MW-DD504_xiaomi_20150115101740_ZH.jpg (Photo : Reuters )
After Chinese high-technology company Xiaomi launched a range of new products in Beijing on Thursday, the CNN Money website referred to the smartphone in the lineup as an "iPhone killer."
Audience members noted that the company's chairman, Lei Jun, spoke of the 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus on numerous occasions during his on-stage appearance.
Dubbed the "Steve Jobs of China," Lei heads the most valuable startup on the planet. After its inception five years ago, the company displayed its wares at this month's CES event, the world's largest consumer-technology trade show, in Las Vegas, U.S., as the world's third-largest smartphone maker, after handset giants Apple and Samsung.
In 2014, Xiaomi sold 61 million units at a value of 74 billion yuan ($12 billion).
Furthermore, Xiaomi joined the billion-dollar-startup club in late 2014 after it managed to raise $1.1 billion in funding, meaning that it is now valued at $45 billion. CNN noted on Thursday that Xiaomi is now worth more than LG, Motorola and Sony combined.
Lei, who appeared at the launch event in a casual attire composed of jeans and a shirt, proceeded to impress attendees with the new Xiaomi Mi Note that features a 5.7-inch screen, 13-megapixel rear camera, and a curved glass front and back. Although the handset is larger than the iPhone 6 Plus, Lei's team have managed to package it within a 161-gram bulk.
According to the chairman, who was clearly pleased, Xiaomi and its new phone "are thinner and lighter" than Apple's iPhone. Using a wall-sized screen, on which the Mi Note's specs were projected alongside those of Apple's iPhone 6 Plus, Lei spoke before a joyous and vocal crowd that numbered over a thousand.
In terms of price, Xiaomi emerged on top again. The 16-gigabyte phone will retail for under half the price of the iPhone 6 Plus at 2,299 yuan (around $372), while the 64-gigabyte model will cost 2,799 yuan.
Xiaomi's customized version of Google's Android mobile-operating software serves as the handset's operating system.
