Samsung has dominated the smartphone market in India for the past few years. However, a research conducted by International Data Corporation (IDC) for Q317 revealed that Xiaomi has managed to equal its market share with Samsung to dethrone Samsung from the number spot in India.

In a recent interview with Reuters, Manu Kumar Jain, the Global Vice-President and Managing Director of Xiaomi India said that company has been focusing on building its offline presence in 2017 and 2018. In May 2017, it opened its first Mi Home store India. At present, it has 17 Mi Home stores across India.

In the previous year, Jain had said that Xiaomi is aiming to build 100 Mi Home Stores by mid-2019 in India. Talking about the current status of its stores, Jain has said that the company is ahead of its schedule. Moreover, Xiaomi will be also partnering with other stores that will largely stock its devices apart from products from other brands.

Since the time Xiaomi entered the Indian market, it has been aggressively selling its smartphones online. Its strategy of selling its devices through flash sales major online retailer sites like Amazon India and Flipkart has allowed it to increase its market share significantly in the country. Xiaomi reportedly accounts for about 50 percent of the online smartphones sales in India. And now the company is strengthening its offline sales.

In 2017, Xiaomi had launched eight smartphones. The Redmi 5A came with a lowest pricing of Rs. 4,999 (~$78) whereas the Mi MIX 2 that costs Rs. 32,999 (~$517) is the costliest Xiaomi phone in India in 2017. On the other sides, its major rival Samsung sold around 40 smartphones in the country last year. Jain has also confirmed that the Indian market will be seeing around six to eight new smartphones across different price points this year.

The Chinese manufacturer is selling air purifiers and fitness bands in India. It is likely to unleash one or two smart products in the country this year. In the near future, it is also expected to sell other products like TVs, water purifiers, scooters and rice cookers.

Read More: Xiaomi Mi MIX 2S Reportedly in Works; May Get Unveiled at MWC 2018

A report from the previous week had stated Samsung India will be taking on Xiaomi by launching a new series of smartphones that will be exclusively sold online. Xiaomi has recently started building its offline presence. However, Samsung has been selling its phones offline since several years. It has around 1.5 lakh offline stores all over the country. A Samsung spokesperson said that it will take some time for Xiaomi to build such a huge offline presence in India.

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