Xiaomi to spend $7b on 5G, internet of things, AI in five years

Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi plans to invest at least 50 billion yuan (US$7.2 billion) in 5G and artificial intelligence of things (AIoT) in five years, Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun announced today through the company’s official account on the Twitter-like Weibo.

Photo credit: tanaonte/123RF

“We need to turn the continuous advantage we have in AIoT and intelligent life into absolute victory in intelligent full scene, and completely cement our king status in the smart era,” Lei said in the announcement.

The planned investment builds on Xiaomi’s 10 billion yuan (US$1.4 billion) “All in AIoT” strategy put forward last year.

Xiaomi also said that it has co-launched a 5G laboratory with state-owned telecommunications company China Telecom.

Lei also welcomes Chang Cheng as Xiaomi’s new vice president. Chang, who was previously the vice president of Lenovo and head of its smartphone unit in China, will be responsible for mobile phone product planning at Xiaomi.

Founded in 2010, the Beijing-based company focuses on selling mobile phones but has ventured into other categories to offer tech products like smart TVs, notebooks, air purifiers, and drones, among others.

It has recently launched Redmi K30 5G, which is the first smartphone with Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G chipset that offers an integrated 5G modem.

In China’s smartphone market, Xiaomi faces rivals like Huawei, which dominates the market with 42% market share in Q3 2019. Huawei has also been investing in 5G both at home and abroad.

Early last year, the Chinese government singled out AI, industrial internet, IoT, and 5G as its investment priorities.

Currency converted from Chinese yuan to US dollar: US$1 = 6.96 yuan.