Chinese smartphones rely on Reliance counters for better India presence
Chinese smartphone brands are roping in services of Reliance Retail’s distribution arm to reach retail stores in the hinterlands.
Xiaomi sub-brand Poco recently roped in Jio Mart Digital (JMD), through a strategic partnership to distribute Poco devices to over 80,000 retail stores across the country, according to industry executives and retailers.
The move comes amidst the offline retail channels claiming over 61% of sales in Q1 2024, according to preliminary estimates from Counterpoint Research, up from 56% the previous quarter. Samsung and Vivo have the strongest hold over offline retail, the research firm said, adding that Xiaomi and Transsion were the fastest growing in Q1 2024.
“Poco moved into offline channels with key focal points like Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Ahmedabad which helped them increase their share offline channel and will be trying to expand its presence across more regions,” Shilpi Jain, senior research analyst, Counterpoint Research said.
JMD is also in talks with OnePlus, executives said, as part of its aggressive expansion in the business that the Reliance subsidiary terms as “new commerce”.
The BBK group-owned smartphone brand has announced it will double its investments for retail expansion in 2024, with tier-2 and tier-3 cities as its targets, and has set a goal of opening 200 stores in 2024.
Poco, OnePlus, and Reliance Retail did not respond to emails seeking comments.
To be sure, Reliance Retail was already doing distribution of electronics goods through JMD for both
