With the Redmi 9 Power, Xiaomi gets up to the nines with Redmi

Xiaomi released the Redmi 9 Power in India a few hours ago. And with it, it seemingly – never say never – brought an end to a year in which the words “Redmi” and “9” dominated its agenda. Indeed, this was the year when almost EVERY Redmi phone launched in the country, barring the Redmi 8A Dual in February, came with the two words in them. Here we go – Redmi Note 9 Pro, Redmi Note 9 Pro Max, Redmi Note 9, Redmi 9 Prime, Redmi 9, Redmi 9i, Redmi 9A, and now the Redmi 9 Power.

That’s about eight phones in all with the 9 moniker. And with them, Xiaomi has literally given every person looking for a phone with a budget from Rs 7,000 to Rs 17,000 an option. Here’s a break:

Redmi Note 9 Pro Max: Rs 16,999 onwards
Redmi Note 9 Pro: Rs 13,999 onwards
Redmi Note 9: Rs 11,999 onwards
Redmi 9 Power: Rs 10,999 onwards
Redmi 9 Prime: Rs 9,999 onwards
Redmi 9: Rs 8,999 onwards
Redmi 9i: Rs 8, 299 onwards
Redmi 9A: Rs 6,999 onwards

That is a very broad look. Factor in the RAM and storage variants and suddenly the Redmi 9 effect on the Rs 7,000 – Rs 17,000 (and a little further in the case of two models) segment becomes even more significant:

1. Redmi 9A (2 GB/ 32 GB): Rs 6,999
2. Redmi 9A (3 GB/ 32 GB): Rs 7,499
3. Redmi 9i (4 GB/ 64 GB): Rs 8,299
4. Redmi 9i (4 GB/ 128 GB): Rs 9,299
5. Redmi 9 (4 GB/ 64 GB): Rs 8,999
6. Redmi 9 (4 GB/ 128 GB): Rs 9,999
7. Redmi 9 Prime (4 GB/ 64 GB): Rs 9,999
8. Redmi 9 Prime (4 GB/ 128 GB): Rs 10,999
9. Redmi 9 Power (4 GB/ 64 GB) :Rs 10,999
10. Redmi 9 Power ( 4 GB / 128 GB): Rs 11.999
11. Redmi Note 9 ( 4GB/ 64 GB): Rs 11,999
12. Redmi Note 9 (4 GB / 128 GB): Rs 13,499
13. Redmi Note 9 (6 GB/ 128 GB): Rs 14,999
14. Redmi Note 9 Pro ( 4GB/ 64 GB): Rs 13,999
15. Redmi Note 9 Pro (4 GB / 128 GB): Rs 14,999
16. Redmi Note 9 Pro (6 GB/ 128 GB): Rs 16,999
17. Redmi Note 9 Pro Max ( 6GB/ 64 GB): Rs 16,999
18. Redmi Note 9 Pro Max (6 GB / 128 GB): Rs 18,499
19. Redmi Note 9 9 Pro Max (8 GB/ 128 GB): Rs 19,999

In essence, whether you have a budget of around Rs 7,000 and going right up to Rs 20,000, you have a Redmi 9 phone for you. There are a staggering 19 phones out there, in this band, if one includes RAM and storage variants.

If you want it arranged in terms of increasing price, here’s another look:

Below Rs 7,500:

Redmi 9A (2 GB/ 32 GB): Rs 6,999
Redmi 9A (3 GB/ 32 GB): Rs 7,499

Rs 7,500 – Rs 9,000:

Redmi 9i (4 GB/ 64 GB): Rs 8,299
Redmi 9 (4 GB/ 64 GB): Rs 8,999

Rs 9,000 – Rs 10,000:

Redmi 9i (4 GB/ 128 GB): Rs 9,299
Redmi 9 (4 GB/ 128 GB): Rs 9,999
Redmi 9 Prime (4 GB/ 64 GB): Rs 9,999

Rs 10,000 – Rs 12,000:

Redmi 9 Prime (4 GB/ 128 GB): Rs 10,999
Redmi 9 Power (4 GB/ 64 GB) :Rs 10,999
Redmi 9 Power ( 4 GB / 128 GB): Rs 11.999
Redmi Note 9 ( 4GB/ 64 GB): Rs 11,999

Rs 12,000 – Rs 15,000:

Redmi Note 9 (4 GB / 128 GB): Rs 13,499
Redmi Note 9 Pro ( 4GB/ 64 GB): Rs 13,999
Redmi Note 9 (6 GB/ 128 GB): Rs 14,999
Redmi Note 9 Pro (4 GB / 128 GB): Rs 14,999

Rs 15,000 and above:

Redmi Note 9 Pro (6 GB/ 128 GB): Rs 16,999
Redmi Note 9 Pro Max ( 6GB/ 64 GB): Rs 16,999
Redmi Note 9 Pro Max (6 GB / 128 GB): Rs 18,499
Redmi Note 9 9 Pro Max (8 GB/ 128 GB): Rs 19,999

In some ways, this is very reminiscent of the strategy followed by Nokia and Samsung in their prime (pun unintended), when the brands leveraged brand equity by providing options at almost every price point. It is interesting to observe that phones are clustered far closer in the more price-sensitive sub-Rs 10,000 category, where the highest price difference between two successive devices is Rs 800 (between the Redmi 9A 3/32 and the Redmi 9i 4/64). A gap of Rs 1,000 and even Rs 2,000 is not that uncommon in the segment above Rs 10,000.

Another interesting point to note – pun thoroughly intended this time – is that NINE of the nineteen variants come from Xiaomi’s bestselling series, the Note series. 2020 has seen Xiaomi break this series into three variants – the Note, the Note Pro, and the Note Pro Max, and spread it across the Rs 11,999 – Rs 19,999. In the past, it used to start at below Rs 10,000 – that mantle seems to have passed to the Redmi 9 Prime.

It also seems that Xiaomi has split the Redmi 9 devices into two parts – the ones above Rs 11,999 get the “Note”-able touch, while those below it have to do without it. The new Note 9 Power interestingly falls right between the Redmi 9 and Redmi 9 Notes, with its price tags of Rs 10,999, which is the price of the highest Redmi 9 Prime variant, and Rs 11,999, which is the price of the lowest Redmi Note 9 variant.

Some might find the whole arrangement confusing – a lot of colleagues (we included) are struggling to keep track of devices – but our resources in retail tell us there is a method in this seeming madness from Xiaomi. After experimenting with a number of series in the past (there used to be a Y series, a K series, an Android One series for Mi), the brand seems to have settled on a steady nomenclature – almost every device launched with the Redmi name this year has had the number 9 in it. It might confuse reviewers and analysts but our sources feel that it reassures consumers who feel that they are buying devices from the same series, ensuring a rub-off effect. As one retailer put it: “A person will feel more disconnect in terms of nomenclature between a Redmi Y series and a Note series than between a Redmi 9 and a Redmi Note 9.”

Some even said that this was the reason the brand has not gone for two Note launches this year unlike in the past – the Note 5 and 6 series were launched in 2018 and the Note 7 and 8 series were launched in 2019, but 2020 has seen only seen the Note 9, albeit in three different models, and nine RAM and storage variants.

Is this a strategy tailored for the pandemic? Or a longer-term one (which means it will rain Redmi 10 devices next year)? We do not know. But what we can definitely say that in a year when a lot of brands have been at sixes and sevens, Redmi has stuck with nine. No fewer than eight times.

And there could be more. “Redmi 9 Pro, Redmi 9 Mini, Redmi Note 9 Mini, Redmi Note 9 Power…“, our retailer friend counts off the options at his fingers. It is a little dizzying. But we do not see consumers complaining.