Throngs of customers select and try to use Xiaomi products at the Xiaomi flagship store at the Dizengoff Center mall in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Aug. 22, 2018. (Xinhua photo)
Security was beefed up Wednesday evening at the Dizengoff Center mall in Tel Aviv, Israel, as thousands of Israelis formed long lines to attend the opening ceremony for the first Xiaomi flagship store in the country.
The massive Israeli crowd awaiting entry outside the store was attracted by the hefty discounts on most Xiaomi products offered by the store as a way to celebrate its opening.
Some customers came to the store as early as in the morning to make sure they could buy the most desired devices with discounts. The official ceremony was held after one-week trial operation of the store.
Occupying some 150 square meters, the store, with an after-sale service lab, is the first official store in Israel opened by Xiaomi, a Chinese tech giant.
The store sells more than 100 products, including smartphones, mobile computers, kick scooters, headphones, backpacks, sunglasses, and even umbrellas.
"Since it was opened a week ago, the store has been full of customers from morning till night. We've literally become the most visited store in the shopping center," said Avi Korenfeld, the business development manager for Xiaomi's official Israeli importer Hemilton Electronics Ltd.
Between 1,800 and 2,000 people showed up at the ceremony on Wednesday, Korenfeld said in a Facebook post published later that night.
"My Xiaomi phone is as good as the phone that costs more than three times the price," said a customer, who only identified himself as David.
He, a loyal user of Xiaomi products, bought a headset with 69 new shekels (19 U.S. dollars), and a power bank with 150 new shekels.
Ishay Lev, who bought a Xiaomi scooter days ago and brought his friends to the store to buy the same item, said he loved the scooter very much.
"It is chic, high quality and low price. Other scooters sold in Israel cost way much more," he said.
Xiaomi is expanding fast in Israel through its cooperation with Hemilton. In just three years, it has become the third most popular smartphone brand in Israel.
Market research firm StatCounter said that as of July 2018, Xiaomi accounts for 12 percent of mobile phones market share in Israel, just after Samsung and Apple, whose share stands at 46.88 percent and 20.85 percent, respectively.
"Most of the Israeli public knows Xiaomi as a company that makes excellent smartphones at low prices, but this is a company with a portfolio of hundreds of products in a wide range of areas, most of which we will bring to Israel," said Eyal Aharoni, Hemilton's commercial manager.
"We aim to extend the whole product chain and formulate a closed electronic ecosystem," said Aharoni, who travels to China at least four times a year for business meetings.
"Perfect" is the word Aharoni used to describe his feeling about the three years of cooperation with Xiaomi.
"We are No. 3 in smartphones. We are No. 1 in scooters. We started to sell vacuum cleaners just three months ago and we are already No. 1 now," Aharoni said.
He added that he is confident that Hemilton will "build a better future" in Israel for Xiaomi.
Hemilton is also the distributor for another Chinese home appliances tech brand Midea.
Not all Israeli customers showing up at the opening ceremony were satisfied, as some of them complained on Xiaomi's Hebrew version of Facebook page about the short supply of Xiaomi products at the ceremony, which forced them to leave empty-handed.
Several people reported that all the discounted Xiaomi items were sold out in just an hour.
Excluding China, where it has 2,000 branches, Xiaomi has opened or is planning to open 234 brand stores worldwide, of which 103 are in the planning stage. The company plans to open more stores in Israel following the opening of its flagship store.
