The Wall Street Journal reports that Xiaomi’s sales more than doubled in 2013 but that the smartphone maker stopped short of its target goals:
Fast-growing Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi Inc. sold nearly 19 million phones last year. That was enough for it to more than double up on 2012’s figure and beat a target it had set in early in 2013.
But it wasn’t quite enough to beat the expectations of the Beijing-based company’s founder and leader.
That founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Lei Jun, on Thursday said on his verified Sina Weibo microblog account that the upstart sold 18.7 million phones last year. That compares with 7 million in 2012 and comes as the company ratchets up competition with Chinese market heavyweights Samsung Electronics Co. and Apple Inc. AAPL and expands to Southeast Asia.
For 2014, he said, Xiaomi hopes to sell at least 40 million phones.[Source]
Since Apple confirmed the deal with China Mobile, brokerages have been swiftly reducing their earnings forecast for the world’s largest carrier by subscribers because of steep capital outlays for a new network and anticipated handset subsidies. The carrier will also have to contend with lower interconnection fees from rivals as of Jan. 1 as part of the Chinese government’s latest effort to promote competition.[Source]
Read more about Xiaomi via CDT.
