Xiaomi, the Chinese smartphone maker, will make its first step into western markets with a US launch this year.
Five-year-old Xiaomi – dubbed “China’s Apple” by analysts – will launch its Mi Band fitness tracker, headphones and battery packs, but not its eagerly anticipated smartphones.
Opening up its online accessories store to US consumers will mark Xiaomi’s first step into western markets outside China, after an unsuccessful effort to launch in India where it has faced issues around patent infringement.
“We are an internet company. We are not in the business of only making handsets,” said Hugo Barra, vice-president of international operations for Xioami and a former Google Android executive.
“The amount of effort required to bring [smartphones and tablets] to market is significant. So we’re accelerating our entry in a sense by bringing simpler products.”
Barra cited language localisation and regulatory issues as well as manufacturing challenges as hurdles to overcome before Xiaomi’s smartphones could go on sale in the US and other key markets outside China.
Despite not yet being available outside Asia, Xiaomi became the world’s third-biggest smartphone manufacturer in the third quarter of 2014. It also raised $1.1bn in venture capital, valuing the company at $45bn.
Most recently Xiaomi launched a new new range of phablets that take aim at both Samsung and Apple, with chief executive Lei Jun citing Apple specifically in his keynote presentation.
Jun is outspoken about his belief that Xiaomi has what it takes to be the world’s largest smartphone manufacturer, but trouble with patents have kept it from expanding far beyond its home turf.
Lin Bin, Xiaomi co-founder, told a press conference – the company’s first significant event for media in the US – that intellectual property was “not the most important matrix”. However, it was one factor that he and Jun use when planning country launch strategies.
Jun recently boasted about the number of patents filed by Xiaomi around its smartphones, displaying patents awarded for the camera on its new Mi Note phablet during its announcement presentation last month.
Apple’s chief designer Jonathan Ive recently criticised Xiaomi’s alleged copying of its iPhone, saying: “It is theft and it is lazy. I don’t think it is OK at all.”
Xiaomi is likely to face fierce patent litigation from Apple and others if it does start selling smartphones in the US and Europe.
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Xiaomi dipping its toe into the US with accessories but not smartphones
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