Xiaomi's Mi Home Is Now In India - Will Mi Routers and Vacuums Follow?
On Thursday, Xiaomi launched its first physical retail store in India, and outlined plans to open a total of 100 such stores across India in two years. The brand opened its first offline store in China about a year ago, explained Xiaomi Vice President Manu Kumar Jain, who heads the company's India business, and that count has already grown to around 72 stores.
In India, Xiaomi doesn't have a license for its own retail stores as of now, but has applied for one. For now, the store - called Mi Home - which opened in Bengaluru’s Whitefield area, is being run on a franchise model, though Xiaomi is quick to point out that it is "company operated". Xiaomi might work with other franchise partners for some more stores, or if the license comes in, it might be able to have fully owned and operated stores, but all this is a little unclear right now.
At the sidelines of the launch event, Gadgets 360 got a chance to talk to Jain about the newly opened Mi Home, which will be open to the general public from May 20, and how Xiaomi's product strategy for India is evolving. Notably, in China, Xiaomi Home stores sell a wide variety of products from the Mi Ecosystem, such as smart lighting products, sockets and sensors, Wi-Fi routers, air purifiers and water purifiers, a smart robot vacuum, and much more.
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