Xiaomi Inc., a privately owned Chinese electronics company, will open three sales and customer service centres in Egypt in September in an attempt to expand in the Egyptian market, according to Donovan Sung, the director of product management at Xiaomi.
In an interview with Daily News Egypt, Sung asserted that his company works expanding in the Egyptian market through focusing on price segments higher than EGP 3,000 for smart phones.
Sung added that the company will push its online sales through partnerships with e-commerce websites. Currently, Xiaomi has an agreement with Jumia platform to sell its products online.
What is your strategy in the coming period?
Our strategy in the company focuses on providing quality and sophisticated products to meet customers’ needs in the countries in which we are operating. Our company was launched only seven years ago, so we seek to expand in our services and products.
How did your company spread in such short period?
Indeed, the spread of our brand in international markets was only three years ago, after our success in the Chinese market. For example, Xiaomi the Indian market, which is very similar to the Egyptian market in terms of culture of consumption and economic conditions, ranked the second in “Off Line” sales while it ranked the first in online sales.
Our online sales in the Indian market reached 40% of total sales, which encouraged us to expand in this market.
What is your market share in Egypt?
It is difficult at this time to determine our market share in the Egyptian market, since we launched our products only two months ago.
Why your company came to the Egyptian market?
Egypt has one of the top 10 mobile markets in the developing world, and we want to benefit from the growing demand in this market to present new and innovative experiences in the field of smart phones.
Our new products (Mi 6) and (Mi Max2) reflect our committed to achieving balance between performance, design and price. We are confident that our strategy will make our products highly desirable by smart phone users in Egypt.
According to studies, the Egyptian market has a large number of “young” users who prefer to communicate constantly via mobile Internet.
Do you have plans to establish a factory in Egypt, especially since the state encourages manufacturers to operate in Egypt in the current period?
The decision to launch a factory or a production line in the local market can not be taken before at least 3 years from our launch in the local market to ensure the market’s need for the production. For example, Xiaomi decided to launch its factory in India after two years of operation, due to the market’s high demand on our products and the good domestic manufacturing conditions in the country.
Do you have plans to enter the technological areas recently launched in Egypt?
Egypt is currently working on the establishment of a number of technology areas in several provinces to be the nucleus for the spread of technology in those areas, but there is no official plans to announce at the moment.
What are your marketing plans for the Egyptian market during the coming period?
In order to spread and compete strongly in the local market, we sell our products almost at the cost price, which will contribute to the spread within the local market. Our marketing strategy is different than other competitors in the market, as we depend on social media platforms which can reach a large segment of users.
Xiaomi was founded in April 2010 by ex-Kingsoft CEO Lei Jun, based on his vision of “Innovation for All”. The company believes that high quality products based on advanced technology should be available for everyone. The company is committed to innovating hardware, software and Internet services to ensure that they meet their customers’ expectations and needs.
Xiaomi is taking into consideration the views and suggestions of customers in the development of its products, which currently include Mi and Redmi smart phones, Mi TVs, IPTV packages, and other Mi products which include smart home appliances and accessories. With its strong presence in more than 30 countries and regions around the world, Xiaomi’s products are expanding into major markets in line with its growing confidence as a world-leading brand.
What is your target customers segment in the coming period in the Egyptian market?
The company will focus on price segments higher than EGP 3,000 for smart phones. We also have announced in collaboration with its distribution agent, Al Safy, to launch the company’s latest smart phones in the Egyptian market; (Mi 6) and (Mi Max 2) to meet the growing demand in the local mobile phone market.
What are your plans in terms of after sales services in the Egyptian market?
We are working to provide good after sales service because it is one of our competitive advantages against competitors, so we are planning to open three after-sales service centres in Cairo by September.
Xiaomi has agreed with Al Safy company to be the main authorized distributor for the company’s products in Egypt. We agreed to provide customer service and maintenance centres to cover customers in most parts of the country. We also aim to open new customer service centres before the end of the year.
Xiaomi also focuses on partnerships with e-commerce sites in Egypt, especially as it pays great attention to online sales. In this context, the company signed an agreement to make its products available via Jumia.
What are the biggest markets for Xiaomi?
China, India and Indonesia are the largest markets in which Xiaomi is operating. We will open soon a new centre for research and development in India, in addition to the main centre in China.
Last month, the founder and CEO of Xiaomi, Lei Jun, announced that his company registered a record number of shipments of smart phones, which reached 23.16 million shipments in the second quarter of 2017, up 70% compared to the last year. This achievement is remarkable, since Xiaomi is the only smartphone company in the world that has been able to resume its growth after experiencing a drop in sales.
