Xiaomi’s CEO, Lei Jun, announced on Sunday that his firm is planning to ship ten or more 5G handsets next year. Lei Jun made the announcement at the World Internet Conference which was being hosted in eastern China in Wuzhen. One of the reasons behind the move is that the industry fears that people won’t be looking to buy 4G devices any more now that 5G has begun rolling out.
The firm has already begun selling a 5G device, the Xiaomi Mi 9 Pro, which launched last month. The Xiaomi Mi 9 Pro saw quite a restricted launch, arriving only in the Chinese market. According to the CEO, the 5G range will be much wider as the firm plans to bring the improved connectivity to high, middle, and low-end devices next year, making Xiaomi’s products more appealing to all customers, no matter their budget.
Speaking at the event, Lei Jun said:
“People in the industry fear that next year 4G models won’t sell, this is a step you have no choice but to take. So we hope that operators can speed up their expansion of 5G base stations.”
With the U.S.-China trade war hitting at Huawei, Chinese customers are turning to the embattled firm’s products in order to assist it, driven by a sense patriotism, according to Reuters. As a result of the shift to Huawei, Xiaomi’s market share in China has decreased to 11.8% in the second quarter from 13.9% the year before. On the plus side, Xiaomi recently entered Europe and has seen its market share reach 9.6% in the second quarter, up from 6.5% the year before.
Source: Reuters