Xiaomi's vice president of international operations, Hugo Barra, displays the "Mi 4i" phones during its launch in New Delhi, April 23, 2015. (Photo : REUTERS)
Chinese electronics company Xiaomi has launched a new smartphone--the Mi 4i--in a widely anticipated event at the Siri Fort Auditorium, New Delhi.
The Mi 4i, which runs on a 2nd gen Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 octa-core 64-bit processor, comes with a 5-inch 1080p sunlight display. Xiaomi's Mi 4i smartphone runs on MIUI 6 based on Android. It also features a rear and front camera, dual SIM and a 3120mAh battery with Quick Charge technology, The Indian Express reported.
The event was Xiaomi's first product launch outside of China. Prior to the launch of Xiaomi's new products on Thursday, the company's CEO, Lei Jun, and president Lin Bin were spotted riding in an auto rickshaw and taking pictures in south Mumbai, according to Tech in Asia.
"India is extremely significant to Xiaomi. It is our largest international market outside of mainland China, and I am truly excited that Mi 4i will be launching first in India, followed by other global markets," explained Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun.
Besides the Mi 4i smartphone, Xiaomi also launched the Mi Band fitness tracker, which will reportedly be able to also track its wearer's sleeping patterns. While the Mi 4i smartphone is priced at 1,265 yuan (about $204), the Mi Band is going for just 93 yuan ($15).
Since Xiaomi was founded about half a decade ago, the company has quickly grown to become the world's third-largest smartphone maker and distributor today. Xiaomi has toppled Samsung in China to become the most popular smartphone brand in the country.
At the end of 2014, Xiaomi was recognized as the world's most valuable startup at about $46 billion.
Many experts have praised Xiaomi's expansion to India. But the company has not revealed any plans of following the same strategy to expand to Europe and the U.S. However, reports indicate that Xiaomi's Mi Band will be on sale in Europe.
"Today is a very, very special day for us. It's the day when we've taken the biggest step as a young, five-year-old company that we've ever done into global markets by putting our best phone forward, by building a flagship phone designed just for India," explained Hugo Barra, the company's vice president.
