Smartphone vendor Xiaomi Corp said on Monday it plans to open 1,000 offline experiencestores over the next three to four years and continue to expand its product portfolio.
The move toward experience stores comes in the wake of online smartphone sales hitting theceiling.
Xiaomi has been grappling with declining phone shipments and mounting competition from rivalssuch as Huawei Technologies Co Ltd.
Lei Jun, founder and CEO of Xiaomi, said the Beijing-based company wants to be the Muji inChina's tech sector. Muji is a Japanese retail company that sells a wide variety of household andconsumer goods.
"Xiaomi was never meant to be just a smartphone vendor. Instead, we are aiming to offerconsumers a wide range of products at affordable prices," Lei said at the Summer Davos inTianjin.
"We need about 40 kinds of electronic products to attract consumers to our online shoppingplatform and offline retail stores," he said, adding the company has invested in 55 smarthardware manufacturers in recent years.
Xiaomi has expanded its offerings from smartphones to drones, air purifiers, patch panels to ricecookers.
"When I founded Xiaomi in 2010, I knew clearly that it would take 15 years for Xiaomi to gopublic, because the company's business model is too complicated and consumers need time tocultivate belief in our products," Lei said.
Di Jin, research manager at IDC China, said Muji's business model works quite well for fast-moving consumer products such as shampoo. But for electronic products, the key to success stilllies in hefty investments in research and development.
