Chinese technology manufacturer Xiaomi opened its first retail store in the MSAR, with the group in talks to potentially implement smart technology appliances in SJM hotel rooms and other real estate developments
Chinese electronics and software manufacturer Xiaomi opened its first retail store in the MSAR last Friday, celebrating the opening ceremony at the 22nd Macao International Trade and Investment Fair (MIF) Xiaomi Intelligent City Forum & Xiaomi Macau Conference. The new store is located in the Tak Yuen Building at Rua do Almirante Costa Cabral 29, on the Macau peninsula.
Inaugurated in partnership with F&Z Trade, Tai Fung Bank and China Telecom (Macau) Company Limited, this is the first official Xiaomi store in the MSAR offering the company’s smartphones and products. Previously, the nearest stores were located in Hong Kong or Zhuhai.
“The Macau market has a large purchasing power. It’s obviously not a large market, but like Hong Kong it’s a very international market that works as a bridge, enabling us to establish contact with Portuguese-speaking countries,” the Regional PR Manager for Xiaomi, Jack Liu told Business Daily.
The Xiaomi representative didn’t specify the exact volume of company products sold in Macau so far, but stated the company’s products were already popular in the city before opening its official retail store.
The inauguration ceremony was also attended by the Legislator and Executive Director of SJM Holdings Ltd. (SJM), Angela Leong On Kei, with sources informing Business Daily that SJM is in negotiations with Xiaomi to implement and integrate its technology devices in the gaming operator’s hotel rooms.
Rebound year
At the beginning of this year, Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun set a target to reach sales of over RMB100 million in 2017, Reuters reported, after the company dropped from second to fifth in mainland China’s rankings of top smartphone vendors last year.
This decrease was explained by Mr. Lei as being due to higher internal competition from other Chinese smartphone manufacturers, with the company trying to rebound this year by increasing its offline retail presence and pushing for more overseas business.
In the second quarter of this year, the Chinese company’s CEO stated that the group had shipped 23.16 million smartphones, a 70 per cent increase from the previous quarter, according to Venture Beat.
“According to the results for the third quarter of this year, Xiaomi came back to fifth worldwide in sales. We’re happy the sales have picked up again, thanks to great new products such as the Xiaomi Mi 6,” Mr. Liu told Business Daily, referring to the company’s smartphone model launched in April.
According to Mr. Liu, opening a store in Macau is part of Xiaomi’s global expansion plans, with the Chinese technology company having recently opened stores in European countries and in Latin America.
“We have just entered Mexico in May. It will be our starting point for Latin America,” he added.
Building it smart
When questioned on how Xiaomi products and innovations can contribute to the MSAR Government’s initiative to develop the MSAR as a Smart City, the Xiaomi representative stated the company produces several devices and smart appliances aside from smartphones that allow people to interconnect their devices in their homes, referring to a concept known as the Internet of Things (IoT).
“We’re working with a real estate developer to install our smart home devices in an estate in Macau. We have a lot of smart appliances such as smart sockets, actions sensors, sensors you can stick on your door so you’re notified when it’s open or night lamps that turn on automatically,” he added.
The Xiaomi representative said the name of the developer and the estate Xiaomi is working with in the MSAR would only be revealed in a future announcement.
