Phone sales down to near zero, Covid was Xiaomi India chief's acid test

The pandemic has triggered an urgent need for devices supporting activities such as work from home, remote learning, entertainment and playing games and Xiaomi India is betting big on this opportunity

A year ago in March, Manu Jain, 41, vice-president, Xiaomi and managing director, Mi India, had a meeting with the board members of Xiaomi, the third-largest smartphone manufacturer in the world by volume. He was there to present the company’s quarterly plans to the top executives including the founder chairman. After presenting the plan for India, Jain was asked if he foresees any impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the Indian business. Surprisingly, he stood up and said that he doesn’t.

“I must say now, that I was completely wrong,” says Jain.

Within 10 days, the lockdown was announced in