Xiaomi removes its Mi Music app from the Play Store | TechCrunch

Xiaomi has silently pulled its music player and streaming app Mi Music from the Play Store in India, continuing its shutdown of various services in the country where it is under regulatory pressure.

The China-based phone maker launched the Mi Music app in partnership with the Indian entertainment company Hungama in 2018 to provide music streaming to its customers. Archived pages on the web suggest that the app had more than 1 billion lifetime downloads.

“Get unlimited access to millions of music, curated playlists, and content from your favorite artists. This is the music app for you to listen to online and offline music,” the Play Store description of the app read.

Xiaomi didn’t comment on the removal immediately.

Since last year, the company has stopped multiple service offerings in India. Last October, Xiaomi wound down its financial services business in the country including a loan app called Mi Credit. At the same time, the company stopped offering its cloud backup service globally. The phone maker also discontinued its short video app Zilli earlier this year.

Additionally, the Indian government banned Xiaomi’s browser, video call and community app along with a swathe of Chinese apps including TikTok, Shein, and UC Browser in 2020.

Xiaomi has faced a challenging time in India amid a regulatory crackdown over tax evasion issues and an executive exodus. Last year, the company’s long-time top exec Manu Kumar Jain — who oversaw Xiaomi’s growth in India from the start — left the company. Earlier this year, the company conducted layoffs to restructure its operations and cut costs.

In June, the Enforcement Directorate of India sent a notice to Xiaomi and partner banks alleging that the phone maker sent illegal remittances worth $725 million to foreign entities in the name of royalty payments. The agency has frozen the bank accounts of the company since last year.

All these aspects have seen the company slip from the first position to the third position in the smartphone market in India according to analyst reports.