Beating Apple is one of the ambitions of Xiaomi founder and CEO Lei Jun. He also revealed the company's plans to overthrow the iPhone manufacturer in the next few years.
In his Weibo post, Lei Jun said Xiaomi will challenge Apple by focusing on the high-end segment of the global smartphone market.
"(We aim to) compare completely with Apple in terms of products and experience, and become the largest high-end brand in China in the next three years," Lei Jun said, as quoted by the South China Morning Post, Saturday (12/2/). 2022).
Lei Jun added that competition in the high-end smartphone segment is a 'life and death war' that Xiaomi must master if it wants to continue to grow.
He also emphasized Xiaomi's commitment to budgeting 100 billion Yuan in the research and development sector over the next five years to help achieve its ambitions.
To attract more consumers, Xiaomi will make its brand look different from other Chinese vendors by prioritizing the user experience. They will open 20,000 new stores in China in the next three years, double the current 10,000.
Lei Jun and Xiaomi will have to work harder to realize their ambitions after Apple displaces Samsung and becomes the number one mobile phone vendor in the fourth quarter of 2021. According to Canalys data, Apple holds a 22% share of the global mobile market thanks to the success of the iPhone 13.
In the second quarter of 2021, Xiaomi had become the second largest mobile phone vendor in the world for the first time after beating Apple. Canalys data says Xiaomi managed to capture a market share of 17 percent thanks to an increase in mobile phone shipments to South America, Africa and Western Europe.
Xiaomi itself recently released its newest flagship line, the Xiaomi 12. At the launch of the Xiaomi 12, Lei Jun was optimistic that this phone could help Xiaomi overtake Apple.
"Xiaomi 'officially' oversees Apple, learns from Apple, and then, will surpass Apple step by step in the future," Lei Jun said at the time.