Xiaomi has become a household name in India, thanks to the wide range of smartphones they have to offer catering to the audience at every price-point ranging from entry-level budget offerings to value for money mid-rangers. Riding the success of their smartphones making them the #1 smartphone brand in India, Xiaomi decided to launch its much-awaited Mi TV series in India, starting with the 55-inch Mi TV 4, back in February this year, for an extremely competitive price of Rs. 39,999. The Mi TV 4 was later followed by the Mi TV 4A which was launched in two variants, a 42-inch model for Rs. 22,999 and a smaller 32-inch model for Rs. 13,999. Thanks to prices which were unheard of in this category before, Xiaomi experienced a massive demand for the TVs and hence, hiked the price of the top-end Mi TV 4 by a whopping Rs. 5,000 making the effective price Rs. 44,999, in order to cater to higher demands.
Thankfully, it looks like they’ve come up with a solution to this problem and have partnered with a local consumer electronics contract manufacturer, Dixon Technologies, and together, they’re planning to manufacture around 55,000 Mi TV sets every month locally in India. Xiaomi had previously partnered with Foxconn to produce the TVs locally in India and this seems to be their second partnership to up their scale of manufacturing.
Xiaomi made its Make in India plans clear stating that they want to try their hand at other consumer electronics too other than just smartphones while they also strive towards increasing the supply of already existing products.
The TVs manufactured in partnership with Dixon Technologies should be out in the market by August as the manufacturing process should begin by July in a plant located in Tirupati. The initial phase of production will include the smaller 43 and 32-inch variants and will later expand to other upcoming models as well.
As a result of this partnership, Xiaomi also aims to reduce the cost of these TVs as they wouldn’t have to pay surplus import duties. The panels, however, will still be imported from China as India lacks a facility to manufacture them locally. The panels along with other parts will then be assembled in India. Xiaomi is now paying a twenty percent duty on its televisions from China, with an additional 2 percent surcharge. If the company will now produce Mi TVs locally, it will only attract 5 percent import duty with a 1 percent additional surcharge, which will help to bring down the prices.
This is a much-required move by Xiaomi which shows they are indeed putting in efforts to increase their supply and match the demands in India. It’s high time they scrap their ‘flash sales’ model and take responsibility to deliver their products to everyone who is ready to buy them, and not a few lucky customers with faster internet and trackpad skills.