Xiaomi -History, Brand Value and Brand Strategies

When it comes to electronics, the Chinese market has some of the best in business doing the job. Xiaomi is rightfully one of the leading electrical companies globally based in China.

Right from its launch in 2010, the brand has climbed ladders and positioned itself as a leader in the industry seated comfortably beside tech giants such as Apple and Samsung. The company invests in making smartphones, laptops, mobile apps, earphones and fitness bands. 

Xiaomi Brand history 

The company was founded in April 2010 by ex-kingsoft CEO Lei Jun. The core target for the company at that point was to build a custom ROM based on Google’s Android.

The company is a result of the union between the owners of Qualcomm and Temasek Holdings that is an investment firm from Singapore. MIUI, the Rom, created by the company received huge appreciation globally due to immense customisation option on offer. By the end of 1013, the MIUI had nearly 30 million users all over the world which is huge given the fact that it was a new company back then. 

Xiaomi enters hardware market 

The MiOne phone from Xiaomi was announced in 2011 and it was its stepping stone into the hardware market. The phone was a top-spec model and the pricing was extremely mid ranger in that period of time.

The company solely boasts of the quality of service and content and they believe these will give them back the revenue they deserve. 

Xiaomi expansion in the years 

Xiaomi shipped around 7.2 m smartphones in 2012 while in 2013 the company managed to sell around 18.7m phones. In a certain quarter of the year, the numbers were even higher than that of Apple. The demand tends to continue because of the amazing specifications and great prices for the customers. 

More than just phones 

The brand Xiaomi is an all-encompassing brand for geeks. This is because they do not only deal with smartphones rather they also produce smart TV and Wifi Router. If rumours are to be believed, they are planning to come up with their own tablet pc line of product in the coming days.

In the year 2014, the company has shipped more than 60 million of products which is way higher and nearly thrice the amount they shipped a year back in 2013. The market share for the units sold for the products by Xiaomi is around 10% in the Q3 of 2019. Due to its immense success and similarity to Apple, it is often regarded as the “Apple of China”. 

Xiaomi Brand value

Whenever any product from Xiaomi goes for a flash sales on the leading ecommerce platforms, within 20 minutes all the units are sold out. This is the kind of brand value this company has garnered for itself over the years.

The brand associations of the company are well planned. It associated itself with good designs, affordable prices and useful utility features in the products. The cameras in Xiaomi phones and laptops are everyone’s favourite as they give amazing result on each click. This sort of brand associations only increases the overall value of the brand. 

Brand Loyalty 

This is one such company that is obsessed with the customers. They make it a point to prove that they offer the best quality at affordable prices.

Any new product they launch is lapped up the customers in frenzy. In 2017, the revenue for the brand was at US $15 billion. The logo of the company “MI” refers to “Mission Impossible” as they are truly facing a lot of challenges in the market. 

Forums and Fan base

The brand value took a major jump for the Xiaomi as it did what no other mobile phone manufacturer could ever do. They allowed their fans to participate in their decision making process! They created MIUI forums in which fans actively discussed the improvements needed and keeping that in mind they rolled out the next update.

They strictly followed the saying that – “you value your customers; they will add value to your brand!”

Xiaomi Brand Strategies 

The only reason why Xiaomi made it big in the global market is because of its innovative marketing strategies. Let’s discuss a few of the strategies that helped the brand gain popularity.

Flash sale model 

Almost every flagship or mid ranger that the company brings about in the market is sold in this new mode of “Flash sale”. In this, the product window is opened on ecommerce platform for purchase as long as stocks as last or for a limited period of time.

Whenever Xiaomi comes up with a new product, people are always hyped to buy it. This is why it is recorded that they sell out their phones within 20 minutes of starting such flash sale programs. 

Affordable pricing 

This has been the brand strength of the entire Xiaomi product line. They aim to offer the best hardware and software at prices which are low and affordable to the masses. This is their quality which has taken them to the peaks of success as people can now enjoy top features without shedding huge money.

Previously, the like of Apple and Samsung were leading the market and as people had no other choice, they gave in to the high prices of the products. In Asian markets, the value of money feature has only brought the brand higher on the smart phone hierarchy. 

Xiaomi is more of an ecommerce store 

What makes Xiaomi different from their competitors is exactly the same strategy that has led to their huge success in minimal time. The president of the company refers to the business s an ecommerce platform and hence puts Amazon as its competitor rather than Apple.

They operate Mi stores online which offer all the gadgets and their subsequent supporting devices and accessories which justify their claim of being more of an ecommerce set up rather than just a mobile phone manufacturer. 

Xiaomi is a brand that has a long way to go and it is great to see a brand emerging triumphant among market leaders in the same domain. Their pricing and branding strategies are worth all the praise and the company is set to achieve bigger goals in the coming days!