Xiaomi Smartphones Are Coming to an Emerging Market Near You (Bloomberg / Tech in Asia)

Tech in Asia has noted that Southeast Asians have been anticipating the arrival of China based Android smartphone brand Xiaomi into their countries with the brand already launched in the Singapore and Malaysia markets in the past few months. At the recent International Cellular Show (ICS) event in Jakarta,  Xiaomi’s Hugo Barra told the media that Xiaomi is now undergoing the certification process for its gadgets in Indonesia (gadgets their are usually more expensive compared to the ones sold in neighboring Malaysia and Singapore).

Barra also said there’s a possibility that Xiaomi will enter North America next year (he’s apparently mentioned Mexico in the past) while Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam and India are on the company’s radar for this year.

Can Xiaomi Make It Outside of China?

It should be mentioned that former Google Executive Crid Yu and Bloomberg Businessweek’s Brad Stone recently discussed Xiaomi’s plans to expand overseas on Bloomberg Television’s “Bloomberg West” (See the full episode: How Big of a Threat is Xiaomi to Apple? (Bloomberg))

In the following clip from the show, it was noted that one of Xiaomi’s big advantages in China is its proximity to the supply chain and the fact that they are able to sell phones as soon as they get them. However, expanding beyond China will mean extending the supply chain, adding more costs and increasing prices.

Xiaomi also prefers to sell direct to consumers online whereas many consumers in other countries buy mobile phones through carriers plus their other strategy is to make money on software and services:

To read the whole article, Xiaomi looks set to enter Indonesia in August, go to the website of Tech in Asia. In addition, check out: How Big of a Threat is Xiaomi to Apple? (Bloomberg)

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