Xiaomi became the number one smartphone brand in the world for the first time ever in June 2021.
Xiaomi will be reportedly dropping the ‘Mi’ branding from its products and simply use ‘Xiaomi’ moving forward. This change in branding has kicked off with the company’s latest flagship smartphone, the Mix 4, which was launched in China on August 10 and simply called Xiaomi Mix 4. As of now, it is unclear if this change in branding is only for the company’s smartphone vertical or for all the Mi-branded products. The Mi branding has been in existence for about 10 years now.
The change first became apparent with the recently released Mix 4 that, instead of being called Mi Mix 4 in accordance with the previous generation phones (Mi Mix 3, Mi Mix 2, and so on), is named Xiaomi Mix 4. Now a report by XDA developers citing a company representative states that all of its upcoming products will come with Xiaomi branding instead of the Mi branding. However, things are a bit confusing right now considering the latest tablet series from Xiaomi is still called Mi Pad 5 and Mi Pad 5 Pro (as per Google translation).
So, it remains unclear if Xiaomi has decided to drop the Mi branding for all its products or just smartphones. It is also unclear if this change will be implemented in the Indian market as well. Gadget 360 has reached out to the company for clarity and this space will be updated when we receive a response.
The first Mi-branded smartphone, the Xiaomi Mi 1, launched in August 2011, which makes the brand almost 10 years old. Over the years, the Mi brand expanded to tablets, TVs, smart devices, tools, toys, audio accessories, and more.
A recent report by research firm Counterpoint showed that Xiaomi became the number one smartphone brand in the world for the first time ever in June 2021. Its sales grew by 26 percent compared to May, and it captured a 17.1 percent market share in terms of global smartphone shipments. Another report by Strategy Analytics stated that Xiaomi topped the 5G Android phone shipments globally in the second quarter of 2021.
Currently, the company is gearing up to launch its Mi TV 5X, Mi Band 6, and Mi Notebook in India at its Smarter Living 2022 event scheduled for August 26. It has also teased the Redmi 10 Prime that will launch in the country on September 3.
