Chinese smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi Corp has joined hands with the country's second-largest telecom carrier, China United Network Communications Group Co, to increase its offline retailing channels across the country.

The announcement comes as Xiaomi struggles to cope with saturation in online sales and declining shipment. The smartphone maker is also burdened with mounting competition from other Chinese companies like Oppo, Lenovo, and Huawei.        

Like Us on Facebook

"The proportion of online sales is too big," said Lei Jun, CEO and founder of Xiaomi. "To maintain the rapid growth we have seen in the past four years, expanding offline retailing channels becomes the key."

Apart from smartphones, other Xiaomi products such as Xiaomi TV, routers, and air purifiers will also be sold through offline retail channels.     

"All of these Xiaomi electronic products will be available at our nationwide offline retail stores," said Xiong Yu, deputy general manager at China Unicom.

Xiong added that this joint venture perfectly fits into China Unicom's ambitious plan to transform its bricks-and-mortar assets into a major retailing platforms for selling various electronic products.

CK Lu, a principal analyst at consulting firm Gartner Inc, claims that China Unicom's abundant offline assets offer Xiaomi a direct entry into lower tier cities, where Xiaomi's major rivals Oppo Electronics Corp and vivo are dominant players.        

As China's burgeoning smartphone market begins to saturate, several Chinese companies are focusing on bricks-and-mortar sales to spur their profit. Xiaomi's competitor Lenovo Group has said it will invest more capital and efforts to increase its offline retail presence. According to Lenovo Vice-President Chen Xudong, offline retail sales holds the key to surviving the ruthless competition in the smartphone industry.

TagsXiaomi, China Unicom, china, Chinese smartphone news