Heads-up, Xiaomi fans: The Chinese tech giant is officially returning to the Philippines soon, a company official familiar with Xiaomi’s domestic plans told Revü Philippines.
(Update, February 6: It’s official! Xiaomi is coming back to the Philippines indeed. Read Confirmed: 1st official Xiaomi Philippines store to open Feb. 17.)
According to the person we spoke with, Xiaomi will open official stores on Lazada and Shopee, two of the more popular e-commerce platforms around, while its offline presence might be added as early as next month, sometime around Chinese New Year, which falls on February 16 this year.
According to a Xiaomi executive, they will open official Philippine stores on Lazada and Shopee, while its offline presence might be added as early as next month, sometime around Chinese New Year.
It’s likely Xiaomi will start with two brick-and-mortar locations in the Philippines — one in Quezon City and another inside an SM mall. The stores, we’re told, are crucial to the company’s current and future business, as they will allow consumers to experience Xiaomi devices firsthand.
SEE ALSO: Is this Makati shop really an official Xiaomi Mi Home store?
It’s also important to note that offline locations could serve as showrooms for Xiaomi’s burgeoning line of smart-home and lifestyle products, which includes televisions, robot vacuum cleaners, lamps, electric bikes, and plenty more. We’ve seen them in person, and they’re just as cool as we’d imagined.
Throwback to 2014 when my Revü Philippines partner, Alora Uy Guerrero, and I interviewed former Xiaomi VP Hugo Barra about their entry into the Philippines
Back when the Chinese OEM first came to the Philippine market in 2014, with longtime Googler and former Xiaomi executive Hugo Barra in tow, it sold its phones and tablets exclusively online, through Lazada. It took the company months to rethink its strategy and scale up with pop-up stores that allowed customers to examine the devices before making a purchase.
READ ALSO: Xiaomi Redmi 5 Plus review: A worthy Redmi Note 4X upgrade?
This time around, the brand that is neck and neck with Samsung in India seems decided to go all out — both offline and online. We’re told that Xiaomi is poised to make an announcement soon, and we’ll be there to cover the launch event many of you have been waiting for a while.
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