Xiaomi is one of China’s biggest smartphone manufacturers. The company is selling tons of phones over the year, but is now facing tough competition from manufacturers such as Meizu, Elephone, IUNI, etc. which have released rather affordable and yet extremely powerful devices lately. Company’s biggest threat is Meizu, the company has been selling their MX4 flagship like hotcakes and they plan to release 2 more handsets by the end of the year. There are already rumors that Xiaomi will release yet another Redmi device and along with it a more affordable version of Mi4 which should have a similar price to Meizu MX4.
Smartphones aside, Xiaomi has even released a fitness tracker earlier this year. The device is called the Xiaomi Mi Band and it features a great 30-day long battery life, water resistance and an extremely affordable price tag among other things. The device’s price (at launch) was only 79 Yuan ($13). Xiaomi has now launched yet another health-orientated gadget for its consumers, a blood pressure monitoring smartphone dock called iHealth monitor. Xiaomi has partnered up with a company called iHealth Labs in order to deliver this product. The device has a rather simple yet useful purpose, all you have to do is connect your phone to this special dock, hook up the blood pressure sensor and you’ll be able to see your vital stats on your phone’s screen. The phone will show you your blood pressure while monitoring your heart rate as well. The app will show you real-time results along with any changes over time. iHealth monitor will cost you 199 Yuan ($32) in China when it becomes available while it is available in the US it seems, though the price is $80 over there. This gadget is designed to work with Xiaomi phones only, but it should be able to support other devices as well. iHealth Labs also offers a wireless blood pressure monitor, though that product goes for $100.
I personally didn’t expect Xiaomi to release something like this to be quite honest. Mi Band is one thing, this is a completely different story, it seems like more and more manufacturers are releasing their own health gadgets and are trying to compete in that market. Do you think this is the right move for Xiaomi?
