A Simple, Stretch Corporate Objective for Xiaomi - Double Sales in 2014!

How simple is this? Xiaomi - the Chinese manufacturer of smartphones - has set a challenging growth objective for 2014. It wants to double the number of phones it sells from just short of 20 million in 2013 to 40 million in 2014.

We've featured Xiaomi on the Business Blog before and it is an excellent case study for students wanting to develop their understanding of domestic competitors in China who are trying to challenge the big, global smartphone vendors.

This Guardian article reports on the new growth objective for Xiaomi and makes the important point that the overall smartphone market is growing strongly - but, by nowhere near as much as the 100% growth objective set by Xiaomi! The implication? If Xiaomi is able to achieve its objective, then by definition it will have gained market share from its key competitors.

Xiaomi's strategy is to develop and sell high-quality Android smartphones at low prices—its Hongmi (“Red Rice”) sells for about $130—and then charge for apps, games, advertising, and other services. The smartphones are really loss-leaders for the much more lucrative sales from the eco-system of apps and other services that come with them.