Xiaomi is revaluating its strategy in India, believing that it sell more models in Indian stores while pursuing its primarily online-only strategy if it succeeds in selling enough Redmi Note 4G handsets through Bharti Airtel outlets. The Chinese company said it will offer its Redmi Note smartphones at more than 100 Bharti Airtel shops in six cities, as well as continue to market its handsets online in India via Flipkart.com. A representative told Reuters that if sales at the outlets are strong, it will expand to additional cities and add more models.
Bharti has a 22 per cent share of the country’s almost 950 million mobile connections. But it has only about 50,000 4G customers, according to GSMA Intelligence figures.
The fast growing Chinese smartphone maker faced a setback in India late last year when the Delhi High Court barred it from selling its devices after a patent complaint by Ericsson against the Chinese firm. The company suspended sales in India until the court ruled that it could sell smartphones that use Qualcomm’s chipsets.
For Bharti Airtel and other the Indian telecommunications sector this could also be a beginning of a growing trend among cellular operators to sell handsets along with contracts – a strategy much more popular in western markets.
