Chinese Smartphone Giant, Xiaomi is set to begin the sales of its smartphones in Africa. This move will be in conjunction with the Mobile in Africa Group through distributor partnership to sell in South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria. Sales of its two budget friendly phones ; Redmi 2 and Mi 4 will commence mid November.
Raymond Tian, Xiaomi’s global strategy director said in a statement; “We see Africa as the next frontier for smartphone growth,””And we are excited to be partnering with MIA Group to offer consumers in these three countries our high-quality smartphones at amazing prices.”
This will be the first time in the history of Xiaomi not to sell smartphones directly to the public. The MIA group which presently operates in 14 countries will provide importation, logistics, marketing and support services.
MIA Group president RJ van Spaandonk expressed his happiness saying that they are “delighted to bring the Redmi 2 and Mi 4 to key countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. We’ve seen a strong response to the products based on preliminary discussions with partners, and we look forward to providing consumers with these new high-end smartphone options at incredible price points”.
Valued at $45 billion, Xiaomi has gone from strength to strength. It’s now the world’s fifth-largest smartphone maker and it overtook Apple in the Chinese smartphone market earlier this year.
