Xiaomi wants to thrash Samsung in India with 3 budget smartphones

Today, Xiaomi revealed just how committed it is to breaking Samsung’s hold on the Indian smartphone market with the launch of its flasghip smartphone, the Mi3, slated for July 22. The cheaper Xiaomi Redmi 1S and Redmi Note will launch later.

• Xiaomi Mi3 is priced at INR 13,999 (US$232) now available for pre-order ahead of July 22 shipping.
• Xiaomi Redmi 1S for Rs 6,999 (US$116) will go on sale soon.
• Xiaomi Redmi Note will be INR 9,999 (US$166), also due soon.

They’re all sold exclusively on India’s biggest ecommerce site, Flipkart.

The price-tag of the most powerful of its phones, the Mi3, makes it far cheaper than Samsung’s flagship phones with similar specifications.

Keeping in mind that Indian customers look for after-sales services, Xiaomi is investing in service centers across the country. To begin with, there are two exclusive Mi centers in Bangalore and Delhi, and 34 others in partnership with multi-brand outlets in the top 20 cities across India. Over time, the Chinese phone-maker promises that its Indian after-sales coverage will match what it does in China, where it has 500 service centers. And Xiaomi has thrown its doors open for other partners to join hands on customer service, repairs, and India-specific features on the phone.

Xiaomi said today that the translation of its MIUI skin (which sits atop Android) into Indian languages is at an advanced stage.

Taking the fight to Samsung

At today’s formal launch event in Delhi, Xiaomi president and co-founder Bin Lin, vice president Hugo Barra, and general manager of India Manu Jain revealed details of how the Chinese brand plans to take on the Korean giant on Indian turf.

Globally, Samsung led smartphone sales last year with a market share of 31 percent. In India, Samsung sold 44 million units in 2013 and led the smartphone market with a 38 percent share, followed by Micromax (16 percent), Karbonn (10 percent), Sony (5 percent) and Lava (4.7 percent) in Q4 2013 – that’s according to data from an IDC report.

Xiaomi sold 18.7 million phones in 2013 in all its markets, and aims to sell 60 million this year. Most of its phones are sold in mainland China, so a large market like India could be a game-changer for the ambitious phone-maker.

See: Motorola sells 1 million smartphones in India in 5 months since starting online sales

Undercutting Samsung Galaxy

Xiaomi’s Mi3 has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 2.3GHz quad-core processor, 2GB RAM, an F/2.2 13MP 28m wide-angle camera at the back, 2MP front camera, and 16GB of internal storage. It runs Xiaomi’s MIUI operating system, which is built on Android 4.3. Yet, Xiaomi has managed to price the Mi3 aggressively, undercutting Samsung’s top Galaxy smartphones.

“We want to be an Indian in India”