As per Q2 IDC report, Xiaomi is ranked 4th in the global smartphone market with nearly a 50 per cent year-on-year growth rate
Xiang Wang,SVP,Xiaomi (credits – Mi)Xiaomi has entered into the UK market with its first ever launch event in the country. The products highlighted at the Xiaomi event in UK included Mi 8 Pro smartphone, Redmi 6A and Xiaomi Band 3. The launch event also highlighted the Mi electric scooter.
Wang Xiang, Senior Vice President of Xiaomi Corporation, said: “Today we witness a new chapter in Xiaomi’s global expansion journey, underpinned by our global ambitions. We are thrilled to make great strides by announcing our arrival in the UK. By bringing a range of our amazing products at honest pricing we want to offer more choices and let everyone in the UK enjoy a connected simple life through our innovative technology.”
Xiaomi has also opened its first ever Authorised Mi Store located in Westfield London, UK. The newly opened Mi Store is said to host a range of exclusive Mi Ecosystem products.
Xiaomi’s increasing presence in the global space
Xiaomi’s event in the UK marks its arrival in the market following the brand’s entry in France and Italy this May. Famous for economical smartphones and smart TVs in India, the brand had also entered Spain market last year in November.
Xiaomi has now entered a total of 74 markets globally and is considered among the top in 30 markets. As per Q2 IDC report, Xiaomi is ranked 4th in the global smartphone market with nearly a 50 per cent year-on-year growth rate.
The company claims to have shipped more than 100 million smartphones this year. Shipment figures for Mi 8 series, also stand strong at more than six million units. Xiaomi has not yet launched Mi 8 series in India. However, the Mi 8 Pro smartphone is currently retailing for prices upwards of 480 pounds (Rs 44,000) in the United Kingdom market.
Xiaomi Mi 8 Pro features
The company claims that Mi 8 Pro’s dedicated pressure sensor activates the unlocking process once a user places his finger on the screen, which is faster and more power-efficient. Mi 8 Pro sports the same camera setup as found on Mi 8, which received a DxOMark score of 105 for photography.
This Sony IMX363 primary sensor features 1.4μm pixels and dual pixel autofocus. It bolsters 4-axis OIS and 2x optical zoom, plus a bunch of handy AI features such as AI portrait, AI beautify and AI scene detection.
The 6.21-inches AMOLED panel screen offers a contrast ratio of 60,000 to 1. It comes facilitated in 8.7:9 aspect ratio. Xiaomi claims that ‘always-On display support’ provides a convenient way to check notifications, date, and time, while saving time and battery life by keeping the screen off.
Mi 8 Pro sports the flagship Qualcomm SnapdragonTM845 platform. With a 2.8GHz maximum clock speed and the new Qualcomm AdrenoTM630 GPU, the platform outperforms its predecessor by up to 30 percent. The platform also features a newly introduced DSP architecture with AI performance three times higher than the previous generation. Supported by 8GB LPDDR4x DRAM, Mi 8 Pro, as per the company, can render the most demanding games at high FPS for an unparalleled gaming experience.
Xiaomi Mi 8 series may make its India debut during December 2018.
