The signboards and logos of several Xiaomi retail stores across India are now covered with "Made in India" banners to prevent miscreants from vandalizing the stores, the Economic Times reported on Thursday.
Apart from hiding the logo, Xiaomi also asked store employees not to wear uniforms as it was feared that this would incite people to attack the store and its employees.
The decision was taken at the behest of the All India Mobile Retailers Association (AIMRA), which wrote a letter to major Chinese handset makers expressing their concerns over the current sentiments of the local crowd, which could lead to local retail stores receiving damage.
Three industry executives said that Xiaomi has now covered most of the areas in the National Capital Territory of Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Pune, Agra, and Patna.
In a letter to Xiaomi, OPPO, Vivo, Realme, OnePlus, Motorola and Huawei, AIMRA said that “damage to these boards should not be the retailer’s liability as the circumstances are not in our hands or in our control".
So far, only Xiaomi has taken steps to barricade the front doors of its stores across India, while other Chinese phone companies have yet to take action.
While there are many videos of smashing Chinese goods currently circulating in the media, retailers say that this has not affected smartphone sales.
In fact, the biggest reason for the current damage to sales continues to be inventory shortages due to the epidemic.
