Xiaomi is ready to expand its product offering in India beyond smartphones, tablets and wearables. The company today launched the Mi Air Purifier 2, its first "smart home" product for the Indian market. The Mi Air Purifier 2 connects to smartphones and allows remote control access to the device as well as offer the ability to check the air quality of a room in real-time. It works with non-Xiaomi Android phones and tablets, as well as with iPhones, company's Global VP, Hugo Barra, said. It utilizes a 360-degree triple layer filter to filter out dust, pollen, dust mites, pet dander, and even mold. The air purifier offers air cleaning at 310 cubic metre per hour. Barra added that the air purifier takes only about seven minutes to circulate purified air in a typical one-bedroom-apartment. As with other Xiaomi products, the web-enabled Mi Air Purifier 2 is aggressively priced at Rs 9,999 ($150). Its replaceable filter, which lasts for roughly six months, will be sold at Rs 2,499 ($37).

The launch of the Mi Purifier 2 comes at a time when Indian cities are increasingly topping the chart for the world's most polluted places. Earlier this year, the World Health Organization reported 10 Indian cities among the world's top 20 most polluted cities. salt crystal lamp air purifier Though air purifier products have existed in India for more than 20 years, they are yet to become a commodity, Jayati Singh, head of Air business at Philips, told Mashable India. best air purifier brand singapore"But the demand is increasing," she adds. what is in the wii lens cleaning kitPart of the reason why people hesitate to purchase an air purifier is its price. Air purifiers retail in the country between the range starting Rs 12,000 to Rs 80,000.

The company also launched the Mi Band 2 in India today. Unlike the Mi Band, the Mi Band 2 sports an OLED display and shows time. It also has heart rate sensors, and it offers up to 20 days of battery life on a single charge. The first generation Mi Band raked in positive response from users, and its affordable price point made it an instant hot selling product in many markets. The Mi Band 2 is a bit costlier, though. starting Sept. 27, and through Amazon India from Sept. 30.» » Unilever to buy air purifier co BlueairNEW DELHI: Anglo-Dutch consumer goods giant Unilever on Tuesday said it will acquire Swedish air-purifier company Blueair for an undisclosed sum. The deal will help the company foray into the air purification business, and allow its Indian arm Hindustan Unilever (HUL), the maker of Surf Excel, Lux and Lifebuoy, take on companies such as Panasonic, Philips, Eureka Forbes and Kent in the country's nascent but growing air purifier market.Apart from FMCG products, HUL also sells water purifiers in the country under the Pureit brand.

"Blueair fits in well with our Home Care definition, which includes both water and air purification and has strong synergies with our existing water purification businesses in India and China," a Unilever spokesperson told TOI. "Water purification is around 3% of our Home Care business." Bengt Rittri, founder of Blueair, told TOI, "Blueair started its own organisation in India around two years ago. We have seen strong growth since then, especially in Delhi and Mumbai." The country's air purifier market is pegged at Rs 200 crore at present, and is expected to reach Rs 1,400 crore by 2021, said Research and Markets. Chinese phone maker Xiaomi also has plans to launch air purifiers in India.Stay updated on the go with Times of India News App. Click here to download it for your device.Mumbai: There is always a category of consumer appliances that benefits from the state’s lapses—inverters, generators and water purifiers. Now, with the fast-deteriorating air quality in most Indian cities, add air purifiers to the list.

That’s a far cry from a year ago when few were aware of air purifiers, and fewer still bought them. Today the category is fast gaining scale with over two dozen companies—local and multinational—offering air purifiers. To stand out in this fast-growing market, Philips India, which launched air purifiers about eight months ago, is now looking at mass media advertising to further expand the market, said Jayati Singh, business head, air and health and wellness, Philips India. Air purifiers are a Rs.250 crore category, according to a Tech Sci 2013 report but growing fast at a compound annual growth rate of over 50%. To be sure, the category is not new. Eureka Forbes has had air purifiers in India for over 20 years. Yet it is only in the past year, following US President Barack Obama’s visit in January, that sales of air purifiers started picking up. There were reports in the US media claiming he didn’t bring his children along for fear of Delhi’s noxious air.

One enterprising US website calculated the hours he had shaved off his life expectancy by breathing the national capital’s air. “What we used to do in a year in terms of sales we now do in one month and believe that this will further double,” said Sashank Sinha, head of marketing, Eureka Forbes. Sharp India Ltd, Panasonic India Pvt Ltd and Kent RO Systems Ltd are some of the other firms that manufacture air purifiers. For Philips, the category’s sales have doubled since launch. Yet it remains a niche product for the company. What the advertising strategy reflects is how so-called long-tail products low on demand are gaining prominence in television advertising as companies look for growth from new areas. Industrial brands wanting to reach consumers, niche cosmetics brands and new products are all advertising on television channels. They may not be on prime time television, but there are a lot of options available to reach consumers, says Shripad Kulkarni, managing director, Vizeum India, the media arm of the Dentsu Aegis Network.