By
Chimamanda U. Martha
December 28th, 2023
The CEO of Xiaomi said that they anticipate relegation of 4G technology and will release more than 10 new 5G enabled smartphones.
Xiaomi, one of the world’s biggest smartphone producers, has just revealed through its CEO that it plans to take full advantage of 5G technology, and release more than 10 supported phones before the end of 2020. The Chinese phone giant has already released a few 5G phones this year and plans to do more.
Per a Reuters report, the CEO Lei Jun, has also noted that 5G technology for the phone giant will not be restricted to its high end phones. The new group of products that will be launched with this connectivity will include low-end and mid-range phones as well. Jun gave these details on Sunday at the World Internet Conference which was held in China’s Wuzhen town.
One of the 5G phones already released by Xiaomi is the Mi 9 Pro 5G launched in September, which apparently performed in the market, beyond the company’s expectation. This pretty much prompted the company to put a lot more effort into the creation of more products with 5G support.
Jun has also suggested that creating products with 5G support should be foremost in the minds of other phone manufacturers and network providers as well. Generally, the drive for improved technology should be felt all around, and fully supported as well, as older models slowly fade out. Jun noted:
“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.”
Apart from following up with technology and not being left behind, Xiaomi also believes that the release of a considerable range of 5G smartphone products could also do wonders for its market share in the country. Xiaomi’s market share might actually need some work as according to data from Canalys, it dropped to 11.8% in the second quarter of this year, from the 13.9% where it was in the same period in 2018. Its European market, however, seems to be holding up well enough as while it was dropping in China, it increased in the same period from 6.5% the year before, to 9.6% in the 2019 second quarter. Xiaomi announced last month, that it’s considering a share buyback program, worth $1.5 billion.
Generally, smartphone makers in China seem to be seeing a considerable drop in sales. On the other hand, Huawei has not had this problem. A few months ago, Huawei was caught up in the middle of the ongoing trade tension between China and the U.S. and the Trump government specifically asked American suppliers to cut ties with the large phone maker. However, this probably triggered a sense of patriotism in the Chinese market, in support of a brand being unduly targeted by the U.S government, ultimately increasing its sales.
Apart from the Mi 9 Pro 5G, Xiaomi also launched the Mi Mix 3 5G back in February this year with the Mi Mix Alpha 5G already launched as well.
Xiaomi’s Corp stock (1810.HK) has not been great this year, which is probably what prompted the company to consider the aforementioned buyback program. So far, shares have lost almost a third of their price in 2019 alone, probably caused by stiff competition. 1810.HK, however, climbed 5.03% to 8.980 Hong Kong Dollars at its last close.