The Chinese company Xiaomi is undoubtedly one of the most recognizable brands in the global mobile market. Due to the reduction in the market share of Huawei, which is now under pressure from US sanctions, Xiaomi was able to enter the top three manufacturers in the global market, and in some regions even surpassed the recognized leaders in sales such as Apple and Samsung. But Xiaomi is not going to stop there. The Chinese company has far-reaching plans and ambitious goals. This was announced by Lu Weibing, senior vice president of Xiaomi and concurrently CEO of the Redmi brand.
In his new interview, Lu Weibing announced that Xiaomi plans to overtake all other smartphone manufacturers, including Apple, and become the leader of the global mobile market. Xiaomi plans to reach the first place in the market in three years, by 2024. Interestingly, in the same year, the company is going to begin mass production of its own electric vehicles.
Lu Weibing stressed that only when a goal is difficult to achieve does it gain value and significance. He added that China remains the priority market for Xiaomi, moreover, the company is aimed specifically at selling in an offline format. Despite the rise in online shopping, he said, 70% of smartphone sales in China still come from offline retail stores. In the next 3 years, Xiaomi expects to increase the number of branded retail outlets in the country to 30 thousand. She recently opened her 10,000th store in China. Weibing emphasized that offline stores have one distinct advantage over virtual marketplaces, and that is the power of persuasion that leads to higher sales.
It should be noted that Xiaomi’s goal looks elusive. Yes, now the Chinese company is in close competition with Apple in terms of the supply of smartphones. According to analysts, in the third quarter of 2021, Apple ranked second in the market with iPhone shipments at 48 million, while Xiaomi was in third place, selling 44.4 million of its smartphones during the reporting period. Several times this year, Xiaomi has briefly overtaken Apple in deliveries. However, the main problem for Xiaomi is not Apple, but Samsung. The Korean company has been holding the market leadership for several years in a row, leaving no chance for competitors. In the last quarter alone, Samsung sold 69 million of its smartphones, significantly ahead of Apple and Xiaomi. In addition, Samsung devices are available in more regions where Xiaomi is still not present, including the United States, one of the largest markets in the world.
