Redmi Note 7 would be the first major smartphone launch from Xiaomi this year. The device was launched in China last month marking the first smartphone from Redmi as a sub-brand. Some of the highlights of the Redmi Note 7 include a glass body design, a 48-megapixel camera sensor as a part of the dual camera setup, and a 6.3-inch display with a waterdrop-shaped notch.
Gadget 360 engaged in talks with Manu Kumar Jain, Global Vice President, Xiaomi and Managing Director to inquire about the launch of the device in India.
Redmi Note 7 India Launch
“This is probably the device that I’m most excited about for this year,” said Jain, talking about the launch of the Redmi Note 7. Interestingly, Jain used the term “48-megapixel phone” while talking about the launch of the Redmi Note 7 in India.
“There are a lot of surprises which are planned, really great surprises, and I really hope — and I don’t say this for every phone that we launch — but there’s a reason why we posted an upside-down picture, and text in an upside-down, because I truly believe this is going to be a game changer device,” Jain said referencing to the tweet that he had posted last month.
“Maybe if we do everything right, people will remember the Indian smartphone industry before and after this device,” he added. “It’s going to be a game changer, we believe that, because of which, I’m extremely excited about this particular launch, the launch that we are about to have, and we are trying to put our best foot forward, even from a launch perspective, even from many other things.”
Jain also added that some of the speculations regarding the launch of the Redmi Note 7 were not correct.
“I know a lot has written on social media, and on blogs till now [about Redmi Note 7 launch], but this is one of those devices where I’m happy that not everything that people expect that is there — people have already leaked and written about it — a lot of cool surprises which are planned for this one,” he said.
Jain was refraining from revealing the specific dates of the device, nevertheless, users can expect the official invites for the launch of the device in India to roll out soon.
Redmi Note 7 to launch in India as part of the Redmi sub-brand?
The Redmi Note 7 marks the first device from Redmi after its split off with Xiaomi.
“It [Redmi] is not a separate entity, but a separate brand, a separate, sub-brand, similar to what Poco is in India,” Jain explained. “It’s a business entity in a way that it’s a separate P&L and everything that we monitor, but it is not like a separate legal entity and everything. Like in India we don’t have a separate legal entity [for Poco], in China, we don’t have a separate legal entity for Redmi.”
“It’s mainly meant from a product and R&D perspective. If you look at the product and R&D, now Redmi has a different ethos, different design language, different brand attributes than a Mi, than a Poco, than many other brands,” he added.
“A Redmi is all great price, great performance, all-around, killer features. Mi has a little bit of vanity attached to it — Mi Mix, fullscreen display, ceramic back, slider phone; Mi 8, full transparent back in the Explorer Edition — a lot of these vanity elements are included that sometimes also make these phones a lot more expensive because they are so beautiful phones. Poco is for tech enthusiasts, crazy specs, and also for gaming enthusiasts, that’s why we introduced liquid cooling technology within Poco. So very different positioning for each one of them.”
“And we realized it’s very difficult for one R&D team, and one product team to focus on all three because they require separate focus,” Jain continued. “Like how online-offline require separate focus, different product lines require a different focus. What we have is separate product teams, separate R&D teams for three different sub-brands or brands — Mi, Redmi, and for Poco, we have a separate one in India.”
“So in China, we don’t have a separate legal entity, but for Redmi, yes we have a separate product and R&D team,” he added.
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