Xiaomi takes fight to Samsung and Apple in more emerging markets
Fast-growing Chinese manufacturer Xiaomi is taking on high-profile rivals in the increasingly important battleground of countries such as Brazil, India and Russia.
Having conquered China, Xiaomi is turning its attention to the rest of the world. The smartphone manufacturer has revealed plans to expand to 10 more countries, although the US and most of Europe aren't included just yet.
The Chinese manufacturer will expand operations this year to Brazil, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, the Philippines, Russia, Thailand, Turkey and Vietnam.
Xiaomi already sells phone such as the Redmi and Xiaomi Redmi Note in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore. Phone fans outside Asia may have heard of the Xiaomi Mi3 , pictured above, which is available online and more powerful than Apple's iPhone at a much cheaper price.
Last year Google vice president Hugo Barra joined Xiaomi with the intention of making it "a global company that happens to be in China."
Xiaomi has only been around since 2010 but it's already doing boffo business, outselling Apple in China and shipping 11 million smartphones in the first three months of this year -- more than Motorola, as a quick comparison -- and has, according to Bloomberg, set the ambitious target of shifting 100 million phones in 2015.
By turning its attention to huge emerging markets such as Brazil and India, ripe with largely untapped potential for smartphone sales, Xiaomi will go head-to-head with more established rivals such as Apple and Samsung. Emerging markets are increasingly important to technology brands as smartphones near saturation point in traditional markets such as the US and UK.