Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi will enter the Japanese market in 2020, Nikkei reported Monday, adding the company is also planning to bring its wearable devices into Japan.
The Japanese smartphone market is currently dominated by Apple with a whopping 50 percent market share.
Xiaomi aims to overtake Apple by selling high-performance and low-priced products in Japan, the report said citing Wang Xiang, Xiaomi’s global senior vice president and head of international business.
(Photo: Screenshot of Nikkei website translated by Google)
Xiaomi was founded in 2010 in Beijing.
Since its first overseas foray into Singapore in 2014, the company has expanded internationally and launched in more than 80 markets.
It is now India’s most popular smartphone, according to IDC, and recently become the youngest company on the Fortune Global 500 list.
Today, Xiaomi has more than 1,000 retail outlets, including in cities such as Mexico City, Dubai and London.
Despite being dubbed “the Apple of China”, Xiaomi disputes their similarities.
“I think Apple is a great company, they do a lot of technology innovation. We are doing the same, but our model is different,” Wang told CNBC at its Beijing headquarters in September. “We want to sell as low as possible, instead of at a premium price.
