Xiaomi in India

It’s back, baby.

The bezel-less Mi Mix 2 arrives in India this month as a challenger to the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.

Samsung, India’s long-standing king of smartphones, is facing its biggest ever threat in the nation of 1.3 billion.

Xiaomi’s Mi Max 2 phone tablet comes with 57-hour battery life.

While Samsung retains the top spot, Chinese brands now make up just over half of new smartphone sales.

Its success in India has propped up Xiaomi over the past year as its sales went southward in China.

India is the driver behind Xiaomi’s revival. It expects to double its revenue in India to $2 billion this year, says co-founder and CEO Lei Jun.

Chinese giant Xiaomi took a hit in its home turf. But it’s making up for that in India, where it earned over $1 billion last year.

The Chinese brand is now in 4th place in India’s fast-growing smartphone market. Samsung is still top.

“We will be able to capture the largest market share in India within 3 to 5 years,” says Xiaomi boss Lei Jun.