We know Xiaomi mainly as a smartphone manufacturer. Many times, however, you can also see on our site that the brand offers a wide range of other products that bear the names of other brands. How does it actually work?
How does it work?
It would probably be unrealistic to produce such a portfolio of products. Although the company itself is far from producing only smartphones, it would be naive to expect the production of such a wide range.
Let's gradually clarify how it works in Xiaomi and why some products have the word Xiaomi in the name in addition to their brand.
In 2010, the Xiaomi brand was established, which began to present itself as a manufacturer of software and smartphones. Later it started to produce as well smart TVs and over time expanded its portfolio to smart bracelets, laptops, electric scooters, Routers and various other products as we know them today.
Products from its own production are usually marked with a logo or inscription by Xiaomi "MI". However, this also does not mean that all these products are produced exclusively in Xiaomi's plants. Let's look at an example of a very successful series of wearable devices We Band.
These are manufactured under contract to Xiaomi by Huami, but we will not find its brand on the product. The exclusive supplier is Xiaomi, although Mi Band does not actually produce.
Own family of brands
This includes well-known brands founded or separated by Xiaomi. This includes, for example Mijia, Redmi or a newly created brand Poco.
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Poco - is the youngest offshoot of Xiaomi and was announced only a few days ago. Its priority is the production of smartphones, which will continue to successfully continue the Pocophone project.
For Poco, the primary market is the billion-dollar India, but we hope that the products of this brand will be available to us as well.
Although they haven't had time to introduce any devices yet, it is already rumored that it won't be just about smartphones.
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Redmi - This already independent company also originated from the parent Xiaomi. This happened at the beginning of 2019, when the new CEO Lu Weibing announced a new independent company at the introduction of the Redmi Note 7 smartphone.
During the year, they managed to do a lot at Redmi and, in addition to smartphones, they also successfully launched other segments, such as laptops, TVs and the like.
Brand and platform Mijia
Mark Mijia (read "between") is a separate category. It was created in 2014, when Xiaomi representatives decided to separate the elements of the smart home and the Internet of Things into a separate project. The brand has a shield logo and its name was created in Chinese by shortening the term "Smart Home".
It produces some products on its own and its first product was successful rice cooker, which is extremely popular in China.
Mijia however, it is not just a separate brand of smart products. It forms the entire ecosystem of equipment and also includes the products of external manufacturers who create quality elements of a smart home.
It includes, for example, a lighting manufacturer Yeelight, manufacturer of locks and security systems Aqara, manufacturer of vacuum cleaners Roborock. air conditioning manufacturer Smartmi and many others.
Among other things, it is the role of the brand Mijia merge all these elements into a single application that we know from us and that's it We Home. Thanks to this idea, the user can easily control all elements of the smart home in one place.
Smaller and often little-known producers in the world were given a chance to establish themselves outside their home country, which without the support Mijia and Xiaomi could hardly do it.
Platform Mijia can be compared to the Apple HomeKit or Google Home platforms, which also combine third-party smart devices. Therefore, if you see a product with a logo "Works with Mijia", you will know that it works with the Mi Home application.
What about external manufacturers?
Why then do we see some products labeled such as Xiaomi Aqara or Xiaomi Yeelight and the like? The reasons are simple. In this way, we simply inform our viewers that this product, for some unknown brands, also belongs to the Xiaomi family.
The merger with Xiaomi is a guarantee of quality and the consumer does not have to worry about buying a low-quality cheap imitation.
The vision of successful sales also leads many sellers on various shopping portals. The customer buys a Xiaomi Oclean toothbrush rather than a toothbrush of a relatively unknown Oclean brand.
Special coupons for products from the Xiaomi ecosystem.
Today, Xiaomi is selling well as a brand and it is not appropriate to take it as speculation or not a scam. It's a fact. The products included in the Xiaomi ecosystem are quality guarantee and the associated brand name is absolutely fine.
What is the Xiaomi ecosystem?
The Xiaomi ecosystem, or even the MiOT ecosystem, is a large network of intelligent devices that, according to Xiaomi, will "bring you the future". The goal is to combine a large number of mostly smart products that make life easier.
They should be interconnected, operate on the basis of mutual stimuli and be easy to operate. The company uses the latest production technologies and works with the most sought-after industrial designers to bring quality and stylish-looking products and equipment that make life easier.
Xiaomi is one of the most active investors in local start-ups. It not only supports them financially, but also helps them strengthen their position in the market.
Over the course of 3 years, Xiaomi has provided more than 89 start-ups. At the beginning of 2017, the best of them received a prize of one billion dollars and reached the international level.
Xiaomi Youpin
We should also mention that Xiaomi has its own crowdfunding platform - a starting point for start-ups that want to "change the world" with their innovative inventions. We often refer to the support of startups through crowdfunding campaigns in our articles in which we present news.
As the platform has accumulated more than 2 million users in China alone, ideas that promote new and young brands will reach users much faster.
Surely you have already read about on our website Xiaomi Youpin. This is a precisely mentioned platform which, in addition to launching start-up projects, also acts as an online store. Xiaomi Youpin is already building a lot in China stone Youpin stores with a wide range of goods.
In the Xiaomi Youpin store you buy almost everything - from food, alcohol, through elements of personal hygiene, healthy lifestyle, smart home to furniture, or electric scooters. Unfortunately, this project does not work for us, it only works in China so far.
At the beginning of 2019, however, Xiaomi introduced a similar concept of crowdfunding portal on Indiegogo. It launched more than 10 product by far, raised more than millions of USD and gained tens of thousand of backer globally. We believe that in the near future, Xiaomi will expand this platform to Europe.
Let's take a closer look and introduce some of the major companies that produce for Xiaomi, but also for themselves and their products are sometimes labeled in addition to their name as Xiaomi:
--A company specializing in the production of state-of-the-art car cameras and various car accessories.
--A brand of smart watches focused on sports functions. They excel in affordability.
--Company engaged in the development of intelligent home security systems, as well as remote control of the home.
--Manufacturer of drones and gimbals. FIMI is behind the production of the first Xiaomi Mi Drone 4K, now it sells products under its own brand.
--Manufacturer of wireless headphones and, more recently, smart watches. Haylou, for example, is also behind the production of the popular Redmi AirDots.
--A certified Xiaomi partner that manufactures smart bracelets and scales. It also produces its own products under the Amazfit brand.
--Self-balancing scooters, scooters and electric scooters. Ninebot is behind the production of the popular Xiaomi M365 scooter.
--Manufacturer of intelligent ultrasonic toothbrushes. It has the world's first brush with a display.
--Powerful and high-quality robotic vacuum cleaners with "artificial intelligence". Manufacturer of the first and famous Xiaomi Mi Robot Vacum.
--Smart devices for water purification, thermoses, vacuum cleaners, smart refrigerators and other household appliances.
--Intelligent, unique and wireless technologies that bring lighting to our homes.
--Manufactures power banks, chargers, cables and other accessories.
Of course, there are many more of these manufacturers and we have selected only the most famous ones for us. If you are interested, you can see the complete list of brands on the English website Xiaomi Crowdfunding. It is truly blessed for them.