Xiaomi X3 Pro
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Xiaomi Corporation (/ˈʃaʊmi/;[2] Chinese: 小米集团), commonly known as Xiaomi and registered as Xiaomi Inc., is a Chinese designer and manufacturer of consumer electronics and related software, home appliances, automobiles and household hardware, with headquarters in Beijing. It is the second-largest manufacturer of smartphones in the world, behind Samsung,[3] most of which run on the MIUI (now HyperOS) operating system. The company is ranked 338th and is the youngest company on the Fortune Global 500.[4][5]
xiaomi x3 pro
Xiaomi was founded in 2010 in Beijing by Lei Jun along with six associates. Lei had founded Kingsoft as well as Joyo.com, the latter of which he sold to Amazon for $75 million in 2004. In August 2011, Xiaomi released its first smartphone and, by 2014, it had the largest market share of smartphones sold in China. Initially the company only sold its products online; however, it later opened brick and mortar stores.[6] By 2015, it was developing a wide range of consumer electronics.[7] In 2020, the company sold 149.4 million smartphones and its MIUI (now HyperOS) mobile operating system has over 500 million monthly active users.[8] As of 2023, Xiaomi is the third-largest seller of smartphones worldwide, with a market share of about 12%, according to Counterpoint.[9] Its presence led some people to call Xiaomi the "Apple of China".[10] It has come up with its own range of wearable items.[11] It also is a major manufacturer of appliances including televisions, flashlights, unmanned aerial vehicles, and air purifiers using its Internet of things and Xiaomi Smart Home product ecosystems.
Xiaomi keeps its prices close to its manufacturing costs and bill of materials costs by keeping most of its products in the market for 18 months, longer than most smartphone companies.[12][13] The company also uses inventory optimization and flash sales to keep its inventory low.[14][6]
Lei had founded Kingsoft as well as Joyo.com, the latter of which he sold to Amazon for $75 million in 2004.[15] At the time of the founding of the company, Lei was dissatisfied with the products of other mobile phone manufacturers and thought he could make a better product.
In June 2012, the company raised $216 million of funding in a Series C round at a $4 billion valuation. Institutional investors participating in the first round of funding included Temasek Holdings, IDG Capital, Qiming Venture Partners and Qualcomm.[15][19]
In August 2013, the company hired Hugo Barra from Google, where he served as vice president of product management for the Android platform.[20][21][22][23] He was employed as vice president of Xiaomi to expand the company outside of mainland China, making Xiaomi the first company selling smartphones to poach a senior staffer from Google's Android team. He left the company in February 2017.[24]
In April 2014, Xiaomi purchased the domain name mi.com for a record US$3.6 million, the most expensive domain name ever bought in China, replacing xiaomi.com as the company's main domain name.[31][32]
In December 2014, Xiaomi raised US$1.1 billion at a valuation of over US$45 billion, making it one of the most valuable private technology companies in the world. The financing round was led by Hong Kong-based technology fund All-Stars Investment Limited, a fund run by former Morgan Stanley analyst Richard Ji.[35][36][37][38][39]
On 30 June 2015, Xiaomi announced its expansion into Brazil with the launch of locally manufactured Redmi 2; it was the first time the company assembled a smartphone outside of China.[44][45][46] However, the company left Brazil in the second half of 2016.[47]
On 5 September 2017, Xiaomi released Xiaomi Mi A1, the first Android One smartphone under the slogan: Created by Xiaomi, Powered by Google. Xiaomi stated started working with Google for the Mi A1 Android One smartphone earlier in 2017. An alternate version of the phone was also available with MIUI, the MI 5X.[60]
In 2017, Xiaomi opened Mi Stores in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. The EU's first Mi Store was opened in Athens, Greece in October 2017.[61] In Q3 2017, Xiaomi overtook Samsung to become the largest smartphone brand in India. Xiaomi sold 9.2 million units during the quarter.[62] On 7 November 2017, Xiaomi commenced sales in Spain and western Europe.[63]
On 2 May 2018, Xiaomi announced the launch of Mi Music and Mi Video to offer "value-added internet services" in India.[65] On 3 May 2018, Xiaomi announced a partnership with 3 to sell smartphones in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Austria, Denmark, and Sweden[66]
In Q4 of 2018, the Xiaomi Pocophone F1 became the best-selling smartphone sold online in India.[72] The Pocophone was sometimes referred to as the "flagship killer" for offering high-end specifications at an affordable price.[73][74][72]
In March 2020, Xiaomi launched their first foldable phone, the Mi Mix Fold. Powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 with an 8.01-inch foldable AMOLED display when open and a 6.5-inch external display when folded.[84] In March 2020, Xiaomi showcased its new 40W wireless charging solution, which was able to fully charge a smartphone with a 4,000mAh battery from flat in 40 minutes.[85][86]
On 30 March 2021, Xiaomi announced its intention to invest US$10 billion in electric vehicles over the following ten years.[88] On 31 March 2021, Xiaomi announced a new logo for the company, designed by Kenya Hara.[89][90]
In July 2021, Xiaomi became the second largest smartphone maker in the world, according to Canalys.[91] It also surpassed Apple for the first time in Europe, making it the second-largest in Europe according to Counterpoint.[citation needed]
In June 2022, Xiaomi established Zhuhai Xinshi Semiconductor Technology Co., Ltd., with a registered capital of 200 million RMB. The business scope includes: integrated circuit manufacturing, integrated circuit chip design and services, integrated circuit chip and product manufacturing, integrated circuit design, manufacturing of specialized equipment for semiconductor devices, manufacturing of semiconductor discrete devices, manufacturing of semiconductor lighting devices etc. The company is jointly held by Xiaomi's affiliated company Hubei Xiaomi Changjiang Industrial Fund Management and others.[97]
On 1 August 2022, Xiaomi India elevated COO Murali Krishnan B as president, responsible for the company's daily operations, services, public affairs, and strategic projects, stating that he would continue to work towards strengthening the company's commitment to the Made in India and Digital India initiatives.[99]
In the 2021 review of WIPO's annual World Intellectual Property Indicators Xiaomi was ranked as 2nd in the world, with 216 designs in industrial design registrations being published under the Hague System during 2020.[103] This position is up on their previous 3rd-place ranking in 2019 for 111 industrial design registrations being published.[104]
On 8 February 2022, Lei released a statement on Weibo to announce plans for Xiaomi to enter the high-end smartphone market and surpass Apple as the top seller of premium smartphones in China in three years. To achieve that goal, Xiaomi will invest US$15.7 billion in R&D over the next five years, and the company will benchmark its products and user experience against Apple's product lines.[105] Lei described the new strategy as a "life-or-death battle for our development" in his Weibo post, after Xiaomi's market share in China contracted over consecutive quarters, from 17% to 14% between Q2 and Q3 2021, dipping further to 13.2% as of Q4 2021.[106][107][108]
In 2022, Xiaomi announced and debuted the company's humanoid robot prototype to the public, while the current state of the robot is very limited in its abilities, the announcement was made to mark the companies ambitions to integrate AI into its product designs as well as develop their humanoid robot project into the future.[110]
In 2021, Xiaomi announced a 10 billion USD investment into electric vehicles.[111][112] In late 2023, Xiaomi Auto unveiled its first production vehicle, the Xiaomi SU7, and publicly announced a goal to become one of the five largest automakers in the world.[113][114] On 28 March 2024, Xiaomi officially launched the SU7 sedan in Beijing.[115]
In 2022, Leica Camera entered a strategic partnership with Xiaomi to jointly develop Leica cameras to be used in Xiaomi flagship smartphones, succeeding the partnership between Huawei and Leica. The first flagship smartphones under this new partnership were the Xiaomi 12S Ultra and Xiaomi MIX Fold 2, launched in July and August 2022, respectively.[117]
In 2021, Xiaomi began collaborating with directors to create short films shot entirely using the Xiaomi Mi 11 line of phones. In 2022, they made two shorts with Jessica Henwick.[118] The first, Bus Girl won several awards[119] and was long-listed for Best British Short at the 2023 BAFTA.[120]
Xiaomi (小米) is the Chinese word for "millet".[121] In 2011 its CEO Lei Jun suggested there are more meanings than just the "millet and rice".[122] He linked the "Xiao" (小) part to the Buddhist concept that "a single grain of rice of a Buddhist is as great as a mountain",[123] suggesting that Xiaomi wants to work from the little things, instead of starting by striving for perfection,[122] while "mi" (米) is an acronym for Mobile Internet and also "mission impossible", referring to the obstacles encountered in starting the company.[122][124] He also stated that he thinks the name is cute.[122] In 2012 Lei Jun said that the name is about revolution and being able to bring innovation into a new area.[125] Xiaomi's new "Rifle" processor[126] has given weight to several sources linking the latter meaning to the Chinese Communist Party's "millet and rifle" (小米加步枪) revolutionary idiom[127][128] during the Second Sino-Japanese War.[129][130][131][132]
Xiaomi's first logo consisted of a single orange square with the letters "MI" in white located in the center of the square. This logo was in use until 31 March 2021, when a new logo, designed by well-known Japanese designer Kenya Hara, replaced the old one, consisting of the same basic structure as the previous logo, but the square was replaced with a "squircle" with rounded corners instead, and with the letters "MI" remaining identical to the previous logo, along with a slightly darker hue.
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