【News】Xiaomi makes its debut in Spain, its first entry into Western Europe

Spain entry marks significant milestone for global technology leader Xiaomi

Xiaomi’s devices are set to shake up the local smartphone market with high-quality performance at incredible prices



MADRID, Spain, 7 November 2017—Global technology leader Xiaomi took a major step forward in its global expansion journey as it announced its arrival in Spain today, marking its first entry into Western Europe. Well-known for its range of high-quality innovative products at incredible prices, Xiaomi is set to shake up the smartphone market in Spain and create ripples around Western Europe.

Founded in 2010, Xiaomi’s CEO Lei Jun and other co-founders started the company based on the vision “innovation for everyone”. A unique company like no other, Xiaomi has an innovative business model inspired by Internet thinking that ensures the highest level of efficiency, so it can make its products with cutting-edge technology available at amazing prices.

There are three pillars that make up Xiaomi’s “triathlon” business model: hardware, new retail and Internet services. During an event held at the COAM space in Madrid today, Xiaomi announced that it is bringing to Spain all three parts of its business model, including its very own e-commerce site Mi.com and a number of Authorized Mi Stores. Through this, the company is demonstrating its commitment to the Spanish market and showing its serious ambitions to change the game in the technology industry.

Mr. Wang Xiang, Senior Vice President, Xiaomi, said at the event: “Today is a momentous occasion for Xiaomi as it marks a new chapter in our global expansion journey. We are so excited to be taking this first step into Western Europe, starting with Spain. After years of unwavering support from our Mi Fans in the Spanish market, we are delighted to officially launch our products here to serve our fans. Xiaomi is a company committed to developing products that combine cutting-edge technological innovations and great design while defying price expectations, and we believe that our products will be a very attractive option for consumers and will ultimately change the game in the technology industry.”

Xiaomi is partnering with Ingram Micro and AliExpress to distribute, market and support its highly innovative products in Spain. Other than its own e-commerce site http://www.mi.com/es, for the very first time, AliExpress (http://www.aliexpress.com) will launch official stores where official Xiaomi products will be sold. Xiaomi’s range of products will also be available online and offline in Spain via Amazon, Carrefour, MediaMarkt and Phone House.

Xiaomi also announced today two Authorized Mi Stores located in Madrid that will open on 11 November—one is situated in the shopping mall La Vaguada and the other one in Xanadú.

Wang Xiang (middle), Senior Vice President, Xiaomi; Enrico Salvatori (right), Senior Vice President and President, Qualcomm EMEA; Donovan Sung (left), Director of Product Management and Marketing, Xiaomi Global

The event also featured a speech from Qualcomm Technologies’ Enrico Salvatori, Senior Vice President and President, Qualcomm EMEA, who congratulated Xiaomi on its official debut in Europe: “Qualcomm Technologies and Xiaomi have worked in close collaboration for many years and have forged a successful working relationship to bring leading-edge products to the world. Since Xiaomi launched its first device six years ago, we have worked together to create powerful and popular smartphones based on Qualcomm Snapdragon Mobile Platforms. Qualcomm Technologies is honoured to work with Xiaomi and be part of their arrival in Europe and proud to be powering their first two mobile devices for Europe.”

Mi MIX 2: Innovation on Full Display

One of the key products that Xiaomi is bringing to Spain is Mi MIX 2, a gorgeous evolution of Mi MIX, the revolutionary concept phone unveiled a year ago. Introduced as a concept device last October, Mi MIX heralded a turning point in the design of smartphones and pioneered the trend of full screen display smartphones.

Mi MIX 2, powered by the Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 835 Mobile Platform, builds on the foundation of the original concept. It is 11.9% smaller than Mi MIX, and has a 5.99-inch screen with a 18:9 full screen display, which delivers a stunning appearance with the screen almost entirely filling up the front surface.

Jointly designed with world-renowned designer Philippe Starck, Mi MIX 2 represents Xiaomi’s efforts in pushing ahead with the use of ceramic. It has a beautiful ceramic back, which features a four-sided curved design that transitions smoothly into the aluminum frame.

Mi MIX 2 will be available in Spain for €499 for the 6GB + 64GB version.

Mi A1: Picture Perfect Dual Camera

Xiaomi also announced the launch of Mi A1 in Spain, starting at €229 for the 4GB + 64GB version, the first device to run on Google’s evolved Android One program.

Powered by the Snapdragon 625 Mobile Platform, Mi A1 incorporates a dual camera configuration similar to that in Mi 6, Xiaomi’s latest flagship device, with wide angle and telephoto lenses used to incredible effect.

The two lenses allow Mi A1 to calculate what is in the foreground and what is in the background, creating a depth-of-field effect that typically requires a DSLR lens to achieve, allowing the user to create photos of unparalleled clarity and color. In addition, an improved Beautify mode that makes selfies look more natural, now works with the both the front 5MP camera as well as the 12MP dual rear camera. Mi A1 supports 2x optical zoom, which makes photos of distant subjects remain clear, while 10x digital zoom is also supported.

Mi A1 runs on stock Android to offer a high-quality software experience designed by Google, underscoring Xiaomi’s commitment to providing more choices for users. It will receive the Android Oreo update by the end of 2017 and will be one of the first smartphones to get the next version of Android in 2018.

Mi Ecosystem: A range of award-winning IoT products for Spain

Another key component of Xiaomi’s hardware strategy is “Mi Ecosystem”, Xiaomi’s unique approach of incubating and investing in specialized companies to effectively expand its product line and solidify its position as a top Internet of Things player.

The “Mi Ecosystem” sub-brand covers a range of hundreds of products manufactured by Xiaomi’s portfolio companies, which numbers 89 now. In addition, the Mi Ecosystem IoT platform has crossed 60 million connected devices, becoming the world’s largest smart hardware platform.

In Spain, Xiaomi is introducing the following well-loved Mi Ecosystem products:

Mi Electric Scooter: Priced at €349.99, Mi Electric Scooter has an award-winning design and is incredibly easy to master. It travels 30km on a single charge and weighs just 12.5kg, and comes with an LED headlight and features such as regenerative braking. By connecting to an app, users can also use their phone as a dashboard.

Mi Box: Mi Box is Xiaomi’s 4K Ultra HD streaming media player powered by Google’s Android TV, priced at €74.99. It offers 4K support at 60 frames per second, support for the latest HDR10 standard, Google voice search and Google Cast.

Mi Action Camera 4K: Mi Action Camera 4K, priced at €134.99, captures 4K videos at 30fps with a 145° super wide-angle lens, which is great for landscape still shots. It has a 2.4-inch built-in display for users to control the camera, and a dedicated app can allow users to discover even more shooting options.

Mi Band 2: Mi Band 2 tracks steps, heart rate and alerts users of notifications and calls, and is available at €24.99. It has an amazing battery life of up to 20 days, and is also IP67-rated to protect against water and dust.

Xiaomi’s range of products will be available in Spain starting 8 November at 1p.m. on all online channels including Xiaomi’s own http://www.mi.com/es, AliExpress and Amazon, as well as the online sites of retailers including Carrefour, MediaMarkt and Phone House. They will be available on 11 November at the two Authorized Mi Stores at La Vaguada and Madrid Xanadú. The rest of the offline channels, namely Carrefour, MediaMarkt and Phone House, will start selling Xiaomi’s products on 22 November.

For more information about the products coming to Spain, visit http://www.mi.com/es.