Xiaomi Inc.[3] (Listeni/ˈʃjaʊmi/, Chinese: 小米科技; pinyin: Xiǎomǐ Kējì, literally “millet technology”)[4] is a privately owned Chinese electronics company headquartered in Beijing. It is the world’s 5th largest smartphone maker in 2015 Xiaomi sold 70.8 million units and was countable for almost 5 percent of the smartphone global market share.[5] Xiaomi designs, develops, and sells smartphones, mobile apps, and related consumer electronics.[6]

Since the release of its first smartphone in August 2011, Xiaomi has gained market share in mainland China and expanded into developing a wider range of consumer electronics, including a smart home (IoT) device ecosystem.[7][8][9][10] The company’s founder and CEO is Lei Jun, China’s 23rd richest person according to Forbes. The company sold over 60 million smartphones in 2014.[11]

The company has over 8,000 employees, mainly in mainland China, Malaysia,[12] and Singapore, and is expanding to other countries such as India,[13] Indonesia, the Philippines and Brazil.[14][15]

According to IDC, in October 2014[16] Xiaomi was the third largest smartphone maker in the world, following Samsung and Apple Inc., and followed by Lenovo and LG. Xiaomi became the largest smartphone vendor in China in 2014, having overtaken Samsung, according to an IDC report.[17]

At the end of December 2014, Xiaomi became the world’s most valuable technology start-up after it received US$1.1 billion funding from investors, making Xiaomi’s valuation more than US$46 billion.[18] Xiaomi entered the Indian market in July 2014 and since then expanded rapidly in India. Earlier, Xiaomi used to sell exclusively on Flipkart until it announced its partnership with both Amazon.com and Snapdeal on April 7, 2015. This is seen as a bid by the smartphone manufacturer to expand its retail base in India. It has also teamed up with Airtel Store and The Mobile Store to sell some of its selected devices. Later, in Q1 2015, it started its own store and stopped selling its accessories to online stores. On its first anniversary in India, it launched its own Mi Store App. On August 11, 2015, it started its first factory in Sricity, Andhra Pradesh in a partnership with Foxconn.[19]

Lei Jun

Léi Jūn (simplified Chinese: 雷军; traditional Chinese: 雷軍; born 16 December 1969) is a Chinese businessman who is known for founding Xiaomi Inc, one of China’s largest technology companies.

Lei’s net worth is estimated to be 35 billion US dollars since he owns 77.8% of Xiaomi, which is a $45 billion company.[6] In 2011, Lei was ranked #201 on Forbes list of China’s 400 Richest.[7] In 2014, he was named Businessman of the Year by Forbes.[8]

In July 2015, Forbes ranked Lei Jun number 87 on their list of global billionaires with a personal worth of $13.2 billion.[9]

Biography

Lei was born on 16 December 1969 in Xiantao, Hubei, China. In 1987, he graduated from Mianyang Middle School and began attending Wuhan University, where he holds a BA in computer science, in 1991.[1] Lei had been working at Kingsoft as an engineer and became the president of the company in 1998. In 2000, Lei founded Joyo.com, an online bookstore, which was eventually sold for USD$75 million to Amazon.com in 2004.[10] On December 20, 2007, for “health reasons”, he resigned as President and CEO of Kingsoft.[11]

After resigning from Kingsoft, Lei invested in Vancl.com and UCWeb. In 2008, he became a Chairman of UCWeb.[12] On 6 April 2010, Lei Jun founded Xiaomi Inc, a technology company that manufactures smartphones, mobile apps, and other consumer electronics.[13] Lei also owns small stakes in the e-commerce companies Lakala and VANCL,[14] as well as video streaming and social communicate platform YY (social network).[15]

By 2011, Lei invested in over 20 companies in China. He continues to invest in companies in the ecommerce, social networking, and mobile industries through Shunwei Capital (Chinese: 顺为资本), an investment company which he was a founding partner.[16] On 29 August 2011, Lei rejoined Kingsoft as an Executive Director of the company.[3] In 2014, he became the 8th richest person in China with a net worth of USD$9.9 billion.[8]

It was reported in March 2015 that Lei Jun has invested an undisclosed amount in Chinese cosmetics and skincare company Yu Jia Hui (Chinese: 御家汇).[17]

In April 2015, Lei Jun and his company Xiaomi Inc have already invested in more than 20 start-up companies and plans on investing in 100 more so as to help Xiaomi Inc expand and grow exponentially.