Xiaomi

Xiaomi Corporation
	File:Xiaomi logo.svg Logo since 2021, designed by Kenya Hara
Company type	Public
Industry	Consumer electronics, software development, electric vehicles
Founded	April 6, 2010; 16 years ago in Beijing, China
Founder	Lei Jun and six co-founders (Lin Bin, Zhou Guangping, Liu De, Li Wanqiang, Huang Jiangji, Hong Feng)
Headquarters	Beijing, China
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Lei Jun (Founder and CEO), Murali Krishnan B (President of Xiaomi India)
Products	Smartphones, wearable devices, televisions, flashlights, drones, air purifiers, IoT devices, electric vehicles
Website	www.mi.com

Xiaomi (; ) is a Chinese multinational technology enterprise headquartered in Beijing, China, focusing on consumer electronics, software development, and electric vehicles. It ranks as the world's second-largest smartphone producer after Samsung, with the majority of its devices operating on its proprietary Xiaomi HyperOS (previously known as MIUI). Positioned 338th on the Fortune Global 500 list, Xiaomi is the youngest company featured and has earned the nickname "Apple of China."

Established in 2010 by Lei Jun alongside six co-founders, Lei Jun had held senior roles at Kingsoft and co-established Joyo.com, which Amazon acquired for $75 million in 2004. Xiaomi introduced its inaugural smartphone in 2011 and by 2014 had captured the leading share of China's smartphone market. Initially concentrating on online sales channels, the company later expanded into brick-and-mortar retail outlets. By 2015, Xiaomi broadened its product portfolio to encompass a wide array of consumer electronics.

In 2020, Xiaomi achieved sales of 149.4 million smartphones, with its MIUI platform supporting over 500 million monthly active users. As of August 2024, it commands roughly 12% of the global smartphone market, securing second place worldwide. Beyond smartphones, Xiaomi manufactures wearable devices and major household appliances such as televisions, flashlights, drones, and air purifiers, integrating these within its Internet of Things (IoT) and Xiaomi Smart Home frameworks.

Xiaomi sustains competitive pricing close to production costs by maintaining product lifecycles around 18 months—longer than most rivals. The company utilizes inventory management strategies and flash sales to minimize stock surplus and lower expenses, underpinning its robust market growth approach.

2010–2013

On April 6, 2010, Xiaomi was established by Lei Jun together with six partners:

Lin Bin (), formerly Google China's engineering vice president
Zhou Guangping (), senior director at Motorola's Beijing R&D center
Liu De (), Industrial Design head at University of Science and Technology Beijing
Li Wanqiang (), general manager of Kingsoft Dictionary
Huang Jiangji (), principal development manager
Hong Feng (), senior product manager at Google China

Lei Jun, who had previously held executive positions at Kingsoft and co-founded Joyo.com, aimed to enhance mobile phone offerings.

On August 16, 2010, Xiaomi launched its first Android-based firmware named MIUI (currently called Xiaomi HyperOS). That same year, the company secured $41 million through a Series A funding round.

In August 2011, Xiaomi introduced its debut smartphone—the Xiaomi Mi 1—which operated on MIUI firmware built over Android. By December 2011, it had raised $90 million in Series B financing.

In June 2012, Xiaomi completed a Series C funding round raising $216 million at a valuation of $4 billion. Key investors included Temasek Holdings, IDG Capital, Qiming Venture Partners, and Qualcomm.

In August 2012, a data breach impacted Xiaomi’s user forum, compromising millions of email addresses and hashed passwords.

August 2013 marked Xiaomi's recruitment of Hugo Barra, former Google Android vice president, as vice president to spearhead global expansion—representing the first time a smartphone firm hired a senior executive from Google Android. He left the company in February 2017.

September 2013 saw the launch of the Xiaomi Mi 3 smartphone along with a 47-inch Android Smart TV produced by Taiwanese manufacturer Wistron. By October that year, Xiaomi ranked as the fifth most popular smartphone brand in China.

During 2013, Xiaomi sold around 18.7 million smartphones.

2014–2020

In February 2014, Xiaomi commenced its international expansion by setting up its regional headquarters in Singapore. Shortly thereafter, in April 2014, the company purchased the domain mi.com for $3.6 million, marking the priciest domain acquisition in China and replacing xiaomi.com as its primary website.

By September 2014, Xiaomi had secured a 24.7% ownership stake in Roborock. Later that year, in December, it successfully raised $1.1 billion, achieving a valuation surpassing $45 billion and positioning itself among the most valuable privately held technology firms worldwide. During 2014, Xiaomi sold more than 60 million smartphones, with mobile devices accounting for 94% of its total revenue.

In April 2015, Indian industrialist Ratan Tata invested in Xiaomi. The company entered the Brazilian market by June 2015 through locally assembled Redmi 2 smartphones but withdrew from Brazil by late 2016.

Significant product introductions included the Mi5 in February 2016, equipped with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor; the Redmi Note 3 Pro launched in India in March 2016 featuring the Snapdragon 650 chipset; and the Mi Max released in May 2016 powered by Snapdragon 650/652 processors. In June 2016, Xiaomi acquired a portfolio of patents from Microsoft.

Xiaomi began sales across Europe in September 2016 through distribution partner ABC Data and introduced the Mi Robot vacuum cleaner developed by Roborock. Later that year, it unveiled the Mi Mix smartphone featuring the Snapdragon 821 processor. In March 2017, Xiaomi collaborated with Foxconn to establish a second manufacturing facility in India.

The Mi6 was launched in April 2017 with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 835 chipset. In July of that year, Xiaomi entered into a patent licensing agreement with Nokia. September brought the release of the Mi A1 Android One smartphone and expansion of Mi Stores into markets including India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Greece. By Q3 of 2017, Xiaomi had become India's leading smartphone brand with sales of 9.2 million units and further expanded its presence into Spain and Western Europe.

In April 2018, Xiaomi debuted Black Shark, a competitively priced gaming smartphone featuring Snapdragon 845 and 6GB of RAM. The following month saw the launch of Mi Music and Mi Video services in India along with a partnership with telecom operator 3 to distribute smartphones across various European nations. Additionally, Xiaomi began offering smart home products on Amazon’s US platform.

Xiaomi went public on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in June 2018, raising $4.72 billion through its initial public offering. In August, Holitech Technology committed up to $200 million to develop manufacturing operations in India. That same month marked the introduction of the POCO mid-range smartphone series in India; by Q4 2018, the Pocophone F1 became the top-selling online smartphone in the country.

July 2019 saw Xiaomi inaugurate a new headquarters building in Beijing after nearly four years of construction. In October, the company announced plans to release over ten different 5G-enabled smartphones throughout 2020, including flagship models Mi 10 and Mi 10 Pro.

November 2019 marked Xiaomi’s entry into Japan via establishing a local subsidiary focused on capturing market share within the smartphone segment.

At the start of 2020, POCO was spun off as an independent sub-brand targeting global entry-level and mid-tier markets. In March, Xiaomi launched its first foldable device—the Mi Mix Fold—featuring a Snapdragon 888 processor alongside an 8.01-inch foldable AMOLED screen and innovative 40W wireless charging technology capable of fully charging a 4,000mAh battery within forty minutes.

By October 2020, Xiaomi had ascended to become the third-largest smartphone manufacturer worldwide by shipment volume, delivering an impressive total of 46.2 million units during Q3 alone.

Developments Since 2021

On 30 March 2021, Xiaomi revealed plans to invest US$10 billion in the electric vehicle sector over a decade. The next day, it introduced a refreshed logo created by Japanese designer Kenya Hara.

By July 2021, Xiaomi had become the second-largest smartphone manufacturer worldwide, overtaking Apple in the European market. In August of the same year, the company acquired Deepmotion, a firm specializing in autonomous driving technology, for $77 million.

December 2021 marked the release of the Xiaomi 12 and Xiaomi 12 Pro smartphones, both equipped with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor. Subsequently, in April 2022, Xiaomi secured a position on the board of the Car Connectivity Consortium (CCC).

In June 2022, Xiaomi founded Zhuhai Xinshi Semiconductor Technology Co., Ltd., aimed at integrated circuit design and production, with an initial registered capital of 200 million RMB. This venture is partially controlled by Hubei Xiaomi Changjiang Industrial Fund Management, an affiliate of Xiaomi.

By July 2022, Xiaomi along with its sub-brand POCO commanded a leading 42% share of Russia's smartphone market. On 1 August, Murali Krishnan B was promoted to president of Xiaomi India, overseeing operations and strategic initiatives in line with the Made in India and Digital India programs.

On 3 August 2022, Xiaomi climbed to rank 266 on the Fortune Global 500 list, advancing 72 places from the prior year. Later in December, total worldwide sales of the Redmi Note series surpassed 300 million units.

On 28 February 2023, Redmi launched an advanced fast charging technology delivering 300W power that can fully recharge a 4100mAh battery within five minutes.

In May 2025, Lei Jun announced the forthcoming XRING O1 mobile processor chip developed independently by Xiaomi using a cutting-edge 3nm manufacturing process. Officially released on 22 May, the XRING O1 powers devices such as the Xiaomi 15S Pro and Xiaomi Pad 7 Ultra.

Xiaomi Auto debuted its inaugural SUV model, the Xiaomi YU7, on 26 June 2025.

Business trends

The following table summarizes key financial indicators for Xiaomi over recent fiscal years ending December 31:

	Revenue (HKD bn)	Net profit (HKD bn)
2019	233	11.3
2020	276	22.8
2021	395	23.3
2022	325	2.8
2023	299	19.3

Origin of name

The term Xiǎomǐ () translates to "millet" in Chinese. CEO Lei Jun elaborated in 2011 that the name embodies multiple layers of meaning beyond just the grain. The character xiǎo (, small) reflects a Buddhist concept asserting that "a single grain of rice is as significant as a mountain," symbolizing Xiaomi’s philosophy of beginning with modest innovations rather than seeking perfection immediately. Meanwhile, mǐ () represents "Mobile Internet" and "mission impossible," alluding to early obstacles faced by the company.

Lei Jun further described the name as endearing and emblematic of revolutionary spirit and innovation within emerging markets. The association with Xiaomi’s "Rifle" processor echoes the Chinese Communist Party's revolutionary phrase "millet and rifle" (小米加步枪), linking the brand to a historic emblem of perseverance during the Second Sino-Japanese War.

Logo and mascot

Initially, Xiaomi's logo consisted of an orange square featuring white "MI" lettering until it was updated on 31 March 2021. The redesign by Kenya Hara maintained the "MI" but adopted a rounded "squircle" shape with a deeper color tone.

The company's mascot is Mitu—a white rabbit donning an Ushanka (referred to in China as a "Lei Feng hat") adorned with a red star and pioneer scarf. Over time, the red star was replaced by Xiaomi’s own logo emblem.

Innovation and development

On 8 February 2022, CEO Lei Jun revealed Xiaomi's strategic initiative to penetrate the premium smartphone segment, aiming to outpace Apple as the leading high-end smartphone vendor in China within three years. To realize this goal, Xiaomi pledged an investment of US$15.7 billion in research and development over a five-year period, aligning its product quality and user experience with Apple's standards. This decision came in response to Xiaomi's shrinking market share in China, which dropped from 17% in Q2 2021 to 13.2% by Q4 2021.

A Canalys report from 2022 highlighted Xiaomi's dominance in Indian smartphone sales during Q1, attributing its success to a focus on affordability amid intense competition.

In 2022, Xiaomi introduced a prototype of its humanoid robot, indicating its intent to embed artificial intelligence more deeply across its offerings and advance its robotics capabilities.

The 2024 WIPO World Intellectual Property Indicators report placed Xiaomi fifth worldwide for industrial design registrations under the Hague System, with 315 designs published in 2023.

In April 2025, Xiaomi debuted the MiMo-7B reasoning model, marking its foray into artificial intelligence with a compact model designed specifically for mathematical reasoning and coding applications.

Electric vehicles

Xiaomi announced a US$10 billion investment in its electric vehicle (EV) division in 2021. By late 2023, Xiaomi Auto revealed its inaugural production model, the Xiaomi SU7, aspiring to join the ranks of the world’s top five car manufacturers. The SU7 sedan was officially launched in Beijing on 28 March 2024. Initially produced under contract by BAIC Group, Xiaomi obtained an EV manufacturing license in July 2024, enabling it to produce vehicles independently.

The EV manufacturing facility located within the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area is equipped with Xiaomi’s proprietary Hyper Die-Casting 79100 Cluster technology, capable of producing one SU7 every 76 seconds at full operational speed. This cutting-edge production system underpins Xiaomi’s aggressive market entry and expansion plans. Additionally, Xiaomi earned recognition on Time’s list of the most influential companies in 2024.

Partnerships

In 2021, Harman Kardon collaborated with Xiaomi to incorporate Harman Kardon-tuned dual speakers into the Xiaomi Mi 11 series, marking these as the first smartphones featuring this enhanced audio configuration.

The following year, Leica Camera entered a strategic alliance with Xiaomi to co-develop Leica-branded cameras for Xiaomi’s flagship smartphone models, succeeding Leica’s prior partnership with Huawei. The initial products launched under this collaboration were the Xiaomi 12S Ultra and Xiaomi MIX Fold 2, both released mid-2022.

Xiaomi also applied its smartphone technology creatively by partnering with filmmakers to produce short films entirely shot on the Xiaomi Mi 11 series. Among these projects were two shorts starring Jessica Henwick, released in 2022; notably, Bus Girl won several awards and was long-listed for Best British Short at the 2023 BAFTA.

On the manufacturing side, Xiaomi inaugurated a mobile phone production facility in Lahore, Pakistan, on 4 March 2022 through a partnership with Select Technologies (Pvt) Limited, a subsidiary of Air Link. However, as of July 2022, the plant's future remains uncertain due to ongoing disruptions from the 2021–2023 global supply chain crisis.

Resemblance to Apple Inc.

Xiaomi has frequently been labeled as emulating Apple Inc., with its "hunger marketing" approach interpreted as capitalizing on the "Apple cult" phenomenon. After encountering the story of Steve Jobs during his university years, Xiaomi’s chairman and CEO, Lei Jun, crafted a public persona reminiscent of Jobs, mirroring his presentation style and appearance. Observers have even described him as a "replica Jobs."

In 2013, debates arose regarding the authenticity of Xiaomi’s product innovation, questioning whether it stemmed from true creativity or was largely driven by effective marketing tactics. Nonetheless, Xiaomi distinguishes itself by tailoring its software to user preferences via Google's Android platform and by offering a more extensive array of consumer devices compared to Apple.

Compliance with GNU licensing

Xiaomi encountered criticism in January 2018 for failing to adhere to the GNU General Public License (GPL) requirements. The Linux kernel used in Android mandates that Xiaomi must release the full source code for the Android kernel and device-specific trees for all distributed hardware. Xiaomi’s repeated delays or refusals constituted violations of intellectual property regulations in China, a member of the WIPO. Android developer Francisco Franco publicly condemned these persistent postponements. Although Xiaomi had committed in 2013 to publishing the kernel code, it postponed compliance until finally releasing the source code on GitHub by 2020.

Data privacy and information gathering concerns

Being a Chinese enterprise, Xiaomi operates under the constraints of the China Internet Security Law and the National Intelligence Law, which compel data sharing with government authorities. Investigations revealed that Xiaomi’s Cloud messaging service transmitted sensitive user information such as call records and contacts back to company servers. In response, Xiaomi modified MIUI to allow users to disable cloud messaging, thereby preventing any private data transmission when turned off.

In October 2014, Xiaomi announced plans to relocate servers outside China for its international customer base to enhance service quality and comply with foreign regulatory standards.

Research conducted in May 2025 by Princeton University and Citizen Lab uncovered that nearly 47.6% of the top 800 applications available through Xiaomi's Mi Store employed weak or non-standard encryption methods, leaving app data vulnerable to interception by third parties. These compromised apps have collectively been downloaded over 130 billion times—a stark contrast to only 3.5% of leading Google Play apps exhibiting similar vulnerabilities.

Legal issues and regulatory actions

In November 2012, Xiaomi’s smart set-top box ceased operation merely one week after launch due to regulatory non-compliance identified by China’s National Radio and Television Administration. These problems were resolved by January 2013.

In August 2014, Taiwan’s Fair Trade Commission investigated Xiaomi’s flash sale practices after discovering discrepancies between advertised and actual sales volumes. While Xiaomi claimed sales figures of 10,000 units for its first two flash sales and 8,000 for the third event, the FTC found lower numbers and penalized Xiaomi for misleading consumers through distribution of priority ‘F-codes’ that limited stock availability for general buyers.

On 9 December 2014, following a patent infringement complaint lodged by Ericsson, an ex parte injunction was issued by the Delhi High Court, prohibiting imports and sales of Xiaomi products in India. The ban was partially lifted later that month for devices using Qualcomm chipsets, allowing sales on platforms such as Flipkart where models like the Redmi Note 4G sold out within six seconds. This interim order was extended until March 2018.

On 19 January 2021, Dutch telecommunications firm KPN filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Xiaomi; however, in October 2023, the Regional Court of Duesseldorf ruled in favor of Xiaomi by suspending the proceedings at their request.

In July 2021, Xiaomi accused Wyze Labs of violating its robot vacuum patent from 2019. Wyze countered with litigation aimed at invalidating Xiaomi’s patent based on existing prior art.

During September 2021 amid diplomatic tensions between China and Lithuania, Lithuania’s Ministry of National Defence recommended discarding Chinese-made smartphones due to censorship concerns linked to Xiaomi devices. Xiaomi refuted these allegations, asserting adherence to European data privacy regulations including GDPR and certifications such as ISO/IEC 27001 and ISO/IEC 27701; it also commissioned an independent third party to evaluate these claims.

In April 2022, India’s Enforcement Directorate seized assets worth $725 million belonging to Xiaomi over alleged foreign exchange violations. Although initially stayed by court order, this asset freeze was upheld through several legal proceedings. In May 2022, a temporary lifting occurred but subsequent rulings reinstated the freeze; courts consistently dismissed Xiaomi's appeals through April 2023.

United States

On 14 January 2021, the U.S. government identified Xiaomi as an entity "owned or controlled" by the People's Liberation Army, thereby restricting American investors from purchasing its shares. Xiaomi responded by filing a legal challenge against this classification on 17 February 2021. Subsequently, on 12 March 2021, a federal court issued an injunction against the investment prohibition, questioning the justification related to national security and describing the blacklisting as "fundamentally flawed." Xiaomi refuted any connections to the military, highlighting that its offerings are strictly civilian and commercial. In May 2021, Xiaomi reached a settlement with the U.S. Department of Defense that resulted in the removal of its military-affiliated designation. Xiaomi’s CEO Lei Jun revealed in July 2024 that these U.S. sanctions spurred the company’s expansion into electric vehicles and the launch of Xiaomi Electric Vehicles.

Ukraine

Xiaomi has maintained its position as the leading brand in Russian e-commerce platforms since 2018. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Xiaomi paused its marketing activities in Russia; however, by July 2022, Xiaomi along with its sub-brand POCO commanded a 42% share of the Russian smartphone market, topping sales charts. On 13 April 2023, Ukraine’s National Agency on Corruption Prevention designated Xiaomi Corporation and thirteen senior executives as "international sponsors of war," citing their ongoing business operations in Russia while retaining dominant market presence. In response, on 21 September 2023, Finnish telecom operators Telia, DNA, and Elisa discontinued sales of Xiaomi devices due to the company’s sustained activities in Russia.

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