India remains priority market: Xiaomi COO Sudhin Mathur

New Delhi: India remains a priority market for Xiaomi, chief operating officer of the local unit Sudhin Mathur said, underscoring that despite regulatory challenges and persistent market-share slippage, the country remains top three priority regions for the Chinese phone maker.

"It's a perception and a myth. There are regulatory challenges, and they are in the courts. They will take their own due course of time," Mathur told ET. "But from an overall headquarters and management point of view, India continues to be one of the most critical markets in the larger, global scheme of things." His comments come in the backdrop of perceived lack of interest in Beijing about the India operations that appear to have run into security and legal snags.

Mathur added that the company's regulatory challenges need to be de-hyphenated from its business, where Xiaomi is investing far more now across product teams, retail expansion, marketing, and after sales service infrastructure.

"The regulatory challenges are not deterring us from making any further growth strategies for India. I want to de-hyphenate these two issues. These have nothing to do with business growth, which depends largely on the strategy, whether we are relevant or not. And, 2026 is going to be the year of Xiaomi," he said. Mathur added that there is no business continuity impact from geopolitical issues, but travel restrictions have been a barrier.

"The positive impact (from a recent thaw in Sino-Indian relations) is that people can finally travel, and we can have closer interaction with our headquarters," Mathur said.

Underlining the company's focus on localisation, Mathur said some 90% of Xiaomi's revenues now come from categories manufactured locally through 11 contract manufacturers, Mathur said. This includes phones, smart TVs, tablets, and wearables through makers such as Dixon Technologies, Optiemus Electronics, and China-based DBG and BYD.