EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Hugo Barra, VP of International at Xiaomi, played down concern that the company may suffer following weakness in China’s economy, stating that “whether the market is slowing down or not, it’s a gigantic market for smartphones”.

“The way to think about a smartphone today is that it’s something that you’ve got to have – it’s pretty much a basic need these days to have a smartphone, and to have one that is fast and allows you to do what you need to. So whether the economy is slowing down or not frankly doesn’t really affect us, in China or in other markets, doesn’t affect us because of this particular industry we are part of,” he said.

Barra said that outside of Xiaomi’s home market, the focus has been on India, “which is soon going to be the second largest smartphone market in the world. It’s a very, very fast-rising, fast growing market”. In particular, it is a market where online sales are popular, playing to Xiaomi’s strength in direct-to-consumer sales.

In addition, Barra noted that future US and Europe launches are “definitely on our radar.”

Speaking to Mobile World Live in line with the launch of Xiaomi’s latest flagship – Mi5 – Barra also promised that from a hardware perspective, “people can expect to see a pretty incredible line-up from us this year”.

Watch the full video here.