Lei Jun, chairman and CEO of China's Xiaomi Inc., presents the company's Mi Note on Jan. 15, 2015, in Beijing, China. (Photo : Getty Images)
Xiaomi Inc., manufacturer of low-end smartphones, is shifting to laptop sales as their revenue for phones is declining.
The company launched their first laptop model, the Xiaomi MiBook Air, at a press conference in Beijing on Wednesday.
The Xiaomi MiBook Air targets gamers and businessmen, according to Lei Jun. The units are smaller than Apple's Macbook Air but has a larger display. It sells at 3,499 yuan.
Its gaming flagship has a 13.3-inch display and low power dual core processor with hyper threading. It also comes with 8GB, 2133MHz RAM.
Analysts are skeptical if Xiaomi will be able to make a sales rebound with laptop sales since PC sales are getting slower. The International Data Corporation (IDC) said that laptop shipments fell by 4.5 percent this year.
Wang Yanhui, head of the Shanghai-based Mobile China Alliance, said that Xaiomi will have to work harder.
Wang said, "The sales channels and marketing of PCs are totally different from those of the mobile phone segment, meaning Xiaomi needs to spend lots of time and effort to carve out a position in the concentrated PC industry."
In terms of smartphone sales, Xiaomi is still gearing up to face fierce competition. They recently released online facilities to sell their units.
However, Wang is skeptical. He said, "The majority of phone purchases in China are still made through physical stores, a traditional sales channel where Xiaomi is weak while brands like OPPO have strength."
The company is facing fierce competition from other local smartphone manufacturers. During the first quarter, Oppo and Vivo displaced Xiaomi and Lenovo from the top fourth and fifth spot in smartphone sales.
Xiaomi simultaneously launched offline and online sales of the Redmi Pro, a phone with dual camera, for the first time.
Li said that they have already sold 110 million units under the Redmi brand in the past three years.
