Hardware (and now service) provider also launches a new flagship smartphone
Chinese smartphone and device company Xiaomi is now in the carrier business; reports indicate Xiaomi entered the mobile virtual network operator space in the tightly regulated country.
Xiaomi will compete with China’s big three carriers China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom, all owned by the Chinese government.
The new Xiaomi Mi Mobile brand offers voice and data services supported by China Telecom’s and China Unicom’s networks, according to Reuters.
Xiaomi officials announced the MVNO as well as a new flagship smartphone, the Mi 4c, at an event in Beijing.
According to the company, the Mi 4c features a Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 six-core, 64-bit processor, 13 Megapixel and 5 Megapixel cameras and a 3080 mAh battery, among other elements.
In a brief press release, Xiaomi said of Mi Mobile: “Mobile plans are now made simple with affordable and transparent ‘pay as you go’ or 3 Gb data bundled plans. Isn’t that awesome?”
Xiaomi is the leading smartphone brand in China with a goal of selling between 80 million and 100 million units this year.
In the third quarter of 2014, Gartner reported that Xiaomi had become one of the top five global smartphone brands with year-over-year sales growth of more than 300%.
Also, last year Xiaomi raised more than $1.1 billion in new funding, taking its valuation to more than $45 billion.