Xiaomi floated an IPO on the Hong Kong stock exchange aimed at generating revenue for the expansion of the company. During the initial public offer, te company did not describe itself as just a smartphone company but as an internet company despite gaining a wide reputation from its smartphone brand. Xiaomi is now set to invest in other spheres which would position it as truly an internet company. According to a Bloomberg report, the Chinese giant will invest at least 10 billion yuan ($1.5 billion) on artificial intelligence and smart devices over the next five years.
The huge investment is part of the Chinese giant’s strategy of grabbing more revenue from high-value services and the Internet of Things (IoT). The innovative Chinese company is also focusing on pushing for the top of the market while working towards expanding its tentacles into Europe. While speaking to Bloomberg TV recently , Xiaom’s CEO Lei Jun stated; “Now is the time for the action. We are all in on AIoT.” This is a reference to the incorporation of artificial intelligence into Internet of Things in order to create a smart ecosystem of connected devices. We have seen the firm implement this system of combining its XiaoAI smart assistant with its smart home (IoT) devices lately. However, XiaoAI is only adapted for Chinese speakers and we are yet to see other languages become supported. Adding more supported languages may likely be part of the development plan. This will surely boost the sales of the company’s growing catalogue of IoT gadgets whenever they become available outside China.
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Lei Jun didn’t elaborate on the company’s investment plans but the company is looking to generate more revenue in the face of a brewing trade war between China and the US that has caused uncertainty to envelop the economic space. Also, the company may be fast looking outside smartphones to diversify its revenue as the smartphone market experiences some saturation. It is yet to be seen if the company holds as much prospects as first speculated. Investors don’t seem to be very confident about that as the company’s stock has plummeted by roughly 40% since after its July 2018 initial public offering.
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