Reliance Jio in talks for exclusive right to sell Xiaomi’s TVs and smartphones

KOLKATA: Reliance Jio Infocomm is in talks with Xiaomi to enter into a long-term relationship similar to what it has with Apple, to sell the Chinese brand’s televisions and smartphones exclusively through the Jio retail network and the Reliance Digital chain of stores, two senior industry executives said.

On the cards also is an arrangement to provide Xiaomi’s B2B products like smart point-of-sales devices to Jio retailers to digitise the supply chain. They will also explore bringing more products of the Chinese company into the Indian market, the executives said.

The proposed deal comes on the heels of Xiaomi India making a regulatory filing, announcing its intension to enter products beyond smartphones, including for the B2B segment, in this market.


“Senior executives at Xiaomi India and Reliance Jio have met several times in the last few weeks,” said one of the executives.

“While the Xiaomi-Reliance relationship will start with the B2B smart point-of-sales devices whereby the latter is going to place an order for around 1million units, both are keen to expand the relationship into consumer devices.”

Since Jio is set to roll out home broadband services, it is considering Xiaomi for the exclusive launch of its smart television which will be bundled with the service at a compelling price, the second executive said. “The two also want to expand the partnership into exclusive smartphone models.”