Nearly 70 per cent of Xiaomi’s mobile phone sales in India come from the country’s metros, where the Chinese smartphone brand first started selling after entering the domestic market in 2014.

Xiaomi sold 100 million smartphones in the last five years, tapping into the rapidly expanding mobile phone market and quickly positioning itself as the topmost brand.

According to global market intelligence firm International Data Corporation (IDC), Xiaomi sold 100 million smartphones in India from the third quarter of FY2014 until July 2019.

The sales touched $40 million in FY18, and it reigned supreme in the competitive Indian smartphone market, where it currently has more than 28.3 per cent share.

The research firm said that Xiaomi has been leading the smartphone market in India for eight consecutive quarters, with 28.31 per cent market share by the second quarter of FY20. Redmi 6A and Redmi Note 7 Pro were the top two best-selling smartphones in the industry by Q2FY20.

After initially targeting the young customers through selling their devices online, in 2016, Xiaomi went on to set up their offline stores in Bengaluru and rapidly expand their footprints to other metros.

“Xiaomi currently has 2,000 offline stores throughout India, spread across 600 cities and 28 states. Starting from Bengaluru, we are now focused on setting up our offline stores called Mi Homes in all the towns and districts of India, so that customers will have the opportunity to explore, experience or buy Xiaomi devices like our online buyers. We are also keen on engaging young individuals seeking entrepreneurship opportunities from these areas to run the stores by applying online,” a top executive at Xiaomi India told TMS.

In the past one year, Xiaomi has focused on India’s rural smartphone market and expanded its footprints across 600 villages. Xiaomi, which swears by its loyal consumer community, claims of generating employment opportunities to 4,000 people in the country in five years since its inception.

From selling exclusively online in 2014 to now setting Mi Stores and Mi Homes in remote corners of the country, Xiaomi said it has also pledged to support India’s ‘Make in India’ campaign by manufacturing 99 per cent of its handsets here.