Lei Jun, CEO of Chinese smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi, introduces the R&D process of Xiaomi products during its annual new product release conference held in Beijing, July 22, 2014. (Photo : www.english.eastday.com)
Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi is expected to maintain its slow growth despite its success this year, where it sold 34.70 million smartphones in the first six months, a 33-percent increase from the same period last year, according to Sina's tech news portal.
Ranked first in China for the fifth consecutive sales season, Xiaomi, which is worth $45 billion, is still uncertain of its prospects, the report said.
The report added that Xiaomi must maintain its rating as the world's most valuable technology startup, which is crucial to its growth in the smartphone market, although its growth has slowed down compared with last year.
Compared with its major rival Huawei, the growth of Xiaomi has also not been high. Amid the steep competition in the country's smartphone market, Xiaomi can only maintain slow growth.
According to the report, Xiaomi was already late in tapping the overseas market as companies such as Huawei and Lenovo have made gains ahead of Xiaomi due to acquisitions and other strategies. This means that the company is already late in its plan for overseas conquest.
In addition to the slow growth of its core business, the value of Xiaomi's other devices like smart TVs and the Xiaomi box has also been reduced.
The report said that the public was less convinced with Xiaomi's ecology system of "hardware, software and services," which led others to speculate that the company's $45 billion valuation is likely to shrink and pose a problem for its CEO Lei Jun, since a financing cut could drastically affect the company's plans for expansion.
However, Xiaomi can maintain the momentum of its rapid growth, if it would make the prices of its products more affordable--if not the lowest price, but a price that is compatible to its brand and influence.
In the Chinese market, where brand loyalty is low, the market has shown that Xiaomi has to rethink its brand value.
It was also suggested that Xiaomi develop more smart hardware and wearable products, the report said.
