Xiaomi, the Chinese company that has taken the consumer technology world by storm, turns five today. Xiaomi was founded on April 6, 2010 by serial entrepreneur Lei Jun, who is also the company's chairman and CEO.
On the fifth anniversary of Xiaomi's founding we have put together five facts that might interest you.
1. The name: Xiaomi means 'little rice' in Chinese. 'Xiao' means little and 'mi' is rice. Also, as with many other Chinese words, the name isn't generally correctly pronounced. Xiaomi VP Hugo Barra makes it simpler for us - "Think of 'show me', and then pronounce the first word as if it was 'shower.'"
There are also other inferences to the name. The 'MI' that Xiaomi also uses as its logo is short for Mobile Internet and the company says it also has other meanings. One of which is 'Mission Impossible,' because, "upon establishing Xiaomi, there were many obstacles to overcome and many critics thought what we wanted to accomplish was quite impossible at that time."
2. The mascot: Xiaomi's mascot is a bunny called Mitu who wears a Ushanka (Lei Feng hat). The Mi Bunny's cap has a red star and it also wears a red scarf around its neck.
3. Apple comparison: Xiaomi is often called the Apple of China, because it evokes a similar kind of fervour in China as Apple does in the US. The Apple comparison doesn't end there. Xiaomi's founder and CEO Lei Jun is also referred to as the 'Steve Jobs of China'. The black-t-shirt-wearing Lei Jun has a Jobs-like cult following.
4. The Google connection: As many as three of the top nine leadership positions in Xiaomi are occupied by ex-Googlers. They are: Lin Bin, co-founder, president; Hong Feng, co-founder, vice president; and Hugo Barra, vice president.
5. Profit vs revenue: While Xiaomi may be raking in the revenue courtesy its bestselling phones but the company makes very little profit. In 2013 the company earned $56 million in net profit, on sales of $4.3 billion. In 2014 the Xiaomi Technology made $11.97 billion in sales, though the profits made is unclear.
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