The ‘Mi Scale’ of Xiaomi. (Image : Yonhap)
Seoul, July 22 (Korea Bizwire) – Xiaomi (小米), a Chinese electronics company, is growing into a giant in the Korean market despite its humble name, which means ‘millet‘.
With positive evaluations that their products perform well despite cheap prices, Xiaomi is dominating the online market as well as offline retailers such as HiMart. In addition, due to the company’s popularity, the perception of Chinese electronics in general has improved, leading to growth in sales.
According to Gmarket (www.gmarket.co.kr),the ‘Xiaomi Craze’ can be seen in the rankings of their best selling products.
Five of the top selling external battery chargers are products from Xiaomi, and the scale that was sold the most was also produced by the Chinese company. Xiaomi’s USB fans ranked second among sales of portable electric fans, and products from its action cam series ranked third and fifth among sales of video cameras.
The same phenomenon can be seen at other online markets. At Auction (www.auction.com), all of the No.1 products in sales of external battery chargers, smart health care, and scales were products from Xiaomi. The company’s ‘smart scale’ that features Bluetooth technology has been the most sold scale at CJ Mall as well, and the Xiaomi external battery has been the top product in sales for the past 7 months.
The popularity of Xiaomi is changing the image of electronics made in China, and also increasing the sales of products from other Chinese brands.
Products other than Xiaomi’s external batteries and smart scale that started this whole craze are also drawing consumers’ attention. Tmon (www.tmon.co.kr), an online shopping site, said they would be expanding their offering of Xiaomi products to include earphones, smart bands, and air purifiers.
According to Tmon, sales of Chinese electronics during the first half of the year almost tripled compared to the same period last year. The SJ4000HD Action Camcorder from SJCAM, which has a wide angle of view and is half the price of its competitor’s product, the Mini Beam Projector UC30 from UNIC, which can also be used as a second battery, and also Chinese drones have become popular among consumers as ‘the mistake of the continent’.
Kim Sun-min, director of headquarters at Tmon, explains the change in product sales. “Before Xiaomi, Chinese electronics and IT products were thought of as ‘cheap, but poor in performance and design’. But with Xiaomi leading the way, Chinese electronics with great quality as well as price competitiveness are dominating the market, changing the perception of Korean consumers.”
The popularity of Xiaomi is changing the image of electronics made in China, and also increasing the sales of products from other Chinese brands. (Image : Yonhap)
By Kevin Lee (kevinlee@koreabizwire.com)
