Who owns Xiaomi: analysis of ownership structure, shareholders and influence on the brand

When you buy a Xiaomi smartphone, a Mi Band smartwatch, or a Mi Router router, you don’t really think about who is behind the brand. Meanwhile, the ownership structure of a company directly affects its strategy, pricing, and even sales geography. In 2026, Xiaomi is not just a single-owner private company, but a complex system with public shares, government participation, and influential investors.

In this article, we will discuss in detail:

• 🔹 Who founded Xiaomi and how the company has evolved since 2010
• 🔹 Current Shareholder Structure (including the State of China)
• 🔹 How votes are distributed among key figures
• 🔹 Why Xiaomi is often called a “public company in a private shell"
• 🔹 How ownership structure affects prices, software updates and device availability in Russia

You will be surprised to learn that even after IPO In 2018, Lei Jun retains control of the company through a complex voting system, and the Chinese government has an indirect but powerful influence. These nuances explain many of the brand’s Controversial decisions, from censorship to censorship. MIUI Priority of the Chinese market when releasing new devices.

1. Xiaomi founders: who stood at the origins of the brand

Xiaomi Inc. was officially incorporated on April 6, 2010 in Beijing, China. CEO Lei Jun (Lei Jun) is a legendary figure in Chinese IT-Before Xiaomi, he worked in the community:

• 💼 Kingsoft (1992–2007) – founded a company that was engaged in office work software (similar to Microsoft Office)
• 📱 Joyo.com is an online retailer sold to Amazon in 2004. $75 million
• 💰 Investor in more than 20 startups, including UCWeb (browser) UC Browser) and YunOS (mobile OS from Alibaba)

Lei Jun is often compared to Steve Jobs, not only because of its black turtleneck and presentation style, but also because of its strategy: Xiaomi was originally positioned as the “Chinese Apple” with an emphasis on premium design at an affordable price. However, unlike Jobs, Lei Jun from the very beginning relied on the ecosystem of devices (smartphones). + IoT, not just one flagship direction.

The co-founding team included:

• 👨‍💻 Lin Bin, President of the Company until 2019, responsible for hardware (previously worked at Google and Microsoft)
• 🎨 Hong Feng – Vice President, oversaw MIUI and services (expert on UX with experience in Google China)
• 📊 Li Wanqiang, CFO, previously managed investments in Qualcomm

Interestingly, they all had experience with Western tech giants, which helped Xiaomi avoid the mistakes typical of Chinese startups in global expansion.

⚠️ Despite the “Western” experience of the founders, Xiaomi originally developed the MIUI This explains why global firmware still has restrictions on Google services (e.g. Xiaomi 14 for China does not have a Play Market by default).

Xiaomi’s ownership structure in 2026: shareholders and their shares

After IPO Hong Kong stock exchange (HKEX) In July 2018, Xiaomi became a public company with a ticker 1810.HK. But like many Chinese tech giants, real control is held by a narrow circle of people. Here is the current stock distribution (as of March 2026):

The key feature of the structure is the dual system of shares:

• 📈 Class A (1 vote per share) – for public investors.
• 👑 Class B (10 votes per share) – for founders and top management.

This allows Lei Jun to retain control of the company, even with less than 14 percent of the shares, a pattern typical of Chinese tech companies (similar to Alibaba and Tencent), but one that has drawn criticism from minority shareholders.

In 2023, Xiaomi faced regulatory pressure:

• 🇺🇸 In the US, the company was accused of “hiding ties with the Chinese army” (through investments of state funds).
• 🇪🇺 Xiaomi is now under the Digital Markets Act (DMA) As a gatekeeper due to dominance in the IoT market.
• 🇮🇳 Xiaomi has lost its position in India. $675 million in bank accounts accused of “illegal transfers of funds abroad".

These developments have forced the company to rethink its ownership structure, but no major changes have yet occurred.

The role of the Chinese government: why Xiaomi is called a “state company”

Xiaomi is a private company, but in practice it is closely linked to China’s national interests.

1. Direct Investment: Through funds such as the China Internet Investment Fund (managed by the Cyber Administration of China), the state owns the state. ~5.
2. Gold Stocks: As mentioned earlier, they give veto power over critical decisions (e.g., transferring data abroad).
3. Cooperation with the military: In 2020, Xiaomi received a contract to supply smartphones for the People’s Liberation Army of China (PLA).
4. Censorship in MIUI: Global firmware is based on the Chinese version, where it is blocked VPN, Tor and even some Western social networks.

Xiaomi was blacklisted by the U.S. Department of Defense in 2021 as a company linked to the Chinese army, which led to a temporary 10% drop in the stock, but after legal proceedings the decision was reversed. MSCI China over 'non-transparent' corporate governance".

How does this affect users?

• 🔒 Data security: Xiaomi collects more telemetry than Samsung or Apple (including location data even when geolocation is turned off).
• 📵 In the Chinese versions of devices there is no Google Play, and in the global – often blocked functions due to sanctions (for example, Xiaomi Pay does not work in Russia).
• 💰 Pricing: Government subsidies allow Xiaomi to keep prices low in the domestic market, but overseas markups reach 30-50%.

💡

If you are buying Xiaomi outside of China, check the firmware region by IMEI IMEI.info, Chinese version (CN) Often cheaper, but may not support Google Services and local LTE-ranges.

4.How the Ownership Structure Affects Xiaomi Products

Share allocation and founder control have a direct impact on what devices are coming to market, and we'll look at the key implications:

Priority of the Chinese market

More than 50% of Xiaomi’s revenue comes from China, so new technologies first appear there.

• 📱 Xiaomi 14 Ultra was released in China in February 2026, and the global version – only in June.
• 🚗 Xiaomi electric car SU7 (2026) not yet scheduled for sale outside China.
• 🎮 Xiaomi G gaming laptops are not officially shipped to Europe.

Price policy

Lei Jun has repeatedly stated that "the maximum margin on hardware should not exceed 5%."

• 🇨🇳 In China, the Redmi Note 13 Pro+ worth ~$300.
• 🇷🇺 In Russia, the same model is sold for ~$450 (markup 50%).
• 🇪🇺 The price in Europe is reaching €500 ($550).

The difference is due to taxes, logistics and shareholder strategy: institutional investors (like BlackRock) are demanding higher profits, so Xiaomi is raising margins in foreign markets.

4.3 Software updates and support

Lei Jun’s control of the company leads to an unpredictable policy of renewal:

• ✅ Flagships (Xiaomi) 13T, 14 Pros Get 4 Years of Android Updates.
• ❌ Budget models (Redmi) 10A) — 2 years, with delays only.
• 🔄 China updates are 1-2 months earlier than global versions.

💡

Xiaomi is one of the few companies where the founder (Lei Jun) is also the largest shareholder in the company. CEO. This allows for quick decision-making (e.g., electric vehicle market entry), but leads to authoritarian governance and disregard for minority shareholders.

5. Xiaomi vs. Other Chinese Brands: A Comparison of Ownership Structure

To understand the uniqueness of Xiaomi, compare it with other giants from China:

Xiaomi's differences:

• 🔹 More government power than Oppo or Transsion, but less than the government ZTE (state-owned%).
• 🔹 Huawei: the latter has an incomprehensible ownership structure (formally owned by the “union of employees").
• 🔹 More aggressive in global expansion than Transsion (which focuses on Africa).

In 2020, Xiaomi tried to buy GoPro, but the deal fell through due to US concerns about technology transfer to China, which showed that even with the company’s formal “privateness,” geopolitics plays a key role.

6.The future of Xiaomi: What to expect from the ownership structure

In 2026-2026, Xiaomi faces several challenges related to ownership and management.

1. Regulatory pressure: 🇺🇸 US may bring Xiaomi back to blacklist due to semiconductor laws (CHIPS Act). 🇪🇺 EU demands disclosure of data collection algorithms in MIUI (within DMA).

Competition with Huawei:

foldable

Electric cars:

Xiaomi SU7

Heredity:

What does this mean for users?

• 📉 Prices could rise: If Xiaomi loses subsidies from the Chinese government (due to sanctions), markups in global markets will increase.
• 🔄 Updates to become less frequent: To save money, the company can reduce support for budget models to 1 year.
• 🚗 Xiaomi electric cars: If the project proves successful, the brand will strengthen its position in the premium segment (like Tesla.

Use the Mi Flash Check service|Check the firmware region in Settings → The phone. → Version. MIUI|Turn off telemetry collection in Settings → Memory. → Special opportunities → Analytics|Install an alternative firmware (e.g. Xiaomi.EU) to remove the Blaatware-->

7. Myths and truths about Xiaomi owners

There are a lot of rumors going around Xiaomi.

❌ Myth 1: “Xiaomi belongs to Apple"

This error is due to the fact that:

• Lei Jun copied Steve Jobs’ presentation style.
• The design of early Xiaomi smartphones resembled the iPhone.
• Apple has invested in Xiaomi suppliers (such as Foxconn).

Really:

AirDrop

❌ Myth 2: Xiaomi is a state-owned company like Huawei"

Truth: Unlike Huawei, where the state controls key decisions, Xiaomi remains formally private; however, Gold Stocks and state-fund investments give Beijing leverage, for example, in 2022, Xiaomi suspended shipments to Russia under pressure from Chinese regulators (despite requests from Russian partners).

❌ Myth 3: Lei Jun no longer runs a company"

Although Lei Jun stepped down as chairman of the board in 2021 (replaced by Wang Xiang), he maintains:

• 🔑 Control of 57.6% of votes through Class B shares.
• 💡 Decisive in strategic matters (e.g., electric vehicle market entry).
• 📢 Full control over the brand’s communication (his Weibo account is the main channel of announcements).

⚠️ Note: If you see news like "Xiaomi bought X" check the source. Often, sub-brands are used as Xiaomi (e.g., Xiaomi, POCO Black Shark, for example, is 40% owned by Tencent, not Xiaomi.

FAQ: Frequent questions about Xiaomi owners