When it comes to revolutionary electronics brands, Xiaomi has consistently been at the forefront, with a company that started with modest smartphones now offering more than 200 categories of smart devices, from robot vacuum cleaners to electric vehicles. But who is behind this phenomenal success? Lei Jun is a name that is not widely known, even though he was the architect of an empire that changed the way we think about affordable technology.
Xiaomi’s story is not just about a startup, but about how strategic vision, perseverance and listening to users can turn a small company into a global leader. In this article, we’ll explore who Lei Jun is, how he founded Xiaomi, what the brand was founded, and why his approach is still unique in the market. You’ll learn not only about the biographical facts, but also about the decisions that made the company as we know it today.
Lei Jun: From Student to Billionaire: The Way of Xiaomi Founder
Born on December 16, 1969, in Hubei Province, China, Lei Jun grew up in a modest family, where his father was a teacher and his mother a housewife, and at school, Lei showed a remarkable ability in the exact sciences: he was fond of mathematics and programming, which was a rarity for Chinese schoolchildren at the time, and in 1987 he entered Wuhan University, where he studied computer science, a choice that determined his future career.
After graduating from university in 1992, Lei Jun joined Kingsoft, one of China's first software developers, where he went from a conventional engineer to a CEO, turning the company into a leader in the software market. But his real fame came from Xiaomi, which he founded in 2010 with seven partners. Interestingly, the brand name consists of two characters: (xiao - "small") and (mi - "rice"), which symbolizes the idea of "a small seed from which grows a large tree."
- 🎓 Education: Wuhan University, specialty "Computer Sciences" (1987-1991).
- 💼 Early career: 16 years at Kingsoft, where he became a CEO 1998.
- 📱 Xiaomi founder: In 2010, together with a team of 7 people, launched a project that 4 years later became the leader of the smartphone market in China.
- 💰 Status: According to Forbes (2023), Lei Jun enters the top-10 China's richest people with more capital $15 billion.
Lei Jun is the only founder of a technology company in China to personally test each new Xiaomi device before it launches, an approach that is one of the reasons why the brand’s products are so quickly gaining the love of users: the head of the company literally “feels” them from his own experience.
How Xiaomi Came: The First Steps and Brand Philosophy
Xiaomi was first created after Lei Jun left Kingsoft in 2007, spent three years researching the market and finding investors before officially registering the company in April 2010, with an initial capital of just $10 million, but a year later Xiaomi launched its first smartphone, the Mi 1, which became a sensation.
The key feature of the brand from the very beginning was the philosophy of "triunity":
- Innovation: Using advanced technologies with minimal margins.
- Quality: Strict control at every stage of production.
- Price: Available to a wide range of users.
Lei Jun often said, "We don't sell hardware, we sell expertise." This became the company's motto, for example, the Mi 1 cost only $300 for flagships for $600-800, an approach that allowed Xiaomi to sell more than 300,000 devices in a year, a record for a startup.
⚠️ Attention: Many people mistakenly believe that Xiaomi is copying Apple products, in fact Lei Jun openly admitted that he was inspired by Steve Jobs, but never intended to copy. MIUI It was designed to accommodate Chinese users’ preferences, which was radically different from Apple’s approach.
Dream team: who else stood at the origins of Xiaomi
Lei Jun did not create Xiaomi alone, and he was joined by seven co-founders, each of whom made a unique contribution:
| Name. | Role in Xiaomi | Previous experience |
|---|---|---|
| Lin Binh | President responsible for hardware | Headed the division at Google China, an expert on Android |
| Li Wanqiang | Senior Vice President, MIUI Development | Leading Engineer at Microsoft Asia |
| Hun Feng | Technical Director | Worked at Google and Motorola, a mobile OS specialist |
| Leu De | Vice President, Industrial Design | Former Director of Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications |
Interestingly, all of the co-founders were friends of Lei Jun before the company was founded, meeting once a week at informal dinners to discuss the future of technology, and it was at one of those dinners in 2009 that the idea for Xiaomi was born.
Lei Jun often emphasized, “Our team is not just professionals, but like-minded people who believe in the same dream,” an approach that avoided the internal conflicts that have ruined many startups, such as when the company faced a shortage of components in 2012, the team voluntarily cut its salaries by 30% to keep product prices for users.
The first smartphone Mi 1: how Xiaomi conquered China in a year
The debut smartphone Xiaomi Mi 1 was announced in August 2011.
- 📱 4-inch-screen 854×480 (At that time, it was a breakthrough for the budget segment).
- 🔋 Removable battery for 1930 mAh (rare for modern smartphones).
- 🤖 OS MIUI V3 Android 2.3 Gingerbread with unique design and optimization.
- 💰 Price in $300 – twice cheaper than the analogues from Samsung and HTC.
The marketing strategy was also revolutionary: Xiaomi abandoned traditional advertising, betting on word of mouth and online sales. The first batch of 300,000 devices sold out in 34 hours! Lei Jun personally ran a Weibo account (China’s Twitter equivalent), where he answered users’ questions and announced the news.
Why did Mi 1 become a cult?
The success of the Mi 1 proved that you can build quality devices without huge marketing budgets, a principle Lei Jun called “three low and three high”:
- ⬇️ Low price
- ⬇️ Low markup.
- ⬇️ Low advertising costs
- ⬆️ High quality
- ⬆️ High-tech.
- ⬆️ High service
Xiaomi Ecosystem: How Ley Jun Built a Smart Device Empire
By 2014, Xiaomi had become the smartphone market leader in China, overtaking Samsung and Apple, but Lei Jun set a new goal: to create an ecosystem of smart devices where all gadgets would interact.
- 🏠 Smart home: Yeelight lamps, Mi Home Security cameras, motion sensors.
- 🔋 Accessories: Power Bank at 20,000 mAh, wireless headphones Mi AirDots.
- 🚗 Electric vehicles: Mi Electric Scooter, bicycles.
- 🤖 Robots: Vacuum vacuum cleaner Mi Robot Vacuum, which is still a bestseller.
A key element of the ecosystem has been the Mi Home platform, which allows you to control all devices through a single application, which Lei Jun called the “Internet of Things for Everyone,” for example, a door-opener sensor can automatically turn on the camera and send a notification to your smartphone — all for $20.
💡
If you buy Xiaomi smart home devices, pay attention to Zigbee protocol support. Gadgets with this module (for example, Mi Smart Home Gateway) are more stable and consume less power than Wi-Fi devices.
Today, Xiaomi’s ecosystem has more than 400 million connected devices worldwide, and Lei Jun often says, “Our goal is for everyone on the planet to be able to afford a smart home.”
Competitors and Critics: How Xiaomi Responds to Challenges
Despite its success, Xiaomi is constantly facing challenges.
- Accusations of copying: In 2012, Apple accused Xiaomi of plagiarizing the design of the iPhone.Lei Jun replied, "We are inspired by the best, but we do better."
- Quality issues: In 2015, users complained about the overheating of the Mi 4i. the company promptly issued a patch and replaced defective devices.
- Competition in China: Brands like Huawei and Oppo are actively copying Xiaomi’s strategy, and Lei Jun has stepped up investment in R&D.
One of the biggest scandals came in 2014, when Xiaomi was accused of collecting user data, with Lei Jun personally apologizing and vowing to strengthen privacy protections, and since then, the company has undergone regular independent security audits.
⚠️ Note: When buying Xiaomi devices, check the firmware region. Some models (for example, for the Chinese market) may not support Google Play and have language restrictions. ROM.
Today, Xiaomi ranks 3rd in the world in smartphone sales (after Samsung and Apple), and Lei Jun continues to expand the business.In 2021, the company introduced its first electric car Xiaomi SU7, which was a new challenge for Tesla.
Lei Jun Today: Future Plans and Heritage
In 2023, Lei Jun announced Xiaomi’s new strategy: “Technology for All, Smart Life for Everyone.”
- 🚀 Electric Cars: Investments in Xiaomi EV exceeded $10 billion First sedan SU7 I've already crash-tested.
- 🤖 AI and Robotics: Developing the CyberOne Humanoid Robot (2022).
- 🌍 Global Expansion: Focus on European and Latin American Markets.
Lei Jun is also a philanthropic activist, who in 2020 donated $2 billion to education in rural China and in 2023 founded a foundation to support young engineers.
V 2026 Lei Jun entered the top-3 Nikkei Asia’s most influential tech leaders have overtaken Samsung’s CEO, who has been dubbed “China’s Steve Jobs,” but Lei Jun prefers comparison to Elon Musk for his ability to combine technological innovation with business strategy.
💡
Lei Jun’s biggest difference from other CEOs is that he’s not afraid to take risks, for example, in 2016, when smartphone sales fell, he personally took over the mobile division and returned the company to the lead in a year.