Despite India being one of its biggest markets, Xiaomi has decided to retail its very first Android Go smartphone in the Philippines.
Xiaomi has launched its first Android Go smartphone, Redmi Go, in the Philippines. The brand has priced it at Php 3,990.00 (approx. Rs 5,400). It is to be noted here that the brand had re-entered Philippines last year.
Rappler, a Philippines daily, in March 2018, had reported, “Back in 2015, upstart Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi left the Philippines and reallocated its resources to a much bigger market: India. Today, it has returned to the Philippines with a larger workforce and a conservative expansion plan.”
Steven Shi, head of Southeast Asia, Xiaomi Global, said, “Xiaomi has received such a warm welcome in the Philippines since its re-entry last year, and we are really grateful to all Mi fans for their support. With Redmi Go making its global debut here, we hope that even more users here will be able to enjoy an amazing smartphone experience at an amazing price. This is part of our commitment to make innovation available to everyone.”
Despite India being one of its biggest markets, Xiaomi has decided to retail the affordable smartphone in the Philippines first. Given the fact that a lot of feature phone users may be switching to affordable smartphones, the Redmi Android Go smartphone could have been a winner for Xiaomi in the country.
Redmi Go Smartphone Features
Redmi Go features a 12.7-cm (5.0-inch) HD display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 425 SoC processor and a 3,000 mAh battery. On the back it sports a 8MP main camera supported by an LED flashlight. On the front, Redmi Go has a 5MP camera for selfies. It comes with two SIM card slots and has a dedicated microSD slot that supports up to 128 GB microSD cards.
The brand’s official statement read, “Redmi Go will come in Black or Blue, and will be available in 8 GB storage capacity at Php 3,990.00.” It added, “Redmi Go will be released in more markets globally. Local availability in other markets will be announced closer to the launch date.”
The announcement of Redmi, operating as a separate brand, was made in the second week of January 2019. Lei Jun, founder, president and CEO of Xiaomi Corporation, had said, “As at 30 September 2018, Xiaomi had sold a total of 278 million Redmi series smartphones globally. We successfully invited Lu Weibing, the former president of Gionee, to be Vice President of Xiaomi Corporation and General Manager of the Redmi brand.”
Jun added, “His rich experience will assist Redmi to penetrate foreign markets faster and capture opportunities for further development and expansion. Redmi will continue to focus on research and development of extremely cost-effective smartphones with superior quality, and accelerate the pace of global expansion.”
