We look at the truth behind Mi’s incredible success story of rushing past its competitors since its entry into the Indian market. After its first Mi-1 phone was unveiled in India, smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi whizzed past the competition with a speed never seen before. It went on to become the number 1 smartphone company in India with the highest market share of 26 percent (as of quarter 4, 2020).
Not only did it overtake its Chinese peers Oppo and Vivo, but it also overthrew the long-time Indian smartphone leader Samsung as the highest-selling smartphone brand. Let us find out how Mi has had an incredible run, creating tough competition among other smartphone makers.
Consumer-centric Approach
Mi adopted a strategy that was focused on the consumer since its entry into the smartphone market. They design their products based on consumer needs and trends. When it comes to the key smartphone requirements for the customer such as battery life, performance, and aesthetics, Mi mobile has been top-notch. The brand has even conducted surveys on Twitter to better understand the customers’ priorities for their phones.
The brand also designed its operating system, MIUI, and its interface according to the Indian market. For instance, the Smart SMS feature can identify the SMS by Indian Railways and display the important information about booking on small, ticket-format documents.
Online Sales Channel
At a time when most smartphone companies were trying to establish vast distribution networks, Mi took a different turn. Xiaomi launched the latest Mi mobiles as an online-only brand in 2014, at a time when only 6% of retail smartphone sales in India took place through e-commerce platforms.
The company raised the hype by announcing flash sales and ensured that their smartphones sold out quickly. This practice increases the perceived popularity of a product and is known as “hunger marketing.” This led to a huge rush of orders during the launch of the Mi 3 model, which resulted in the crashing of the e-commerce website Flipkart in 2014.
Unlike its competitors, the company invested little on advertising. They instead turned to their users to become ambassadors for the brand and make it popular through word of mouth.
Robust Mobile Ecosystem
Xiaomi has always focused its efforts on building a large mobile ecosystem. Building a mobile ecosystem means offering a range of products that are complementary to each other. The company has since launched a number of products as part of its MIUI Smart Living system.
These products include Mi Health, Mi Home, Mi Work, Mi Game, and Mi-Go, which function well with their respective devices such as smartwatches and smart bulbs. This strategy pays well as one product drives the sale of another, which is why Xiaomi is often touted as the “Apple of China”.
Range of Products
Another important factor why Mi has given intense competition to other market players is because of its enviable range of offerings. Mi smartphones are aggressively priced due to the company’s strategy of low markups. For instance, a Redmi phone under 15000 INR will have best-in-class features that can be found in higher-priced phones of competitors.
When it comes to quality, Mi doesn’t disappoint. This has created a positive brand image in the minds of customers, making them recurring customers for the company.
Mi is the market leader due to the benefits it provides to the customers. Similarly, the Bajaj Mall offers a number of benefits to its customers such as the option of purchasing products on No Cost EMIs with the Bajaj Finserv EMI Network Card. Visit the Bajaj Mall to buy your favorite Mi smartphone, and avail exciting offers and discounts.
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