By Mark Davison – It may be a relative newcomer to the South African market and still not a household name, but under new South African country manager – Tianshi Lv – Xiaomi is dead set on changing that perception.
At the launch last night of the Redmi Note 17 Series at the Westcliff Hotel ballroom, Tv took attendees through some of the accomplishments of the company since its inception just 16 years ago – a steady, progressive upward trajectory on the Fortune 500, and the third most popular global smartphone brand for six consecutive years, among other achievements.
And while smartphones may be the company’s flagship, it’s portfolio of products extends much further than that. It’s robovac is the most popular in South Africa, for example, and it has sold more than 700 000 electric vehicles worldwide in the past two years. It’s also sold more than 500-million of the Redmi Note series – and at any one time, today, there are 1,16-billion connected Xiaomi devices.
Tv, who took on his new role as the local country manager in April this year, is confident that he can mirror the success he achieved in his previous role as country manager for Xiaomi in Peru.
“When I started in Peru, Xiaomi had 1% market share,” Tv says. “Today, six years later, it has 30% market share.
“South Africa is a fast-growing market, it is a vibrant market, and I’m confident we can achieve the same success here,” he says. “We have our products – not just smartphones, but encompassing the smart home, vehicles, a whole ecosystem – and we need to tell their stories.
“We need to tell those stories to South African consumers,” he says. “Local consumers are very brand loyal. And that is why launches like today’s Redmi Note 17 series – the whole portfolio of smartphones from entry level Note 17 to top-of-the range Pro Max, not just selected products – are important.”
And while Xiaomi’s current focus on the local market may be mainly consumer-oriented – meaning retail and telcos – it was heartening to see more traditional distributors like Syntech well represented at the event.
Tv explains that Xiaomi has an omni-channel strategy in the country. It’s basically about the consumer having the easiest route to access to the company’s complete portfolio – whether that’s through a retailer, via a cellphone operator, or from a trusted distributor.
“From a channel perspective, we’re omni-channel,” Tv says. “We want our consumers to buy our products from anywhere they want – when they want.
“Our strategy in South Africa is based around the consumer,” he adds. “They, ultimately, decide which channel they want to buy from.”
Interestingly, “Xiaomi” is the Chinese word for millet and, according to the company’s founder Lei Jun, it also carries Buddhist and operational references connected to the idea of starting from small, foundational grains.
And, judging from the response to last night’s launch, we have little doubt that growth is on the cards for Tv and Xiaomi.