Xiaomi's India share slid from 31% to 12% after it traded aggressive pricing for margins

Xiaomi was once India's largest smartphone brand, holding a 31% share at its 2018 peak per Counterpoint Research. Under general manager Alvin Tse, who ran the India business from China from 2022, the company spent roughly two years stepping away from the aggressive pricing that built that lead in favor of healthier margins. Rivals moved into the gap: Vivo pushed harder in online channels, and Motorola simply copied Xiaomi's original discount playbook and scaled with it.

The bill came due in the numbers. Xiaomi's India share slid to 16% by 2024 and to 12% as of the first quarter of 2026. India saw a significant drop in shipments in 2025 that dented the company's global results, per Xiaomi management on an earnings call, and executives called India one of the most notable declines across the more than 100 regions where Xiaomi sells. High-profile hires meant to fix sales — Kunal Agarwal, hired from Samsung as deputy sales head in 2024 and elevated to head of sales in 2025, and former Motorola chief Sudhin Mathur as COO in 2024 — did not stop the slide.

In May 2026 Xiaomi's headquarters pulled the lever it had: Tse was pulled up for failing to turn the business around and replaced by Alexander Tang, the South Asia head who previously ran finance and delivered strong growth in Thailand and Indonesia. Tse made a lateral move to an undisclosed role. Tang is expected to shift back toward aggressive pricing to regain share while driving profitability, with Agarwal taking full control of sales and go-to-market, Mathur handling regulatory affairs, and headcount rationalisation under way. Xiaomi India declined to comment.

The premium-margin shift unwound the aggressive pricing that had made Xiaomi India's largest smartphone brand at 31% share in 2018.

Vivo attacked the online channels harder while Motorola simply copied Xiaomi's original discount playbook and scaled with it.

India was run remotely from China, and a turnover of hired fixers — a Samsung sales chief, a Motorola COO — did not arrest the slide.

Headquarters judged Tse had failed to turn the business around and to scale the ecosystem-product model Xiaomi runs in China and other markets.

The discount engine that wins you the crown is hard to switch off: trading it for margin hands price-sensitive buyers to whoever copies your old playbook.

Tang inherits a business Xiaomi's own management flagged as one of its steepest regional declines, with a mandate executives expect to combine aggressive pricing with profitability. Tse moved laterally to an undisclosed region. Industry executives told ET that a China-based chief will still depend heavily on the Indian leadership, and headcount rationalisation is under way alongside the reshuffle. Xiaomi India declined to comment on the changes.