Xiaomi has been making waves in India, China and other parts of Southeast Asia, banking on the success of its affordable and budget devices. While Xiaomi’s success stories involve some participation from devices across its portfolio, it is no secret that most of its brand goodwill among average consumers comes through devices from its Redmi and Redmi Note lineup which have been widely loved for their affordability. Some other segments of its portfolio are not as in-demand, because of which Xiaomi has now taken the decision to not release any new devices in its Mi Max and Mi Note series. Instead, the company has announced the launch of a new lineup in the form of the Xiaomi Mi CC.
Xiaomi’s co-founder Lei Jun took to Weibo to re-assert the Xiaomi and Redmi brand diversification, and in the process, announced that the company is not looking to introduce new phones to the Mi Max and Mi Note series. According to him, the Xiaomi brand focuses on the higher end of the market with series like the flagship Mi series and the experimentative Mi MIX series. On the other hand, the Redmi brand focuses more on value devices which are cost-effective and have a stronger focus on the e-commerce market, with product current product lines including the Redmi lineup and its “A” variants, the Redmi Note lineup, and the recently Redmi K lineup.
While Mr. Jun mentioned no reason as to why the Mi Note and Mi Max series will not see any successors this year, it is easy to guess Xiaomi’s reasoning behind the same. The Mi Max series did not find easy acceptance among general consumers as the phone definitely targeted a smaller niche of individuals who are looking for a device with a large display and do not mind something that blurs the line between a phone and a tablet. Xiaomi did appear to be committed to the series as it followed up with the Xiaomi Mi Max 2 and the Xiaomi Mi Max 3, but with phone displays generally getting larger every year, the pause in the series comes as no surprise. Similarly, the Mi Note series would have struggled to find its own identity in the face of improvements to the Mi flagship series, and Xiaomi’s internal sales data must have also justified their decision. Mr. Jun did not mention that there will not be a Xiaomi Mi Max 4 or a Xiaomi Mi Note 4 at all — just that these devices would not come into existence this year. We wouldn’t hold our breath on this though.
Mr. Jun also announced that Xiaomi will soon launch a new Mi CC series which will target young adults and will integrate product branding from Meitu, a popular selfie-editing app in China. This new lineup will be a “flagship” for photography and selfies with both the front and back cameras. The first launch under the Mi CC lineup would be held on July 2 in Beijing, and the first products are expected to be the Mi CC9 and Mi CC9e.
Source 1: Weibo
Source 2: Mi Blog; GizmoChina
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