New Delhi: The Mi 4i "is not a Chinese design that is imported to India, this is a product that is designed with this market in mind," said Hugo Barra, Xiaomi's vice president of international operations at the smartphone's launch event in New Delhi on Thursday.
The Xiaomi Mi 4i unveiling the was the company's first global launch outside of China. The feature-heavy Rs 12,999 Xiaomi Mi 4i includes support for six Indian languages.
"It speaks volumes to our focus on India, our intentions, and (is about) really putting our investment where we believe the future of the company is," Barra said.
For Xiaomi, the research on the processor used in the Mi 4i was led by a team in Bengaluru. The company could also make the phone locally once it sets up a manufacturing presence here, Barra said.
India is the world's third-largest smartphone market, but with just one in 10 people using handsets such as the Xiaomi Mi 4i, the country still has huge growth potential.
With growth saturating at home, companies from China and Taiwan have either entered or ramped up India operations over the past year. Six were among the top 20 smartphone vendors in the December quarter.
Xiaomi, a five-year-old company known as China's Apple, entered India in July last year through a tie-up with online retailer Flipkart. It later partnered The Mobile Store retail chain with a pan-India presence to boost its sales.
(With inputs from Reuters)
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