Almost every Android enthusiast would have already heard of Xiaomi, or at least their MIUI OS built based on Android Open Source Project(AOSP), which is 2nd only to CyanogenMod in user base. Indian users have always been in the top 5 of MIUI ROM users since the days it was made widely available.
The craze for chinese made high-end yet cheap devices has always been high in the Indian market. There are local manufacturers targeting this range but none have been able to offer a premium build quality like that of HTC or Apple.
Xiaomi is one brand which makes products as good as any other high end smart phone manufacturer like HTC, Samsung or Apple. All their devices have been well above the mark, in terms of spefications or the build quality. Also, all the devices receive updates quite regularly.
For quite sometime it had been rumoured that Xiaomi would be entering the Indian market. The rumours got more backing when Hugo Barra joined Xiaomi for helping the company enter global markets. Officially there was no information until a week ago, Xiaomi finally announced its entry into India and a couple of other countries. Although the exact time frame has not been given, it’s rumoured to be around Q3 of 2014.
It would be really interesting to see Xiaomi enter the already overcrowded market and compete with devices from the local manufacturers like Micromax or Karbonn. None of their devices have been anywhere close to Xiaomi devices, in terms of build quality, specifications or providing software updates.
Indian e-commerce platform catching up at exponential rates and Xiaomi acquiring the Mi.com domain. It would be safe to say they are going to make some noise in the market!
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