Xiaomi has decided to sink in $25 million into Hungama, effectively expanding its scope beyond smartphones; its main claim to fame in India. The venture is its first investment in an Indian company.
In a statement, Xiaomi says it’ll start integrating Hungama content into its ecosystem in the near future. This could mean access to the latter’s themes, ringtones, movies and music. The handset maker’s Vice President Hugo Barra thinks its growing user base combined with the rise of 4G access in India will lead to an increasing number of people consuming content via their devices.
Xiaomi’s investment makes sense in that light, given the rising competition among manufacturers in India to hold on to customers. Android phones more or less offer a uniform set of specs within a market range nowadays. Offering easy access to videos, music and apps has become the go-to move for many firms such as Micromax and LeEco.
Micromax had notably invested in Gaana, another major streaming service, back in October. Xiaomi seems to be going all-in in its commitment towards India. It’s already set up Make in India manufacturing plants in Andhra Pradesh and boasts that over 75% of all its handsets sold here are locally produced.
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However, increasing competition has eaten into Xiaomi’s market share, with a recent report even claiming that Apple had beaten the company to become the number 6 handset maker in India. The move towards local digital content could open up new streams of revenue and raise brand awareness to a larger portion of the population.
Hungama on its part is planning to add over 1500 hours of additional TV content in a variety of languages. It currently has over 65 million monthly active users.