Xiaomi has recently confirmed that he is working on a new smartphone, the Xiaomi MI3S, or the successor to the great MI3, the device that still picks up the market titans in terms of performance.
Let's stop for a moment though, who is Xiaomi? As an Italian citizen, I can guarantee you that the people who know this brand are not so many, given the reduced and not even direct presence of the company. Xiaomi, however, is growing incredibly, both in China and abroad, so as to be passed in just 3 years from a simple start-up to 4 ° mobile group in China and creator of one of the most popular custom ROM in the world, the MIUI . The time has come for the world to deepen who Xiaomi is, who he is and what he has done!
Xiaomi - History
Xiaomi came founded in April 2010 from the former adm. delegate of Kingsoft Lei Jun, as a software company with the intent of creating a new custom Android Rom. The stated goal was to add additional features that the Android stock still had to offer and create a highly practical and functional user interface. MIUI, the Rom created by the Jun team, proved to be an incredible success so far that in 2014, in just 3 years it has already landed over 200 device both in English and Chinese, easy to install even for newbies using the MIUI Express Apk. At the end of 2013, MIUI active users were already more than 30 million… impressive for a company of such a young age!
The MIUI Rom has been repeatedly approached and compared to the iOs of Apple for its ease of use and for its sophisticated services such as Cloud back-up, music player and even dedicated app store. The Xiaomi team has always tried to make its fans feel part of the company and get the feedback from its product through the most varied channels, then updating the MIUI every Friday with bug fixes, optimizations and adding new features . Do not you still believe in the goodness of MIUI? Try to install it and see a little!
Xiaomi - Entry into the hardware market
In the 2011 Xiaomi announced its first smartphone, the MI One; Xiaomi began to work alongside hardware production as well. The MI One was for the time a telephone with low price and top specifications (processor Qualcomm Snpadragon dual-core by 1,5 Ghz, 1GB RAMThe display WVGA by 4 inches in the 2011), an incredible quality / price ratio that has become the company's philosophy.
Although the commentators set themselves to define Xiaomi as the "Chinese Apple," the same company publicly rejected this app, claiming to look more like Amazon, creating smartphone retailers who sold at low prices and based their own turnover, which alone 2013 has reached quota 5 Billion Dollars (5.000.000.000 $), mainly on the exclusive content and services offered. There are however several similarities between Xiaomi and Apple: both are both hardware and software companies, both have great power on supply chains, both have an incredible number of fans. In addition to this, however, there is not so much in common, Apple sells its products at ridiculous prices and does not rely heavily on the feedback of its customers, exactly the opposite of what was done by Xiaomi.
Xiaomi - The expansion
In 2012 Xiaomi has sold more than 7,2 million devices, in the 2013 even 18,7 millions (in one of the 4 quarters has even surpassed Apple). In the first quarter of the 2014, the company has already sold more than 11 million phones, a better result than the whole of 2012 and poco higher than half of that recorded in the whole of 2013. Demand continues to increase and the reason behind this is simple to find, as already mentioned, a unbeatable value for money!
The international markets officially manned by Xiaomi such as Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore demand has reached levels similar to those in China. The continuous expansion of the brand has been strongly pushed by the hiring of Hugo Barra as Vice-president of the Division Xiaomi Global (formerly Vice-president of the Product Development Division of Android), whose task is to identify the markets in which to introduce: Malaysia , Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia and India will be the next ones to be covered. All this could allude to a launch in markets such as the US and European, but according to the last words of Barra at least the next will be those of central and South American.
Xiaomi - Not just phones
In addition to smartphones, Xiaomi has launched other devices such as MiTV (the smartTV), the WiFI Router, Mikey (customizable key) and in the future it should also launch the MIPad, the long awaited tablet of the Pekingese house. Xiaomi is undoubtedly the company to keep an eye on in the 2014, surpassing, according to recent estimates, the 60 million devices sold.
Despite the great popularity and a growing number of fans, it will be curious and interesting to see if the strategy adopted so far will lead the company to excel even in the more mature markets. Will a rethinking be needed in at least marketing terms? We honestly think of SI, but because we should ask ourselves the problem now .. At the bottom of the numbers still agree with Xiaomi!
Do you own a Xiaomi device? What do you think of the marketing and sales system of this company? Please let us know by writing in the comments section below.
You want to know more about Xiaomi and his Rom MIUI, here are the links:
[Via GizChina.com]
