Mochou Lee
Faced with slowed smartphone growth Chinese smartphone maker giant, Xiaomi, has come up with new strategies to boost its sales, including a newly updated smartphone and a trademark registration being taken out for a potential Xiaomi bus service.
A new iteration of its Redmi Note 2 phone, one of Xiaomi’s most competitive products, is on the way. It is rumored the new release will have an all-metal body and feature fingerprint identification, according to Hexun.
The fingerprint sensor is said to be set at the bottom of the phone, linked with an identification circuit to analyze and identify fingerprints.The fingerprint identification circuit will also be linked with the CPU and another optical sensor featured on the screen, assisting the phone to accurately identify users.
In terms of price range, the new Redmi is said to remain on par with the recently released Redmi Note 2, Xiaomi’s previous release priced at RMB 1,000 (USD 157), an attractive price for younger customers with limited purchasing ability.
Xiaomi used to dominate the low-price smartphone market. Its original sales goal for 2015 was to sell 80-100 million phones, however shipments for the third quarter 2015 were only 18.5 million. It will be harder for Xiaomi to compete in the coming quarter because Alibaba just announced it will partner with smartphone manufacturer Meizu, to produce a smartphone priced at RMB 1000.
However, Xiaomi is said to have a bigger vision. Insiders suggest Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun has turned the company’s focus from smartphones to other smart devices. Lei’s ambition is reportedly to encourage the development of the smart home ecosystem: connecting Xiaomi’s smartphones with other smart devices, from air and water purifiers to fitness bands and televisions.
Xiaomi’s first laptop is set to ship in early 2016. It could also be a blockbuster for the Chinese market since the firm has more than 200 million registered smartphone users.
What’s more, Xiaomi is planning to expand into public transportation having recently registered a trademark for the name “Xiaomi Gongjiao” or Xiaomi bus. Reports suggest that Xiaomi could develop an app to manage its bus system through its phones, but rumors have it that Xiaomi might have the bigger ambition to build its own bus.
