An uneasy 2016 for Xiaomi led it’s disclosing of data on smartphone shipments. But today, the company revealed data on the same in the second quarter of 2017. The company shipped 23.16 million smartphones in 2017 Q2 which is a leap of 70% better compared to the previous quarter. This is, in fact, a new record for Xiaomi. The whole was stated in the letter by Xiaomi founder and CEO Lei Jun to employees. They could spread the same to the reporters worldwide.
“This achievement signifies a major inflection point in our growth — after two years of internal recalibration, Xiaomi is once again embarking on a rapid growth trajectory,” Jun wrote. “This is a truly significant milestone for Xiaomi — to date, no other smartphone company globally had been able to resume growth after a decline in sales.”
Jun credited the comeback to the investments of the company in R&D and design. According to him, Xiaomi rededicated itself to quality and customer satisfaction. He wrote, “Our goal is to win through the ‘iron-fist’ of quality.”
This turnaround came after Hugo Barra left the company, that too after one miserable year for Xiaomi. Hugo Barra, the Google executive, was imposed on to join Xiaomi for global brand building.
Also, a few months ago, analysts kept saying that Xiaomi would go through a tough time to stabilize. As Canalys Research Analyst Mo Jia said in a research note in April, Xiaomi needs to change its approach from becoming a value-for-money vendor to being an ambitious brand.
He went on while Vivo and Oppo are leading, and with Huawei planning to invest more offline in 2017, Xiaomi would face a tedious move on its way up the value chain.
As per Jun’s words, the recent success of Xiaomi was mostly based on retail sales models. At the same time, the company also saw a market breakout in India, with sales increasing year-over-year by 328% in the first 6 months of this year.
Now, Xiaomi is aiming to ship 100 million smartphones in 2017. In the fiscal year 2016, Apple sold 211,88 million iPhones. As per some analysts, this number may go up to 250 million or higher in the fiscal year 2018 by the release of the iPhone 8. Yet, Jun and Xiaomi can enjoy sighs of relief for the 70% leap.
“A new chapter for Xiaomi has just begun, and so many possibilities lie ahead of us,” Jun wrote. “Our future is as vast as the constellations and beyond.”
