Rhea Liu
The manufacturer of Xiaomi’s ‘Mi Band’, Huami, will launch its own fitness band on Wednesday.
The new model, Amazfit, has its eyes on high-end design and will explore a different direction from Xiaomi’s cheaper price tag strategy, a Huami official said.
Huang Wang, CEO and founder of Huami, said Amazfit will focus on high-end design and outdoor sports in comparison with Xiaomi’s earlier fitness band, NetEase Mobile reports.
“The new model targets consumers who care more about fashion and design, similar to the Jawbone,” he said.
Huami was founded in January 2014 with a joint investment from Xiaomi and Shunwei Capital, a venture capital fund led by Xiaomi’s CEO Lei Jun. Xiaomi’s fitness band product, Mi Band, is as an important wearable device in Xiaomi’s tech eco-system, Xiaomi said.
Last August, Xiaomi sold the Mi Band at the unexpectedly low price of RMB 79 (US $12) in China, and managed to sell one million units within the first three months, reported NetEase Finance.
The Mi Band launched at the price of US $15 in the United States on June 2015. As of Q2 shipments of Xiaomi’s fitness band have reached 3.1 million, accounting for 17.1% of the global market, right next to Fitbit and Apple, according to IDC, leading global research provider on the ICT market.
On Wednesday, Huami will release updated sales data for the Mi Band .
