Reliance Jio is reportedly in talks with Chinese electronics and software giant Xiaomi to enter into a long-term relationship with the company to sell Xiaomi’s smart TVs and smartphones exclusively via the Jio retail network and the Reliance Digital chain of stores, according to two senior industry executives who spoke to ET. In addition to…
Reliance Jio is reportedly in talks with Chinese electronics and software giant Xiaomi to enter into a long-term relationship with the company to sell Xiaomi’s smart TVs and smartphones exclusively via the Jio retail network and the Reliance Digital chain of stores, according to two senior industry executives who spoke to ET.
In addition to an arrangement to provide some of Xiaomi’s B2B products like smart point-of-sales devices to Jio retailers to digitise the supply chain, the companies are also exploring the option of bringing more products manufactured by the Chinese company into the Indian market, said the two executives.
Xiaomi India recently made a regulatory filing announcing its intension to enter product segments besides smartphones, including for the B2B segment.
“Senior executives at Xiaomi India and Reliance Jio have met several times in the last few weeks,” said one of the executives, adding that while the partnership will start with B2B smart point-of-sales devices, both companies are keen to expand their relationship into consumer devices. “The two also want to expand the partnership into exclusive smartphone models,” the other executive added.
Relliance is also reportedly considering Xiaomi for the exclusive launch of its smart television which will be bundled with Reliance Jio home broadband services, which is all set for roll out, at a compelling price.
Chinese smartphone giants Xiaomi had a great run last year, and have emerged on top, shipping approximately 8.2 million smartphones in India in Q4 2017, making it the clear leader of the country’s smartphone market. The company managed to upstage Samsung by capturing nearly 27% of the market share as against Samsung’s 25%. The company entered the Indian market in 2014 with an ‘online-only’ strategy, and expanded its reach to the offline segment as well in the last year or so. Xiaomi recently debuted a new 4K capable 50-inch HDR TV, the latest addition to its Mi TV 4A series in China.
Reliance Jio, with its disruptive pricing strategies, managed to post a profit in its third quarter results against a loss making previous quarter. The company says it now has a subscriber base of over 160 million users.
