Xiaomi admits growing too fast, no longer sharing yearly sales figures

Chinese manufacturer Xiaomi will not reveal last year’s smartphone sales figures, a previous company tradition, according to a report from TechCrunch. The news arrives as Xiaomi’s CEO and co-founder Lei Jung admits the company grew “too fast”.

Xiaomi has become one of the largest smartphone manufacturers in the world since it launched in 2010, with its smartphone sales seeing often dramatic year-on-year increases. Sales of Xiaomi’s phones jumped from 7.19 million in 2012 to 18.7 million in 2013, before more than tripling in 2014 with 61.1 million.

Xiaomi achieved 70 million smartphone sales in 2015, but the company’s growth is believed to be slowing down. This is an expected outcome of Xiaomi’s initially rapid expansion, but Lei also suggests the company had made some missteps along the way.

“In the first few years, we pushed ahead too fast. We created a miracle, but also drew on some long-term growth,” Lei said, in a letter to his employees. “So we have to slow down, further improve in some areas, and ensure sustainable growth for a long-term future.”

Lei also revealed that Xiaomi’s future plans involve expanding into brick and mortar stores, though Xiaomi has largely relied on an online-only business model in the past.

“Our e-commerce strategy has also faced some challenges E-commerce now makes up just over 10 percent of overall retail in China, and the online smartphone market only makes up 20 percent of the overall smartphone market. Xiaomi has great ambitions, and we are not satisfied with just being an e-commerce smartphone brand, so we have to upgrade our retail model, and incorporate offline retail for a new retail strategy.”

Xiaomi is also working on AI and VR products, as well as its own mobile payments system, in addition to new products in its range of hardware and accessories.

To check out what Xiaomi currently has on offer, visit the Mi Store.