Xiaomi is primarily known for selling its products through online channels. The company does have limited retail presence in China with its 33 Mi Home stores where it showcases all the varying devices it has to offer. Previously, Mi Home was only used by Xiaomi to showcase its products, but the majority of them have since been converted into retail stores.

Mi Home stores have turned out to be very popular in China and rake in millions of dollars in sales every month. Now, Xiaomi looking to further expand its retail presence and plans on opening 1,000 retail stores by 2020. The company also plans to have 60 Mi Home stores across China by the end of this year.

“As Xiaomi matures as a company, and as the Xiaomi branding has grown to become a household name in China, we recognized a fantastic opportunity to start expanding our Mi Home outlets,” explains a Xiaomi spokesperson to Tech in Asia. “We are therefore converting these Mi Home outlets into retail stores, and we will be opening even more Mi Home stores – aiming for 60 by the end of this year.”

Xiaomi has been facing stiff competition from other local Chinese smartphone OEMs like Huawei, Oppo, and Vivo. These companies have managed to capture the smartphone market in smaller cities in China by opening multiple retail stores there. Huawei has a staggering 11,000 stores in China, which has played a key role in its meteoric rise in the smartphone market. By opening its own retail stores, Xiaomi will be better able to connect with customers who may prefer seeing a phone in person before purchasing it. These retail stores will also help Xiaomi in further promoting the various other devices it sells, including Mi Air Purifier 2, Mi Band 2, and more.