Xiaomi aims to sell smartphones in the US in 2019

Xiaomi appears to be geared up to foray into the US market next year. This has been revealed by the company's senior vice president Wang Xiang in an interview with Reuters. He stated, "Next year we hope we can do something there." He clarified that they are in talks with the US carriers and there is some way to go before the company can establish a presence in the market.

Xiaomi is holding a strong presence in its home market China. It has also expanded into other key global markets such as India and some European markets. The major focus of the company is to offer budget smartphones at disruptive pricing. With this strategy, Xiaomi has come the top smartphone brand in India.

Challenging market

Going by the volume, the US market is the world's third largest smartphone market. Eventually, it is important for any brand to be present in the market. But there is a major challenge associated with the same.

In addition to being the third largest smartphone market, the US is also the most developed one in the world. It is driven by premium offerings such as the Apple iPhones, Google Pixel lineup and the Samsung Galaxy Note and Galaxy S series devices. But there is still scope for the budget and mid-range offerings in the US.

What could be challenging for Xiaomi is that dependence on carrier support and carrier contracts. Also, the existing political climate in the US is against the interest of Chinese technology companies. Already, ZTE and Huawei are facing the end of sanctions and controls imposed by the US government. However, Wang Xiang doesn't consider this a major issue, claims the report. The reason is that Huawei and ZTE build network infrastructure equipment.

Recently, OnePlus, another Chinese market cracked into the market by selling unlocked devices to the advanced users. Xiaomi will have to follow a different approach than the mass market strategy. The company should focus on becoming a maverick smartphone brand in the US. Undoubtedly, the company is good at it as it did the same with the Indian and Chinese markets.