Xiaomi spin-off Redmi wants to own the budget phone market
Xiaomi launched a new brand of smartphones called Redmi for China’s cut-throat budget handset market. It’s taking on Huawei’s Honor and is aimed at developing markets around the world.
Smartphone brand Redmi burst on to the scene at the beginning of 2019. But it wasn’t an unfamiliar name – Redmi was actually a series of phones made by Xiaomi, the Chinese smartphone maker. And it used to be one of Xiaomi's most popular series.
How Xiaomi forged a unique path
So if Redmi was already popular, why did Xiaomi spin it off as an independent brand?
Xiaomi's CEO Lei Jun says this as a matter of focus. The Redmi brand focuses on value-for-money budget smartphones, and Xiaomi is focused on high-end devices.
But it’s Huawei and Honor that Xiaomi seems to be targeting.
Also in January, Redmi introduced Redmi Go, an entry-level phone running on Android Oreo (Go edition).
But the Redmi spinoff is not just about Redmi. Xiaomi has been under a lot of pressure after its listing in 2018 to earn more money. It’s not just that people in China are buying different phones, they are also buying less of them.
The smartphones people in China are buying instead of the iPhone
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