Xiaomi Inc the Chinese smartphone maker said on Monday it plans to set up a data center in India next year to store local user data, as the fast-growing company seeks to deflect concerns about privacy that could hamper its efforts to expand overseas.
The move comes after it said last week saying it was migrating some data on non-Chinese customers away from its servers in Beijing due to performance and privacy considerations.
Xiaomi, whose low-priced but feature-rich smartphones have made it the biggest smartphone vendor in China, entered India this year with plans to invest heavily. It sells its phones in India via Flipkart and said last month it planned to sell 100,000 phones a week in the country in October.
Xiaomi has faced several privacy controversies, including accusations from international security researchers and a government agency in Taiwan that it funnels unauthorized user data back to its servers in Beijing. Indian media reported last week that the country’s air force had issued alerts to its personnel and their families against using Xiaomi phones on security concerns.
Source: economictimes
