Xiaomi India’s head Manu Kuma Jain has hinted that the company plans to open new exclusive Mi Stores in India and also to launch six new smartphones in the country this year. Mr Jain made this known in an interview which he granted Livemint.

This news is coming on the heels of recent disclosure that the company will explore the recently relaxed regulation on ownership of retail stores by foreign firms. The regulation allows for 49 percent foreign direct investment (FDI) in single-brand retail channels. That law was relaxed by the Indian government as from January this year, thus paving the way for OEMs to run fully-owned branded stores. The Chinese company looks set to catch in on this by opening its own Mi Home stores in various cities which would stock its products exclusively.

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Xiaomi has had a highly successful run in India especially last year where it went on to emerge as the number one smartphone brand in the country ahead of Samsung in the third and fourth quarter of the year. The tech giant was able to achieve this feat using online sales via Mi.com, Flipkart and Amazon India together with offline sales using the numerous franchise partner stores it has in various cities of the country. The company’s success in India is also attributable to the affordable smartphones it offers in the market. That portfolio would be increased by 6 new smartphones this year. The tech giant has already launched the Redmi Note 5 and Redmi Note 5 Pro in India and is set to add the Redmi 5. We also expect the company to add the Mi 7 and Mi Mix 2s later this year to the lineup. Xiaomi will also look to expand its smart home gadgets in India. A couple of Smart TVs have already entered the market. Other products like the air purifier, Mi Robot Vacuum cleaner may join the fray this year.

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