Upcoming festive season coupled with cricket world cup during October-November is expected to boost overall sales and make the business in second half better than first half of the year, a senior Xiaomi official said on Tuesday.
Xiaomi India president Muralikrishnan B said that while the market has been declining in volume terms for the past few quarters, there are positive green shoots that make the company views coming months with pragmatic positivity. “With the festive season starting with Independence Day sale, followed by Dussehra, Durga Puja and Diwali and other regional festivities; coinciding with the cricket World Cup in India during October and November this year, we expect the positive sentiment to translate into a spike to the overall sale as well. Overall, we expect the second half to be better in comparison to the first half,” Muralikrishnan said.
He was speaking on the sidelines of the launch of Xiaomi Redmi 12 series smartphones in the price range of Rs 8,999 to Rs 15,999, Smart TV up to 65 inches in the price range of Rs 26,999 to Rs 58,999 after discount offer, bluetooth calling enabled smart watch for Rs 2,999 and SonicBass Wireless Earphones 2. The company launched two models of Redmi 12 4G smartphones for Rs 9,999 and Rs 11,499 and three models of Redmi 12 5G smartphones in the price range of Rs 11,999 to Rs 15,499.
The company has launched smartphones in the segment which recorded the steepest decline of 34 per cent in shipment in the March 2023 quarter. According to Counterpoint Research, Xiaomi experienced a 44 per cent year-on-year decline, which is the largest the brand has ever recorded. Muralikrishnan said that Redmi 12 5G will lead to more users transitioning towards 5G in the Rs 10,000-Rs 15,000 segment as well. “We already see 5G networks roll-out covered in large parts of the country and this will only accelerate going forward. At Xiaomi, there is also a renewed focus towards bolstering our offline capabilities as well, and we will be expanding our store network beyond the current 18,000 retail outlets. This along with the 5G uptake will give us great momentum,” he said.
Muralikrishnan said that the sub Rs-10,000 segment comprises primarily of first time smartphone users and contributes to almost 30 per cent of the overall market at the moment. “We believe that this segment will continue to drive the 4G segment in the country. Comprising mostly first-time smartphone users, it will be a driving force in fuelling demand,” he said.
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