Supply chain sources in Taiwan have hinted that Xiaomi are working on releasing a 500 Yuan Android smartphone in 2015.
Xiaomi have had a seller year. Becoming more popular than ever, managing to reach number 5 in the largest smartphone vendors in the world and releasing more products than ever. Of course there is no chance the Lei Jun and his team will take next year off to let other companies catch up, and already rumours are in that their next big launch could be more affordable than ever.
According to Taiwan based supply chains, Xiaomi are currently working with BOE Technology to create an affordable display for an upcoming Xiaomi phone. The new entry-level device would cost considerably less than current Mi flagships and even cheaper than the already well priced Redmi range. A estimated retail price for the new Xiaomi phone is hinted at 500 Yuan (around $81).
Gizchina News of the week
This is not the first time we have heard rumours of a cheaper Xiaomi phone. These latest reports could relate to a phone powered by a 4G LTE processor from Chinese SoC manufacturer Leadcore, who Xiaomi recently invested in.
In other news, it was revealed earlier today that Xiaomi’s profits are down on what many analysts had predicted with an overall profit margin of only 1.3%. Considerably less than the 28.7% Apple are reporting and 18.7% of rival Samsung.
[ Digitimes, and QZ.com ]
500 or 5000 Yuans? Make difference, Andi! 🙂
Considering they are saying it’s going to be cheaper than Redmi it has to be 500.
Yeah, @Andi, the title says 500 Yuan, while the first sentence of your content says 5000! Which one is it?
Ok, Andi has mentioned $81. That answers.
500 😀
Sorry
Wow now Xiaomi is racing itself to the bottom.
Next they’ll be giving it away for free.
Xiaomi is like Google they don’t make much money off of smartphone sales most are sold close to cost. They make the bulk of their money off of MIUI and advertising.
Xiaomi profit margin is very less, but they are winning the heart of its customers. That’s why they gained no. 3 spot worldwide in less than 3 years.
One day mobile phone will be distributed freely. If display an ad a day worth of 1$ your phone will be free in 81 days.
Please Xiaomi, make a screen with a small 3.5 inch display. Not to save money, but many people can’t use large phones. My Uncle loves the screen display and build quality of my Redmi, but he can only use a small and comfortable device like his Sony Tipo that runs all day long without recharging. There are so many girls out there who want small, high end phones but have to suffer with poor screen display and camera because manufacturers think small=cheap!
請小米，使與小的 3.5 英寸顯示器的螢幕。不為了節省錢，但很多人不能使用大電話。我叔叔愛螢幕顯示和生成品質的我的 Redmi，但是他只能用小和舒適的設備像他整天都在不充電的情況下運行的索尼天寶。那裡很多女孩想要小，高結束電話但不得不忍受與貧窮的螢幕顯示和相機，因為製造商認為小 = 便宜 ！