AllChinaTech News
At GMIC Beijing on Thursday, the co-founder and vice-president of Xiaomi Liu De said the company is planning to launch their first drone and smartwatch. They will be added to Xiaomi’s Mijia product line.
“The flying height and product safety are our major concerns in making the drone,” Liu told Tencent Tech in a report published on Thursday.
Liu told media at the conference that Xiaomi will also make a smartwatch. Xiaomi’s RMB 299 (USD 46) smartwatch for kids was put up for sale on Tuesday.
These will be part of Xiaomi’s Mijia smart home brand. Plans for Xiaomi’s smart home ecosystem began in 2013. They have made a number of smart devices including smart rice cookers, wristbands and smart scales.
According to a Thursday report by Chinese news platform ifeng.com, Xiaomi has no plans to make automobiles. Liu told ifeng.com that Xiaomi’s investments in 2016 will mainly be in virtual reality, short-distance transportation products and smart wearables.
Xiaomi sees Mijia as a good complement to their smartphone business. According to a report by Tencent Tech, Xiaomi has sold 46 million power banks and 20 million earphones. Xiaomi’s 2016 operating income will be more than RMB 10 billion, according to Liu.
Xiaomi President Lin Bin said on Thursday that they will open a Xiaomi store tomorrow in Guangzhou, with several dozens more to come in 2016.
AllChinaTech has a media partnership with GMIC. AllChinaTech is a startup media platform dedicated to providing timely news and analysis on the Chinese tech industry in English.
(Top photo from zhan.renren.com)
