Xiaomi India steps up appliance push, next large category still under wraps

Xiaomi India is stepping up its consumer appliances business and plans to expand into large home appliances as it looks to build a broader consumer durables portfolio beyond smartphones and smaller connected devices.

Speaking to The ET Digital on the sidelines of IFA Berlin 2026, Sandeep Sarma, Associate Director, Marketing & PR, Xiaomi India, said the company is placing greater focus on its home appliance business.

Globally, Xiaomi sells a wide range of smart home and consumer appliances under its Mijia brand, including air purifiers, robotic vacuum cleaners, refrigerators, washing machines and air conditioners. In India, the company has so far brought select products from this ecosystem under the Xiaomi brand.


“Over the past couple of years, the focus has been on home appliances a lot more,” Sarma said. The company now wants to establish consumer durables as a business in its own right rather than treating appliances as an extension of its smartphone, TV or tablet businesses.

“It’s a separate entity by itself, which is highly focused on delivering great products,” he said.

Air purifiers first, large appliances next

Xiaomi’s latest appliance push in India begins with air purifiers, a category that becomes particularly relevant ahead of the festive and winter season as air-quality concerns increase across several parts of the country.

However, Sarma said the timing is not driven purely by seasonality.

“Obviously, it is more relevant right now due to the upcoming air quality concerns that will come around the festive period. But more importantly, it’s a category we’re already existing in,” he said.

An existing presence in the category also allows Xiaomi to move faster on logistics and go-to-market execution, while larger appliances require significantly more preparation.

“The large appliances that we spoke about will take more time. There are a lot of things to iron out before we go to market,” Sarma said.

Xiaomi confirms large appliances, but keeps category under wraps

While Xiaomi has confirmed that large appliances are part of its India roadmap, it is not yet revealing which category will come next. Potential categories could include air conditioners, refrigerators or other large household appliances. Sarma, however, said the company does not want to commit to a specific product until the operational groundwork is complete.

“The broad categories are large appliances. That’s what we are committed to,” he said.

The challenge, he added, is that entering large appliances involves much more than simply bringing a product to market. Xiaomi needs to build out distribution, transportation, installation, servicing, spare parts and after-sales support.

“When we launched a 75-inch TV, we had to actually undergo a complete rehaul of the overall logistical framework,” Sarma said, pointing to the difficulty of transporting and installing large products.

The same considerations become even more important with appliances.

“Adding a new category, especially large appliances, usually requires more hand-holding for the consumer when it comes to the post-delivery part. That’s installation, support, after-sales and parts,” he said.

“That takes a lot of time to get right and then move into the execution stage.”

Retail push to support appliance expansion

Xiaomi’s retail partners are already showing interest in its wider global portfolio, according to Gautam Batra, Associate Director, Product Marketing, Xiaomi India.

Batra said retailers are aware that Xiaomi has a much larger portfolio globally and frequently ask when products available in other markets will come to India.

“There is a very good knowledge amongst our partners and retailers that Xiaomi is actually a much larger company,” Batra said.

That awareness could help Xiaomi as it expands into appliances, where its connected ecosystem is a potential differentiator.

Batra said Xiaomi wants its smart ecosystem to extend across price points rather than being limited to premium products, allowing consumers to build a connected home around multiple Xiaomi devices.

Offline retail becomes more important

The expansion into large appliances is also likely to make offline retail increasingly important for Xiaomi.

Large appliances typically require consumers to experience products before buying them, while installation and after-sales support make a physical retail and service network more important.

Sarma said Xiaomi’s transition from being primarily online-led to becoming a stronger omnichannel player accelerated when it entered categories such as televisions.

“When we launched the TVs, that was also because it was a product which was heavily dependent on the touch-and-feel aspect for people to convert,” he said.

The company also sees room to expand its Xiaomi retail and Mi Home presence in India, although Sarma said the right product portfolio needs to be established first.

“Obviously, you need to build the right portfolio first and get the right kind of products in first, and then basically move into that direction,” he said.

More products coming to India

The appliance push comes as Xiaomi increases the number of products it is bringing to India across categories.

Batra said 2026 is shaping up to be one of Xiaomi’s most aggressive years for product launches. The company expects to bring 12 products to India between August and mid-September, a pace Batra said it has not achieved previously.

The company is also expanding its accessories portfolio, including higher-wattage power banks, as it brings more products from its global portfolio to Indian consumers.

For Xiaomi, the appliance push marks a broader shift in its India strategy. The company is looking to move beyond its traditional smartphone-led identity and build a larger consumer durables business, with Mijia serving as its global smart-home and appliance brand.

Air purifiers are the latest step. Large appliances are next on the roadmap, although Xiaomi is keeping the exact category under wraps for now.