The origins of the giant: how a small startup conquered the world
Xiaomi is known today to everyone from the budget Redmi smartphones to the flagship Mi 13 Ultra and smart home devices. But few know that the brand’s history began with a modest office in Beijing, where a group of enthusiasts dreamed of creating a “Chinese Apple.” Let’s understand where and how Xiaomi came to be, who was at its origins, and why this brand was able to displace giants like Samsung and Huawei in many markets.
Now Xiaomi is not just smartphones, it's an ecosystem, from the Mi Robot Vacuum robot vacuum cleaners to the Mi Electric Scooter electric scooters. But in 2010, when the company was only founding, its founders didn't even think of this scale. Their goal was simpler: make quality gadgets at an affordable price. And they succeeded. But where did it start?
Beijing, 2010: The birth of a legend
Xiaomi Tech was officially founded on April 6, 2010, when Xiaomi Tech was incorporated in Beijing, China, but the actual work began earlier in a small office on Zhongguancun Street, often referred to as China’s Silicon Valley. This place has become a cradle for many. IT-Startups and Xiaomi is no exception.
The company’s first office was in the TusPark business center, which today houses dozens of innovative companies, and it’s interesting that Xiaomi didn’t initially have its own production, but instead partnered with contract factories like Foxconn (the one that assembles the iPhone), which saved on infrastructure and focused on development.
- 📍 Address of the first office: Beijing, Haidian district, Zhongguancun Street, TusPark business park
- 👥 Founders: Lei Jun, Lin Bin, Li Wanqiang and others (8 co-founders in total)
- 💰 First capital: $$10 million from investors, including the fund IDG Capital and Qiming Venture Partners
Few people know, but the name Xiaomi literally translates to millet, a cereal crop that is associated in China with a small but useful and affordable product, and it is the philosophy behind the brand: making technology-driven devices that could afford millions.
Who stood at the origins: the dream team of Lei Jun
The main driving force of Xiaomi was its founder and the current one. CEO — Lei Jun, before the company was founded, he was already famous in the United States. IT-He started Kingsoft in the 1990s, the Chinese equivalent of Microsoft Office, and later sold it for billions, but Ley Jun wanted to create something bigger, the Chinese Apple".
He invited the best specialists to the team:
- 🔧 Lin Bin, former vice president of Google China, was responsible for software development (today he is the president of the company)
- 📱 Li Wanqiang, a hardware expert, previously worked at Motorola
- 🎨 Hong Feng is a design specialist who came from Google.
Fun fact: Lei Jun is often compared to Steve Jobs for not only his ambitions but also his presentation style, and he personally represented the first Xiaomi smartphones, copying Jobs's style of black turtleneck, jeans and minimalist slides, which became the brand's signature style.
⚠️ Note: Despite its resemblance to Apple, Xiaomi initially relied on openness and customization. Their first Mi 1 (2011) smartphone ran on a modified Android with a proprietary shell MIUI, which can be installed on other devices.
The first smartphone and the MIUI revolution
The company's debut gadget, the Xiaomi Mi 1 smartphone, was introduced in August 2011.
- 📲 Features: Qualcomm Snapdragon processor S3 (1.5 GHz), 1 GB of RAM, 4-inch screen, 8 MP camera
- 💲 Price: ~$310 (2 times cheaper than iPhone 4 with similar characteristics)
- 🔄 Corporate "chip": weekly updates MIUI user-review
But the real revolution was MIUI.
- 🎨 Unique design with round icons (inspired by iOS but with Android functionality)
- 🔒 Advanced privacy settings (app blocking, blacklisting) calls)
- 🌍 Support for multiple languages (including Russian from the first versions)
| Model | Year of release | Key innovation | Price at start ($) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mi 1 | 2011 | The first smartphone Xiaomi, MIUI v1 | 310 |
| Mi 2 | 2012 | Snapdragon S4 Pro processor, 2 GB of RAM | 320 |
| Redmi 1 | 2013 | The first budget smartphone (price < $150) | 130 |
| Mi 3 | 2013 | 5-inch Full HD screen, Snapdragon 800 | 330 |
MIUI became so popular that it was installed on other brands (such as the Samsung Galaxy S2), and it created a community of enthusiasts around Xiaomi to help test firmware and come up with ideas, a “participatory development” approach that was groundbreaking for 2011.
☑️ How to recognize the original MIUI
Geography of production: where to assemble Xiaomi devices today
Although Xiaomi remains headquartered in Beijing, production has long since expanded beyond China, and the brand's devices are now assembled in factories in several countries.
- 🇨🇳 China: Main facilities in Shenzhen (Foxconn factories), Chongqing and Wuhan, where flagship models are produced (Mi 13, Mix Fold)
- 🇮🇳 India: factories in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu (for local market, Redmi Note models)
- 🇧🇷 Brazil: Foxconn partnership in São Paulo (Assembly for Latin America)
- 🇷🇺 Russia: from 2021, part of the devices are assembled at the plant "M-Video-Eldorado" in the suburbs (models Redmi) 10A, Poco M4 Pro)
In 2020, Xiaomi opened its first European factory in Lodz, Poland, where it tests and packages devices for the EU market, but has not yet been fully assembled.
⚠️ Note: If you see a Xiaomi smartphone with the words "Made in China" on the box, it does not mean that it is worse than the "assembled in India" All factories operate according to the same quality standards, and components (chips, screens) are often supplied from the same sources (for example, Samsung Display or Qualcomm).
Why doesn’t Xiaomi make chips?
The Secret of Success: How Xiaomi Conquered the World
K 2023 Xiaomi has entered the top-3 Global smartphone manufacturers (according to Counterpoint Research) have overtaken Apple in terms of sales?
- Price policy: "Flagship characteristics for half the price" - this slogan has become the hallmark of the brand. For example, Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra (2021) with a camera on 50 MP and a 2K 120 Hz screen was cheaper than Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra at similar parameters.
- Ecosystem: Today, Xiaomi has over 200 types of devices, from Mi LED Desk Lamps to QiCycle electric bicycles, all controlled through the Mi Home app.
- Marketing: Flash sales through its own website mi.com and affiliate sites (AliExpress, Amazon).In India, for example, Redmi Note 4 sold out in 1 minute!
- Localization: adapting to regional markets: in Russia, support for Yandex.Mail and VKontakte out of the box, in India, double slots for the mobile phone. SIM-Maps and Optimization for Slow Internet.
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If you are buying a Xiaomi smartphone for use in Russia, look for the global version (marked Global on the box). Chinese models (for example, for the CN market) often do not support Russian 4G frequencies (band 20) and have firmware without Google services.
Competitors and scandals: The dark side of success
Xiaomi's growth has been fraught with conflict, with some of the biggest scandals:
- 📵 Apple copying charges: Mi 8 (2018) design was so similar to iPhone X that even Lei Jun jokingly called it a "tribute" Apple sued, but the case did not go as far as to ban sales.
Despite this, Xiaomi continues to build a presence: In 2023, they introduced the first Xiaomi SU7 electric car – a direct competitor to the Tesla Model 3. This shows that the company is not going to stop at smartphones.
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Xiaomi’s main advantage over its competitors is its speed of reaction to trends, for example, they were the first to massively introduce 120 Hz screens into budget smartphones (Poco X3, 2020) and 108 MP cameras into the mid-range segment (Mi Note 10, 2019).