Xiaomi has closed its physical store in London meaning that it will no longer have an official high-street presence in the country.
Upon its launch back in November 2018, Xiaomi shored up its credentials by opening up a flagship store in Shepherd’s Bush. However, little over one year later, the brand has decided to close the store, as evidenced by the website for Westfield shopping centre. In an official statement to Android Authority, Xiaomi announced:
This adjustment to our local retail strategy is a reaction to our fast growing business in Western Europe. Since our official arrival in the UK over one year ago, we have loved building relationships with our users, Mi Fans and partners and thank them all for their support. UK users and Mi Fans can continue to purchase Xiaomi products through our official website mi.com/uk and other official channels that will be announced along with our product launches in the future.
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Despite the fact that Xiaomi is closing its store, we’ve been consistently impressed with the devices that it has offered across a broad price range. Our top-choice mid-range phone right now is the Xiaomi Mi 9, which we awarded 5 stars out of 5, and that’s no accident. The device offers fantastic photography, a crisp and bright screen, very high performance, and above all, excellent value for money. So hopefully Xiaomi’s withdrawal from the high street does not mean that its future phones will also go missing from these shores.
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The brand’s idea to open a store seemed at the time, as it does now, reminiscent of the well-known and relatively widespread Apple Store locations which seek to show off the popular brand’s wares and also solve customers’ issues under one roof. Perhaps this short-lived experiment will put off other companies from trying a similar strategy, but it certainly seems to have paid off for Apple.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
