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Xiaomi shipped over 15 million MI2 series phones, lowers MI2s to $210 in China
While Xiaomi's been pushing its budget Redmi Android phone into Singapore recently, it's also managed to reach a new shipment record for its mid-tier MI2 series, which includes the MI2, MI2s and MI2a. According to the company's announcement, it has now shipped over 15 million of these devices, which is a notable jump from the 9.19 million figure announced at the MI3 launch back in September. To celebrate this occasion, Xiaomi has reduced the price of the 16GB, 8-megapixel MI2s in China from CN¥1,699 (about $280) to just CN¥1,299 (about $210). The 32GB version with a 13-megapixel camera remains at CN¥1,799 ($290), which is just less than the 16GB, CN¥1,999 ($330) MI3. All of these are still very attractive prices of their specs, of course. In response to this price drop, Meizu swiftly announced that its 16GB MX2 RE (refurbished edition) is now also priced at CN¥1,299, whereas the MX2 enhanced edition is now at CN¥1,599 ($260). It's unclear how long this bloody fight will last for, but here's hoping that these price drops will be applied outside China as well.
Xiaomi announces $2.16 billion revenue in 1H 2013, beating the entire 2012
In a Chinese press release we just received, phone maker Xiaomi has just announced that it generated a revenue of CN¥13.27 billion or about $2.16 billion in the first half of 2013. This easily exceeds the company's CN¥12.6 billion or $2.05 billion revenue from the entirety of 2012, so things are already looking good ahead of the annual event on August 16th, when multiple products are expected to be launched -- including a TV that got leaked last month. CEO Lei Jun said that this is partly thanks to the 7.03 million Xiaomi Phones his company sold within the same period, and the release also praised the popularity of the Xiaomi Box plus various other accessories, such as the new in-ear headphones launched recently. In addition to that, Xiaomi now has 20 million users from around the world as of end of June, 14.22 million of which come from mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. The latter two became part of Xiaomi's larger scope in April this year, with Hong Kong using the classic online retail model, and Taiwan doing the same but also selling devices through a partnership with local carrier Far Eastone. Despite the surprising good announcements, Lei reminds his team at today's celebration party to "forget about the results, they're not the most important," and that "only making products that make users scream can bring in long-term value." The real challenge now is to tap into the more exotic markets, and Xiaomi has previously expressed great interest in Europe. Good luck with that, Lei!
