volumes. The company's devices often receive really high demand from customers even outside China, but the lack of a robust supply chain means that the company has to rely on flash sales that sell out within seconds. Elaborating this, industry analyst Pan Jiutang posted on Weibo, revealing that despite the popularity and demand, Xiaomi's supply chain is actually nowhere near that of Apple, Samsung and even Huawei. He further stated that while the latest generation Mi 8 is definitely the most-selling Snapdragon 845 device, the lack of supply and the restricted retail model may hurt the company.
Jiutang noted that for Apple and Samsung, whenever a new, flagship model is released, the supply chain stock is at least around the 10 million mark. This helps a robust selling model, which translates to much more devices sold by volume, and better customer retention. Xiaomi, meanwhile, is still struggling with restricted supply chain issues, and this is leading to buyers often opting away from the Xiaomi brand and buying devices from other companies. Furthermore, this may also be halting Xiaomi's potential expansion plans in markets like Europe, where anyone interested in the value proposition of Xiaomi's flagship devices has to buy devices through third-party sellers, who often charge a premium over the actual retail price of the devices.
While Xiaomi's lean supply chain model has at times been cited as an example of an efficient working model, the company has previously addressed the issue and promised to look into the matter. The company has also diversified its interest into a wide range of sectors in a bid to build an entire ecosystem of devices and appliances. While the smart devices remain a part of Xiaomi's long-term ambition of having a wholesome product umbrella, it is the smartphone business that contributes to a major share of its revenues, and it remains to be seen how the company manages to improve its supply chain to cope up with increasing demands for its devices.
