Xiaomi Wants a Bigger Space in Your Home: Confirms Entry Into the Large Appliances Category in India

Xiaomi India will undergo its biggest strategic shift in over a decade, and the brand will finally expand its product portfolio. The company is set to disrupt the large-appliances market with a localised 'phone plus ecosystem' play. This will be the first time since July 2014, when Xiaomi debuted its first product, the Mi 3, in India, that the brand will expand beyond smartphones. The company already has a comprehensive portfolio in India that includes phones, tablets, Smart TVs, TWS, wearables, and some IoT products.

In a closed-door media briefing, the company's senior leadership, including Sandeep Singh Arora, Chief Business Officer, Xiaomi India; Anuj Sharma, CMO, Xiaomi India; and Sudhin Mathur, COO, Xiaomi India, shared the details. Xiaomi is expected to launch large appliances in the second half of 2026, and the company is already testing these products. The company also stresses that it will focus on localised manufacturing for markets like India, but at this point, there's no update on the first product in the appliances category.

During the same meeting, Anuj also confirmed that he is stepping down from Xiaomi after an eight-year stint, and you can read more details here.

Entering the Large Appliances Category in India

Sudhin Mathur, COO, Xiaomi India, announced the expansion of the large appliances category in India. "I have been hinting to you about our phones plus ecosystem strategy. We will be taking that to the next level under the leadership of Alex and drawing on his experience. We will also be launching large appliances in India. We'll add a new category and also launch a lot of new AIoT products."

For those unaware, Xiaomi recently appointed Alexander Tang as the new head of its India business, replacing Alvin Tse, who was previously leading India operations. Sudhin said that the large appliances represent the next growth engine for the company in India.

"The next growth engine for us will come from these categories, so especially, I mean, Alex come with such a vast experience on Southeast Asia, which was the first region where we launched appliances outside of China, so there we localised, we looked at the market, although those market sizes would vary in comparison to India, but the context would still remain the same in that sense, so I think last year we said that we will go global from a larger point of view. So far, the large appliances have been available only in China, where we are doing extremely well with new products, and we now have sufficient experience there. So we have gone to new regions. Now India is the one which will also launch this product, and the members will be ready, and the category is very big, so you'll have to see step by step."

Anuj weighed in, adding that the biggest change will be localisation in the appliances category.

"We've done air purifiers, but we've never been able to do it with the conviction and scale. Last year, we localised our smartwatch as part of our AIoT strategy, making it the first Xiaomi wearable to be manufactured locally. We have now completed our localisation for air purifiers, as Sudhin added, large appliances can only happen with conviction, as you localise, and that we follow that with potentially some more categories," Anuj added. 

In the large appliances category, Sudhin further committed to absolute market disruption over standard ODM designs. "It will have to be disruptive, that is core to Xiaomi's DNA, that's what Anuj also talked about, it will be disruptive, it will be something that that is a better value proposition for the consumer, and that's the work that is ongoing, and the opportunities are there, we will, of course, work with is to make sure that there are today a lot of brands that are in that space, which have no, you know, outside of few, don't, don't have any service delivery, and when we do it, we will also do it with the right approach, not just the consumer proposition, but also the right, you know, services, and service capability," Sudhin added.

On being asked about the current readiness of the supply chain for large appliances, Sudhin added, "We will share more details on the specifics, but I can confidently say that it is in a very advanced stage of conversation."

India to Become the South Asia Regional HQ for Xiaomi

Sudhin also touched on Alexander Tang's new role and said he will take over as the General Manager for South Asia. He further said that India will soon be elevated to the status of a headquarters for the South Asia Region. "Alex was the head of the South East Asia region, which included five markets, including the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, and so on. He was heading that region, and he built those markets from a mobile phone market into one that included home appliances, with a focus on localisation as well," Sudhin further added.

On H1 2026, Business Resilience, Premium Growth, and Portfolio Transition

Xiaomi's Sandeep Singh Arora shared how the company has performed in 2026, saying that despite all the headwinds, the business has been very resilient. "We have seen in the first half of the year that ASP (average selling price) is going up by close to 36 percent. We have seen our mid-premium business, which is let's say Rs. 35,000 to 50,000, grow close to 212%, and this portfolio transition on phones is going to be our focus going forward. You would have seen in the month of June itself, we launched two new devices, we've got the Xiaomi 17T on the back of the Xiaomi 17 and 17 Ultra, and now we've got the Redmi Turbo 5, the launch that covers Rs. 35,000 to 50,000 and beyond range, so that's going to be our focus going into the second part of 2026. We are also seeing that same transformation portfolio transitioning in our tablet and TV lists," Sandeep added.

"There is high-end demand for TV and tablets. Our TV segment is continuously growing. This year, we launched two mini LED series. We started with our S mini LED in March, and we've now launched the mini LED Fire OS version of both our portfolios, which are going upwards of, you know, in revenue terms, and even tablets are showing a similar growth. So, this whole transition of our portfolio to premium will continue, and that gives us a lot of confidence as we head into the second half of the year. In addition, we continue to strengthen all our channel capabilities, and our presence is also getting much better," he added.

While we do not have clarity on what new products Xiaomi plans to bring to India, given the company's plans to expand its portfolio, it seems the festive season is the perfect time for a launch. However, we will have to wait for an official confirmation from the brand.