Xiaomi announced the opening of its second Mi Family offline store on Saturday as part of an expansion of stores in Beijing. Lin Bin, co-founder and president of Xiaomi, said that in 2016 Xiaomi aims to transform its business model with a focus on offline marketing.
“Products such as the Mi TV require offline access to gain greater popularity. Experiencing the look and texture of our smartphones offline may generate more sales,” Lin said.
He added that the purpose of Mi Family lies not in gaining profits but in building offline channels so that customers can experience Xiaomi products before purchasing.
Xiaomi’s 2016 strategy also involves a smartphone price increase. According to Lin, user-needs are constantly growing, and making good products that fill more requirements itself drives an increase in price.
“We hesitated when pricing the Mi 5 at RMB 2,699 (USD 416), but it was well accepted by customers,” said Lin. “The pricing-up of smartphones is now a trend and a must.”
Despite failing to achieve their projected 80 million smartphone shipments in 2015, Xiaomi is China’s second largest smartphone seller and is starting to expand into sectors besides smartphones.
The company announced its VR- and robotics-focused Exploration Lab in January, and Xiaomi’s CEO Lei Jun said earlier that the company will gradually shift its focus from smartphones to smart home devices.
(Top photo from Cyzone.cn)