'Gear up, suppliers', says Xiaomi, since it plans to ship 100 million phones this year!

With the company’s 5th anniversary around the corner, Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun is making some special plans. Not only is Xiaomi going to launch a few more products later this month, but it’ll also ship a hundred million smartphones this year… at least according to Jun.

Before you decide that Xiaomi’s dreaming a bit too much, take some numbers: the company shipped 65 million phones in 2014, which in itself is a huge leap. Despite that, 100 million is a long way to go, but considering the way Xiaomi has been progressing through the past few months, that might certainly be possible.

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In China, Xiaomi is working on stabilizing sales channels of its latest and greatest, i.e., the Mi Note. In the neighbouring Indian market, the company’s Redmi 2 alongside the Redmi Note and Mi 4 seem to be doing well, albeit not Redmi 1S-well.

The ‘Xiaomi Ferrari‘ phone that leaked very recently is another device that we’re looking out for later this year. So, clearly, there’s a lot Xiaomi have on their plate and, like I said earlier, despite the magical 100 million looking a little daunting at the moment, it is certainly possible that Xiaomi get to that mark without much fuss by the end of this year.

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Yash Garg
Yash is a blogger by profession, builder of things by passion and foodie by birth. You'll usually find him talking about technology, music, travel and the game of cricket on the streets of Pune when not busy writing or speeding his way through the country! Read more on retro handheld gaming on RETRO91

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Mitu
March 25, 2015
Although I have a weak for Xiaomi if they want to ship 100 million phones this year they might better hurry up the production because the first 3 months of 2015 have already passed. Look at their announcement in January for the Note Pro, months later it is still stay tuned on mi.com. Also no sign of the Redmi 2GB and Note 4G dual sim.

Rob
March 25, 2015
100 million handsets and still nothing of interest, maybe its because I’m not interested in mediocre phones?? I would love for Xiaomi to make a true flagship beast, I guess I will carry on dreaming.
- MaxPower
  March 25, 2015
  What’s the phone on sale right now that is considered a beast in your opinion?
  - Rob
    March 25, 2015
    That’s the problem, nothing quite hits the spot and certainly NOT a Samsung. The closest for me would be the Vivo xplay 3s, great screen, excellent audio and build quality. Am patiently waiting for the long overdue xplay 5s, if they get it right it will be my next phone.
    - MaxPower
      March 25, 2015
      Oh OK, you made it sound like it was a problem of Xiaomi rather than there’s really nothing there that satisfy your appetite.
      Xplay 3s, great phone, but not a beast comparing with the new coming-soon 64 bit phones.
      I can’t find anything but rumors about the 5s and I usually don’t comment about thin air.
      - Rob
        March 25, 2015
        Xiaomi just don’t make phones to get excited about. An xplay with the mt6795 would do me for the next 12-18 months, I know there’s nothing but rumours hence why I said if they get it right as no idea what they have planned but sure it will be good ?
        
        MaxPower
        March 25, 2015
        I don’t think they ever claimed to make the best phones out there.
        They are one of the manufacturers with the best quality/price ratio.
        From a quick look the MT6795 didn’t impress me at all, but it’s too early to say, I guess we have to wait to see how it performs, I might be wrong but I can’t picture a beast phone with that SoC for the simple fact that it has a mediocre GPU. I understand GPU is not everything but in my opinion the term Beast should mean no lack on anything. And if you consider a Note PRO a mediocre phone, well , I really don’t understand what else you could put on it to improve it.
        
        Aa
        March 25, 2015
        It is funny to see people asking “flagship beast”, only to use it for Viber, Facebook and cat videos. It is what 90% of people do, even MTK6582 with 1 GB RAM is capable of that. 😛
        MaxPower
        March 25, 2015
        While I agree with you when you say that MK6582 can satisfy a large amount of consumer which use the phone for watching cat videos and use social networks I find very funny the way you use random percentage meaning an hypothetical statistic value and even funnier when you assume other people use their phone the way you do.
        
        Aa
        March 26, 2015
        Yes, it is random statistic value, but think a little bit. It is even more than 90%, that is the fact. Many people use smartphones for basic stuff. Performance is not needed, larger batteries (like my THL 4400) and more optimized software is what smartphones need.
        
        MaxPower
        March 26, 2015
        I was messing with you, and I apologize for it.
        What you are saying is true, we need better battery technology and until then SoC manufacturers have to put effort on efficiency.
        Now look at the business aspect:
        Last year Qualcomm decide to focus on efficiency over power coming out with the SD410 and SD615 but people not wants MT because they score better on Antutu.
        Look at Apple, people prefer thin phones rather than one with big battery.
        The point is that everybody would love their phone would last more than a day but nobody wants to sacrifice style or antutu points (which means absolutely nothing).
        Last Exynos is the example of what SoC manufacturers should do.
        Quick charge is another important aspect,heavy gaming over smartphone are coming so GPU is still important.
        
        Aa
        March 26, 2015
        balcobomber25
        March 26, 2015
        For me battery life isn’t a major concern as long as I can get at least a full days charge out of it. It is hilarious how Antutu has become the be all end all measuring stick though. It’s like 0-60 times in cars. It means next to nothing for real world usage.
        balcobomber25
        March 26, 2015
        Do you have some link to this worldwide study that was done that shows “90% of people” do those things? I don;t even know what Viber is so I guess I am not included in that 90%.
        
        Aa
        March 26, 2015
        Dude, don’t be asshole. My point is that most of the people use phone for basic stuff and they don’t need more power, that is the fact and deal with it. Viber is most used app for free messages and free calls. Bye.
        
        balcobomber25
        March 26, 2015
        Not being an asshole at all, this time. I hate when people make out false statistics to try to prove their point. Kind of like “Viber is the most used app” Where are your facts to back this up? According to the most recent available numbers I could find Viber has 516 million unique users as of January 2015. Line App had 560 million as of October 2014. Facebook Messenger had 500 million. And none of them even come close to the real most popular call/messaging app, WhatsApp which as of January 2015 has over 700 million unique users. (All stats courtesy of Statista).
        My point is there is no such thing as “most people”. Mobile gaming is at an all time high these days, the average person (according to NPD) spends 2 hours a day playing mobile games on their phones. Some people use their phones to watch movies, take pictures, record video, office productivity and a whole host of other activities that go far beyond Facebook and Viber.
        Rob
        March 25, 2015
        I totally agree that the GPU is weak, I don’t think we are gonna see any really amazing SoC’s till next year. The A72 cores should give phones some serious power, hopefully MT teaming up with AMD to supply GPU is an exciting prospect. I think the Xiaomi note is overpriced in all honesty and too small for my requirements, I’m sure its a good phone but not for me. Lastly I think it’s ironic that Xiaomi have ditched MT in favour of Qualcomm now they are putting out some seriously good CPUs.
        
        MaxPower
        March 25, 2015
        Agree, dropping MT was a big mistake, they would have passes 100M with a redmi with a MT6732 on board. But we don’t know the whole story. Agree with you about the growth of mediatek and I think they will get bigger and bigger and it’s all good news for us.I disagree with you when you think the note pro is overpriced. You need to add one more element to compare for the simple meaning of the word overpriced. We can say it’s expensive and yes, it is expensive.
        
        MaxPower
        March 25, 2015
        BTW, if you think the note pro is too small then I heard they are coming out with a new device with the powerful Nvidia Tegra X1 on board.
        40 inches, hopefully it’s big enough for you.
        I’m just kidding, that was too inviting to miss it 🙂
        Rob
        March 25, 2015
        Sounds good, will keep keep an eye out for it! Lol. BTW the note pro is more expensive than I was expecting but it does look like a quality piece of kit. Roll on 2016, think we are gonna see some really awesome phones.
        
        Ruby
        March 26, 2015
        MT was a source of endless problems for Xiaomi. In fact, nearly all serious Chinese manufacturers now work exclusively with Qualcomm or Nvidia including Oppo, OnePlus and Xiaomi. Comparing MT to Qualcomm is like comparing a TATA to a Mercedes.
        Airyl
        March 26, 2015
MaxPower
March 25, 2015
To do that they have to drop the price of MI4 like they did last year with MI3, they have to join new counties (Russia, Brazil)
But still they won’t sell their redmis like they did last year due to a better profile of Mediatek SoCs.
I think he’s being a little optimistic, it’s doable but it’s going to be hard.

Angry Mobile Nerd
March 25, 2015
Of course it must be nice to be able to say whatever you want when you don’t have to release transparent quarterly/annual reports like public companies have to. Now watch we won’t hear another thing about this from Xiaomi until Q1 2016 where out of the blue they will say they shipped 100+ million phones in 2015. Q1 this year is almost done I’d be interested to know the numbers for just these first three months, but fat chance they’ll release them.
Again, PR like this just to facilitate the hype and build the brand for Xiaomi to eventually go public and cash out. Hugo Barra brings them credibility more than anything else. They’ll make more money on an IPO then they have selling phones for the last 5 years.
- Airyl
  March 26, 2015
  This is sort of a pattern. Xiaomi related article gets published, you post negative comment, I come and point out that you seem to be a Xiaomi hater, you say you aren’t, Balcobomber comes in at some point, profit.
  - balcobomber25
    March 26, 2015
  - Angry Mobile Nerd
    March 26, 2015
    If I was a hater I would be thinking up stupid names like “Shamesung” or “Samesung”, etc… I don’t use hater language. There’s actually not one “bad” word in my post above — it’s a legitimate comment. Look more closely at my posts and you’ll find the majority are in fact marketing/branding/business strategy related. Haters are usually also a fanboy of another (competing) brand — and I’m nobody’s fanboy.
    Balcobomber is the exact opposite; he is so in love with Xiaomi they could *still* use the 801 in the upcoming Mi5 and sell it for 2199 RMB and he would go apeshit crazy for it and say it’s the best thing since putting tissue on a roll and calling it toilet paper. Balco will never say anything bad about Xiaomi even if in the future they *do* make a bad product.
    Wait for them to go public, I’ll be here to tell you “I told you so”.
    - Airyl
      March 26, 2015
      I’m laughing right now. I haven’t laughed this much in a long time.
    - balcobomber25
      March 26, 2015
      Balco doesn’t care what other people think about his phone. He isn’t so insecure that he constantly worries what other people are going to say if he “only has an 801”. Angry Mobile Nerd needs other people’s validation to make himself feel better. Just read his comments, it’s always about what others will think. For Balco he isn’t a power user of phones so an 801 is more than powerful enough to get the job done, a good camera is far more important to him.
      As for never saying anything bad about Xiaomi, when they release a bad product in my opinion I will let you know. So far I like all their products, they fit my needs. I may love Xiaomi but I am also smart with my money, if the Mi5 had the same exact specs as the Mi4 I would have no reason to buy it. Xiaomi’s phones are excellent quality and will last many years. I have no plans to buy the Mi Note.
      - MaxPower
        March 26, 2015
        Flaunting powerful objects and seeking for other people’s validation are symptoms of what Freud and Lacan used to describe as syndrome of unsuitableness which often hides impotency or latent homosexuality.
        I’d suggest Angry Mobile Nerd to read Lacan and he might find himself.
        
        Angry Mobile Nerd
        March 26, 2015
        That’s interesting because Balco has previously accused me of bashing other users and now look whose doing what.
        I might have called other people extremely annoying, unreasonable, ridiculous, dumb or a dolt, maybe even stupid a couple times but sorry you’ll never, ever catch me poking at someone’s sexuality. Even I (of all people) have boundaries.
        MaxPower
        March 26, 2015
        I was just reporting few psychoanalytic studies of some of the most influential philosophers of last century that could match your behavior.Nothing was meant in any derogatory way
        
        balcobomber25
        March 26, 2015
        He got really hurt by that comment though. Guilty conscience?
        Angry Mobile Nerd
        March 26, 2015
        Not hurt, just defending myself. Like I said, you have accused me of bashing other users and what MaxPower wrote was 10x worse than what I’ve ever wrote to anyone IMHO because I have limits and boundaries to what I’ll write.
        I’m guilty calling someone stupid at worse. I don’t start attacking people on personal levels. Believe it or not, I AM more mature than that.
        
        balcobomber25
        March 26, 2015
        Didn’t find anything wrong with his comment, it was simple psychology. If you took it as a personal attack that is on you more than it is on Max.
        
        MaxPower
        March 26, 2015
        How was that worse? I didn’t call you names.
        If you can’t read, or pretend you can”t then it’s not my problem.
        As matter of fact, my comment wasn’t even a reply to yours but I wrote to balcobomber to show him that there’s a lot of literature about your behavior.
        And when I realized you took it in the wrong way I made sure to let you know that it wasn’t meant in any derogatory way, and again in another comment I apologized because you found my comment offensive.
        So where’s the hate you are talking about?
        And one more thing before closing with you: I always pick my words carefully, that’s why you can find “might” and “often” in my original comment. I’ve been dealing with people like you all the time, that anytime can’t sustain an argument they put words in other’s mouth or giving other people words a different meaning.
        Angry Mobile Nerd
        March 26, 2015
        Nicely worded, you and Parker Rice must use the same PR firm.
      - Angry Mobile Nerd
        March 26, 2015
        It’s funny how I made a simple comment about Xiaomi’s business and all of you have turned it into hate. Actually more hate has come out of your replies (see MaxPower’s below) than my post which was directed at nobody! I was just asking for sales figures for f__cks sake.
        
        balcobomber25
        March 26, 2015
        I find it funny how you make remarks about other people and then try to play it off as just looking for “sales figures”. At least grow a pair and stand by your comments.
        
        Angry Mobile Nerd
        March 26, 2015
        I do make comments (and still stand by them) about other people BUT relevant to what they wrote. I don’t go off on personal tangents and start suggesting they may be impotent or of a specific sexual orientation because that’s not appropriate (let alone relevant).
        Like I said, go through my comment history and find the “worst” thing I’ve ever said to anyone.
        Final words to Airyl; if I was a real hater this totally would have turned into a back-and-forth insult fest — not the case is it? Why is that? Because I’m not a hater. Get it?
        
        MaxPower
        March 26, 2015
        I don’t understand where you saw hate in my comments. I was just mentioning few psychoanalysts and the syndrome of unsuitableness, nothing to be shame of.
        I could have just told you to get an iPhone if you fear what people could think of what phone you’re using.
        I always respect other people’s opinion, look above, I joked about rob seeking for a phone better and bigger than Note Pro suggesting him to get a new MiTv and I made sure he took it as a joke and not a mocking.
        I have a weak for trolls though, I like to put them in the spot where they belongs to, that’s true. But I never spread hate.
        Sorry if you found my comment offensive.
        
        MaxPower
        March 26, 2015
        We already has this conversation about Xiaomi going public in the past, and we had different opinion but I don’t think we argued at all.
        If you remember I told you that your prediction isn’t unrealistic at all even if I think it’s not going to happen.
        
        balcobomber25
        March 26, 2015
        “Balcobomber is the exact opposite; he is so in love with Xiaomi they could *still* use the 801 in the upcoming Mi5 and sell it for 2199 RMB”
        What was that about not being directed at anybody?
        Angry Mobile Nerd
        March 26, 2015
        *face palm* I was talking about my original comment, you know, the one that Airyl replied to and started this mess.
        The comment you quoted was a reply of a reply, yes, that’s directed at you, but notice how I kept it relevant and on topic and didn’t go off and started making inappropriate assumptions about your wife and kids?

Freeje
March 25, 2015
I’m sure the others will make it difficult for Xiaomi.
Xalis
March 26, 2015
Lol, keep dreaming.
What they have this year to sell 100 million units? so far nothing worth buying.
They should understand that Snapdragon is old and busted, MT is the new hotness.
- balcobomber25
  March 26, 2015
  - Airyl
    March 26, 2015
trapchan
March 26, 2015
- Airyl
  March 26, 2015
  - trapchan
    March 26, 2015

balcobomber25
March 26, 2015
I am a die hard Xiaomi fan but 100 million seems a bit optimistic. To reach that number they have to do a few things:
1. Flood the market in India. Stop with the flash sales and open shops in all the major economic centers in India.
2. Start selling in more countries in Asia. Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines are all some of the hottest up and coming markets for cell phones right now. Xiaomi has made an effort in some of these countries in others it has been very minimal.
3. Release the $65 (maybe) budget phone we keep hearing about. That phone could be a game changer especially in the markets I mentioned.
They do these three things they will sell over 100 million.
- Muhammad Yasir
  March 26, 2015
  - balcobomber25
    March 26, 2015
    I didn’t forget them they would be on my next teir for Xiaomi to expand to. I think they would lock down South East Asia/India before expanding to other markets. The countries I mentioned are mostly ones they have already started to make an official presence and are establishing a supply chain network.
    Pakistan, Bangladesh, Mexico, Brazil, Turkey would all be in the next tier of markets for them to expand to on their push to become global. Keep in my mind they are still a very young company.
    - Guaire
      March 26, 2015
      They declared their next target which is Brazil in H1 2015. For second half they could be able to enter another market.
      Pakistan isn’t in their expansion list and furthermore they even didn’t fulfill their 2014 expansion plans yet. Brazil, Mexico, Russia, Thailand, Vietnam and Turkey still waiting.
      - Muhammad Yasir
        March 26, 2015
March 26, 2015
just COME to pakistan already!
people will buy ur phone like HOT CAKES!
I PROMISE!

‘Gear up, suppliers’, says Xiaomi, since it plans to ship 100 million phones this year!

Yash Garg

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