Xiaomi Coming to the PH, Changes Name to Mi

Popular Chinese smartphone maker Xiami has recently announced that they will be expanding to ten new markets, including the Philippines.

In an effort to make the brand friendlier to non-Chinese, Xiaomi (translates to “little rice”) has shortened its name to Mi. They are hoping this will make the brand easier to remember, as they begin their plans reaching out to new markets. They have even launched Mi.com, an English version of their web site. One of the biggest smartphone brands in China, the four year old company has already broken ground in Singapore, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Now, they have announced their plans to expand to India, Brazil, Russia, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Turkey, Mexico, and the Philippines.

Leading with their flagship, the Mi3, Xiaomi was able to sell 20 million in 2013 and is targeting 40 million for this year. With their efforts focused on aggressive expansion, their goal is to sell 100 million by 2015.

Their Mi3 flagship comes with a 2.3Ghz quad core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 CPU, Adreno 330 GPU, a 5 inch Full HD 1080p IPS display, 16GB of storage, 2GB of RAM, and a 13MP f/2.2 rear cam. The smartphone is powered by a 3050mAh battery, and runs Android 4.3 with MIUI ROM on top. The body is made up of magnesium alloy frame coated with three layers of thermal graphite, making the device light and sturdy.

This is exciting news indeed. XiaoMi is coming here, and I am excited to see how it does in our market. That Mi3 looks sexy, and has the monster specs. If all goes well, we could be witnessing a capable challenger to compete against popular brands Samsung and Apple.

What do you guys think? Will you give Mi a chance?

Source Android Authority | Mi.com