Amid Samsung and Xiaomi's tiff on smartphone sales, affected retailers consider approaching CCI

Two leading retailers are considering to take Samsung to the Competition Commission of India (CCI) as they have been categorically notified by the Korean smartphone giant that Samsung would not supply their smartphones unless they stop selling Xiaomi products. [caption id=“attachment_3864175” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational Image. Xiaomi[/caption] In August, Xiaomi was considering to extend to its offline retailers by the end of the year. However, according to a report by The Economic Times, the retail chains were promoting Xiaomi products both instore and with store-front signages. This had miffed the Korean smartphone giant. As per the ET sources, an owner of a retail store is said to have taken legal approach against Samsung’s move since it could potentially affect their business. Speaking to the ET, an industry executive said, “Samsung is trying to sort out the issue with the two retailers ahead of the festive season.” The report mentions that neither of the parties (Samsung or Xiaomi) had commented. Even the two leading chains refused to comment. Nearly, 300 retailers from Delhi, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Haryana, Indore, Lucknow, Kanpur, Gujarat, and Kolkata had signed with Xiaomi as its preferred retail partner. **Previous reports** had stated Manu Kumar Jain, Vice President, Xiaomi, say that the company had partnered with 12 large format retail chains that expanded Xiaomi’s reach to 2,000 points. “Apart from that, we have a preferred partners programme through which we reach over 600 points in 11 cities. The intent is now to scale that up to over 1,500 across 30 cities,” he said. Jain added that these points (in multi-brand stores) will be set up across capital cities of various states as well as tier I cities. Meanwhile, taking the opportunity in its stride, Xiaomi is bringing its new models Xiaomi Mi A1 and Mi Max 2 in a leading retail store. **According** to an IDC research firm, at the end of June, Samsung is supposed to have dominated the top position with 24 percent share; meanwhile Xiaomi is said to follow the Korean smartphone giant.