BENGALURU: Mobile retailers in India have threatened to approach the Competition Commission of India (CCI) as well as the courts against Chinese handset maker Xiaomi, accusing the smartphone brand of violating the terms of agreement by exclusive tie-ups with online marketplaces.
China-headquartered tech firms captured almost 28% of the smartphone market in India in Q2, 2021, as per a report by Counterpoint research. In a letter addressed to Xiaomi’s Director Offline sales Sunil baby, All India Mobile retailers Association (AIMRA) stated that the agreement between the global brand and offline retailers signed few years back has been repeatedly violated, which has resulted in the non-availability of stocks to a majority of the small businesses.
“Sir, Xiaomi’s claims of the highest sales in the last two months has put us all in contemplation as to from which channel has such a huge sale been achieved. Whether it is done by exporters, aggregators or some other channel because Mi partners across India have got the least stock or no stock during that period,” says the letter seen by the TNIE.
The retailers have said that China’s budget smartphone brand during its entry into Indian markets few years back, had signed contracts with brick and mortar stores, under which the shops were re-branded as Mi stores and agreements with rival brands were suspended, which led to a drop in their revenues. However, the retailers say that Xiaomi has now preferred to launch its exclusive models on online marketplaces as well as limited the supply to offline businesses.
A Xiaomi spokesperson told this publication that the smartphone industry was impacted due to Covid disruptions in supply chain and imports which led to the delay.