Xiaomi closes 2021 with 20 brand spaces in Portugal – Executive Digest
Chinese technology company Xiaomi ended 2021 with 20 spaces in the Portuguese market and expects to consolidate in ‘smartphones’ “as the second brand with more consumers in Portugal”, said the ‘country director’, Tiago Flores, to Lusa.
In May of last year, a month after starting operations in Portugal, Xiaomi announced the goal of having five million devices connected in the country in three years.
Questioned by Lusa, Tiago Flores said that the second half of the year was “openly positive”.
“We are going to consolidate in ‘smartphones’ as the second brand with more consumers in Portugal”, said the responsible, adding that since the beginning of an operation there are “several reasons for pride” of the brand.
“We ensured the duplication of our portfolio and the range of equipment we used to work with our customers, we started to manage the ‘supply chain’ [cadeia de fornecimento] we adapted to the Portuguese market and increased our store footprint across the country, ending the year with 20 branded spaces: 17 Mi Stores and 3 Xiaomi Smart Kiosks”, detailed the ‘country director’.
“With all this, both the smartphones and ecosystem equipment areas registered an increase in sales and revenues”, he added, without giving figures, noting that this sales growth “is a good indicator of the Portuguese consumer’s acceptance of Xiaomi in the brand’s first year in the country”.
Over the past year, Chinese technology has introduced more categories in the Portuguese market, which includes ‘tablets’ and televisions, which “recorded a huge success”, he stresses, noting that a brand is “on the right path” to connect Portugal.
According to the latest IDC data, cited by Xiaomi, the brand has a 24% market share in smartphones in the last quarter of last year, and in absolute terms of units sold the company managed to “quadruple” the number of smart mobile phones compared to the previous year.
“In the exclusive ecosystem categories, that is, not ‘smartphones’, we have doubled sales in value compared to last year”, added Tiago Flores.
Respondents are well on their way to reaching the goal of five million devices connected in three years, Tiago Flores said that “all indicators point to a positive response”.
“We are the company with the most connected devices on the market, in Portugal we already have around 700 devices in our portfolio and in our domestic market, in China, we have more than 2,000 connected devices available. Worldwide, Xiaomi has more than 400 million devices connected by consumers and in Portugal we want to be a reflection of this same strategy”, stressed the manager.
Regarding the type of equipment that the Portuguese most buy from the brand, the ‘smartphones’ stand out, but electric mobility has been growing, as well as the robot vacuum and ‘wearables’ category. [onde, por exemplo, se incluem os relógios inteligentes].
“In the second half of the year, we introduced Xiaomi televisions, which had a good performance that we will want to reinforce in 2022”, pointed out Tiago Flores.
As for expectations for this year, the ‘country director’ said that the technology will continue to work to reach the five million connected devices.
“We are studying the introduction of new product categories and we are going to reinforce strategic areas such as the ‘premium’ segment of ‘smartphones’ and televisions”, as well as maintaining the strategy of expanding stores across the country.