Happy birthday, Xiaomi: Nine years on and still going strong

Today, India’s top smartphone maker, and the world’s number five, celebrates an anniversary. Xiaomi Corporation was founded nine years ago on April 6, 2010, in Beijing, China.

In less than a decade, Xiaomi has risen up the smartphone ranks and amassed a fervent following, thanks largely to a singular hardware vision it has strictly adhered to: high power, low prices.

Xiaomi has time and again produced smartphones offering unbeatable value. Its Redmi range, now housed under its own Redmi sub-brand, keeps the lower-end in check; it pumps out several devices per year that could be awarded the best bang for buck crown. Meanwhile, its flagship Mi range (Mi also being Xiaomi’s logo), delivers all the components of typical Android flagships at anything but typical prices.

Then there’s POCOphone sub-brand it launched last year, responsible for the cheapest Snapdragon 845-powered phone the market had seen at that time.

But affordable phones isn’t the only consumer tech product the company offers; Xiaomi delivers headphones, security systems, scooters, and even toothbrushes.

It isn’t afraid to explore unconventional ideas, either. Xiaomi waded into relatively uncharted territory with the first Mi Mix device, and its end-to-end display, at the end of 2016. Its odd display setup guaranteed it wouldn’t appeal to the mainstream at first, but it displayed Xiaomi’s foresight — bezel-less phones are now the standard.

In the future, we may also see it release a dual-folding Xiaomi phone — the company has already teased it.

It may not all have been smooth sailing for the Chinese giant: its flash sales strategy has caused frustrations, and its ad-supported smartphones often feel cheap in more ways than one.

But Xiaomi has contributed an overwhelming amount of quality products to the Android universe, and we owe much to it for the stronger mid-range focus we’re seeing come through from brands like Samsung and Realme. Xiaomi has livened up a market that’s been threatening to become stale, and so today, we wish it a Happy Xiaomiversary. Here’s to many more.