Smart wearables have seen an increase in popularity in recent years. The best examples of this would be smart bands (like Fitbit or the Mi Band series) or smartwatches (like the Apple Watch). Huami is one such company that deals in the former category and has historically been backed by Xiaomi, the smartphone manufacturer.
However, the company stated in an annual strategic media communications meeting today that it had not signed any exclusive deal or agreement with Xiaomi regarding the latter’s Mi Band lineup of smart wearables.
Earlier this year, Xiaomi launched the Mi Band 4 in China. Promptly after this, reports surfaced that suggested that Huami was already working on the 5th installment in the series. The CEO of Huami confirmed that both companies have been “co-working” on multiple projects in a partnership but are not signed under an exclusive deal to manufacture or develop Xiaomi wearable products.
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Xiaomi Mi Band 4Huang Wang, the CEO also stated that there has been a misunderstanding of the cooperation between Huami and Xiaomi. To back this statement, he even mentioned that the two companies are preferred partners under the same conditions which favor both sides. This indicates a two-way choice between the two partner companies.
In other words, Huami has not been contracted by Xiaomi to develop the Mi Band 5 but are collaborating due to extended partnership. The two companies are distinctly independent but collaborate often owing to healthy business relations. Notably, the Mi Band 4 lacked prominent feature like NFC and microphone support in its global versions so it will be interesting to see what improvements the collaboration brings to the latest Xiaomi’s smart wearable.
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(Via)
