Xiaomi postpones new country launches as it struggles to make more phones

Xiaomi is already active in six countries outside its home in China. But the gradual roll-out of new launches is now postponed as the young phone-maker struggles with production capacity.

The move was confirmed by Hugo Barra, Xiaomi’s VP of international operations, talking yesterday at an event in New Delhi, India, according to Bloomberg.

In a statement provided to Tech in Asia, Barra explains:

Our focus is to add market by market, one at a time, and to focus on bringing all of our products to each of those markets before we add a new one. Earlier this year, we talked about wanting to be in 10 markets within 2014. We realized that it’s a smarter thing to do to scale back a bit and put a ton of effort in India and Indonesia before expanding further. By the end of this year, we will be in seven markets beyond mainland China. Our next market is Brazil some time in the first half of next year.
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That leaves proposed launches in Thailand, Russia, Mexico, Brazil, and Turkey postponed to various points in 2015. Presumably, mooted entries into western markets will be pushed back even further. Xiaomi said in the past that it might be ready for North America in 2015.

In further comments picked up by Bloomberg, Barra explains that the upstart brand “went from shipping 50,000 a week into India to 200,000.” He added, “We’re shipping absurd quantities into India.”

Xiaomi’s launch in India in July was met with an online backlash as the company’s flash sales of a limited number of phones frustrated potential buyers.

Building phones outside China


Barra added during his interview that Xiaomi and Foxconn, its OEM partner, are discussing making phones in India and Brazil in order to increase capacity. India-based manufacturing will begin in one to two years, while Brazil may start sooner.

Xiaomi only sells one or two models in its non-mainland-China markets (Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia, and India). Its full line-up of products is available only in mainland China. Xiaomi’s flagship phone, the Mi4, came out in July but is still not available in any markets besides its homeland.

See: Xiaomi Mi4 is a bombshell in the $300 smartphone war – REVIEW

(Sources: Bloomberg (1) and (2))

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