Chinese device manufacturer Huawei is set to open its first official store in Mexico on 8 September, according to a report. The Huawei Experience Store will be located at Avenida Presidente Masaryk 281 in Mexico City and forms part of Huawei’s strategy to significantly expand its presence in the local market. Last month the company launched the P9 family of smartphones in Mexico, just two months after their official unveiling, and earlier this year it began selling devices via the e-commerce platform vMall.mx.

Tarifica’s Take

Mexico is an excellent place for Huawei to sell large numbers of smartphones, and therefore an excellent place to launch a retail sales drive. The Chinese company has set its sights on the rapidly growing worldwide class of consumers who are relatively new to mobile data use and need an inexpensive yet capable device to access services. Mexico, a developing economy in which recent market shakeups (regulatory actions against América Móvil and an incursion from U.S. operator AT&T) have increased options for consumers, is fertile ground for selling budget devices. Making them available in as many ways as possible is good strategy, and physical stores are a particularly good way to sell to customers who may not have data plans yet and thus may not have much ability to buy online.