Xiaomi the money: India’s top smartphone manufacturer loses $1 billion in Q1 2018 but there's a catch

It’s been a month since Xiaomi filed its initial public offering (IPO) at Hong Kong, but financial information shows that the company made a $1.1 billion loss within the first quarter of this year.

But here’s the thing. Ironically, if you take one-time items out of the equation, then Xiaomi actually made $162 million in profit. A one-time expense is exactly what it sounds like, non-recurring and excluded from the company’s ongoing business operations. Even their revenue for the same quarter showed growth. In 2017, cumulatively, Xiaomi reported sales of $17.9 billion. But, in Q1 2018, alone, Xiaomi made $5.3 billion in revenue.

That being said, when Chinese smartphone shipments were sinking, Xiaomi was the only manufacturer to register positive momentum according to a study by Canalys.

Fourth globally, and currently number one in India, Xiaomi is growing less and less dependant on its home market in China. According to Manu Kumar Jain, Xiaomi’s outlook in India consists of diversifying their non-smartphone portfolio.

If memory serves, in April Xiaomi promised it’s customers that it would give money back to them if its profits get too high. That doesn’t seem like it’s going to happen anytime soon.