Xiaomi reported its first quarter financial results, beating expectations with almost RMB 43.8 billion (USD 6.3 billion) in revenue, up 27.2% year-on-year, and net profit of RMB 2.081 billion. Analysts estimated that the company would earn RMB 41.76 billion in revenue and RMB 1.857 in net profit.
The company’s smartphone segment brought in RMB 27 billion, up 16.2% year-on-year, with 27.9 million units shipped this quarter.
Xiaomi’s international business booked RMB 16.8 billion, up 34.7% year-on-year. The company counted 480 Xiaomi Home stores overseas as of March 31, 2019, up 93.5% year-on-year, with 79 (or 16.4% of all Xiaomi Home stores) located in India.
In a CNBC interview in March, Xiaomi CFO Shouzi Chew said the company was eyeing expansions in Latin America and Africa, though he emphasized the prime importance of the Indian market—where Xiaomi has led the smartphone category for the past year and a half—and of Indonesia and Western Europe, which he said are a focus for 2019.
The company also highlighted in its earnings call a recent partnership with African e-commerce star Jumia to sell Xiaomi products throughout Africa this year.
The number of connected devices, excluding smartphones and laptops, in Xiaomi’s Internet-of-Things network reached 171 million, up 13.7% from the month before, forming a yearly increase of 70%. Meanwhile, active users of the company’s virtual assistant Xiao AI numbered more than 45.5 million in March 2019, up 247.2% year-on-year.
During the call, the company announced it had invested in 270 companies with a total book value of RMB 29 billion, representing a 28.6% year-on-year increase in investment value. Ten companies that Xiaomi has invested in since 2018 have successfully gone public, and more are expected to list on bourses this year.
In terms of headcount, Xiaomi employed 16,473 full-timers, with total salary expenses in the first quarter of 2019 reaching RMB 2.03 trillion. Based on this figure, Xiaomi employees had an average monthly salary of RMB 41,300 (USD 5,975).