Update: Xiaomi Mi 3 - The Chinese electronics giant comes to India with its flagship phone priced at Rs 13,999
New Delhi: Xiaomi, which is often referred to as 'Apple of China', is all set to enter the highly competitive Indian smartphone market today. The company, which will announce the launch of the Mi3 at Rs 14,999 at its event today in New Delhi, is also expected to launch two other smartphones. The Mi3 will be up for pre-order starting today.
Following the footsteps of Motorola, Chinese handset maker Xiaomi is also teaming up with e-Commerce major Flipkart to launch its handsets in India.
Xiaomi had launched its official website in India earlier this month, announcing its entry into the fiercely competitive Indian smartphone market in the next few weeks.
Founded in 2010 by serial entrepreneur Lei Jun, the Beijing-headquartered firm has become one of China's biggest electronics companies that designs, develops and sells smartphones, mobile apps and other such consumer items. Other Chinese firms selling its handsets in India include Huawei, ZTE, Lenovo, Gionee and Oppo, the latest entrant.
It launched its products in Singapore in February this year.
Earlier this month, the company had also roped in Jabong co-founder Manu Kumar Jain to head its operations in India.
The Indian smartphone market is witnessing strong competition between local and international players, all vying to grab a share of the multi-billion dollar market.
According to research firm IDC, smartphone sales in the country grew almost three-fold to over 44 million in 2013, buoyed by affordable devices made by local firms such as Micromax and Karbonn.
In the first quarter of 2014, 17.59 million smartphones were shipped into India as compared with 6.14 million in the same period of 2013. Samsung was the market leader in the category with 35 per cent market share in Q1, followed by Micromax (15 per cent), Karbonn (10 per cent), LAVA (6 per cent) and Nokia (4 per cent).
(With inputs from PTI)
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