Xiaomi is currently the number one smartphone manufacturer in China, and third-placed in the world. This China-based company has sold 19 million handsets in 2013, and that number went up to 61 in 2014. They intend to sell 100 million devices this year though, which is staggering for a company which was founded back in 2010, it's not even 5 years old. Xiaomi has been doing business in China mostly, other parts of Asia and India were included as well, but not in full force. Let me explain, Xiaomi has been selling devices in India through Flipkart, one of India's biggest retailers. They've been selling a lot of devices via so-called "Flash Sales" though, and they intend to open up shop in India soon (officially), at least according to the latest information.

Company's co-founder, Lin Bin, has shared a rather interesting image via his official Weibo (China's social network) account recently, showing off Xiaomi's international team and announcing news about an international expansion this month. Well, we have some great news for the U.S. consumers which are interested in Xiaomi products it seems, according to our sources at Xiaomi, the company will hold an event on February 12 in San Francisco, California. This is huge for Xiaomi as far as their international appetite goes, and I have to say I didn't expect this to happen. I was expecting Xiaomi to focus on Brazil and India expansions, especially considering Hugo Barra recently said that it will take some time (years) for the company to reach top-tier markets like the U.S. or Europe.


We can only guess what will Xiaomi announce at said event in the U.S., but considering the location where they're holding this press event, I guess we can assume the company will either announce some hardware for the U.S., or perhaps talk about opening an R&D facility in the states. I'm just guessing, of course, announcing hardware availability makes most sense, but considering Hugo Barra's recent comments, I'm more prone to believing they'll announce the R&D facility or perhaps some sort of a partnership with a U.S. company. This is very odd, no matter which way we look at it. We'll definitely be at the scene on February 12 and see what this Chinese smartphone giant has to say.

Update: Xiaomi PR reached out to us to say "We can confirm that Xiaomi will not be launching in the U.S. or entering the U.S. market this time."