Xiaomi expects sales of smart home devices to reach $1.54 billion double what it was a year ago. The outfits's vice president Liu De, told hacks at the Global Mobile Internet Conference in Beijing that the company was previously known for its online-focus sales model, but now wants to raise the number of its bricks-and-mortar retail stores in China to 60.

Xiaomi was ranked fifth in global smartphone shipment in the first quarter of 2016, according to research firm TrendForce. But as the sales for smartphones stop being a licence to print money it makes sense to get into making smart appliances.Xiaomi was a top five smartphone maker but this year dropped off the bottom of the league tables.

It is not clear if the company can capitalise on its social media methods. It is hard to generate the same enthusiasm for a rice cooker over that of a mobile phone.