BEIJING: XIAOMI Corp will sell its first high-end model at 2,999 yuan (US$484) next week as it wants to lower prices of high-end smartphones to more affordable levels in China, the country’s No. 1 smartphone vendor said here the other day.
By selling the new Mi Note Pro at 2,999 yuan, the most expensive model in Xiaomi’s five-year history, the company wants to lower prices of Chinese mainstream high-end smartphones to about 3,000 yuan from 5,000 yuan, said Lei Jun, founder and chief executive of privately owned Xiaomi that is said to be valued at US$45 billion.
The new 5.7-inch Mi Note Pro, a rival to the 5.5-inch Apple iPhone 6 Plus, will start selling online and in Xiaomi’s offline stores. It features Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 810 chip, a 13-megapixel camera offered by Sony, a curved glass display, 64-gigabyte storage and 4GB memory.
Lei said the price is reasonable compared with Samsung and Apple’s flagship models costing more than 5,000 yuan or even 6,000 yuan.
In the first quarter, Xiaomi ranked first in the Chinese smartphone market with a 14 percent share, ahead of Apple and Huawei, it said, citing figures from two research firms.
