After expanding in 70 markets globally, Xiaomi CEO aims to stage a comeback in China this year

In his annual letter to employees, Lei Jun, Chairman and CEO at Xiaomi Technology, has talked about how 2017 has been a turnaround year for the company and also a ‘leapfrog year’ for breaking new ground for their future.

In October 2017, Xiaomi exceeded the revenue goal of RMB 100 billion set at the beginning of the year – in slightly over seven years – and as per IDC, Xiaomi was the world’s number 4 smartphone brand in Q4 2017 in terms of shipments. The company is also likely to enter the Fortune Global 500 list of companies this year.

Jun believes that this massive growth has been achieved because of their focus on innovation and product quality.

Innovation determines how high we can fly, while product quality determines how far we can go.

Xiaomi is currently present in 70 countries and regions so far globally and is one of the top five players in 16 markets. In its biggest market outside China – India – Xiaomi is the top smartphone maker.

But for 2018, Jun wants to start a ‘full counter-attack’ in China, the company’s home market and the biggest and most competitive consumer electronics market in the world.

Only by winning in China, can we win in the rest of the world.

In his post, Jun sets a goal to regain the number one position in China within 10 quarters and believes that a strong management and organizational capabilities on all fronts will take them there.