Following 2016 disappointment, Xiaomi makes record shipments again

Xiaomi was once of the fastest growing smartphone brands on the planet, but 2016 saw the company growing at a much slower pace than expected. In fact, 2016 smartphone shipments in China alone saw the firm reportedly drop to fifth place.

Now, Xiaomi co-founder Lei Jun revealed that it has broken records for quarterly shipments in Q2 2017.

“I was pleased to announce a breakthrough achievement at today’s smartphone all-hands meeting: we shipped 23.16 million smartphones in Q2 2017, an increase of 70% from the previous quarter, marking a record high for Xiaomi’s quarterly smartphone shipments,” the co-founder wrote in a letter.

Lei added that it was a big moment for Xiaomi, as “after two years of internal recalibration, Xiaomi is once again embarking on a rapid growth trajectory”.

The Xiaomi representative gave a number of reasons for the Q2 results, starting with its move to offline stores in its home market. Xiaomi has long used an online-only distribution model, but has since opened over 120 Mi Home stores across China, targeting smaller cities and towns.

Xiaomi has reportedly seen a 70% increase in smartphone shipments over the previous quarter

Lei also credited overseas markets for shoring up the numbers.

“Our performance in India has been especially encouraging — revenue in the first half of the year is up 328% year-on-year and we are now the #2 brand in the overall Indian smartphone market,” the Xiaomi co-founder said.

“Redmi Note 4 has become the highest shipped smartphone in the country, and Xiaomi is now widely recognised as a leading brand. Elsewhere, we are seeing great results in Indonesia, Russia, Ukraine, and a number of other countries.”

Speaking of Redmi Note 4, the device has launched in South Africa recently via Xiaomi’s local distributor (Mobile In Africa). At a sub-R4000 price, you’re getting a long battery life thanks to the 4100mAh battery and Snapdragon 625 chipset. Otherwise, a 5.5-inch full HD screen, rear fingerprint scanner, 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage round out the package.

As for 2018 sales? Lei used the letter to set the “humble goal” of shipping 100 million phones.