Xiaomi to launch next flagship in January 2015

BY Rajesh Pandey

Published 29 Dec 2014

Xiaomi co-founder Bin Lin

Xiaomi’s co-founder Bin Lin today announced via Facebook that the company has managed to raise US$1.1 billion in the latest round of funding at a valuation of US$45 billion.

The funding comes at a time when many people were questioning whether Xiaomi’s smartphone business was viable in the long run or not, with the company making only US $53 million in profits in 2013.

Xiaomi has received funding from companies like All-Stars Investment, DST, GIC, Hopu Fund and Yunfeng Capital, which is an “affirmation of Xiaomi’s stellar results in four years, and heralds a new phase for the company.”

Bin Lin also announced that Xiaomi will be unveiling its new flagship handset in January next year.

For a relatively new company in the smartphone industry, Xiaomi has done impressively well. In only four years, it has managed to become the third largest smartphone maker in the world falling behind only Samsung and Apple. The China based company is expected to ship more than 60 million smartphones this year alone, which is an amazing feat considering that it is only available in limited regions of the world, including China, India and Malaysia.