Chinese smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi, which also has a good presence in India, has netted over $1 billion in funding led by All-Stars Investment, an investment firm launched by former Morgan Stanley analyst Richard Ji, says a The Wall Street Journal report quoting an unnamed source. Russian investment firm DST Global, besides Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC also participated in the round.
Xiaomi has made a name for itself in emerging markets thanks to its phones that are highly similar to Apple's high-end devices, but sold at extremely low prices. The company shipped 18 million handsets in the last quarter -- a whopping year-over-year growth of 239% during that period. It's currently the fourth-biggest smartphone maker in the world, and the biggest in China.
In the second quarter, Xiaomi overtook Samsung Electronics Co. as China’s biggest smartphone maker by shipments for the first time, according to research firm Canalys. This year, Xiaomi expects to sell 60 million units globally, up from 18.7 million in 2013.
Still, Xiaomi’s success outside China is far from guaranteed. The company faces many challenges abroad such as patent litigation and user concerns over the security of their data, as well as poor brand recognition, industry executives and analysts say.
Earlier this month, the High Court of Delhi in India issued a temporary injunction on the sale and import of Xiaomi handsets in the country as it waited to hear a patent complaint by Swedish telecommunications equipment maker Ericsson, which alleged that the Chinese company was using its technology without paying royalties. This week, the Indian court gave a temporary permission to resume the import of Xiaomi devices. Xiaomi last week declined to comment on Ericsson’s allegations.
Xiaomi comprises a web of offshore and Chinese entities. At the top of its corporate structure is Xiaomi Corp., a Cayman Islands-incorporated entity. It is Xiaomi Corp. that is raising the funds from All-Stars Investment and others.
Such a structure is common among Chinese technology companies because China restricts foreign investment in certain industries such as technology. For example, e-commerce giant Alibaba is also a Cayman Islands-incorporated company, while its Chinese domestic entities hold key licenses to operate online services in China.
As Xiaomi Corp. hasn’t disclosed its earnings, it is unclear how profitable Xiaomi as a whole is.
Xiaomi H.K. Ltd., an offshore entity wholly owned by Xiaomi Corp., recorded a net profit of 3.46 billion yuan ($566 million) last year, according to a confidential document viewed by The Wall Street Journal in November. Xiaomi Inc., one of the Chinese entities within Xiaomi, posted a much smaller net profit of 347 million yuan ($56 million) last year, according to a filing by another Chinese company in which Xiaomi invested.
Xiaomi has made a name for itself in emerging markets thanks to its phones that are highly similar to Apple's high-end devices, but sold at extremely low prices. The company shipped 18 million handsets in the last quarter -- a whopping year-over-year growth of 239% during that period. It's currently the fourth-biggest smartphone maker in the world, and the biggest in China.
Still, Xiaomi’s success outside China is far from guaranteed. The company faces many challenges abroad such as patent litigation and user concerns over the security of their data, as well as poor brand recognition, industry executives and analysts say.
Earlier this month, the High Court of Delhi in India issued a temporary injunction on the sale and import of Xiaomi handsets in the country as it waited to hear a patent complaint by Swedish telecommunications equipment maker Ericsson, which alleged that the Chinese company was using its technology without paying royalties. This week, the Indian court gave a temporary permission to resume the import of Xiaomi devices. Xiaomi last week declined to comment on Ericsson’s allegations.
Xiaomi comprises a web of offshore and Chinese entities. At the top of its corporate structure is Xiaomi Corp., a Cayman Islands-incorporated entity. It is Xiaomi Corp. that is raising the funds from All-Stars Investment and others.
Such a structure is common among Chinese technology companies because China restricts foreign investment in certain industries such as technology. For example, e-commerce giant Alibaba is also a Cayman Islands-incorporated company, while its Chinese domestic entities hold key licenses to operate online services in China.
As Xiaomi Corp. hasn’t disclosed its earnings, it is unclear how profitable Xiaomi as a whole is.
Xiaomi H.K. Ltd., an offshore entity wholly owned by Xiaomi Corp., recorded a net profit of 3.46 billion yuan ($566 million) last year, according to a confidential document viewed by The Wall Street Journal in November. Xiaomi Inc., one of the Chinese entities within Xiaomi, posted a much smaller net profit of 347 million yuan ($56 million) last year, according to a filing by another Chinese company in which Xiaomi invested.
source: wsj.com
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