SINGAPORE: Chinese smartphone and household tech company Xiaomi plans to open at least two more stores in Singapore by the end of 2025, which would bring its total store count in the country to 10.

The announcement was made at the official launch of Xiaomi’s first directly managed store in Singapore on Saturday (Dec 21) at Funan mall.

“The move is part of Xiaomi’s business expansion to deepen direct engagement with Southeast Asian markets,” the company said in a press release. Xiaomi also has seven existing stores run by distributor partners in Singapore.

Mr Alex Tang, general manager of Xiaomi Southeast Asia, told reporters on Friday that the company wants to manage some stores on its own because there was a lack of connection between the brand and its partners, who may not know about the technology as well.

It hopes to “empower” its partners to improve the consumer experience at other stores as well, including offering more products, introducing a more efficient operations system used in China and upgrading the store image.

The company is very optimistic about the Singapore market because interest has increased in its products, he said.

For vacuums, there has been a 40 per cent increase in interest this year, and for tablets, the growth was more than 200 per cent.

“We are very confident for this market and very fully committed to invest in this market,” he said. Asked why Xiaomi is embarking on this expansion now, Mr Tang said the brand now has enough products to provide an “integrated consumer experience” to Singapore.

He said Xiaomi will continue to recruit workers to fulfill the needs of the new stores.

Beyond Singapore, the company is aiming to improve the experience for consumers globally, including in other parts of Southeast Asia. It recently opened new stores in Thailand and Malaysia as well.

He acknowledged that different countries in the region have different profiles and competitors, but said Xiaomi wants to bring innovative products to each market.

Xiaomi posted a 30.5 per cent jump in revenue in the third quarter of the year, boosted by the launch of its first electric vehicle in March.