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Nov. 21 (NBD) – China's smart phone maker Xiaomi plans to set up 5,000 Mi Stores in India by the end of 2019 to expand its offline presence in India's rural areas, Xiaomi's Indian subsidiary Xiaomi India announced yesterday on its official twitter account.

The newly opened stores will create more than 15,000 jobs across India.

Currently India is the second largest phone market after China and regarded as a "Blue Ocean" for the smart phone sector, and thus the Indian market has become another battleground for smart phone manufacturers.

Data from Counterpoint Research revealed for the third quarter of this year, India's smart phone market logged a year-on-year increase of 5 percent and quarter-on-quarter growth of 24 percent. The smart phone segment contributed to half of the total handset market in India. 

During the third quarter, the shipment volume of smart phones in India exceeded that of the United States, stated Research Analyst Karn Chauhan. This indeed shows the enormous demand in the Indian smart phone market.

In fact, India has been a vital market for Xiaomi's overseas expansion. As of the end of October this year, Xiaomi has opened more than 500 Mi Stores in India. 

The latest statistics from Counterpoint Research showed the third quarter of 2018 saw Xiaomi, driven by its new Redmi 6 series, sub brand Pocophone and expansion in offline channels, record its highest ever shipments in India in a single quarter. 

According to Counterpoint Research, for the July-September period, Xiaomi toppled South Korean multinational conglomerate Samsung as the biggest smart phone vendor in India with a shipment market share of 27 percent, a rise of 5 percentage points over the previous year.

Technology market analyst firm Canalys also indicated Xiaomi registered a year-over-year increase of 32 percent in terms of its smart phone shipment volume in India for the third quarter of 2018 and sustained its top one position in India's smart phone market from the fourth quarter of 2017 to the third quarter of 2018.

In the future, Xiaomi will make more efforts to consolidate its position in the Indian market. 

Lei Jun, founder of Xiaomi, told Indian media outlet Livemint in 2017 his firm gave India priority over its home market China. He noted the Chinese smart phone vendor would bring more products to India besides smart phones, establish research and development centers in Bengaluru and scale up local engineering teams to deliver products that meet local demand, and invest 1 billion U.S. dollars in 100 Indian companies within five years to create a system that centers on the company's smart phone brand.

Email: wenqiao@nbd.com.cn