Bloomberg says that Xiaomi is preparing to enter the US smartphone market – a move that it has avoided until now, although it has been selling accessories like earbuds.
Company VP Huge Barra, formerly of Google, said in an interview that Xiaomi can no longer afford to ignore the US, which remains the world’s largest smartphone market by revenue. That said, it is in no rush and its focus remains on emerging markets like China and India, where smartphone growth is still high.
Barra told Bloomberg, “The US is a market that we definitely have in our sights… We will lead with social media, with the channels that allow us to get in touch with the young generation that are enthusiastic about new technology. We are definitely going there.”
Barriers to entering the US market include legal and technological hold-ups. Nicole Peng, a researcher for Canalys, noted, “The technology bar in the US is much higher than in Xiaomi’s current major markets”.
