NEW DELHI: Smartphone maker Xiaomi said that following its continuous spend in innovation capabilities, it aims to enhance artificial intelligence (AI)-driven consumer experience, as a part of its premiumisation strategy.
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“We have been continuing to invest in our innovation capabilities. But now, as we plan out the next evolution of Xiaomi in India, we focus on premiumisation, and smartphone AIoT. India is becoming aspirational,” Muralikrishnan B, president, Xiaomi India told ETTelecom.
Further, the top executive said that the country’s increasing disposable income and GDP growth offers an exciting opportunity to the company, and the smartphone major is betting big on premiumisation.
Backed by AI-centric features, the company is optimistic about the premium range of smartphones including the recently unveiled Xiaomi 14 Ultra, powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen-8 chipset and Leica cameras, and is priced at Rs 99,999.
“It’s important for the customers to have a great experience and talk about us to others,” Muralikrishnan said, adding that the company expects to grow faster than the market. “I think it’s important to win the trust of customers and that becomes our key focus area.”
“So premiumisation, smartphone-type AIoT and synergised omni-channel retail are the three big strategic pillars going forward for the next few years for us,” he added.
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The smartphone company said that while AI powers processor and battery optimisation, newer applications such as generative AI is gaining traction among end users.
“Most chipsets support it (generative AI) and obviously these are on-cloud AI solutions. So, I see it more as an application layer functionality with the core AI elements.”
Further, the top executive said that the company would continue to have a few 4G-centric devices below Rs 10,000, but it would also focus on 5G smartphones in the Rs 10,000 to Rs 20,000 segment, and is “premiumising” the entire range up to the flagship devices.
Company said that its offline and online retail business volume has an equal footing.
“Offline is almost 50% of our business. Online and offline have fairly equal contributions. But we have significantly more upside to grow in the offline channel.”
Xiaomi in India started offline business in 2017-18, and last year, the company renewed its focus on building capabilities in retail including expanding distribution network.
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In Q4 2023, Xiaomi, driven by its strategy to launch 5G phones in the and offline expansion, had an 18.3% market share as per the Counterpoint study.
