Xiaomi is a household name in India, with Mijia it wants to make Indian houses smart
Twelve years ago when Xiaomi entered the Indian market, I had an informal meeting with its then global VP Hugo Barra in one of the
Twelve years ago when Xiaomi entered the Indian market, I had an informal meeting with its then global VP Hugo Barra in one of the cafes in South Delhi. We shook hands, I took out my notebook and prepared to ask questions that I had listed. But before I could, Barra stopped me. He said the first order of the business would be him teaching me how to pronounce “Xiaomi”. It was an exotic name for Indian tongues and ears. The next 2 minutes, he said the word, slowly and rolling it with practiced ease. I repeated and after a while got the hang of it. Read Full Story This week I was reminded of that moment on Wednesday morning. Again in a cafe, this time in Central Delhi, I sat in front of Xiaomi India COO Sudhin Mathur and prepared to ask my questions. But before I could do so I had to learn again how to pronounce a new word. This time the word was Mijia. Today Mijia, a brand by Xiaomi for smart home appliances, is entering India. In an exclusive conversation with India Today Tech, Sudhin says that, to begin with, Mijia would introduce air purifiers. But that is largely because Xiaomi is already familiar with this category and because these are early days for Mijia in India. The brand that literally translates to “Mi Jia”, or in other words Mi Home aka Xiaomi Home, has products in tens of categories, from smart refrigerators to smart washing machines. And eventually, slowly and gradually, the plan is to bring many of them to India. “This July we completed 12 years in India. We have established a very strong base in India.
We are now a household name across the country,” says Sudhin. The next phase for the company, even as it continues to operate in the personal category devices such as phones and tablets, is to make Indian houses smarter. The evolution of Xiaomi in India, as Sudhin highlights it, is going to mirror what the company is already doing in China. “Having built the Human pillar through smartphones, tablets, wearables, Smart TVs and AIoT products, Xiaomi is now entering the next phase of growth,” says Sudhin. This next phase of Xiaomi is going to see the company strengthen the “Home pillar of its Human x Car x Home vision.” “Xiaomi is now accelerating its long-term connected ecosystem strategy in India, aligned with its global portfolio,” says Sudhin. The idea is that Xiaomi already has millions of phones in India, and now it should also offer internet-connected appliances that can be controlled by these phones in a smart way. Xiaomi India COO Sudhin Mathur believes the company has built a robust logistics chain to sell and service large home appliances. “All the products that we launch as part of the Mijia brand will be part of the connected smart home ecosystem. This means you will be able to connect with them. It is about smart home play,” says Sudhin. “We believe people want their devices to be connected and have ease of usage. For example, I may want my home lights to be automatically controlled and switch on and switch off at this particular time, or my robo vacuum cleaner to start at 8am and automatically do the cleaning.” As the brand does so it is likely to follow the same playbook that has made it finish successful 12 years in India.
The BriefWire