Xiaomi makes India its number one priority

Xiaomi will prioritise India over its home market and invest $1bn in the country’s start-ups as it looks to accelerate growth outside of its highly competitive home market. Lei Jun, Xiaomi’s co-founder and chief executive, said the company wanted to create an ecosystem of mobile apps for use on its smartphones – a strategy pioneered by Apple, whose more expensive iPhones are barely present in the Indian market, the Financial Times reports. “India is becoming a bigger priority compared to China when it comes to R&D to make India-focused products, and supply and stock for product lines,” Xiaomi said. For example, the company will supply components for its fast-selling Redmi phones to India first in case of shortages. The latest move to focus on India comes as China’s smartphone makers look abroad for expansion. “The China market is saturated, so now Xiaomi is turning its attention to India,” said Xiaohan Tay, a senior market analyst at IDC, the market research company.