Tech in China 2013: Xiaomi MIUI Hits 30 Million Users Milestone

Xiaomi has registered more than 30 million users for its Android-powered MIUI operating system, just five months after the company announced 20 million milestone in July this year. Moreover, Xiaomi states that its monthly revenue from MIUI Android system chalked up to over 35 million yuan ($5.76 million) (source in Chinese) .

MIUI includes mixed services of a launcher, an app store, a game center, a browser, a book store, a theme store, cloud storage services, Xiaomi Mall, and a messaging app.

MIUI app store distributes around 12 million apps per day, taking the fourth or fifth spot among domestic peers. It also accounts for more than 70% of all the apps distributed to Xiaomi Phones. Xiaomi browser is the most used browser on Xiaomi Phone, followed by UC browser and QQ browser (source in Chinese).

In a recent interview Hong Feng, cofounder and vice president of the company, hinted that their focus for the upcoming year will be MiHome Launcher, which claimed more than 2 million active users now. Launcher lowered the technical threshold than MIUI ROM.

In addition to e-publishing platform Duokan, Xiaomi recently launched Xiaomi Xiaoshuo, a new homemade e-reader app on its MIUI app store. The launch of in-house digital content platforms will help Xiaomi to aggregate contents from publishers and online e-reading platforms like Shanda’s Qidian and Tencent’s QQ bookstore. By developing these services, Xiaomi aims to construct an iTunes-like platform for Xiaomi phones.

MI3 and RedMi

Xiaomi launched flagship MI3 and low-cost handset RedMi this year. In addition to mainstay smartphoe business, Xiaomi also made inroads into other hardware sectors this year. Xiaomi released a smart TV that runs a custom Android system, called MIUI TV, and 500 in-house developed smart Wifi router to beta testers.

Xiaomi reportedly invests in AV Concept Holdings Ltd., a Hong Kong-based electronic components distributor who holds majority stake in a fingerprint recognition solution provider. Xiaomi was working on technologies for entrance authentication, following the bandwagen triggered by iPhone 5S’s fingerprint sensor.

After launching the first brick-and-mortar store in Beijing, Xiaomi planned to open 18 flagship retail stores by the end of this year.

Lei Jun expects Xiaomi’annual revenue to reach 100 billion yuan in 2015, no latter than 2016. Lin Bin, president of Xiaomi, expected the shipment of Xiaomi Phone to reach 19 million sets this year and 40 million sets next year, driven by Xiaomi’s overseas expansion, LTE, etc.