China’s Xiaomi challenges Samsung with a high-end phone and launches EV in Europe

On Sunday, Xiaomi debuted its flagship smartphone globally and made its electric car debut in Europe in an effort to maintain the up of its recovery.

The Xiaomi 14, which made its debut this week in China, was introduced to the international market by the global leader of Chinese electronics at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

Xiaomi’s low-cost, high-spec smartphones helped the company succeed after its foundation in 2010. Xiaomi has attempted to enter the more affluent end of the market, where Apple and Samsung are especially strong but where growth has persisted despite difficult circumstances in the phone sector overall, as that segment of the market becomes more competitive.

The launch comes at a time when Xiaomi is seeing a recovery in its core smartphone business, which accounts for nearly two-thirds of its total revenue. According to IDC, Xiaomi, the world’s third-largest smartphone vendor, reported a 4.7% year-on-year decline in shipments in 2023, but the decline was much slower than in 2022, with reported a slight increase in sales. After six consecutive quarters of decline.

However, Xiaomi continues to face stiff competition in high-end products from incumbent Chinese companies like Apple, Samsung, and Huawei spin-off Honor. Samsung released its flagship mobile phone “S24” series in January.

However, Xiaomi is trying to promote its business beyond smartphones. Last year, Xiaomi launched its first electric car, the SU7, opening up a new product category for the Chinese giant. Xiaomi unveiled this car for the first time at MWC, and this will be the first time it will be unveiled in Europe.

The company also launched the Smart Band 8 Pro, Xiaomi Watch S3 and Xiaomi Watch 2 (a smart fitness band and his two smart watches).

Xiaomi is trying to position itself as a company that offers a range of consumer devices that can be connected through its own operating system (HyperOS), which it introduced last year. This is a strategy very similar to Samsung and Apple.

Xiaomi 14

The Xiaomi 14 is available in two variants: the Xiaomi 14 Standard and the Xiaomi 14 Ultra.

The company highlighted the features of its “quad” camera, which uses lenses made by German company Leica, in relation to the more costly Xiaomi 14 Ultra.

According to a Xiaomi press release, the firm highlighted the capabilities for professional photography and filmmaking, such as a “movie mode” which enables “an authentic cinematic look and motion blur.”