Xiaomi targets premium market with Mi4

BEIJING — China’s Xiaomi yesterday unveiled its new flagship Mi4 smartphone, aimed at the premium handset market dominated by Apple and Samsung. The Mi4 has a 5-inch, 1080p screen and a Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 2.5Ghz processor, said chief executive Lei Jun at a launch event in Beijing.

Featuring iPhone-like metal sides, the Mi4’s similarities to Apple’s smartphone drew murmurs from the crowd when it was showcased by the CEO.

Founded in 2010 by Mr Lei, Xiaomi seeks to cut costs by eschewing brick-and-mortar stores in favour of Web-based distribution and word-of-mouth marketing. The firm became the world’s sixth-largest smartphone vendor in the first quarter of this year, said data firm Canalys, after repeatedly doubling its sales. It sold 18.7 million smartphones and was valued at US$10 billion (S$12.4 billion) last year. It is targeting to sell 60 million smartphones this year.

Meanwhile, Xiaomi aims to expand its global market share in inexpensive smartphones with the launch of its Mi3 phone in India yesterday through its partnership with Flipkart.com, India’s biggest e-commerce operator.

Xiaomi is selling the phone for 13,999 rupees (S$288). The partnership with Flipkart is a break from Xiaomi’s usual strategy of selling phones solely through its own website.

However, India is proving to be a challenging market because its infrastructure for delivering packages and collecting payments is underdeveloped. “Building an e-commerce effort in India is a lofty effort, not something we would be able to do quickly,” said Xiaomi’s vice-president, Mr Hugo Barra.

Xiaomi is starting sales in 10 new markets including Brazil and Russia. It is partnering with local e-commerce operators for its expansion to the Philippines and Indonesia, Mr Barra said.

The Mi3, which sells for less than a third of the price for an iPhone 5s, has high-end specifications with a full high-definition screen, a 13-megapixel camera and a Snapdragon processor.

Samsung accounted for 35 per cent of India’s smartphone sales in the March quarter, while homegrown brands Micromax Informatics had 15 per cent and Karbonn Mobiles held 10 per cent, said research firm IDC. Nearly 80 per cent of smartphones purchased in India cost less than US$200, said IDC.

Xiaomi has hired Mr Manu Jain, the co-founder of clothing e-commerce site Jabong, to run the India operations, and it plans to increase workers at the business to about 20, including staff to run two service centres, by year-end.

It will contract other companies for a further 34 service centres and hire software developers to build applications focused on Indian users. Mr Barra declined to say how much the company is investing in India. AGENCIES