Chinese tech company Xiaomi is set to launch their own branded stores in India. The company has confirmed that it has initiated the process with the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion and they expect it to be finished within few weeks.
"We have initiated the process and submitted a few documents online. However, this is very preliminary and the process will only be completed over the next few weeks, after which we will be sharing more details," the company said in a report in ET. Xiaomi recently released their phone Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 starting at ₹9999. The company is also set to launch their newest flagship phone Mi 5 next month.
Last year to support the Make In India initiative, Xiaomi started to assemble devices such as the Redmi 2 and Mi Note in India. To continue on that path they are also setting up two new manufacturing units in India very soon. Last year the government had relaxed its policy about FDI in this sector.
India is one of the key markets for the company after China, as they have been largely successful selling devices with good build quality and performance at an affordable price. The company slowly wants to bring more devices in India. In China, apart from the smartphone they sell a range of gadgets including smart TVs, TV boxes, Smart lamps and so on.
Smartphone giants Apple had also filed an application to the DIPP in January to open their famous Apple stores. But due to some shortcomings they had to refile the papers.
Last year smartphone shipments in India rose to more than 100 million and Indian market gained the second spot after China in terms of numbers. Xiaomi took 7th spot in their sales in major cities of India while Apple was in the 6th spot.
Contact HuffPost India
