Xiaomi

Xiaomi Corporation, an investment holding company, provides hardware, software, and internet services in Mainland China, India, Europe, and internationally. It operates through Smartphones, IoT and Lifestyle Products, Internet Services, and Others segments. The Smartphones segment sells smartphones. The IoT and Lifestyle Products segment offers smart TVs, laptops, AI speakers, and smart routers; various IoT and other smart hardware products; and lifestyle products. The Internet Services segment provides advertising services and internet value-added services; and engages in the online game and fintech businesses. The Others segment offers hardware repair services for its products. 

The company also engages in the wholesale and retail of smartphones and ecosystem partners' products; development and sale of software, hardware, and electronic products; procurement and sale of smartphones, ecosystem partners' products, and spare parts; procurement of raw materials; and operation of retail stores. It is also involved in the research and development of computer software and information technology; property management and commercial factoring activities; e-commerce and market research businesses; sale of e-books. 

Investment, asset management, project investment, property management, and investment consulting, as well as technology diffusion, transfer, and consulting activities; and provision of internet finance, consumer loan, virtual banking, software related, information technology advisory, electronic payment, and internet services. Xiaomi Corporation was incorporated in 2010 and is headquartered in Beijing, the People's Republic of China.

Liu De , department chair of the Department of Industrial Design at the University of Science and Technology Beijing. Hong Feng, senior product manager for Google ChinaLei had founded Kingsoft as well as Joyo.com, which he sold to Amazon for $75 million in 2004. 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.

On 16 August 2010, Xiaomi launched its first Android-based firmware MIUI. The company raised $41 million in a Series A round. In August 2011, the company launched its first phone, the Xiaomi Mi1. The device had Xiaomi's MIUI firmware along with Android installation. In December, the company raised $90 million in a Series B round. 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. 

In August 2013, the company hired Hugo Barra from Google, where he served as vice president of product management for the Android platform. 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. In September 2013, Xiaomi announced its Xiaomi Mi3 smartphone and an Android-based 47-inch 3D-capable Smart TV assembled by Sony TV manufacturer Wistron Corporation of Taiwan. The next month, it became the fifth-most-used smartphone brand in China. In 2013, Xiaomi sold 18.7 million smartphones.

In February 2014, Xiaomi announced its expansion outside China, with an international headquarters in Singapore. 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. In September 2014, Xiaomi acquired a 24.7% part taken in Roborock. 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. In 2014, the company sold over 60 million smartphones. In 2014, 94% of the company's revenue came from mobile phone sales. In April 2015, Ratan Tata acquired a stake in Xiaomi. In June of the same year, Xiaomi announced its expansion into Brazil with the launch of the locally manufactured Redmi 2; it was the first time the company assembled a smartphone outside of China.

However, the company left Brazil in the second half of 2016. On 26 February 2016, Xiaomi launched the Mi5, powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor. On 3 March 2016, Xiaomi launched the Redmi Note 3 Pro in India, the first smartphone powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 650 processor. On 10 May 2016, Xiaomi launched the Mi Max, powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 650/652 processor. The next month, the company acquired patents from Microsoft. In September, Xiaomi launched sales in the European Union through a partnership with ABC Data. Also in September, the Xiaomi Mi Robot vacuum was released by Roborock. On 26 October 2016, Xiaomi launched the Mi Mix, powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 processor. On 22 March of the next year, Xiaomi announced that it planned to set up a second manufacturing unit in India in partnership with contract manufacturer Foxconn.

On 19 April 2017, Xiaomi launched the Mi6, powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor. In July, the company entered into a patent licensing agreement with Nokia. 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 the year. An alternate version of the phone was also available with MIUI, the MI 5X. Also this year, Xiaomi opened Mi Stores in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. The EU's first Mi Store was opened in Athens, Greece in October. In Q3, Xiaomi overtook Samsung to become the largest smartphone brand in India. Xiaomi sold 9.2 million units during the quarter. On 7 November 2017, Xiaomi commenced sales in Spain and Western Europe.

In April 2018, Xiaomi announced a smartphone gaming brand called Black Shark. It had 6GB of RAM coupled with a Snapdragon 845 SoC and was priced at $508, which was cheaper than its competitors. The next month Xiaomi announced the launch of Mi Music and Mi Video to offer "value-added internet services" in India. Xiaomi announced a partnership with 3 to sell smartphones in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Austria, Denmark, and Sweden. Xiaomi began selling smart home products in the United States through Amazon. In June 2018, Xiaomi became a public company via an initial public offering on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, raising $4.72 billion. On 7 August 2018, Xiaomi announced that Holitech Technology Co. Ltd., Xiaomi's top supplier, would invest up to $200 million over the next three years to set up a major new plant in India. 

In August 2018, the company announced POCO as a mid-range smartphone line, first launching in India. In Q4 of 2018, the Xiaomi Poco F1 became the best-selling smartphone sold online in India. The Pocophone was sometimes referred to as the "flagship killer" for offering high-end specifications at an affordable price. In October 2019, the company announced that it would launch more than 10 5G phones in 2020, including the Mi 10/10 Pro with 5G functionality. On 17 January 2020, Poco became a separate sub-brand of Xiaomi with entry-level and mid-range devices. 

Xiaomi showcased its new 40W wireless charging solution, which was able to fully charge a smartphone with a 4,000mAh battery from a flat in 40 minutes. In October 2020, Xiaomi became the third largest smartphone maker in the world by shipment volume, shipping 46.2 million handsets in Q3 2020. On 30 March 2021, Xiaomi announced that it will invest US$10 billion in electric vehicles over the following ten years. As well, Xiaomi announced a new logo for the company, designed by Kenya Hara. In July 2021, Xiaomi became the second largest smartphone maker in the world, according to Canalys. It also surpassed Apple for the first time in Europe, making it the second largest in Europe according to Counterpoint.

“At Xiaomi, our mission is to relentlessly build amazing products with honest prices to let everyone in the world enjoy a better life through innovative technology.”

“Making quality technology accessible to everyone. Constantly refining and enhancing our products to create the best user experience possible”