Xiaomi MIUI App Store Surpasses 20 Billion Downloads

After regaining the top spot in China by shippments, smartphone giant Xiaomi has marked another milestone, this time with their software.

MIUI, the customized Android ROM by Xiaomi, announced that app downloads through its built-in app store surpassed 20 billion as of June this year.

It’s good news for the Chinese smartphone maker which posted growth figures below their target last month, suggesting they were suffering from slowing sales in China. The company has been increasingly focussed on less-saturated markets, including Brazil and India.

Xiaomi’s App Store has gained rapid traction since its launch in May 2012. The current landmark comes only nine months after reaching the 10 billion landmark in November 2014. According to the company, a major update is slated for August 13.

Daily downloads in the store have peaked at 85 million, while the store’s dividends from domestic third-party app developers has hit 580 million RMB ($94 million USD) in the first half of this year.

Xiaomi is catching up quickly with the world’s two largest apps stores. As of June, Google Play downloads reached 50 billion, while Apple’s app store downloads totaled 25 million.

The MIUI ROM includes 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.

As Google Play still hasn’t been widely available in mainland China, the Android app distribution market is now dominated by big tech companies including Xiaomi, Tencent, and Qihoo 360.

Chinese media expects that the company is going to wheel out their new flagship smartphone RedMi Note 2 in mid to late August, even though the company has given a much more vague timeframe.

Image credit: Xiaomi