After having announced the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Xiaomi-unveils-its-first-Mi-Home-in-India-plans-to-open-100-more-in-next-2-years/articleshow/58627564.cms">first ever Mi Home in India</a>, <keyword id="874458" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Xiaomi">Xiaomi</keyword> launched the much awaited <keyword id="2415488" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Redmi">Redmi</keyword> 4 (within a week!), the new upgrade of the company’s highest selling smartphone series in India but along with the device Xiaomi also launched the company’s first smart router <keyword id="4538164" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="mi-router-3c">Mi Router 3C</keyword> in India. And this could be the beginning of Mi Ecosystem products making its way in India. 
 
 
 In <keyword id="3671884" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="india-xiaomi">India Xiaomi</keyword> has concentrated mainly on their smartphones but now that they have climed to the vertical top of most of most of the ‘Lists’ thanks to their hot selling smartphones, Xiaomi thought it to be the best time to bring in their <keyword id="3672314" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="mi-home">Mi Home</keyword>s in India. And the newest addition from the global Mi Home ecosystem is the <keyword id="4537948" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Mi-Router">Mi Router</keyword> 3C. It comes with a four antenna design, Xiaomi claims that the design will improve both the Wi-Fi range and signal stability and ensures a stable, fast and secure connection even at long distances. It can connect over 60 devices. The Router also comes with features like pre-configured guest sharing of the Wi-Fi password and parental controls. And of course the Mi Router 3C will be available at the newly announced Mi Home for Rs. 1199 on the first day of it’s opening on 20th May. 
 
Also Read: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/After-selling-over-4-million-Redmi-3S-Xiaomi-brings-in-the-Redmi-4-in-India-and-hopes-to-break-its-own-record/articleshow/58698751.cms">After selling over 4 million Redmi 3S, Xiaomi brings in the Redmi 4 in India and hopes to break its own record</a> 
 Xiamoi’s new Mi Home in India has a long way to go compared to the product portfolio that’s available in its international <keyword id="4539022" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="mi-homes">Mi Homes</keyword> where they are selling a huge variety of products from rice cookers to power strips. The company has plans to open 100 Mi Homes in the next 2years across India. Xiaomi had already started introducing their Mi Home products like the Mi Air purifier and other essentials including power banks, speakers, and earphones. 
 
It was the “gap in the current router market” that led Xiaomi to bring in its Mi Router 3C and the company expects to “disrupt the router market in India.” It also means that Xiaomi will now get more Mi ecosystem products in India. While the Mi Homes in India will always be smaller than the Mi Homes in China both in terms of size and product portfolio but Xiaomi clearly has big plans to make the most of the fast growing internet population in the country. 
 
Also Read: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/As-Xiaomi-gets-all-set-to-bring-in-its-own-little-world-in-India-heres-a-look-at-what-a-Mi-Home-in-China-looks-like/articleshow/58595932.cms">Check out the Mi Homes in China</a>

This is the brand new addition to the brand new Mi Home in India, no it’s not a phone

<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=xiaomi&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Xiaomi</a> finally announced its first ever <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Mi+Home&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Mi Home store</a> in India. Mi stores are <keyword id="874458" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Xiaomi">Xiaomi</keyword>’s <keyword id="6370284" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Exclusive">exclusive</keyword> offline retail stores that allow Mi fans to experience and purchase Xiaomi’s latest products under one roof. Now, it may seem a tad bit small from the massive experience zones in China but it's a start. Another reason why Xiaomi did not go for a large store is also due to the limited products that are available in the country. It's been only two years for the company in India and it has been mostly their phones that have been extremely popular. The first Mi Home store in Bengaluru in India, which will open to public from 20th May, will house Xiaomi’s range of products already available in India (online) including smartphones, power banks, headphones, fitness bands, air purifiers as well as other ecosystem products launched in India. Read Also: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/As-Xiaomi-gets-all-set-to-bring-in-its-own-little-world-in-India-heres-a-look-at-what-a-Mi-Home-in-China-looks-like/articleshow/58595932.cms">As Xiaomi gets all set to bring in its own little world in India, here’s a look at what a Mi Home in China looks like</a> Xiaomi plans to open 100 Mi Home stores across India in the next two years. Upcoming Mi Home stores will be located in other metro cities such as Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Chennai. Select Mi Home stores will also have an additional zone where fans can experience the larger Xiaomi portfolio. In addition to Mi Home stores, Xiaomi will continue to expand its offline presence with retailers and distributors in the country through its Direct to Retail (DTR) model, which will help Xiaomi to maintain price parity between products sold across both its online and offline channels.

Xiaomi unveils its first Mi Home in India, plans to open 100 more in next 2 years

We are not surprised anymore by the variety of products Chinese smartphone maker <keyword id="874458" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Xiaomi">Xiaomi</keyword> is bringing in India. Today the company announced announced that it is making its first foray into virtual reality (VR) in India with Mi VR Play, its VR headset priced at INR 999. Apart from the VR headset, Xiaomi also announced the launch of its live streaming app Mi Live. 
 Both the announcements were made at a unique event created by Xiaomi called <keyword id="3948700" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="mi-pop">Mi Pop</keyword> where the company brings Mi Fans from across the country for a day to engage with Xiaomi executives. This was the first time Mi Pop took place in India however the company has been organising Mi Pop events since 2012. 
 
Xiaomi is known for coming up with high spec products at competitive pricing, a mantra that has worked wonders for the company in India. After the big launch of it non-smartphone product, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/After-China-Xiaomi-sees-huge-market-for-Air-Purifier-in-India-launches-Mi-Air-Purifier-2/articleshow/54447093.cms">Mi Air Purifier2</a>, Xiaomi is all set with it's VR headset. Mi VR Play is an entry-level product that seeks to bring the VR experience to a much wider audience. Mi VR Play is different from the VR products available out there as it is wrapped in Lycra with two-way zipper for comfort, its built to provide a secure grip on a range of 4.7- to 5.7-inch smartphones. The device is also certified to work with <keyword id="6355629" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Google">Google</keyword> Cardboard apps. Starting 21 December it will be available on Mi.com and offline. 
 
By bringing the VR headset at Rs. 999, Mi is opening up new way for users to experience their smartphones in a different way, we’ll have to see if the experience is worth it.

Xiaomi forays into Virtual Reality in India while effectively bringing down the pricing in the segment

Founded only in 2010, Chinese smartphonemaker <keyword id="874458" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Xiaomi">Xiaomi</keyword> is already a big name in the smartphone sector and the company seems to have gotten its hands on the magic potion to succeed in India. Xiaomi forayed into the India market in 2014, at a time when Indian consumers were almost desperately looking for an affordable yet reliable smartphone, it took the Indian consumer much longer to learn how to pronounce the company’s name than grab a Mi phone online. At the time when Xiaomi entered India over 50% of the phones in the market were under Rs. 6000 budget phones, Xiaomi decided to come with mid range phones and it almost instantaneously became the perfect device to upgrade for all the low-end phone users. <keyword id="1470923" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Manu-Jain">Manu Jain</keyword>, Vice President, Xiaomi and Managing Director, Xiaomi India said, “Xiaomi India has seen exponential growth in India and today it enjoys market leadership in the smartphone segment. I believe a key reason for our success in the smartphone segment has been our commitment to India.” For Xiaomi, It was all about the pricing and timing happened to be perfect. Right from a massive start to now, Xiaomi has had a smooth ride in India. Xiaomi is now the second largest smartphone vendor in India and <keyword id="6377157" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="IDC">IDC</keyword> has ranked Xiaomi India as number one smartphone brand in India in Q3 2017. Xiaomi has now announced its third manufacturing plant in India and the first facility only for power banks. This manufacturing plant is in partnership with Hipad Technology spread across 2.3 lakh square feet. With the timing of this announcement Xiaomi is also playing a bigger part for one of the most important initiatives of the government - ‘Make in India’. This year has been extremely important for Xiaomi in India as it also opened exclusive Xiaomi stores called <keyword id="4539022" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="mi-homes">Mi Homes</keyword> in the country. In China, the stores are usually experiential whereas in <keyword id="3671884" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="india-xiaomi">India Xiaomi</keyword> has gone for mostly smaller stores with products limited mainly to phones and phone accessories. However the company has announced setting up of 100 Mi homes across India within two years. A move that’s sure to benefit the company in terms of reaching out to the smaller regions in the country where e-commerce is almost non-existent. With broadband connectivity across India improving, it is going to be very important for smartphone makers to tap the new smartphone users in the tier two and tier three cities. The online market for smartphones have reached a saturation point therefore it has become critical for smartphone brands such as Xiaomi to up their Offline presence. This has also helped the company provide dedicated space for experiencing the Mi products that were earlier more known to the online consumers mainly. Xiaomi internationally invests in many small companies and work with them to build a range of products for Mi Ecosystem. Mi Ecosystem includes a variety of smart products for the home like air purifier, water purifier, rice cooker etc. Of all the Mi Ecosystem products, Xiaomi has so far only launched the Mi air Purifier in India and the timing again was perfect as it was clear that quality of air in Delhi was deteriorating. The pricing of the air purifier again is highly competitive as it is priced below Rs. 10,000. This pricing in some ways has also raised awareness about the product category as air purifiers were not really considered a necessary home appliance in Indian homes. But Xiaomi still hasn’t bought half of the product range it has in China to India; some of their more popular products in China like <keyword id="2944432" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Mi-TV">Mi TV</keyword> and Mi <keyword id="2809758" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ninebot">Ninebot</keyword> have still not made it to India market. And Xiaomi is only getting started in India, the company is planning to bring almost all products to India eventually. the consumers or the “Mi fans” as they are called have been eagerly waiting for bigger launches like Mi Tv and Mi Ninebot, while Ninebot could be a challenge given the condition of the roads here in India but Xiaomi is working on putting together perfect content to go with their TVs as of course product, pricing and timing should all align for Xiaomi to take the next big step.

Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi seems to have found the secret to succeed in India

It’s surprising how all the major online only mobile phone brands in India that have been known to create virtual stampede every now and then are now moving back to brick and mortar stores. Smartphone brands like <keyword id="874458" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Xiaomi">Xiaomi</keyword>, <keyword id="2210217" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="OnePlus">OnePlus</keyword>, <keyword id="11148" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Motorola">Motorola</keyword> and others have been extremely popular in India; they have all managed to make quite an impact and money off of their online only presence. Then you wonder why in the last one year, all of these brands have tried to one up each other in building offline shops in the country. Most recently <keyword id="299328" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Coolpad">Coolpad</keyword> announced the launch of its first experience zone in India and the company is looking to expand its offline presence by opening six exclusive experience zones in all major cities in the country including Delhi, Hyderabad and Bangalore by end of this year. After being present in India since 2014, Motorola too launched six retail set ups simultaneously across the country and the company plans to open 50 more, which are called Moto Hubs, by the end of this financial year. However Motorola does not see it as an offline expansion strategy but an expansion of experience strategy, Sudhin Mathur, Country Head, <keyword id="13722" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Lenovo">Lenovo</keyword> Mobile Business Group, India said, “There is a strong demand from our consumers to touch, feel, and experience our products. The market has become very big, more than 100million customers now buying smartphones and we need to cater to all kind of consumers through all kinds of channel”. With these Moto Hubs across the country, Motorola hopes to create open, engaging hubs for 18 to 30yrs old customers at all buzzing retail sites in India. 
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	<div type="image" title="moto" msid="60394073" hostid="261"></div>




























 Known world over as online only brand, Xiaomi too invested in offline stores called <keyword id="4539022" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="mi-homes">Mi Homes</keyword> in India. After opening about 50 stores in China, Xiaomi brought its first Mi Home in India this year in May at a shopping mall in Bangalore. Even though the Mi Homes in India were a vastly different from the big experiential Mi Homes in China, it was a big move for Xiaomi as the company was seen as one of the most popular online smartphone brand in India. The latest Mi Home however is an experience store in one of the most popular mall in NCR and Xiaomi has already set up five stores and has plans to open 100 more stores in India in next two years. Xiaomi has a bigger reason for propping up offline stores across the country, <keyword id="2555690" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="jai-mani">Jai Mani</keyword>, Lead Product Manager, <keyword id="2210169" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="xiaomi-india">Xiaomi India</keyword> said, “Last year we launched Mi air purifier, I think a lot of people have definitely not bought a product like air purifier online. So if people come to the store to see the phone, they will see the air purifier and see what it looks like so it's a great way for people to experience our products. For those products (non smartphone) offline is really the key experience and MI home lets us control how the products are displayed, and control the experience of the people who walk in the store. It’s a great way to reach more people and helps us sell different types of products.” Xiaomi has a huge product portfolio in China but in India, the company is mainly seen as a smartphone brand. Xiaomi is looking to expand to more categories in the future like TVs, laptops etc. Also Read: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Google-has-finally-realized-there-is-a-market-beyond-budget-phones-for-Android-One-turns-to-Xiaomi-for-take-two/articleshow/60379742.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">Google has finally realized there is a market beyond budget phones for Android One, turns to Xiaomi</a> Smartphone brands with mainly offline presence like <keyword id="10591" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Samsung">Samsung</keyword>, Micromax have always made a much bigger splash in India than online only brands. An offline presence certainly helps these companies in making their presence felt in the tier I and tier II cities where offline purchases are much higher. And especially around festive season when the offline sales shoot up for mobile phones, it seems to be the right way forward to set up shops in order to acquire new customers. Chinese smartphone maker OnePlus had the most unique online only strategy when they brought in their first OnePlus flagship phone where customers needed an invite to buy their phone. Even with an invite only scheme, OnePlus managed to create quite a stir in the India market. OnePlus smartphones have been exclusively available on <keyword id="6354743" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="amazon-india">Amazon India</keyword> since the sale of OnePlus One commenced in the country. OnePlus too went offline with their first experience store in Bangalore earlier this year. OnePlus is onto its fifth flagship device and it still continues to sell its products online through Amazon along with the offline store. It is clear that the skew is heavily in favour of going offline, all smartphone players in India are working on strengthening the offline channel but it does not mean that the online market is not doing well, all players still consider online as an important platform to reach consumers and the offline push is only going to push their online growth, Manish Tiwary, VP, Amazon India says, “Most of them(offline stores) are for experience, for customers to be able to touch and feel the new products. I think it really helps for a complete customer experience, there is only so much you can do online but if you supplement with offline experience stores, it just brings it alive for the customers so we love when our brand partners do that, it definitely improves sales for us online”. The smartphone market in India has been through many changes in the past couple of years, consumers in India are not hankering for cheap phones anymore, almost 70% of the consumers go for mid to premium phones and in order to sell phones upwards of Rs. 15000, it is important for brands to be able to give a touch and feel experience. In terms of telecom services, we have seen a huge growth in 4G network penetration in the last two years that is certainly going to up the demand for smarthones in smaller cities. Most importantly 67% of the consumers in India still buy phones offline and there is now saturation in the online marketplace, that leaves these smartphones brands no choice but to invest in offline expansion in order to grow in the fastest growing smartphone market in the world.

Why Mobile phone brands in India are moving (back in time) towards setting up brick and mortar stores

<ul><li>Budget smartphones sell the most in India, and yet, it turns out that the needs of the post-Covid world have pushed Indians into buying more expensive smartphones. </li><li>While the budget smartphone segment grew in single digits in the last year, <keyword id="2210169" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="xiaomi-india" source="Orion">Xiaomi India</keyword>’s <keyword id="1969707" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="raghu-reddy" source="Orion">Raghu Reddy</keyword> says the sub-₹30,000 segment almost doubled. </li><li>Even though 5G is yet to launch in the country, Raghu says it is one of the top features customers look for in the ₹20,000 and above price segment. </li></ul>The post-Covid world has seen tech adoption at a scale that neither companies nor individuals were ready for, nor had they planned to. From laptops to smartphones, work from home or online classes – people have had to make tech upgrades that were not considered necessary before. And this has had a major impact on what kind of smartphones people buy now. We have seen the impact of tech upgrades in the enterprise segment as well, with Indian IT giants TCS and Infosys reporting strong earnings over the past year, despite the pressure of employees having to work from home. To understand the impact of this on the consumer side, we caught up with Xiaomi India’s chief business officer, Raghu Reddy. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Here are the key takeaways" comment="subhead" text="Here are the key takeaways">Here are the key takeaways</cmsannotation> <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Post-Covid world has pushed people to move upwards for their smartphone upgrades" comment="subhead" text="Post-Covid world has pushed people to move upwards for their smartphone upgrades">Post-Covid world has pushed people to move upwards for their smartphone upgrades</cmsannotation> Xiaomi has been in the Indian market for a long time now, known for its value-for-money offerings. A big part of this success has been driven by the Redmi brand of smartphones. That is now changing. According to Raghu Reddy, when compared to 2020, the company observed that the ₹20,000-30,000 and ₹30,000 and above smartphone segments nearly doubled in 2021. The value-for-money segment, which is below the ₹15,000-20,000 level, witnessed only single-digit growth, Raghu added, despite this segment being highly crowded with several options available across all brands. “A lot of these customers are also people who've been owning smartphones, I mean, they've already gone through three or four smartphones. So, when they're upgrading, they definitely know what they want. And they're definitely looking for more powerful options,” Raghu told Business Insider, explaining that customers are aware of the options available and they now want better phones. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Powerful processor still more important than everything else" comment="subhead" text="Powerful processor still more important than everything else">Powerful processor still more important than everything else</cmsannotation> Smartphones have continued the upward trajectory when it comes to power and performance. Xiaomi’s entry in India was with the Mi 3 – a smartphone that was powered by the then-flagship Snapdragon 800 chipset, blowing the Moto G with Snapdragon 400 out of the water. Over the years, the processor specifications continued to gain prominence even amongst the casual smartphone enthusiasts, regardless of whether or not people understand the intricacies of the Gigahertz, Megahertz, number of cores and other metrics. This, Raghu says, continues to be the top feature that customers look for. “The first thing that people look for is really a very strong processor because they know that what they're doing so much with the device, they will want their processor to ensure that everything works very smoothly. So that happens to be, you know, the foremost factor in the customer’s mind,” he said. Other things like cameras, 5G, fast charging and display-related details are secondary, and almost on an equal footing with each other, Raghu said. <div type="image" title="shiwa-id-kxqgk1lKSsY-unsplash" msid="88969446" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;People want 5G support even before it is available&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> However, at ₹20,000 and above price points, 5G is one of the top features that people are looking for, according to Raghu, since people will use their smartphones for at least 2-3 years. By then, we should likely have functional 5G services available in the country. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Looking beyond smartphones – the Mi ecosystem" comment="subhead" text="Looking beyond smartphones – the Mi ecosystem">Looking beyond smartphones – the Mi ecosystem</cmsannotation> Xiaomi sells a wide range of products – many vastly different and unrelated to smartphones, its staple. Some of these include things like robot vacuum cleaners, water and air purifiers, smart bulbs, screwdriver kits and even sunglasses. The company first introduced its robot vacuum cleaners in India via a crowdfunding platform, which is unique in its own way and also helped the company mobilise a word-of-mouth campaign that we usually don’t see in these categories. This, Raghu says, proved to be a successful launch for the company and that it will launch upgrades for products that have done well. He also added that Xiaomi will evaluate if there could be more interesting products that can be brought to India via the crowdfunding route but stopped short of divulging more details. That said, we should know more in the coming months. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/budget/news/budget-2022-expectation-in-higher-standard-deduction-tax-slabs-and-covid-insurance/slidelist/88891751.cms">From higher standard deduction to clarity on Covid insurance, here’s what tax experts want from Budget 2022</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/auto/news/tesla-india-prospects-get-a-boost-as-states-compete-with-each-other-to-invite-elon-musk-to-their-backyard/articleshow/88890951.cms">Tesla India prospects get a boost as states compete with each other to invite Elon Musk to their backyard</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/telecom/news/government-owning-vodafone-idea-is-just-half-the-task-the-other-half-is-to-find-the-money/articleshow/88836355.cms">Government owning Vodafone Idea is just half the task – the other half is to find the money</a>

INTERVIEW: The sub-₹30,000 smartphone segment has nearly doubled in the last one year, says Xiaomi India’s chief business officer

Best tech gifts for Christmas and New Year

<ul><li><keyword id="874458" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Xiaomi">Xiaomi</keyword> already has a wide range of <keyword id="3465192" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="IoT-products">IoT products</keyword> in China, but so far, it has only launched a select few of those products in India. This is all set to change in 2020. </li><li>Xiaomi’s competitor, <keyword id="6485927" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="realme">Realme</keyword>, is also planning to expand its portfolio in India next year. </li><li>With Xiaomi planning to expand its portfolio and competition from Realme, the prices of smart home products could reduce further in India next year. </li></ul>After competing aggressively in the smartphones space, Xiaomi and Realme are gearing up to take on each other with new Internet of Things (IoT) product launches in 2020. While Xiaomi has already launched a few IoT products in India, it says that it will launch “exciting and aggressive” new products in the near future. In a statement to <a href="http://ians.in/index.php?param=news/C-1-1178754">IANS</a>, Xiaomi VP and Xiaomi India MD Manu Kumar Jain revealed his company’s plans to expand its portfolio of smart home products in India. He said, “We're excited to lead the IoT growth story in this country along with bringing the most cutting-edge smartphone technology. It's safe to say that the Indian market will continue to see exciting and disruptive products in the coming times.” At the moment, Xiaomi has launched several smart home and internet-connected products in India like air purifiers, water purifiers, smart bulbs and more. Despite these launches, Xiaomi’s smart home products portfolio is much bigger in China. Thankfully for Xiaomi fans in India, this could change in 2020. Realme to follow suit as well Over the last year or so, Realme has emerged as one of the primary competitors of Xiaomi, especially in the budget and mid-range segments. Now, Realme CEO Madhav Sheth has revealed his company’s plans to venture into the smart home segment in India. In a statement to IANS, he said Realme is “especially focusing on introducing IoT-based products in the coming year which will include audio and wearables.” Realme has also <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/smartphone-makers-realme-and-xiaomi-will-compete-in-the-financial-services-market-too/articleshow/72832681.cms">announced</a> its credit lending platform Paysa to take on <a>Xiaomi’s Mi Credit service</a>. Looking beyond smartphones With both Xiaomi and Realme aiming to launch new smart home and connected products in India, it is apparent that they are looking beyond just smartphones. This should also help in improving their profitability, especially since the smartphone industry in India has cut-throat competition and margins in the budget segment are especially thin. Becoming tech-lifestyle brands also opens up a wide range of products for both Xiaomi and Realme. While Xiaomi already has plenty of experience and a large portfolio in this segment in China, it will be interesting to see Realme’s approach since it is a newbie in this regard. Diversifying its portfolio of products should also help Xiaomi in avoiding the fate of Samsung and Nokia in India. Launching new smart home products should help Xiaomi in creating an ecosystem of connected products, allowing it to not only retain its existing users but also draw in new ones. See also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/heres-how-you-can-avail-an-instant-loan-from-mi-credit/articleshow/72350608.cms">Here’s how you can avail an instant loan from Mi Credit</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/smartphone-makers-realme-and-xiaomi-will-compete-in-the-financial-services-market-too/articleshow/72832681.cms">Smartphone makers Realme and Xiaomi will compete in the financial services market too</a>

Xiaomi and Realme gear up to launch IoT products in India in 2020

<ul class="summary-list"><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/ford">Ford</a> is working with 3M to manufacture a portable, battery-powered respirator that uses technology found in Ford F-150 pickup trucks.</li><li>Ford is also making face shields, face masks, and medical gowns to help combat the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.</li><li>And Ford is working on developing a COVID-19 test kit.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories</a>.</li></ul>On Monday, Ford announced further expansions into medical technology, to help in the fight against the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.In addition to face shields, masks, and ventilators - the last of which is a collaboration with GE Healthcare - Ford said that it would start production on a powered air-purifying respirator on Tuesday, April 14, working with 3M. The company is also helping Thermo Fisher Scientific develop a COVID-19 test kit."We knew that to play our part helping combat coronavirus, we had to go like hell and join forces with experts like 3M to expand production of urgently needed medical equipment and supplies," Ford vice-president Jim Baumbick said in a statement."In just three weeks, we've unleashed our world-class manufacturing, purchasing and design talent to get scrappy and start making personal protection equipment and help increase the availability and production of ventilators."Ford also said that it has partnered with a company called Joyson Safety Systems to make reusable medical gowns from materials normally used for vehicle airbags.Ford said that the new respirator, which still required regulatory approval, would include a "hood and face shield to cover health care professionals' heads and shoulders, while a high-efficiency (HEPA) filter system provides a supply of filtered air for up to eight hours."The device uses an air blower that's similar to what Ford uses for the F-150 pickup truck's ventilated seats; it's battery powered and portable."Approximately 90 paid United Auto Workeres volunteers will assemble [respirators] at Ford's Vreeland facility near Flat Rock, MI, with the ability to make 100,000 or more," the company said.Do you have a personal experience with the coronavirus you'd like to share? Or a tip on how your town or community is handling the pandemic? Please email <a href="mailto:covidtips@businessinsider.com">covidtips@businessinsider.com</a> and tell us your story.Get the latest <a href="/coronavirus-business-impact">coronavirus business &amp; economic impact analysis</a> from Business Insider Intelligence on how COVID-19 is affecting industries.

Ford is moving into new areas of medical technology to help fight the coronavirus pandemic

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image">AP/Justin Sullivan/Getty Images</div></div></div>Chinese smartphone giant Xiaomi is taking yet another leaf out of Apple's book - by launching a laptop.After previous rumours suggested as much, <a href="http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/biz/archives/2015/09/23/2003628347">Taipei Times reports that the chairman of Taiwan hardware company Inventec</a> has confirmed that it is building Xiaomi's first foray into notebooks.Richard Lee said that the device is due to start shipping "in the first or second quarter of next year."<h2>Xiaomi's growth has been meteoric</h2>In just five years, Xiaomi has come from nowhere to become one of China's biggest smartphone manufacturers, and one of the most valuable startups in the world. It's worth $45 billion (£29.4 billion). It sells cheap Android devices with impressive specs in developing countries, along with a fitness trackers and a number of other products.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image">Getty Images/Michael KovacApple's head of design, Jony Ive.</div></div></div>But along the way it has been criticised in some quarters for its products' similarities to Apple's own: Apple design chief Jony Ive once <a href="http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/10/10/apples-jony-ive-has-harsh-words-for-xiaomi/?_r=0">hit out at the company's designs</a>, labelling them "theft."Xiaomi, for its part, <a href="http://www.macrumors.com/2015/07/16/xiaomi-hugo-barra-copycat-accusations/">denies the claim</a>. But one way the Chinese startup is indisputably similar to Apple is in its astonishing fanbase. It has been referred to as the "Apple of China," and almost uniquely for an Android device manufacturer, has been able to develop a level of customer loyalty to rival Apple's own.They are key to the startup's rapid growth. The company spends almost nothing on marketing but has enjoyed a meteoric rise through careful cultivation of its following. The company holds flash sales for "Mi-fans," holds "festivals," and even <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/xiaomi-mi-fans-nightclubs-parties-apple-china-2015-4">throws parties in expensive nightclubs</a> and holds giveaways for its most devoted fans. Immediate sell-outs of new products only add to the excitement.<a href="http://techcrunch.com/2015/08/03/xiaomi-retains-top-spot-in-chinese-smartphone-market/">According to data published in August</a>, Xiaomi was China's top smartphone firm in China in Q2 2015.<h2>It's about building an ecosystem</h2><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image">XiaomiXiaomi's water purifier.</div></div></div>Xiaomi's smartphones can also be understood as a kind of Trojan horse for its other products. Its customer base, as well as passionate, is also young. The company is selling water purifiers, televisions, and other products that it hopes its customers will come to buy as they "grow up." <a href="https://stratechery.com/2015/xiaomis-ambition/">Ben Thompson outlined this in a post on Statechery</a> in January:What is more interesting, though, is what will happen when [Xiaomi customer] Han and his peers finally do get places of their own. They will need to buy TVs, and air purifiers, and all kinds of (relatively) high [cost] goods. And which brand do you think they will choose? If Apple can sell a battery charger to my coworker, I'm pretty certain Xiaomi can sell an air purifier to Mr. Han, and, sooner rather than later, just about everything he needs for his new house.Xiaomi's smartphones are currently priced far below the iPhone price point (in fact, they're cheaper even than the average price for Androids). Its phones and Apple's iPhones aren't necessarily in direct competition right now. But Xiaomi is attempting (and succeeding) to install strong brand loyalty into its young customer base with growing purchasing power - exactly the kind of people who Apple would seek to target in markets like China.<h2>A laptop is another piece of the puzzle</h2><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image">REUTERS/Robert GalbraithApple CEO Tim Cook with the Cupertino company's most recent MacBook.</div></div></div>The forthcoming laptop, then, is another attempt to tie users into the Xiaomi ecosystem. <a href="http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/biz/archives/2015/09/23/2003628347">The report from Taipei Times</a> is light on details about the device itself. But <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-09-02/xiaomi-said-to-consider-laptop-for-early-2016-aiming-at-apple">a Bloomberg report published earlier in the month</a> said it might be targeting the premium end of the market, citing "people with direct knowledge of the matter." This puts it on a collision course with Apple: the MacBook Air (as well as Lenovo's ThinkPad) are cited as potential competitors.(It's also worth noting that earlier this week, <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/22/xiaomi-launches-mvno-service-takes-wraps-off-mi-4c-smartphone.html">Xiaomi launched an MVNO</a> - a mobile network. This lets users buy phone contracts directly from the company, again reinforcing the ecosystem and reducing reliance on external companies.)<h2>Xiaomi isn't in the West - yet</h2><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image">REUTERS/Jason LeeXiaomi CEO Lei Jun has been described as a Steve Jobs-esque figure.</div></div></div>Right now, Apple is in the midst of an aggressive expansion in China. The Chinese smartphone market may be shrinking, but it's still the largest on the planet. That makes it vital for Apple (and for all its products, not just iPhones). As such, Xiaomi's new laptop, <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-09-02/xiaomi-said-to-consider-laptop-for-early-2016-aiming-at-apple">if Bloomberg's sources are right about its "premium" status</a>, puts it in direct competition with the American tech giant.Xiaomi currently operates in China, India, Brazil, and a number of other developing markets. It says it doesn't intend to launch in markets like the US for "a few years" at least. Questions have also been raised about the company's growth <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/45-billion-smartphone-startup-xiaomi-hits-a-wall-2015-7">after its sales started to flatline this summer</a> - despite launching in new regions. It now looks unlikely to hit its target of 100 million smartphone sales a year.If and when its products finally land on Western soil, there will be a huge question to be answered: Can it manage to cultivate the same kind of customer following in the West as it has managed back home? If it can - and that's a big if - that's when things will get really interesting for Apple. <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/impact-smartphones-brain-and-body-sleep-dan-siegel-2015-8">This is what happens to your brain and body when you check your phone before bed</a></h3> <div> <div> <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="BvMjVqcjoHdZBG6tTpXy8UkhB5_46U_c" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div> </div> </div> </div>

You Searched For "mi air purifier" and got 10 results

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