Xiaomi shipped 11m smartphones in 1Q of 2014, aims for 60m in 2014, 100m in 2015

[EbookReader]

http://thenextweb.com/gadgets/2014/...hree-months-of-2014-aims-for-60m-by-year-end/

In an indication of the rising popularity of Xiaomi devices, the Chinese smartphone manufacturer has announced that it shipped 11 million smartphones in the first quarter of this year.

For comparison, Xiaomi sold 18.7 million smartphones in 2013, up 160 percent from a year earlier and more than its initial target of 15 million devices. Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun earlier stated that the company expects to ship 40 million smartphones for 2014, but says now that it could reach 60 million units instead. He also expects Xiaomi to ship 100 million smartphones next year.

2010: company founded
2011: first smartphone sold in October 2011
2012: 7.2 million
2013: 18.7 million
2014: 60 million projected
2015: 100 million projected


Its business model is simple: selling top of the line smartphone at near-break even prices.


This smartphone is sold for $327 off-contract/unlocked since October 2013:

Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 quad-core 2.3GHz CPU
Sharp/LG 5″ 1080P IPS display with ultra-sensitive touch
2GB LPDDR3 RAM
16GB or 64GB eMMC4.5 flash memory
SONY 13 MP Exmor RS CMOS back camera
2MP BSI front camera
NFC & 2.4/5G WiFi support
3050 mAh battery
Dimensions: 114mm×72mm×8.1mm
Weight: 145g


Xiaomi has a good chance at becoming the #3 smartphone maker in the world in the near future.

 

[EbookReader]

It releases a 5.5" phablet recently for a whopping $161 unlocked/off-contract.

Xiaomi Redmi Note

5.5” 720 x 1280 display
1.7GHz octa-core chipset
2GB RAM
16GB internal storage
13MP camera
3200mAh battery,
Android 4.2.2.

For only $161. Yes, that is not a typo.

 

[MRU]

Whilst they are undoubtedly good value they are not easily obtained in the West, and likewise software support outside of china is lacking making it nothing more than a niche phone outside of its own territory.

Until Xiaomi expand outside of china, it will remain nothing more than a curiosity or a faint distant blip on most folks outside of that market....

But with billions of potential customers in its own territory - I doubt it cares about the west.

Therefore it's price compared to phones here becomes entirely irrelevant to a discussion, in fact other than posting how well its doing you actually haven't formed any real subject or debate about the handset, if anything your posts just read like a marketplace advert .....

What do you want us to discuss, what point were you making and how is a handset unavailable outside of its own territory (other than by third party exporters) of any major influence to any of us, that simply will never see one.

I don't mean to sound harsh, but you made a post and I'm not sure what point you are trying to make and what discussion you want us to have about it ....

 

[mclld]

I will try to find one of these

 

[blackhand1001]

It releases a 5.5" phablet recently for a whopping $161 unlocked/off-contract.

Xiaomi Redmi Note
Image

5.5” 720 x 1280 display
1.7GHz octa-core chipset
2GB RAM
16GB internal storage
13MP camera
3200mAh battery,
Android 4.2.2.

For only $161. Yes, that is not a typo.

Would have been better with the dual core snapdragon out of the moto x rather than that trash mediatek octacore.

 

[EbookReader]

Whilst they are undoubtedly good value they are not easily obtained in the West, and likewise software support outside of china is lacking making it nothing more than a niche phone outside of its own territory.

Until Xiaomi expand outside of china, it will remain nothing more than a curiosity or a faint distant blip on most folks outside of that market....

But with billions of potential customers in its own territory - I doubt it cares about the west.

Therefore it's price compared to phones here becomes entirely irrelevant to a discussion, in fact other than posting how well its doing you actually haven't formed any real subject or debate about the handset, if anything your posts just read like a marketplace advert .....

What do you want us to discuss, what point were you making and how is a handset unavailable outside of its own territory (other than by third party exporters) of any major influence to any of us, that simply will never see one.

I don't mean to sound harsh, but you made a post and I'm not sure what point you are trying to make and what discussion you want us to have about it ....

I want to discuss the growth of the company that is VERY new to the smartphone market and the success it has gotten:

2010: company founded
2011: first smartphone sold in October 2011
2012: 7.2 million
2013: 18.7 million
2014: 60 million projected
2015: 100 million projected

This is made possible by selling high end devices at very low profits margin. Customers benefit.

 

[XVentura]

The key thing to notice is the price that they're selling their phones at because their costs will be higher than Samsung and Apple. If they can sell their phones for that cheap, then it shows the high margins that exist for Samsung and Apple, and which will almost certainly be eroded with time.

The second issue is how they're making money. If they're not making much money as a company then this business model won't last and then it's easier to say that the Apple and Samsung model of having high margins on hardware is here to stay. It's a battle between two types of business models, selling the same product but at different price points. Xaiomi are basically the Google of China except they don't have hardware partners that they don't want to offend. If Google acted this way, they'd sell millions of phones as well but they don't, for the most part, partner with carriers and spend millions advertising their Nexus devices, which are sold at very low margins.

 

[spriter]

A significant revenue stream you've overlooked is the software side. Here, there is no definitive Play Store (surely you've read about Google's failed ventures in mainland China). As such hardware manufacturers can and do have their own App Stores which, being the default on a new device, is generally the one people use to make purchases.

There are other methods to make money via software, too - see Xiaomi's decision to allow ports of it's MIUI OS to other brand devices. This enables them to generate money from themes and other such low-cost purchases but also gets people used to the MIUI interface enabling them to be targeted for future handset sales. Thus, they can and do sell the hardware at lower margin prices than the premium brands.

The obvious other factor is average affordable price versus the West. Affordability for a consumer here is much lower, hence keeping hardware costs low and making money from smaller, frequent, incremental purchases. Most people cannot find 5,000-6,000 RMB for a phone. However, they can and will pay 1,000-3,000 and that is obviously more attractive when, for most people's needs, they do the same job just as well (taking selfies and posting using social media seems to be the benchmark!).

 

[numlock]

I want to discuss the growth of the company that is VERY new to the smartphone market and the success it has gotten:

2010: company founded
2011: first smartphone sold in October 2011
2012: 7.2 million
2013: 18.7 million
2014: 60 million projected
2015: 100 million projected

This is made possible by selling high end devices at very low profits margin. Customers benefit.

you seem very informed about them. how are their profits and margins?

how do their "green" policies compare to say apple and workers right etc etc something which does cost money and imo should be considered before purchases.

but their growth is amazing

 

[Oohara]

Whilst they are undoubtedly good value they are not easily obtained in the West, and likewise software support outside of china is lacking making it nothing more than a niche phone outside of its own territory.

Until Xiaomi expand outside of china, it will remain nothing more than a curiosity or a faint distant blip on most folks outside of that market....

But with billions of potential customers in its own territory - I doubt it cares about the west.

Therefore it's price compared to phones here becomes entirely irrelevant to a discussion, in fact other than posting how well its doing you actually haven't formed any real subject or debate about the handset, if anything your posts just read like a marketplace advert .....

What do you want us to discuss, what point were you making and how is a handset unavailable outside of its own territory (other than by third party exporters) of any major influence to any of us, that simply will never see one.

I don't mean to sound harsh, but you made a post and I'm not sure what point you are trying to make and what discussion you want us to have about it ....

I got pretty worked up about the Vivo Xplay 3S too (6" 2K screen, audiophile hardware, great design etc.) but they don't seem to have any real plan for bringing that one to the west either. What few non-chinese youtube videos I could find on it featured a lot of running into unintelligible chinese settings and stuff, eventually I decided that it would just be too much work to even stay interested in the damn thing... So I dropped it and focused elsewhere.

Right, and spriter in a post above here just reminded me, even getting the Play Store onto the Xplay 3S seemed to be a chore...

So I agree, it's not really worthwhile even discussing these chinese phones before they move to actually release them in the west.

 

[Dontazemebro]

SHARK TANK: I'll give you $500,000 for 100% you need me Xiamoi

 

[jrswizzle]

As some have already commented, I'm interested in a few things before anointing them the potential 3rd largest smartphone maker in the world:

(1) Profit margins have to exist for a company to survive. As much as consumers love to think profit margins are evil and only greedy companies like Apple and Samsung like high profit margins, the fact is these companies exist to make money - not to give away high-tech devices for free. Unless they have another way of generating profit or are simply using this low-cost method for fast initial growth, I'm afraid they likely won't last long.

(2) Corporate Sustainability/Responsibility will be seen differently in markets like the US and UK versus China. What are their green energy plans, how about worker rights/wages? People in the west do take these things into consideration when making purchases and the western media will most certainly pick up on any business practices considered "socially irresponsible". The US is STILL the largest consumer market on the planet, and while a company can be successful operating in China within the parameters Chinese consumers value, to be TRULY a global power, Xiaomi has to penetrate the US and that means catering to things the US consumer values.

 

[sviato]

What are their green energy plans, how about worker rights/wages? People in the west do take these things into consideration when making purchases

Those people are a minority.

 

[jrswizzle]

Those people are a minority.

Perhaps - but the media backlash greatly impacts consumer perception. Especially of a new company the average consumer has never heard of.

Trust me, I'm not one of those who cares overly much about such things - but it would be something to be taken seriously.

 

[sviato]

Perhaps - but the media backlash greatly impacts consumer perception. Especially of a new company the average consumer has never heard of.

Trust me, I'm not one of those who cares overly much about such things - but it would be something to be taken seriously.

A greater challenge that Xiaomi may face in the west is a racial one. I've met people who won't buy products such as cars and laptops because they're made by "the Chinese". Even a poster here said he won't buy Motorola phones anymore because they're owned by a Chinese company.

You're right though, the media may try to spurn up some Western guilt about green initiatives and working conditions - I guess we'll have to wait and see how it goes.

 

[kdarling]

(2) Corporate Sustainability/Responsibility will be seen differently in markets like the US and UK versus China. What are their green energy plans, how about worker rights/wages? People in the west do take these things into consideration when making purchases ...

If that were true, more people would've bought American-made Moto Xs, instead of phones built by low paid Chinese living and working all week in a crowded factory enclave, with far less environmental restrictions and employee rights.

The truth is, most people only give lip service to such concerns, especially when the factory is in another country.

You're right though, the media may try to spurn up some Western guilt about green initiatives and working conditions - I guess we'll have to wait and see how it goes.

That was already done for iPhones and iPads. Didn't seem to slow down their sales a bit.

 

[EbookReader]

SHARK TANK: I'll give you $500,000 for 100% you need me Xiamoi

The last valuation was $10 billion back in August 2013

http://www.techinasia.com/xiaomi-worth-10-billion-confirms-ceo-lei-jun-funding/

Last June, Chinese mobile startup Xiaomi had netted an additional $216 million in series C funding that gave the company an effective valuation of around $4 billion. Now, just a little over a year later, Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun has confirmed via his Sina Weibo account that the company has brought in another round of funding that raises the company’s valuation to a staggering $10 billion.


as for its profitability:

http://www.unwiredview.com/2013/09/...s-will-ship-20-million-smartphones-this-year/

Xiaomi President Lin Bin told Sohu IT that his company just became profitable for the first time in its short 3 year history

Even though it just became profitable, it is mostly focusing on growth/market share right now.

 

[EbookReader]

As for becoming the third biggest in the world after Samsung (#1) and Apple (#2), Xiaomi has a very good chance if it meets its goal of 100 million in 2015.


2013:

 

[Technarchy]

I wouldn't consider one personally.

 

[Internaut]

Whilst they are undoubtedly good value they are not easily obtained in the West, and likewise software support outside of china is lacking making it nothing more than a niche phone outside of its own territory.

I understand they're coming. At the moment, China's fast emerging middle class is buying as many of these phones as they can make.

I'm liking what I'm seeing, in terms of the direction, where the phone market is heading. Give it a few years, and I suspect most of us will buy our phones up front (thanks to the Nexus 5, I already do), rather than being tied to expensive contracts. When my contract runs out in June, I'll be asking EE to put me onto a SIM-only rolling contract.

 

[kdarling]

For those who don't know, Xiaomi is called "The Apple of the East", with a CEO who cultivates fanbois as loyal as any.

When their Mi3 went on sale last Fall, the first 100,000 were snapped up in less than 90 seconds. Not bad for a company that was just a startup a few years ago.

One of its early claims to fame is that it listens a lot to user feedback, issuing a software update weekly, implementing features that its fans asked for.

Of course, it also helps a lot that its prices are rock bottom, with decent features, and an ecosystem of apps and media. This competes with not just Apple, but all the other makers.



It's not the biggest seller, but it's been keeping up with Apple.

 

[EbookReader]

This phone will give Xiaomi a run for their money.

$299 for the 16GB
$349 for the 64GB

its specs are top of the line

OnePlus, the Chinese start-up run by former Oppo executive Pete Lau, has revealed the specs of its upcoming smartphone dubbed One in an official forum post that is expected to launch on April 24.

Official released phone information:
- 5.5" JDI 1080p display
- Snapdragon 801 (MSM8974AC - Quad-core at 2.5GHz)
- 3100+mAh battery (non-removable)
- Sony Exmor IMX214 6-Lens 13MP camera
- 5MP Front-Facing camera
- 3GB of RAM
- 16GB & 64GB Variants
- Stereo Speakers
- StyleSwap Covers - Multiple materials/textures
- Single-SIM card
- Global LTE
- GSM Only
- Something better than pre-orders
- No front branding
- 2 year CyanogenMod support

 

[Switchback666]

This phone will give Xiaomi a run for their money.

$299 for the 16GB
$349 for the 64GB

its specs are top of the line

Too much hype around that phone, to the point in sure it will disappoint a lot of people but I sign up for the smash contest maybe I get lucky.

 

[EbookReader]

Too much hype around that phone, to the point in sure it will disappoint a lot of people but I sign up for the smash contest maybe I get lucky.

I think OnePlus One is created because of Xiaomi wild success. ($10 billion valuation several months ago, probably north of $15 billion now).

OPPO Electronics wants to duplicate Xiaomi success.

1) OPPO co-founders form a new company (OPPO join as investors)
2) OnePlus will use Xiaomi strategy



By focusing on creating the best products possible, cutting out the middle men, and reducing marketing costs; we can return the value to the user. We’ll not make sacrifices on the actual product, and we believe, that if we treat our users well enough, we’ll be able to rely on them to help us spread the word.

Our hypothesis is that, in this day and age, making customers happy and receiving good word-of-mouth can win over big marketing budgets. Thanks to the power of technology, a good product can finally speak for itself.

 

[aeboi]

I like where they're going with this so I'll definitely be paying attention. Perhaps I'd get one as a secondary phone.

They produce some quality products. The Xiaomi Mikey sells in China for around $1. They also produce the Xiaomi Pistons earphones, which sells for $16 in China, and these are VERY good for the price, you can look at headfi for more info.

They're definitely not going for the "Apple markup" approach.