Xiaomi plans to open 5,000 Mi Stores by the end of 2019 that will create nearly 15,000 jobs.
Chinese
electronics major Xiaomi
on Tuesday announced it has opened a record 500 retail stores in
rural parts of India.
Called
Mi Stores and opened on October 29, these are similar to the bigger
"Mi Home" stores currently operational in metro cities.
"The
company created a Guinness record for opening the maximum number of
stores in one single day. Xiaomi plans to open 5,000 Mi Stores by the
end of 2019 that will create nearly 15,000 jobs," Manu Kumar
Jain, Vice President, Xiaomi Global and Managing Director, Xiaomi
India, told reporters here.
"This
new business will forever change rural retail in India," he
added.
Started
with the online-only strategy, Xiaomi is fast expanding its presence
in offline retail as well.
In
September, the company launched its fourth flagship "Mi Home"
experience store in the country, in Bengaluru, along with a new
office.
With
the purpose of strengthening its offline network further, Xiaomi said
in September it wanted to open 100 "Mi
Home" stores in 2018 itself.
The
company grew to a new high on the back of its successful Redmi 5A and
Redmi Note 5 Pro series and refreshed Redmi 6/A/Pro portfolio, said
the report.
But
the eight-year-old company wants to be recognised not as just another
smartphone company and it began working towards this mission in 2014.
Along
with its products in the smart home portfolio, it is also venturing
into non-technology related segments like luggage, shoes, apparel and
more.
Riding
on its robust sales in India and Europe, China-based Xiaomi on Monday
reported a 49.1 per cent increase in revenue for its third quarter of
2018 as net profit reached 2.48 billion yuan ($357.23 million).
