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Xiaomi releases new products to test global markets

0 Comment(s)Print E-mail CNTV, September 6, 2013
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China's fastest growing smartphone maker Xiaomi, took the wraps off new products on Thursday. Plus, Xiaomi is going global - the company just hired a former Google executive for international expansion. The home grown company is known for selling quality cellphones at prices far below Apple or Samsung.

Fans pouring in, for a glimpse of what Xiaomi has to offer. It's the sort of scene you might see at an Apple product launch.

Lei Jun is the guy they are cheering for, the founder and CEO of Xiaomi. He's unveiling a smartphone dubbed "the fastest cellphone so far".

The price tag? Only 300 U.S. dollars. For the first time, Lei Jun also announced a 3D smart TV. That pushed the party mood to fever pitch.

This is xiaomi3. Fans gathered here for this little gadget. For them, it's not just a phone, but an access to the internet ecosystem created by Xiaomi. But like any other ecosystem on earth, it needs protection from the outside invasion. For internet, it's the hackers.

"Security plays a very important part, to the local players as well, how you make sure that not only your phone, your entire system, ecosystem, to ensure the security of it. This is very important," said Kitty Fok, China Managing Director of IDC Consulting.

The new Xiaomi smart TV goes head to head with Apple TV in the Chinese market. It's part of the growing trend of marrying mobile internet with traditional gadgets.

Samsung just announced its new smart watch, while Sony has plans for a similar product. But Xiaomi's president, Lin Bin, a former Google China executive, has concerns beyond product development.

"I think the major challenge is to really figure out a way to carry the existing business model of Xiaomi globally. In a mature market, carriers have provided data plan to cover the fee, so customers are not as sentitive on prices as those in developing countries. So we want to see whether this business model works globally," Lin said.

One strategy that's working is having functions tailored to local needs. "In China we got a lot of junk messages. The operating system of Xiaomi, which is MIUI, helps to block these junk messages and junk calls," said Jane Zhang, a research analyst from Gartner.

Smart local strategies have pushed up Xiaomi's value to almost 10 billion U.S. dollars - 40 times higher than three years ago. Xiaomi says it's now the fourth largest internet company in China.

Whether the company's home-grown strategy works in North America and beyond, will be a test to see if Xiaomi can "Show Me the Money".

 

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