Xiaomi targets 5G amid saturation

Firm emphasises AI and IoT in local push, writes Suchit Leesa-nguansuk

Chinese tech giant Xiaomi says it is focusing on 5G, artificial intelligence (AI) and Internet of Things (IoT) technologies for products and services catered to the Thai market.

The world’s fourth largest smartphone maker opened its representative office in Thailand in early 2019. The decision to move its Asean headquarters from Indonesia to Thailand was made in late 2019.

“After spending several years in Indonesia and successfully gaining market share, we decided to focus more on Thailand, which is the second largest smartphone market in the region,” Steven Shi, head of Southeast Asia for Xiaomi, told the Bangkok Post.

While the local smartphone market is reaching maturity, the country’s rollout of a 5G network could bring about opportunity for handset replacement, he said.

Xiaomi’s connected devices, particularly air purifiers, are gaining popularity among Thais.

The company has over 1 million fans in the Mi community in Thailand. Xiaomi has rolled out 192 models of connected devices globally, with 154 models sold in Thailand.

In China, the company has more than 2,000 products and over 400 developer partners.

“We would like to offer innovation for everyone, particularly affordable devices with innovation,” said Mr Shi.

The arrival of 5G should lead to major breakthroughs for the company this year, he said. Xiaomi is promoting a “smartphone-AIoT” strategy, where AIoT represents an amalgamation of AI and IoT.

The creation of a 5G network should result in more smart connected devices as people build smart homes, said Mr Shi.

The company has hired 20 local staff to explore the best product options for customers in Thailand, he said.

The next generation of the super internet also offers potential, said Mr Shi.

“The 5G+AIoT drive represents Xiaomi’s ability to offer services across product lines”, he said.

At the beginning of 2019, Xiaomi outlined an “All in AIoT” vision with a plan to invest 10 billion yuan (45.8 billion baht) over the next five years in this technology. The company is pushing up the planned outlay to at least 50 billion yuan under the 5G+AIoT drive.

Mr Shi is aware of the company’s product shortage in early February as

‘‘

The creation of a 5G network should result in more smart connected devices as people build smart homes.

STEVEN SHI

Southeast Asia head, Xiaomi

the coronavirus outbreak disrupted the supply chain. But the situation has since returned to normal, he said.

According to Mr Shi, 15-18 million handsets are shipped to Thailand per year, making the country the second largest market in the region after Indonesia.

“We hope to gain local market share and enter the top five in the future,” he said.

In 2019, Samsung kept the top spot with a 24% market share in Thailand, followed by Oppo (23%), Vivo (16%), Huawei (12%) and Apple (10%), according to global IT research firm IDC.

Some 18.2 million smartphones were shipped to Thailand in 2019, down 5.5% from a year earlier.

Teerit Paowan, an analyst at IDC Thailand, said local smartphone sales are likely to register a double-digit contraction if the pandemic drags on until the third quarter of this year.

Globally, Xiaomi’s earnings surpassed 200 billion yuan for the first time in 2019, according to Xiaomi founder, chairman and chief executive Lei Jun.

“While the entire world is still under the dark shadow of the pandemic, we have maintained our keen focus on efficiency to tide over this economic black swan. At Xiaomi, we firmly believe our long-term business success is underpinned by technological innovations,” said Mr Jun.