Xiaomi who is the manufacturer. Xiaomi Tech

Everything you wanted to know about the word Xiaomi: what it means, how to pronounce it...

Recently, we found out that our brand in RuNet is called more than twenty different ways. Xiaomi, Xiaomi, Xiaomi - and these are just some of the options used! Let's figure out how to pronounce Xiaomi correctly?

Let's start with the fact that the most obvious, it would seem, reading - Xiaomi - is incorrect. In the generally accepted Roman Chinese transcription system, the letter X is used for sounds that have nothing to do with "x". In fact, in various regions of China, the title Xiaomi either pronounced like xiaomi, either as Shaomi(with a very soft "sh"). But generally accepted correct name brand internationally is precisely Xiaomi, with an emphasis on the last "and". However, such words with an emphasis on the last syllable are difficult for a Russian person, and in colloquial speech the variant with an emphasis on “o” in the middle has already taken root. Indeed, it is more convenient to pronounce the brand name in Russian speech in this way - so we will assume that this option can also be used.

So, we figured out how to read Xiaomi correctly. But what does this word mean? Translated from Chinese, it means "Little Rice" or "Rice Grain". I wonder why? There is no short answer to this question. First, you need to understand the importance of rice for the Chinese. Rice is the basis of their diet, a truly significant cereal for the nation, the value of which, perhaps, can be compared with what bread means to us in Russia. Perhaps today we do not eat so much bread, but its symbolic meaning for us is enormous. “Bread is the head of everything”, “Bread and salt”, and many other popular expressions reflect the importance and respect for bread. Rice plays a similar role in Chinese culture. The rice field requires a lot of careful maintenance, painstaking work, and the work in the rice plantations is busy great amount of people. But this work is the foundation of the foundations of the well-being of China and its people.

So, the first explanations for the "little rice" are as follows: you need to work hard to lay a reliable foundation. In addition, it was obviously not without a hint that smartphones and other technology today are as popular and necessary for every person as rice, which is present on the Chinese table every day.

In addition, explanations of the meaning of "little rice" often refer to the importance of rice, which it acquired during the Sino-Japanese War in the mid-20th century, when China won the victory "by rice and weapons." And finally, the head of the company Lei Jun himself said that the brand name also echoes the Buddhist concept, in which XIAO means a single huge grain of rice, which is the size of a mountain!

And finally, we note that a special meaning is hidden in the Mi logo: it also has a multi-level meaning. On the one hand, this is an abbreviation of the phrase Mobile Internet (Mobile Internet), but there is another meaning - mission impossible(mission Impossible). This is because Xiaomi faced constant challenges that only a real winner could handle!

Age: 43
Education: Bachelor of Science in Engineering, Wuhan University
Marital status: married, two daughters
Net Worth: $1.76 billion, 55th on China's Billionaires List and 868th on the Forbes List.

Lei Jun's story as a billionaire and entrepreneur begins with Chinese software giant Kingsoft. Lei joined the company in 1992 and has been a huge influence. Due to his own success, in 1998 he took the position of chief executive officer. According to Kingsoft, Lay played a "key role in the development and expansion of the company's activities." The specialist has more than 15 years of work with the office behind him, however, in 2007 he left Kingsoft, but only to return to the management team four years later.
Another example of Mr. Lei's quickness and braininess is the Chinese online store Joyo.com, which he co-owned. Interesting fact: In 2004, this project was sold to Amazon.com for ... $ 75 million.
Xiaomi was created largely due to the fact that Lei Jun did not like the phones that were "at his fingertips."

“When I feel that phones are not good enough, I want people to switch to phones. best quality, - he said. “But personally, I don’t have the power to turn the tide. Do you think if I recommend Nokia's vice president of research and development to change his phone, he will take my advice? Nothing like this. I wanted Nokia to understand the need to correct course, but they did not change anything. Their model does not meet the modern requirements of this business.

The logical result was the emergence of Xiaomi, a company based on reviews real users in the production of their own phones, and not trying to impose personal opinion poor consumers.
By the way, the parallels that are drawn between Mr. June and Steve Jobs are worthy of special mention. Indeed, analogies can be drawn almost everywhere: the style of clothing (recall that Lei appears in public in blue jeans and dark T-shirts), the manner of speech, and even biography. The Chinese media call Jun “Chinese Jobs” to the fullest, and our hero, I think, is not strongly opposed, although he is cunning, asking to compare Xiaomi with Amazon, and not Apple.
As mentioned above, Lei Jun is a key figure in the company and the largest shareholder (he owns more than 30% of the company), and it is he who determines the future policy of Xiaomi as a manufacturer of mobile devices.
After a brief remark about Mr. June, we can continue an entertaining story about the successes of our "little rice".

Everyone heard about Xiaomi today modern man, at least somewhat interested in technological innovations. The Western world is familiar with Xiaomi mainly for its smartphones, but in Asia (mainly in China) this company is known as a manufacturer of a huge variety of products. Today we will try to bring more clarity to this issue, and talk about all the current areas of Xiaomi business.

Origin

First, a little history. Xiaomi is a relatively young brand, it was founded in April 2010. The origins of the company were:

• Lei Jun is a businessman, programmer and the main founder of Xiaomi, who previously worked in many American IT giants in various positions;
• Bin Lin is the current president of the company, initially engaged in the localization of products for the Chinese market
• Liu De - Head of Industrial Design Department
• Li Wanqiang - software and official website designer, currently heading the e-commerce department;
• Guangping Zhou - director of the smartphone division;
• Wong Jianzi - responsible for the production of routers and work cloud service Mi Cloud;
• Feng Hong is the head of the development department proprietary firmware MIUI, previously worked at Google for many years in senior positions;
• Chuan Wang is the director of development for Mi TV and Mi Box.

During the first 3 months since its inception, Xiaomi has been looking for funding sources and developing MIUI: at that time, alternative software for Android was the main and only focus of the company.

Because the own smartphones Xiaomi did not have it then, the system was intended for devices from other manufacturers, the first was Nexus One under Android control 2.2 Froyo. MIUI 0.8 was distributed in an open beta format. Six months later, the second version was released, the changes in it concerned visual design, but not functionality. After another iteration of MIUI, when a user base of 500,000 people was recruited, the production of smartphones was launched, and on August 16, 2011, Xiaomi Mi 1, also known as Xiaomi Phone and Mi-One, was announced at a special event. The main advantage of the device was 1.5-2 times larger battery capacity than competitors (1930 mAh versus 1400-1500 mAh for most devices of that time). The rest of the characteristics were no worse, and at the rate of “30 rubles. for $1” price tag of $310 for flagship smartphone turned into 10,000 rubles for Russian buyers.

In January 2012, Xiaomi Mi 2 was released, breaking all sales records: the first batch of 50,000 copies was sold out in just 3 minutes! In April of the same year, the presentation of two modifications of Mi 2 took place - the more affordable Mi 2A and the more powerful Mi 2S; in 9 months, these three models sold 10 million units, finally consolidating the success of Xiaomi on mobile market. Next milestone was the announcement of a 47-inch TV in September 2013 and the appointment of former Google employee Hugo Barr to the post of vice president. It was he who was the official face of the company and presented new devices.

In subsequent years, Xiaomi expanded its product line (for example, laptops, tablets and electric bicycles appeared among the most significant), improved already mastered technologies and entered new markets - by the way, in 2016, the first Xiaomi store in Russia was opened.

Incredible range of products

So, back to the main question of this article - what exactly does Xiaomi produce, and what products are the most curious for the average buyer?

The computer accessories market is saturated with noname companies selling outright junk. Fortunately, Xiaomi is not concerned. Its range includes wireless mouse Xiaomi Portable Mouse. The device has a minimalist design, connects to a PC via Bluetooth 4.1 or Wi-Fi, can work with two synchronized devices at once and costs 1,500 rubles.

In addition to the mouse, the Chinese portfolio includes the Mi Keyboard White keyboard. Its design uses a large number of aluminum because of which the device weighs as much as 940 grams. This adds to the stability of the keyboard and gives the impression of a reliable device that will last for many years. Key labels are printed with high-quality paint that will not be erased even with the most active gaming or typing. To connect to a computer, Mi Keyboard White does not require any drivers.

home accessories

At the start of sales in 2015, these smart scales cost only $15, which allowed them to become mega popular. For this amount, the scales could be connected to mobile application MiFit on a smartphone, display the weight on the built-in backlit display and were made of quality materials (glass and polycarbonate). In domestic stores, Smart Scales cost 1,800 rubles due to expensive delivery due to high weight and size indicators.

Surely many of you have heard about the Mi Notebook series, designed to compete with Apple MacBook. Chinese laptops are called in the same way: Pro and Air, but they cost several times cheaper - if for the products of an American company they ask for at least several thousand dollars for younger models, then the cost of the top-end metal Mi Notebook Pro 15.6 barely exceeds $ 1000.

TVs

One of the company's main lines of business is television. In addition to its own online services for the local TV market, Xiaomi is known for its affordable quality LCD panels.

• Mi TV

This is a line of the most budgetary 4K TVs, featuring excellent equipment: it has a 55-, 60- or 70-inch matrix with a resolution of 3840 × 2160, a viewing angle of 178 degrees and a response time of 7 ms. Due to the unstable exchange rate of the ruble, prices change all the time, but in foreign trading floors the cost of the base 55-inch model does not reach $900.

Photo and video equipment

In 2014, Xiaomi entered a new market for filming equipment by founding a subsidiary, Yi. Since then, some rather interesting devices have been released with an excellent price / quality ratio.

This model was Xiaomi's first attempt at a professional camera. Yi-M1 received a 20-megapixel matrix, 3 " touch screen and the ability to change lenses. The cost of the device is noticeably lower than that of competitors with similar characteristics - 34 thousand rubles, including the lens.

The company has achieved the greatest success as a manufacturer of filming equipment in the action camera market. The Mijia and Mi Action Camera 4K series have become bestsellers thanks to their excellent build quality and, as always, affordable price tags.

Xiaomi decided to take a chance and seriously take on the still uncommon cameras for virtual reality. The Chinese introduced both a small amateur VR camera Yi 360 and professional solution- a huge HALO 360 VR weighing 3.5 kg and costing more than one and a half million rubles.

Tablets

Along with smartphones, the company's main line of business is tablets, or rather the Mi Pad line, which recently replenished with the fourth generation. Traditionally for Xiaomi, its tablets stand out from competitors due to flagship features and price. budget models from AAA brands. So, the fresh Mi Pad 4 is equipped with a Full HD screen, 4 GB of RAM, a 64 GB drive and an eight-core processor from Qualcomm, while the cost of the device in China is $170.

Xiaomi is a leading manufacturer of electric bicycles, unicycles, segways, electric scooters, hoverboards, and also produces a huge variety of accessories to customize all these vehicles.

Made in China

All these were high-tech devices that any geek knows about. Let's take a look at Xiaomi products that are common in China, but practically unknown in the rest of the world. Of course, most of these things can be connected to a smartphone to control and display this or that information.

Xiaomi launches water filters…

…and drinking water testers

The company's portfolio includes smart Yeelight lamps, through the application you can adjust the color and brightness

Xiaomi will help protect your home with this infrared security camera. It records in 720p, has a 4x zoom, connects to your mobile device via Wi-Fi, and is controlled via an app.

There are Xiaomi children's toys, mainly these are various constructors and robots controlled from a smartphone

In the arsenal of the company there are a number of practical backpacks that differ only in design (however, they have one color - black) and sizes.

Xiaomi even releases various useful small things: for example, this Mi Portable Keychain with a figurine of the company's symbol - the Mi Bunny rabbit

One of the few Xiaomi products without smart features is ordinary tableware. You can furnish your kitchen with frying pans, glasses, mugs, pots, cutting boards, spoons, forks and other cutlery from your favorite company.

Oddly enough, Xiaomi suitcases do not have additional functionality, they are just high-quality polycarbonate products for transporting luggage.

One line

It’s impossible to tell about everything that the ubiquitous Xiaomi produces in one article, but if you don’t consider each product separately, you can say that in addition to all of the above, this Chinese company produces stationery, accessories for smartphones, wallets, clothes, soft toys, systems smart home, routers, carpentry tools, bedding, thermometers, power banks, fitness bracelets and is involved in the development of real electric vehicles.

Who are Xiaomi? In the West, the Xiaomi brand is not as popular as in Asia, and many people in 2014 did not even know what kind of product this product produces. Chinese firm. This may be due to the fact that in Western countries there have not yet been their representative offices. However, Xiaomi is forced to talk about itself, causing a stir around their devices. In three years, the company has grown into the fourth largest brand in China and has become the creator of the most popular android firmware in the world. So who are Xiaomi and what have they achieved.

History of Xiaomi

Xiaomi ( Russian Xiaomi) was founded in April 2010 as a company dedicated to creating custom firmware for devices based on Android based, former CEO Kingsoft by Lei Jun.

Lei Jun - company founder

Their goal was to provide additional functionality beyond what Android had to offer and to simplify user interface. The firmware, which was called MIUI, was a huge success and was ported to many devices. As of 2014, MIUI can be downloaded and installed on over 200 device models in English and Chinese. Even if you are not a developer, you can easily install MIUI on your smartphone using the MIUI Express APK. At the end of 2013, there were over 30 million MIUI users worldwide. Very impressive for such a young company at the time.

MIUI firmware was compared with Apple firmware for being as easy to use yet capable of delivering complex services: the cloud Reserve copy, easy to operate music player and its own app store. The Xiaomi team has always wanted to make users feel like they are part of the company and are happy to communicate with them through channels. feedback, while fixing bugs, solving optimization problems and adding new features every Friday. Too good to be true? You can try all this yourself, right on your android device.

Xiaomi enters the device market

In 2011, Xiaomi announced the Mi One phone. Now the company develops not only software, but also its own models of devices. Mi One has become a unique phone at a great price, ahead of its time. This philosophy of the company adheres to from the very first day.

While observers were quick to call Xiaomi “ Chinese Apple”, Xiaomi themselves prefer to compare themselves with Amazone, who also create powerful software, selling it at cost, but rely on their services and services that make up the bulk of their income. Speaking of earnings, in 2012 Xiaomi single-handedly provided itself with a profit of $ 5 billion. There are a couple of things between Xiaomi and Apple. common features. Both companies are developing software and mobile devices and also have a huge fan base. This is where the similarities end. Comparing the prices of Xiaomi and Apple smartphones is simply ridiculous. Yes, and Apple does not particularly support communication with consumers, unlike Xiaomi.

Xiaomi extension

In 2012, Xiaomi sold a total of 7.2 million smartphones, and in 2013 sold 18.7 million, overtaking Apple in one quarter. In the first quarter of 2014, Xiaomi sold more than 11 million devices, surpassing the full volume of 2012 and half of 2013. Demand continues to grow thanks to strong technical level smartphones, as well as the prices at which they are sold.

International markets such as Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore where Xiaomi products became officially available, began to receive a similar demand, which is observed in China. Further expansion in the markets prompted the involvement of Hugo Barra (former Vice President Google inc.), whose task was to identify new countries for the implementation of devices. Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia and India. Today you can see a lot of people there Xiaomi smartphones. Ultimately, Xiaomi products reached Europe and the United States. Moreover, those who want to buy Xiaomi devices are paying good money in 2014 to import these smartphones into their home countries.

Not only phones

Xiaomi have launched a number of other devices such as Smart-TV, wifi router and develop their own tablets. Xiaomi themselves estimate that the company could sell more than 60 million units worldwide by the end of 2014. This is three times more than the volume of products sold in 2013.

Even with a huge army of international fans, it remains to be seen if Xiaomi can stay ahead of the competition while maintaining its marketing style in more mature markets. Until now, everything goes on as usual and the company is thriving. And at the end of 2014 it becomes in the top three top brands phone manufacturers with such giants as Apple and Samsung. Their first smartphones show some of best results performance in the world at the time of release. A stunning result.

Read the latest records about Xiaomi smartphones in our section

Xiaomi Tech was founded by seven partners on June 6, 2010, and already on August 16, 2010, Xiaomi officially launched the first MIUI firmware based on Android.

The company's first smartphone Mi1 was announced in August 2011. It came with built-in MIUI firmware, based on Android, combining corporate identities samsung touchwiz and Apple iOS. There was also a version of the device with pure android. In August 2012, Xiaomi announced the Mi2 smartphone. In it was Qualcomm processor Snapdragon S4 Pro APQ8064, 1.5GHz quad-core Krait chip with 2GB RAM and GPU Adreno 320. On September 24, 2013, the company announced the sale of over 10 million Mi2 devices within 11 months. Some Xiaomi devices are manufactured at Foxconn factories, where Apple iPhone and iPad.

On September 5, 2013, CEO Lei Jun announced plans to launch a 47-inch Android 3D TV to be assembled at Wistron Corporation's Taiwan plant. Also in September 2013, Xiaomi announced the Mi3 smartphone on Snapdragon processor 800 (MSM8974AB) and a version based on NVIDIA's Tegra 4 chipset. On September 25, 2013, Xiaomi announced plans to open its first flagship store in Beijing. In October 2013, Xiaomi became the fifth mobile brand in China.

The symbol of Xiaomi is a hare in a hat with earflaps with a red star and a red pioneer tie around his neck. In 2014, Xiaomi first reported international expansion with the opening of its first store in Singapore. In the near future, the company plans to enter the markets of Malaysia and India. On March 17, 2014, RedMi Note (also known as HongMi Note) was announced. RedMi Note is equipped with 5.5-inch HD IPS display with OGS technology and octa-core processor from .

In April 2014, the company announced the start of expansion into the international markets of 10 countries, including Russia. Hugo Barra, one of the former Google employees, was appointed responsible for this.

In November 2014, the head of Xiaomi announced a plan to become the No. 1 company in the smartphone market.

Activity of the company

The company's activity began with the development of MIUI Android firmware.

In 2011 he released his own phone- the first device with MIUI pre-installed, competitive technical specifications and low price.

In 2012, a second smartphone was released, with more advanced features, and an improved version of Mi-One Plus was also released.

Xiaomi Mi 3 was introduced in September 2013. The first TV of this company, Xiaomi MiTV, was also presented.

According to the results of the first quarter of 2014, the company took 3rd place in terms of sales of smartphones in the Chinese market (11%), overtaking Apple (10%). In the world, the company occupies the 6th position (3.8%), however, it shows a steady growth trend.

On May 15, 2014, Jun presented 2 products at a press conference - the long-awaited MiPad tablet and the 4K sequel to the MiTV 2 TV.

On July 22, 2014, during the annual conference, the company announced the next generation of smartphones called Xiaomi Mi4, and also announced the release of the sixth version of firmware based on Android OS - MIUI. During the conference, the first " smart bracelet» MiBand.

In the 3rd quarter of 2014, Xiaomi, according to IHS iSuppli, for the first time in its history, entered the third place in the world in smartphone sales. In 2015, Xiaomi launched its first Yi action camera, which is positioned as a competitor to GoPro.

Interesting facts about Xiaomi

• Billionaire co-founder Lei Jun, who is now CEO, is called the Chinese Jobs. He owns more than 30% of the shares of Xiaomi Tech.
• In 2012, Xiaomi Tech had zero profitability of its mobile business, that is, smartphones were sold at cost. In the future, it was planned to make money on services that are integrated into the shell. Investors welcomed the adopted development model of the company. In 2013, the mobile unit's monthly revenue increased to 20 million yuan (or $3.27 million), less than 1% of the company's total revenue.
• To reduce operating costs, the company advertises its products through microblogs, social networks and meetings of enthusiastic like-minded people. However, in 2013, two of its own "offline" stores opened in Beijing, where you can buy the company's products.
• The phones produced by the company are so popular in China that they have become victims of Chinese counterfeit manufacturers. Sales of its smartphones, which the company carries out from its website, last only a few minutes. Sales volumes in the home market are also impressive. Xiaomi claims 20 million fans who download up to 5 million apps daily from the company's online store. The plans for 2015 include the sale of 100 million smartphones.
• According to some estimates, the value of the company in 2012 was about $4 billion. By mid-2013, the company's value had increased to $10 billion.
• The Xiaomi Tech team has a former significant Google employee. Hugo Barra is serving as Vice President and will help build out overseas markets.
• One of the shareholders of the company is the Russian venture fund Digital Sky Technologies.
• The company's engineers make corrections and improvements to the software MIUI shell almost weekly.