Chinese tech company Xiaomi is branching into the enterprise market, as it leverages its advantages in consumer electronics to tailor-make smartphones, TVs, and other products for corporate customers. The move is part of Xiaomi’s broader push to increase its revenue sources, and more importantly, build its artificial intelligence powered internet of things (AIoT) ecosystem. Wang Xiang, President of Xiaomi, said the company branched into the “to business” (To B) market because it now has the capability and opportunity to empower more industries to boost efficiency. “We now have very strong hardware manufacturing experience, and use the internet mindset to improve efficiency in production, manufacturing, and sales of hardware. That is the core of Xiaomi, and now we want to use such capabilities to empower more enterprises to boost efficiency,” Wang said.
Xiaomi set up a new department focusing on the To B business on January 1. Bai Peng, Vice President of the new department, said the company’s To B business includes two parts, namely, tailor-making products for corporate customers, and building smart ecosystems. The company is expected to customize about 600,000 to 700,000 terminals for corporate customers this year, mainly smartphones. The company will offer customized phones for industries such as e-commerce, finance, real estate and education. Xiaomi will also customize TVs for hotels, catering and other industries, as well as tailor-make smart speakers, tablets and other products. Bai said Xiaomi’s enterprise service business is forecast to generate revenue of more than CNY2 billion this year, and it aims to achieve revenue of more than CNY10 billion in 2023. More than 374 million IoT devices, excluding the company’s smartphones and personal computers, have been connected to Xiaomi’s AIoT platform by the end of June. Over 7.4 million users have five or more IoT devices connected to Xiaomi’s platform, and its smart home app now has 56.5 million monthly active users.
In the second quarter of this year, Xiaomi surpassed Apple as the second largest smartphone vendor by shipments for the first time, according to market research company Canalys. Lei Jun, CEO and Founder of Xiaomi, said earlier this year the company will step up efforts to safeguard its No 2 position and will be looking at becoming No 1 over the next three years. Xiang Ligang, Director General of the Information Consumption Alliance, said compared with internet companies which have also set their sights on IoT, Xiaomi’s edge lies in its years of experience in hardware and the fact it has established a beachhead in that area since it is an early mover, the China Daily reports.
