China smartphone giant Xiaomi targets 2017 sales of $14.5 billionJanuary 12, 2017 - 13:05 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - China's Xiaomi targets 2017 sales of over 100 billion yuan ($14.47 billion), Chief Executive Lei Jun said on Thursday, January 12 after a year that saw the firm fall down the smartphone vendor rankings while it overhauled its business, Reuters reports. "The worst is over," Lei said at an annual meeting in Beijing, describing 2016 as a "make-up year". Seven-year-old Xiaomi was briefly the world's most valuable startup and had hopes to be China's equivalent of Apple Inc. But it fell out of the top five in China for smartphone vendors in 2016, after reaching No. 2 in 2015. Last year saw increased competition from compatriots Huawei Technologies Co Ltd [HWT.UL], Oppo and Vivo while growth in the global smartphone market stagnated. In response, privately held Xiaomi said it made adjustments to several business areas, including increasing its offline retail presence and pushing for more overseas business. Lei did not detail Xiaomi's financial results but said the smartphone vendor ranked among the top three in India with sales of over $1 billion, and that revenue from its smart hardware ecosystem exceeded 15 billion yuan. He also said online revenue doubled, without elaborating. For 2017, Xiaomi plans to open 200 more Mi Home stores and a total of 1,000 stores over the next three years to strengthen its offline retail operations, since e-commerce makes up only 20 percent of China's overall smartphone market, Lei said. At present, Xiaomi has 54 Mi Home stores, he said. Developing artificial intelligence and internet finance will also be among 2017 growth strategies, he said. Xiaomi is the second-largest shareholder of Sichuan XW Bank, launched in December. Lei said Xiaomi has over 300 people working on loans, insurance, securities, finance and payments, as well as securing the necessary licenses. Top stories Yerevan will host the 2024 edition of the World Congress On Information Technology (WCIT). Rustam Badasyan said due to the lack of such regulation, the state budget is deprived of VAT revenues. Krisp’s smart noise suppression tech silences ambient sounds and isolates your voice for calls. Gurgen Khachatryan claimed that the "illegalities have been taking place in 2020." Partner news Most popular in the section | European Parliament to discuss repression in Azerbaijan The European Parliament will discuss repression of civil society in Azerbaijan on April 24 PACE wants concessions from Azerbaijan to accept Baku back A PACE co-rapporteur said that Azerbaijani authorities must make certain concessions so that the country can return to PACE. Cyprus parliament honors Armenian genocide victims Acting House President Zacharias Koulias noted that April 24 marks the “black anniversary” of the Armenian genocide. Armenia PM, France envoy discuss regional matters Issues related to the consistent development of Armenia-France cooperation were discussed. |