XIAOMI
Xiaomi Corporation (/ˈʃaʊmiː/;[2]Chinese: 小米[ɕjǎu.mì] (listen)) is a Chinese electronics company founded in April 2010 and headquartered in Beijing. Xiaomi makes and invests in smartphones, mobile apps, laptops, bags, earphones, shoes, fitness bands, and many other products.[3] Xiaomi is also the fourth company after Apple, Samsung and Huawei to have self-developed mobile phone chip capabilities.[4]
ABOUT XIAOMI
Xiaomi released its first smartphone in August 2011 and rapidly gained market share in China to become the country’s largest smartphone company in 2014.[5] At the start of second quarter of 2018, Xiaomi was the world’s fourth-largest smartphone manufacturer,[6][7][8] leading in both the largest market, China, and the second-largest market, India.[9] Xiaomi later developed a wider range of consumer electronics, including a smart home (IoT) device ecosystem, which has connected more than 100 million smart devices.[10][11][12][13] Monthly active users (MAUs) of MIUI increased to 291.6 million in September 2019.[14]
Xiaomi has 16,700 employees[15][failed verification] worldwide. It is expanding to other markets including Greater China, India, Japan, Russia, South Korea, South Africa and most countries and regions in Southeast Asia and Western Europe.[16][17] According to Forbes magazine, Lei Jun, the founder and CEO, has an estimated net worth of US$12.5 billion.[18] Xiaomi is the world’s 4th most valuable technology start-up after receiving US$1.1 billion funding from investors, making Xiaomi’s valuation more than US$46 billion.[19] Ranked 468th, Xiaomi is the youngest company on Fortune Global 500 list for 2019.[20] In 2019, Xiaomi’s mobile phone shipments reached 125 million units,[21] ranking fourth globally and first in India since 2018. The company was listed at the Hong Kong Stock Exchange since 2018.
HistoryEdit
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2010Edit
On 6 April 2010 Xiaomi was co-founded by Lei Jun and six others:
- Lin Bin, vice president of the Google China Institute of Engineering
- Dr. Zhou Guangping, senior director of the Motorola Beijing R&D center
- Liu De, department head of industrial design at the Beijing Institute of Technology
- Li Wanqiang, general manager of Kingsoft Dictionary
- Wong Kong-Kat, principal development manager
- Hong Feng, senior product manager for Google China
In the first round of funding, institutional investors included Temasek Holdings, IDG Capital, Qiming Venture Partners[22] and Qualcomm.[23]
On 16 August 2010, Xiaomi officially launched its first Android-based firmware MIUI.[24] It resembles Samsung’s TouchWiz and Apple’s iOS.
2011Edit
The Xiaomi Mi 1 smartphone was announced in August 2011. The device had Xiaomi’s MIUI firmware along with Android installation. The first Xiaomi Mi 1 smartphone was then commercially appeared in Asia and East Asia technological markets.[25]
2012Edit
In August 2012, following the first version of smartphone, Xiaomi Corporation announced its new device called Xiaomi Mi 2 smartphone. It was improved from the previous version by updating the new firmware with the most updated Android Version. [26]
2013Edit
On 5 September 2013, Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun announced plans to launch an Android-based 47-inch 3D-capable Smart TV,[27] which will be assembled by Sony TV manufacturer Wistron Corporation of Taiwan.[28] The company explained the choice as to take advantage of Wistron’s skill as a supplier of Sony.[29]
In September 2013, Xiaomi announced its Mi 3 phone.[30]
By October 2013 Xiaomi was the fifth-most-used smartphone brand in China.[31]
In 2013 it sold 18.7 million smartphones.[32]
2014Edit
In 2014 Xiaomi announced its expansion outside China, with their first international headquarters in Singapore. Future product launches and activities in the region will be set up there.[33] Following Singapore, the company opened in Malaysia, Philippines and India,[34] and plans to enter Indonesia, Thailand, Russia, Turkey, Brazil and Mexico in the following months.[35]
On 21 February 2014 Xiaomi’s Redmi and Mi 3 phone were released in Singapore.[36][37] The Xiaomi Mi 3 batches were sold out within 2 minutes of the opening day sale in Singapore.[38]
In March 2014, Xiaomi Store Australia (an unrelated business) began selling Xiaomi mobile phones online in Australia through its website, XiaomiStore.com.au.[39] However, they traded for only a few months, as Xiaomi soon “requested” that the store be shut down on (or by) 25 July 2014.[39] Shortly after sales were halted, the website itself was also taken down, on 7 August 2014.[39] An industry commentator described the action by Xiaomi to get the Australian website closed down as unprecedented, saying, “I’ve never come across this [before]. It would have to be a strategic move.” [39] At the time this left only one online vendor selling Xiaomi mobile phones into Australia, namely Yatango (formerly MobiCity), which was based in Hong Kong[39] — although this business closed in late 2015.[40]
On 17 March 2014, Redmi Note phablet was announced by Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun.[41]
In April 2014 Xiaomi purchased the Internet domain mi.com for a record US$3.6 million, the most expensive domain name ever bought in China, replacing xiaomi.com as the official Xiaomi domain.[42]
In November 2014 Xiaomi said it would invest US$1 billion in television content building.[43]
In December 2014 Xiaomi completed a round of equity financing led by Hong Kong-based technology fund All-Stars Investment Limited, a fund run by former Morgan Stanley analyst Richard Ji[44][45] raising over US$1 billion, with a valuation of more than US$45 billion making it one of the most valuable private technology companies in the world.[46]
The company sold over 60 million smartphones in 2014.[47]
2015Edit
In April 2015 Xiaomi announced it would make its Mi devices available through two of India’s major e-commerce sites and through offline retailers for the first time.[48]
On 23 April 2015, Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun and VP Hugo Barra came together to announce a new smartphone named Mi 1s in India, the first phone to be launched in India before any other country. The Xiaomi Mi Band was also launched in the same event.
On 27 April 2015, it was reported Ratan Tata had acquired a stake in Xiaomi.[49][50]
On 30 June 2015, Xiaomi announced its expansion into Brazil with the launch of locally manufactured Redmi 2; it is the first time the company assembled a smartphone outside of China.[51]
2016Edit
On 24 February 2016, Xiaomi launched the Mi 5 smartphone.
On 9 March 2016, Xiaomi launched its Redmi Note 3 in India. It was a groundbreaking smartphone at the time in the budget segment and was well received by Indian customers. It made record sales on the year, and the Xiaomi brand name continued to grow.
On 10 May 2016, Xiaomi launched the Mi Max.[52][53]
Shortly after starting operations in Brazil the company left the country in the second half of 2016.[54]
In July 2016 Chinese artists as Liu Shishi, Wu Xiubo and Liu Haoran became the first ambassadors of Xiaomi’s Redmi series in China.[55]
In August 2016 Xiaomi entered Bangladesh via Solar Electro Bangladesh Limited.[56]
In September 2016 Xiaomi’s cell phones became officially available in the European Union through their partnership with ABC Data.[57]
2017Edit
On 20 February, Xiaomi officially launched in Pakistan and brought its Mi and Redmi Note lineup to the country.[58]
On 19 April, Xiaomi launched Mi 6, its flagship phone at the time.
In May, Xiaomi opened two MI Home stores; one in Bangalore (India) and one in Bangladesh. It is the first of several planned for the region.[59]
On 25 May, Xiaomi released Mi Max 2.
On 26 August, new MIUI v9 alongside Mi 5x has been released.[60]
On 31 August, Xiaomi opened its first flagship Mi Store in Faisalabad, Pakistan.[61]
On 5 September Xiaomi released Mi A1, which is the first Android One smartphone under the slogan: Created by Xiaomi, Powered by Google. In the event keynote Xiaomi stated they started working with Google for the Mi A1 Android One smartphone almost six months ago. An alternate version of the phone is also available with MIUI and is known as MI 5X.
In September Xiaomi released Mi MIX 2[62]
In October, the EU‘s first Mi Store has been opened in Athens, Greece.[63]
On 7 November, Xiaomi started operating in Spain, making available the Mi A1 and Mi Mix 2 smartphones.[64]
In Q3 2017, Xiaomi overtook Samsung to become the number one smartphone brand in India. Xiaomi has sold 9.2 million units during this period.[65]
2018Edit
On 20 February, Xiaomi opened their first Mi Store in the Philippines.[66]
In March 2018, at China’s annual legislative session in Beijing, Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun announced that Xiaomi has “always been considering entering the US market” and will launch in the US smartphone market by late 2018 or early 2019. Xiaomi already sells assorted items in the US such as power banks and Bluetooth speakers.[67]
On 3 April 2018, Xiaomi launched the Mix 2S model which is a successor of Mix 2.[68]
On 25 April 2018, Xiaomi launched the Mi 6X, a successor of Mi 5X.
On 22 May 2018, Xiaomi will open, in Paris, its first French store.[69]
On 26 May 2018, Xiaomi will open, in Arese Mall (Milan), its first Italian Mi Store.
On May 3, 2018, Xiaomi filed to go public on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and aims to raise $10 billion in IPO which is expected to be the world’s biggest IPO raise since 2014.[70]
On May 3. 2018, Xiaomi announced in partnership with 3 (telecommunications) to sell smartphones in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Austria, Denmark, and Sweden[71]
In May 2018, Xiaomi began selling some of their smart home products in the United States through Amazon.[72]
In July 2018, Xiaomi opened its office in Bangladesh with a view to establishing a manufacturing plant within the next couple of years. [73]
In September 2018, Xiaomi launched its 4th ‘Mi Home’ experience store in India.[74] They also launched their products in the UK, offering UK customers to purchase without customs fees.
2019Edit
In March 2019, Xiaomi partnering with AMTD obtained one of the eight virtual bank licenses in Hong Kong.[75] The company also has introduced Xiaomi Mi 9 phone which has a fingerprint scanner in its display.[76]
Business modelEdit
A Xiaomi Exclusive Service Centre for customer support in Kuala Lumpur.
Lei Jun, Xiaomi’s CEO, said that the company prices the phone almost at bill-of-material prices,[88][89] without compromising the component quality and performance compared to other premium smartphones.[90] It also profits by selling phone-related peripheral devices, smart home products, apps, online videos and themes.[91][92] According to Xiaomi’s Hugo Barra in 2014, the company sees hardware sales as a means of delivering software and services in the long term, “We are an Internet and a software company much more than a hardware company.”[93] However, financial data available at the time indicated that this is either wishful thinking or plans for the far future: 94% of the company’s revenue came from mobile phone sales, an even higher proportion than Apple.[90]
At first, to reduce overhead costs, Xiaomi did not own any physical stores, selling exclusively from its online store. In recent years, they have opened 54 brick and mortar stores to combat the strategies of other low-cost competitors in Chinese markets. It also did away with traditional advertising and relies on social networking services and word-of-mouth to publicize its products.[94]
By keeping a tight control over its stock, Xiaomi is able to place cheaper batch orders as demand dictates. Limited availability flash sales ensure that supply never outstrips demand and helps promote its products. In contrast, traditional OEMs incur large upfront productions costs, which must be recouped by selling prices, in order to ship phones, some of which may not sell, out to retailers all around the world.[95]
Xiaomi say that they listen closely to customer feedback, having them test out upcoming features themselves, and building an extensive online community.[96] Lei Jun described it this way, “When I was with Kingsoft, I had the opportunity to work with Nokia and Motorola, two mobile phone giants of their time. One day, I pointed out to their R&D boss, some inadequacies. After that, they merely acknowledged my input but never acted upon what I had said. So I thought to myself, if I make a phone, you can tell me anything you wish for it or what’s wrong. If it is justifiable, we will work on it immediately. I’ll give you an update every week and you may even see your wishes come true within a week.”[90][97] In practice, Xiaomi’s product managers spend a lot of time browsing through the company’s user forums. Once a suggestion is picked up, it is quickly transferred to the engineers. Therefore, features can turn from a mere concept to shipping products within a week. The company then ships a new batch of phones out every week on Tuesday at noon Beijing time, containing the new software builds and possible minor hardware tweaks. Xiaomi calls this process “design as you build.”[98]
Xiaomi’s mascot, Mitu, is a white rabbit wearing an Ushanka (known locally as a “Lei Feng hat” in China) with a red star and a red scarf around its neck.[99][100]
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