Chinese smartphone major Xiaomi has announced to make Redmi an independent brand, media reported. While the exact reason behind the move is still not clear, Xiaomi Founder Lei Jun revealed the motivation behind the move was that the two brands are focused on different things.
'While the Redmi brand focuses on value-for-money budget smartphones, the Mi brand is focused on high-end devices. Also, the Redmi devices are primarily sold through e-commerce platforms, while Mi devices are not e-commerce focused,' Gizmo China quoted Jun as saying.
The announcement will make Redmi, which was initially introduced as a budget smartphone lineup by the company in July 2013, a subsidiary of Xiaomi. The new brand has already scheduled a launch event on January 10 in China, where it will launch its first smartphone with a 48MP camera sensor. Xiaomi Redmi and Redmi Note series have been the most popular smartphone from the company so far.
In November of 2018, Xiaomi reported a 49.1 per cent increase in revenue for its third quarter of 2018, as the net profit reached 2.48 billion yuan ($357.23 million). The company’s smartphone shipments for India grew 31 per cent, helping the brand reach top spot in India in terms of market share. Xiaomi was ranked in the top five in the smartphone markets of 30 countries and regions in terms of shipments in the third quarter.
