By Darrell Etherington

Xiaomi’s business model isn’t about selling handsets, except insofar as those handset sales lead to recurring service revenue later on. So said Xiaomi global VP and former Android VP Hugo Barra in an interview with Reuters. The executive for the device maker was commenting on a drop in its smartphone sales in China, explaining that they wouldn’t impact the company’s long-term profit growth.

Barra explained that Xiaomi “could sell 10 billion smartphones and [the company] wouldn’t make a single dime in profits,” speaking to Reuters, adding that Xiaomi is essentially giving away its smartphones “without making any money,” because ultimately it “care[s] about the recurring revenue streams over many years” rather than immediate margins on hardware.

Xiaomi is also focusing increasingly on other categories, including smart-home device sales, and, as suggested by Barra, revenue driven by software and services. Smartphone sales, once its core strength, dropped 12 percent globally last year, and IDC stats suggest its Q3 sales in China for the devices will be down 45 percent.

The company doesn’t need to IPO or even raise funds privately, however, Barra told Reuters, and is looking forward to CES where it’s participating for the first time, and where it’ll unveil a new product.

Read the full article on Tech Crunch

And read Zuora CEO Tien Tzuo’s article on how industry after industry is shifting to the Subscription Economy – It’s not a software story, it’s a business story