Xiaomi Raises $1.1 Billion In Venture Capital

Xiaomi Raises $1.1 Billion In Venture Capital

With the $1.1 billion that Xiaomi raised in venture capital, the company currently has a valuation of $45 billion, according to a Facebook post by the president and co-founder of the company, Bin Lin. The rapid ascent of the Chinese smartphone manufacturer was highlighted with the financing it acquired recently. Due to this, it became the third biggest smartphone manufacturer in the world.

The valuation of the company increased by more than four times compared to its previous valuation in 2013. The ascent comes as Samsung experienced setbacks and other established companies took steps in regaining their share of the market. The startup company currently has a value three times bigger than Lenovo, which acquired Motorola recently.

Despite its recent success, the company is facing some obstacles. While it has a significant presence in Asia, it faces the challenge of increasing its reach into developed markets. Xiaomi was the subject of a lawsuit by Ericsson for patent infringement, which resulted to a halt in sales in India.

The devices of the company were also criticized due to similarities with Apple devices. Jony Ive, design head of Apple, alleged that the Chinese company of laziness and design theft. However, the vice president of the Chinese manufacturer, Hugo Barra, revealed that the designers of the company had a number of inspirations.

The Chinese smartphone manufacturer sells over 1,000 products at near cost in an attempt to create some profit on every item. In contrast, Apple generates profit through its sale of high-end devices. The main goal is to ensure consumers will acquire the devices and sell services and software that can be used on these devices.

Lin said the company aims to continue bringing innovation to its customers with the objective of providing high-performance and high-quality devices to enhance user experience. He also revealed that the next flagship device of Xiaomi will be unveiled in January.

Posted by James Fried on Friday January 02 2015, 3:45 AM EST. Ref: CNET. Link. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News, Finance. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0