Xiaomi’s growth rate is staggering. This China-based company was founded back in 2010, and it is 3rd largest smartphone manufacturer in the world today. They have shipped 61 million smartphones in 2014, which is three times as much compared to 2013 when they sold “only” 19 million units. We knew for a while now that Xiaomi intends to spread their wings even more and expand their business outside of China, but this company plans to do so much more it seems. They already have a smart TV, a tablet and all sorts of other gadgets out in the market, but that’s not enough it seems.
According to a report from Reuters, Xiaomi plans to invest in Indian tech start-ups and overseas media content. They intend to release all sorts of smart home appliances, much like several well-known companies, like Samsung and LG for example. The company managed to collect over $1 billion at the end of last year via fund raising and it seems like they’ already planned out where will they invest all that cash. This Chinese company intends to spend that cash on internet TV content according to the report. “Where we really want to make significant investments is in content, particularly in the Chinese market to start with but beyond that in other markets as well,” said Hugo Barra, vice president of Xiaomi’s global division. He also added the following: “One area that we are also looking to make some investments in is start-ups in India. India is already the largest market for us outside of mainland China.”
Xiaomi had great success in India last year, though they did hit a road bump after Ericsson sued the company for infringing on their patents and they were ordered to stop selling devices there, that happened in December. Hugo Barra also said that Xiaomi licensed a lot of intellectual property already, and says that intellectual property is not the reason they didn’t expand to the Western markets yet. Mr. Barra says that there are far more opportunities for Xiaomi in developing markets and that their business model fits those markets far more than it would to some more developed ones.