Xiaomi was founded in June 2010 after seven co-founding entrepreneurs have successfully convinced institutional investors like Singaporean investment vehicle Temasek and Chinese venture capital funds Qiming venture Partners and IDG Capital to fund the company’s startup phase.
In August 2011, Xiaomi announced its first breakthrough product – the Mi-One phone. It came with the company’s MIUI user interface that is Android-based although it resembles the iOS. The Mi-One phone can also be equipped with stock Android.
Another gadget was launched by Xiaomi in Augsut 2012. It was the MI2 phone. This innovative phone was powered by Snapdragon S4 Pro APQ8061 of Qualcomm. As of September 24, 2013, Xiaomi has sold more than 10 million units of MI2.
Xiaomi is in partnership with Foxconn for the production of its phones. Foxconn also assembles electronic devices for Apple like iPad and iPhone.
In September this year, Xiaomi launched the MI3 phone. This new model is powered by Snapdragon 800 (MSM8974AB) and Tegra 4 chipset which is manufactured by NVIDIA.
Xiaomi is using a derivative of Apple’s marketing strategy. It is often criticized as “riding on the back of the ‘cult of Apple.’” The strategy was started by Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun. He adopted Steve Jobs’ fashion—that is, dark shirts and jeans. He also announces products like Steve Jobs did. His critics also called him the “counterfeit Jobs.” Xiaomi’s marketing strategy was also viewed as a counterfeiting philosophy.
Despite repeated comparison with Apple and Steve Jobs, Xiaomi maintains that it is implementing an entirely different business principle. For instance, Xiaomi does not operate retail stores. It does not engage a third party to distribute its products. The company sells its products through its website.