Xiaomi

Xiaomi is a large technology company from China, based in Beijing. It makes many popular products, including smartphones, computers, and electric cars. Xiaomi is known for offering high-quality technology at affordable prices, making it very popular around the world.

The company was started in 2010 by Lei Jun and a small group of friends. Their first smartphone came out in 2011, and soon after, Xiaomi became very successful. Over the years, Xiaomi has grown to sell many kinds of gadgets, like watches, drones, and home cleaning machines.

Today, Xiaomi is one of the biggest smartphone sellers in the world, with millions of people using its devices every month. The company works hard to keep its prices fair by working closely with its factories and offering special sales to its customers.

History

Xiaomi started on April 6, 2010, by Lei Jun and six others. Lei Jun was not happy with phones from other companies and wanted to make a better one.

In August 2010, Xiaomi launched its first software system called MIUI. In August 2011, they launched their first phone, the Xiaomi Mi 1. Over the years, Xiaomi grew quickly, making many new phones and products. By 2025, Xiaomi became the third-largest phone seller in the world. They also started making electric cars and other technology products. In 2025, Xiaomi introduced new advanced computer chips and planned to spend a lot of money on artificial intelligence to make even better products.

Corporate affairs

Business trends

The key trends for Xiaomi are (as of the financial year ending December 31):

Corporate identity

Name etymology

Xiǎomǐ (小米) is the Chinese word for "millet". In 2011, its CEO Lei Jun said the name has more meanings. He linked the xiǎo (小, lit. 'small') part to the Buddhist idea that "a single grain of rice of a Buddhist is as great as a mountain". He also said that mǐ (米) stands for "Mobile Internet" and also "mission impossible". He thought the name was cute. In 2012 Lei Jun said the name is about bringing new ideas to a new area.

Logo and mascot

Xiaomi's first logo was a single orange square with the letters "MI" in white in the center. This logo was used until 31 March 2021. On that date a new logo was introduced, designed by Kenya Hara. The new logo looks like the old one but the square is now a "squircle" with rounded corners. The letters "MI" stay the same but are a darker color.

Xiaomi's mascot, Mitu, is a white rabbit wearing an Ushanka (known in China as a "Lei Feng hat") with a red star and a red pioneer tie. Later, the red star was replaced by the company's logo.

Innovation and development

On 8 February 2022, Lei Jun announced plans for Xiaomi to enter the high-end smartphone market and to become the top seller of premium smartphones in China in three years. Xiaomi will invest US$15.7 billion in research and development over the next five years. The company will compare its products and user experience to Apple's products.

In 2022, Xiaomi showed a prototype of a humanoid robot. This was to show Xiaomi's plans to use AI in its products and to develop humanoid robots in the future.

In 2024, Xiaomi was ranked 5th in the world for designs, with 315 designs published under the Hague System during 2023.

In April 2025, Xiaomi released a new reasoning model called MiMo-7B.

Electric vehicles

In 2021, Xiaomi announced a US$10 billion investment into electric vehicles (EVs). In late 2023, Xiaomi Auto showed its first car, the Xiaomi SU7. On 28 March 2024, Xiaomi launched the SU7 sedan in Beijing. Xiaomi got a license to make electric vehicles in July 2024. Xiaomi's EV factory is in the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area. In June 2025, Xiaomi launched the YU7, its first electric SUV.

Real estate

Xiaomi Youth Apartments in Beijing and Nanjing rent for US$290 per month. They have 2658 fully furnished smart homes with Xiaomi products.

Partnerships

In 2021, Harman Kardon worked with Xiaomi for its newest smartphone; the Xiaomi Mi 11 series were the first smartphones to have Harman Kardon-tuned dual speakers.

In 2021, Xiaomi began working with directors to make short films using the Xiaomi Mi 11 phones. In 2022, they made two shorts with Jessica Henwick. The first, Bus Girl, won several awards.

In 2022, Leica Camera started working with Xiaomi to make Leica cameras for Xiaomi flagship smartphones. The first phones under this partnership were the Xiaomi 12S Ultra and Xiaomi MIX Fold 2, launched in July and August 2022. In February 2026, the Mobile World Congress announced the Leica Leitzphone powered by Xiaomi 17 Ultra, to launch on 6 March 2026.

Xiaomi opened a mobile device factory in Lahore in March 2022. As of July 2022, the future of the factory is uncertain because of the 2021–2023 global supply chain crisis.

Reception and controversies

Business

Imitation of Apple Inc.

Some people said Xiaomi copied Apple Inc.. Xiaomi's leader, Lei Jun, tried to dress and talk like Steve Jobs during product shows. Some people in 2013 wondered if Xiaomi's products were really new ideas.

Xiaomi lets users change settings using Google's Android system. Xiaomi also makes more products than Apple does.

GNU license compliance

In 2018, Xiaomi got in trouble for not sharing computer code as they should. This broke rules in China. In 2020, they started sharing the code on GitHub.

Privacy concerns and data collection

Because Xiaomi is based in China, they must share some information with the Chinese government. Some reports said Xiaomi sent private information to its own servers, but Xiaomi later let users decide if they wanted to use this service.

In 2025, research showed that many apps from Xiaomi's store had weak security.

Regulations and lawsuits

In 2012, Xiaomi had to fix its smart box because it did not follow rules in China.

In 2014, Taiwan said Xiaomi did not sell as many phones as they claimed during special sales. They fined Xiaomi.

Also in 2014, a court in India stopped Xiaomi from selling some products because another company said Xiaomi broke their rules. Later, Xiaomi could sell some phones again.

In 2021, a company in the Netherlands said Xiaomi broke their rules, but in 2023, the case ended.

In 2021, another company said Xiaomi broke rules about a robot vacuum, and Xiaomi said they did not.

In 2021, Lithuania said people should stop using Xiaomi phones because they might control what people see, but Xiaomi said this was not true.

In 2022, India looked at Xiaomi for breaking money rules, but later allowed them to continue normal business.

Sanctions

United States

In 2021, the United States said Xiaomi was linked to China's military. This stopped American companies from investing in them. Xiaomi said they were not linked to the military and fought this decision in court. In 2021, they reached an agreement to be removed from this list. Xiaomi's leader said the United States' actions in 2021 were a reason they started making electric cars.

Ukraine

After Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, Xiaomi stopped advertising in Russia but kept selling many phones there. In 2023, Ukraine said Xiaomi was supporting the war by staying in Russia, and some mobile companies in Finland stopped selling Xiaomi products.