A couple of weeks back, the headline ‘Xiaomi outs the new Redmi Note 7 smartphone’ would have been technically correct. But now, it’s not. Redmi is a separate brand and so is Xiaomi’s Mi.

Welcome, 2019!

Redmi’s first smartphone this year, the Redmi Note 7 turned out to be great — not like the Redmi Note 6 Pro and the Redmi 6 which were lackluster. I mean, these two phones were not bad, they were not Xiaomi good either.

See what I did there? Xiaomi has become equivalent to value and affordability. But that’s not necessarily a good thing for the recently listed company.

The decision to split Redmi from the Xiaomi family was not just for the budget focused brand. Xiaomi’s flagship brand, ‘Mi’ should eventually benefit more from this decision. So, despite the spotlight being around Redmi going independent, I think we should see the real picture here, which is ‘Mi’ getting its own niche market.

Redmi’s the Real Hero!

Xiaomi has always been popular for its budget smartphones. Heck, if you are out to buy a budget phone, chances are, you have shortlisted a bunch of Redmi phones. Indeed it was Redmi phones that drove the company’s growth to a considerable extent all these years. So it wasn’t surprising to see analysts mentioning Redmi smartphone models that helped the Beijing-based company become the fourth largest smartphone maker in the world. But the same reports often failed to mention its flagship models.

A report from Kantar World Panel reveals that Xiaomi Mi 8 was the most popular smartphone in China in Q3 2018. So, it’s clear that the company is making efforts to fix this problem. Getting its flagship smartphones to sell well is most likely a priority for the company right now. After all, high-end smartphones command better margins, unlike budget phones. And it’s not just about margins. High-end users are likely to spend more on services, boosting overall revenue.

But with Redmi and Xiaomi walking the same road, it was always going to be difficult.

Finding Your Niche

Consider Honor and Huawei. Both of them have low-end phones as well as high-end phones. Honor’s new Honor View 20 with its punch hole camera shined at CES 2019 for its high-end features. Huawei’s low-end model, like the Huawei Enjoy 9 isn’t half bad for its price. But when you think of the two brands, how do you perceive them?

It’s very likely that when you think of Huawei, you think of the premium Mate 20 series and the P20 series. In short, when you are out to buy a flagship phone in 2019, a few of Huawei’s models are automatically shortlisted. Similarly, for affordable flagships or for affordable mid-rangers, Honor’s likely in your potential list. This perception hasn’t risen just out of a phone-by-phone comparison, it is a result of both brands being very clear about where they stand.

OnePlus is a good example of a successful niche brand. Realme and POCO are some additional examples which show how focusing on a particular market segment is the way to go.

Weak Flagship Game

Xiaomi knows its flagship game isn’t strong. Yes, the Mi Mix 3 is inspiring, but how many of you are seriously considering purchasing the device? In an important market like India, Xiaomi doesn’t even have a true flagship lineup. The best selling flagship model from the company is the POCO F1. But see how it’s not associated with the Xiaomi brand? Not to mention, the POCO F1 is an affordable flagship and not a premium one. 

Oh yes, if you really look around, you’ll find that the Mi Mix 2S is available in India. But it’s not doing so well. And they haven’t even launched its successor yet. 

The existing Xiaomi Mi 8 / Mi 8 Pro lineup have capable options. Heck, with the new updates, their cameras have become better as well. But they are overshadowed by the company’s brand perception.

But with Redmi and its budget offerings being sliced out of the Xiaomi brand, they have a chance. Mi series may finally advance as a solid premium brand!

Maybe, at the end of the year, I’ll be looking at a Xiaomi flagship (possibly the Mi 9 or the Mi Mix 4) as the best smartphone of the year.

With Xiaomi making its move to strengthen its premium segment, I am pretty confident that we would see a flagship that takes on the upcoming Mates and Galaxies in the market.

What say you?

The post Xiaomi’s Flagship Game isn’t strong, but the new ‘Redmi’ could change that appeared first on Gizmochina.

Xiaomi has revealed that it would be releasing the MIUI 9 Global ROM in the Indian market on November 2. The company made the announcement via the newly created MIUI India Twitter handle. The launch is a response to the yearnings of numerous Mi fans in the fast-growing Indian market.

We listened to your requests. Global MIUI 9 is coming to India on 2nd Nov. Are you excited? #LightningFast
500 RT & we'll reveal more. pic.twitter.com/FCdpM286Zv

— MIUI India (@MIUI_India) October 27, 2017

The MIUI 9 Global ROM has gone through the beta testing stage so we expect the company to start rolling out the Stable ROM even though there was no indication as to which ROM would be released. The tech giant was discovered to have started pushing MIUI 9 Stable ROM updates to select Mi users in China but is yet to disclose when the ROM would be released fully in China. There are speculations, though, that the release would take place before the end of this October. This disclosure of a November 2 launch date in India also elicit suggestions that its launch in China is close by. Xiaomi may likely push updates in China before doing same in India.

Read Also: Xiaomi to Announce New Series of Selfie-Centric Phones in India on November 2

Xiaomi has already scheduled a launch event for India on November 2. An earlier teaser from the Redmi India Twitter account had tipped that the tech giant would be unveiling a new series which seems to be geared towards taking on OPPO. The teaser hints of a selfie-focused model as it also contained the hashtag #YourBestSelfie. After India, we do hope the tech giant push the MIUI 9 Global Stable ROM updates to other regions where Mi users are located as soon as possible.

(source)

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Rumours of Xiaomi creating a new sub-brand different from the flagship Mi or budget Redmi brands continue to gather steam. Since the rumor first emerged, accompanied by a leaked image said to be the render of the first model that would feature in the new line, we have gone on to see a leak which disclosed the purported name of the new brand.

The leak suggests the new brand will be called Lanmi which really doesn’t sound PR friendly. Since Xiaomi is yet to disclose the name, we’ll take it for now that the name is still not known. However, we have further details of the new sub-brand which is tipped to also go official at the end of this month. The brand is said to focus on young people and is meant to take on BBK brands OPPO and Vivo, two companies that have snatched a larger chunk of the domestic market share from Xiaomi. 

Further, the new sub-brand is said to be entirely different from the Mi and Redmi series in terms of product definition and marketing approach. Xiaomi isn’t known to aggressively market both its Mi and Redmi smartphones but the new brand will see a lot of changes. The company dubbed the Apple of China is even tipped as planning to use very popular celebrities as brand ambassadors. In addition, the latest disclosure is that the new sub-brand will be positioned between the Mi and Redmi series in terms of design quality and maybe it’s pricing as well. Already the leaked image of the upcoming smartphone has given us an idea of what it’d look like. The image shows a design resembling the iPhone 7, with a similar dual camera setup, antenna design but different edges. If it resembles the iPhone 7, then it also looks like the OPPO R11 and even the OnePlus 5.

Read Also: Xiaomi Launches HelloEar Arc Custom Earphone Priced At 299 Yuan ($43)

The new Xiaomi model is expected to be priced around 2000 yuan and apart from the dual camera setup, will feature an all metal body. It is hoped that Xiaomi makes the models available in large quantities because that has been one major challenge.

(source)

The post Xiaomi’s New Brand Will Lie Between Mi Series & Redmi Series, Priced Aggresively appeared first on Gizmochina.

Just a few weeks after we got wind that the Xiaomi Redmi 4X was in the works, leaked details have also revealed the existence of a new Xiaomi model, most likely a new version of the Redmi Note 4 smartphone. This Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 could be a Snapdragon-powered version of the Redmi Note 4 that was released in August 2016.

The new Xiaomi Redmi Note 4  is said to have appeared on the US FCC website where it received certification. The certification website reveals a basic image of the device, which is similar to the Redmi Note 4. According to the information, the Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 will sport a 5.5-inch display with a rear fingerprint sensor. The device will also pack a large 4,000mAh battery under its hood with 5v, 2A charging support but no fast charging technology.

The phone could come with a Snapdragon chip like Snapdragon 652. However, at this moment, the specs of this particular are not very clear.

Xiaomi’s Redmi series have a trademark of being thousand yuan smartphones with studded features. The Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 came as a successor to the highly successful Redmi Note 3 which dominated the domestic thousand yuan smartphone category in China back then, but the Redmi Note 4 was unable to match the success of the Redmi Note 3. Perhaps the new Redmi Note 4 version can re-capture the thousand yuan smartphone category for Xiaomi. It is not known when the device will be released, but popping up at FCC perhaps indicate a release outside China. The device may likely be launched at the MWC 2017.

(via)

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There’s no doubt that dual cameras are the new fad in the smartphone market, with companies equipping their mid-range and flagship phones with two cameras to bring the best camera experience to their devices. Huawei is one company that has taken dual cameras pretty seriously this year, first partnering with the renowned Lecia for its Huawei P9 flagship and later, releasing the Honor V8 and Honor 8 (confirmed to feature dual cameras). But Huawei isn’t the only Chinese company interested in using dual cameras on its smartphones as recent reports have said that LeEco and Xiaomi are also going to release dual camera phones.

Now, we might have our first glimpse of the real image of a Xiaomi smartphone with dual cameras at the back. Unlike other dual camera phones, it looks like Xiaomi’s new smartphone will come with two large sensors aligned vertically. In between the two camera sensors, we can see dual LED flash.

RELATED: Rumor Mill: Xiaomi Redmi Note 4

As for the design, the phone comes with a brushed metal finish. Both the sides are curved, which should ensure better grip and we can see the volume and power buttons are located on the right side. Further, there’s the Mi logo on the back, revealing that this is a Xiaomi phone.

So, if you look closely, the raw design of this leaked handset is very much similar to the Xiaomi Redmi Note 3. But instead of the fingerprint sensor at the back, in its place, we have the second camera sensor. This probably means that this particular model comes with a home button embedded sensor up front. This could also mean that this is a Redmi model and not the company’s flagship Mi series. Could it be the Redmi Note 4? It’s too early to say anything right now, but it is a possibility.

RELATED: Dual Cameras On Xiaomi & LeEco phones Could Be Supplied By Samsung

This image of the Mi device comes just a few hours after a leaked image of the young Chinese actor Haoran Liu holding this leaked dual camera Xiaomi phone cropped up online. Considering that Liu was just signed as the official spokesperson of Xiaomi’s Redmi lineup, it is very much possible that the phone we see in the image is the upcoming Redmi Note 4.

What do you think?

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