Pune: Xiaomi puts ‘Made in India’ signs to cover branding due to fear of vandalism amid Indo-China tensions
Shikha Chaurasia
Pune/New Delhi, June 27, 2020: The All India Mobile Retailers Association (AIMRA) said the Chinese mobile company Xiaomi has started to cover the red branding sign at different stores due to fear of threats and vandalism. They are covering it with ‘Made in India’ sign to protect the stores among the rising tensions between India and China.
Due to the rise in the movement of boycotting Chinese products, the Association had written to the Chinese company highlighting the threat of vandalism by people at their outlets due to the current situation. Many shops in Pune today removed Xiaomi signboard and put ‘Made in India’ banners, while others were in the process of changing the banners.
AIMRA National President Arvinder Khurana said, “In the letter written by us, we had requested the brands to allow the retailers to cover the signs by cloth or flex or to remove the boards/signs for a few months due to the current situation. Xiaomi has started covering their signs with white ‘Made in India’ banners. He also told that other Chinese companies are yet to take action like Xiaomi but are monitoring the situation closely.
They did not get any response from Xiaomi. Khurana said that some activists recently visited several outlets and threatened to damage Chinese mobile stores. They also said to remove the Chinese signs/boards from their stores.
Khurana was concerned for the safety of the retailers and said, “This is a threat to the safety of the retailers all over the country. Any kind of damages to the boards displaying Chinese branding should not be the retailer’s liability.”
Many executives have said that their sales have been mostly unaffected by this situation.
When Khurana was questioned by money control about the sales of these companies he said, “Many customers are saying they don’t want Chinese products and Samsung being a major non-Chinese brand in the country will benefit from this.”
Manu Jain, Xiaomi’s India head said that the movement of boycotting Chinese products was only a mere social media wave. In reality, the sales of the company in India has been unaffected. On June 24 he tweeted that Xiaomi’s Redmi Note9 Pro Max, during a sale, was out of stock in less than 50 seconds.
The Chinese authorities are keeping a close watch on the situation through social media as well as on the ground.
