Xiaomi facts for kids
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Headquarters in Haidian District, Beijing
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Trade name
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Xiaomi |
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Native name
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小米集团
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Romanized name
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Xiǎomǐ |
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| Founded | 6 April 2010 |
| Headquarters | Haidian District,
Beijing, China
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Area served
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Worldwide |
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Key people
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| Revenue |  CN¥280.04 billion US$40.7 billion(2022) |
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Operating income
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CN¥2.81 billion US$0.408 billion (2022) |
| CN¥2.5 billion US$0.36 billion (2022) |
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| Total assets | CN¥273.51 billion US$39.72 billion (2022) |
| Total equity |  CN¥143.92 billion US$20.9 billion (2022) |
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Number of employees
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32,543 (31 December 2022) |
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"Xiaomi" in Chinese characters
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| Chinese | 小米 | ||||||||
| Literal meaning | Millet | ||||||||
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Xiaomi Corporation (pronounced like "shao-mee") is a big Chinese company. It designs and makes cool electronic gadgets, software, home appliances, and even cars! You might know them best for their smartphones.
Xiaomi is one of the top smartphone makers in the world, right after Samsung. Most of their phones use their own special operating system called HyperOS, which is built on Android. Xiaomi is also one of the youngest companies to make it onto the Fortune Global 500 list, which ranks the biggest companies globally.
Xiaomi started in 2010 in Beijing, China. It was founded by Lei Jun and six friends. Lei Jun had already started other successful companies before. Xiaomi launched its first smartphone in 2011. By 2014, it was selling the most smartphones in China!
At first, Xiaomi only sold its products online. But later, they opened physical stores where people could see and buy their products. By 2015, they were making many different kinds of electronics. Today, Xiaomi sells millions of smartphones and its mobile operating system is used by over 500 million people every month.
Some people even call Xiaomi the "Apple of China" because of its popularity and wide range of products. Besides phones, Xiaomi also makes smartwatches, televisions, flashlights, unmanned aerial vehicles (drones), and air purifiers. These devices can connect to each other as part of Xiaomi's Internet of things (IoT) and Xiaomi Smart Home systems.
Xiaomi tries to keep its prices low, close to what it costs to make the products. They do this by selling most products for about 18 months, which is longer than some other phone companies. They also use special sales events to keep their stock levels low.
Contents
How Xiaomi Began and Grew
Xiaomi was officially started on April 6, 2010, by Lei Jun and six other people. Lei Jun wanted to create better mobile phones because he wasn't happy with what was available then.
Early Years: 2010-2013
In August 2010, Xiaomi released its first software for phones, called MIUI. This software is based on Android. The company quickly raised money from investors to help it grow.
- In August 2011, Xiaomi launched its very first phone, the Xiaomi Mi 1. It came with their MIUI software.
- By June 2012, the company was valued at $4 billion, showing how fast it was growing.
- In August 2013, Xiaomi hired Hugo Barra from Google. His job was to help Xiaomi sell its products outside of China.
- By October 2013, Xiaomi was the fifth most popular smartphone brand in China.
- In 2013 alone, Xiaomi sold 18.7 million smartphones!
Expanding Globally: 2014-2017
Xiaomi started to expand beyond China. In February 2014, they announced their international headquarters in Singapore.
- In April 2014, Xiaomi bought the website name mi.com for a huge amount of money ($3.6 million). This became their main website.
- By December 2014, Xiaomi had raised $1.1 billion, making it one of the most valuable private technology companies in the world.
- In 2014, the company sold over 60 million smartphones! Most of their money came from phone sales.
- In June 2016, Xiaomi bought patents from Microsoft, which are like special rights for inventions.
- In September 2016, Xiaomi started selling products in Europe.
- In 2017, Xiaomi opened stores in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Greece.
- By late 2017, Xiaomi became the biggest smartphone brand in India, selling more phones than Samsung there. They also started selling in Spain and other parts of Western Europe.
Recent Developments: 2018-Present
Xiaomi continued to grow and innovate.
- In April 2018, Xiaomi launched a gaming phone brand called Black Shark.
- In June 2018, Xiaomi became a public company. This means its shares can be bought and sold on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
- In August 2018, they introduced POCO, a line of affordable smartphones with high-end features. The Xiaomi Pocophone F1 became very popular in India.
- In October 2019, Xiaomi announced plans to release many 5G phones in 2020.
- In November 2019, Xiaomi entered the Japanese market.
- In March 2020, Xiaomi showed off its first foldable phone, the Mi Mix Fold. They also demonstrated super-fast wireless charging technology.
- By October 2020, Xiaomi was the third-largest smartphone maker in the world.
- In March 2021, Xiaomi announced it would invest a lot of money into making electric vehicles. They also got a new company logo designed by a famous Japanese designer.
- In July 2021, Xiaomi became the second-largest smartphone maker globally.
- In August 2021, the company bought Deepmotion, a company that works on self-driving technology.
- In April 2022, Xiaomi joined the Car Connectivity Consortium board, showing their interest in car technology.
- In July 2022, Xiaomi and POCO were the top smartphone sellers in Russia.
- In December 2022, Xiaomi announced that its Redmi Note series had sold over 300 million units worldwide.
- In February 2023, Redmi showed off an amazing 300W fast charging technology that can charge a phone battery very quickly.
Innovation and New Ideas
Xiaomi is always working on new technologies and designs.
- In 2020, Xiaomi was ranked second in the world for the number of new industrial designs it registered. This shows how much they focus on creating new product looks.
- In February 2022, Lei Jun, the CEO, announced that Xiaomi plans to become the top seller of high-end smartphones in China within three years. To do this, they will invest a huge amount of money (US$15.7 billion) in research and development (R&D) over the next five years.
- Xiaomi also leads smartphone sales in India, known for making devices that are affordable for many people.
- In 2022, Xiaomi showed off its first humanoid robot prototype. This shows their goal to use AI in their products and develop advanced robots in the future.
Electric Vehicles
Xiaomi is making a big move into the car industry.
- In 2021, Xiaomi announced they would invest $10 billion into electric vehicles.
- In late 2023, they showed their first car, the Xiaomi SU7. They hope to become one of the top five carmakers in the world.
- The SU7 sedan was officially launched in Beijing on March 28, 2024.
Working with Other Companies
Xiaomi often partners with other companies to make their products even better.
Xiaomi and Harman Kardon
- In 2021, Harman Kardon, a famous audio company, worked with Xiaomi. The Xiaomi Mi 11 series phones were the first to have speakers tuned by Harman Kardon, making the sound quality great.
Xiaomi and Leica
- In 2022, Leica Camera, a well-known camera company, partnered with Xiaomi. They now work together to develop Leica cameras for Xiaomi's top-tier smartphones. The first phones from this partnership were the Xiaomi 12S Ultra and Xiaomi MIX Fold 2.
Xiaomi Studios
- Since 2021, Xiaomi has been working with film directors to create short films. These films are shot entirely using Xiaomi phones, like the Xiaomi Mi 11 series. One film, Bus Girl, even won awards and was considered for the British Academy Film Awards (BAFTA).
Company Identity
The name and logo of Xiaomi have interesting meanings.
What "Xiaomi" Means
- Xiaomi (小米) is a Chinese word for "millet" (a type of grain).
- In 2011, CEO Lei Jun said the name has deeper meanings. He explained that "Xiao" (小) relates to a Buddhist idea about starting small and working up. "Mi" (米) stands for "Mobile Internet" and also "mission impossible," referring to the challenges they faced when starting the company. He also thought the name sounded "cute."
Logo and Mascot
(2010–2021)
(2021–present)
- Xiaomi's first logo was an orange square with white "MI" letters.
- On March 31, 2021, they changed to a new logo. It's still orange with "MI," but the square now has rounded corners, making it a "squircle."
- Xiaomi's mascot is Mitu, a white rabbit. Mitu wears a special hat (called an Ushanka or "Lei Feng hat" in China) with a red star and a red scarf. Later, the red star on the hat was replaced with the company's logo.
Business Challenges and Legal Discussions
Like many big companies, Xiaomi has faced some business challenges and legal discussions.
- In 2012, Xiaomi's smart TV box had a temporary issue in China due to government rules, but it was resolved.
- The Taiwanese Fair Trade Commission looked into Xiaomi's "flash sales" and found that fewer phones were sold than advertised. Xiaomi was fined for this.
- In 2014, a court in India temporarily stopped Xiaomi from selling some products because of a patent dispute with Ericsson. This was later resolved, allowing Xiaomi to continue sales.
- In January 2021, the US government had concerns about Xiaomi's connections, but a US court later blocked an investment ban against the company. Xiaomi stated its products are for civilian use.
- In April 2022, Indian authorities temporarily froze some of Xiaomi's assets as part of an investigation into financial laws. This was later upheld.
- Some international concerns have been raised about Xiaomi's continued business activities in Russia. In response, some mobile carriers in Finland stopped selling Xiaomi products in September 2023. Xiaomi has stated its commitment to serving customers and supporting employees in all regions where it operates.
Manufacturing Outside China
Xiaomi has started making products in other countries too.
First Plant in Pakistan
- On March 4, 2022, Xiaomi opened a mobile device manufacturing plant in Pakistan. This plant was set up with a local company called Select Technologies. It is located in Lahore.
- As of July 2022, the future of this plant faced some uncertainty due to global supply chain issues.
See also
- List of Xiaomi products
