The story appears on

Page A11

July 3, 2015

GET this page in PDF

Free for subscribers

View shopping cart

Related News

Home » Business » IT

Xiaomi’s H1 sales fall may hit year’s goal

CHINA’S top smartphone maker Xiaomi yesterday reported semi-annual sales that for the first time were lower than the previous six months, jeopardizing its full-year target and hinting at a slowdown in its mainstay domestic market.

The firm said it sold 34.7 million handsets in the January-June period versus 35 million in the July-December period — the first sequential fall since the company began disclosing six-month figures in 2013. For 2015, it aims for minimum sales of 80 million smartphones.

Beijing-based Xiaomi has enjoyed a rapid rise with handsets it touts as cheaper but well-designed alternatives to Apple’s iPhones. That led private investors last year to value the firm at US$45 billion, making it China’s most valuable startup.

Its latest sales result could be a blip as the firm usually ships more handsets in the second half when it markets more new models, but it has made analysts question whether Xiaomi’s expansion abroad is fast enough to counter a slowdown at home.

Smartphone shipments in China — where Xiaomi is No. 1 — fell in the first quarter for the first time in six years, though it was unclear whether the drop signaled the start of a downward trend, researcher IDC said in May.

“Around 90 percent of Xiaomi’s shipments are in China, so if in that market it doesn’t have high growth, it’s going to be very difficult,” said Canalys analyst Nicole Peng.

Sales would need to pick up dramatically in the second half of this year to meet Xiaomi’s 2015 target sales of between 80 million and 100 million handsets — a goal revised from a flat 100 million sets last year.

“Even with the China smartphone market slowing down, we did a stellar job of posting a 33 percent growth on last year’s numbers,” Chief Executive Lei Jun said in a statement yesterday.

Xiaomi has been growing overseas to ease the pressure at home, focusing on India, Southeast Asia and, from next week, Brazil.

But in emerging markets, Xiaomi has to face protectionist measures such as India promoting local production and high import duties in Brazil, said Canalys’ Peng.

IT



 

Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.

沪公网安备 31010602000204号

Email this to your friend