Xiaomi IPO: All you need to know about the Chinese tech giant

A look at Xiaomi's rise that helped pioneer the trend toward ultra-low-priced smartphones.

Xiaomi, founded just eight years ago in Beijing, quickly became a global tech juggernaut. According to market researcher International Data Corporation, it's currently the fourth-biggest smartphone player in the world.

Xiaomi like many tech startups focussed on its smartphones as the main product for its users, which may partially explain why it's sometimes referred to as the "Apple of China". Its products, stores and presentations are often compared to those of Apple.

Around 70% of the firm's revenue comes from smartphones, but a steadily growing element derives from its lifestyle products (20%) and internet services (9%). Of gross profit, 47% comes from smartphones, and 40% from internet services, indicating that the latter has wider margins.

When it was first founded, Xiaomi sold its products directly to consumers online in an effort to reduce overhead costs. The company says it avoided spending money on advertising and relied on brand loyal customers to spread the word.

Though it is not popular with the US customers yet, Xiaomi is active in 74 markets and claims it has more than 300 million people using its products and services.

Based in China, Xiaomi forayed into India with the Xiaomi Mi 3 smartphone in July 2014, and has since expanded its portfolio to include speakers, earphones, power banks, air purifiers, fitness bands, VR headsets, power banks, and accessories.

Xiaomi has geographical diversification on its side. Having conquered its home market, it has done well in India and is also one of the top five phone brands in Europe. India smartphone market saw a shipment of 30.0 million units in 2018Q1, making it the strongest start to a year. Xiaomi maintained its lead in the market for second quarter in a row with further expansion in the offline channel and popularity of its models such as Redmi 5A and Redmi Note 5.

Xiaomi has produced many products. Notably, they produce smartphones which run on Android MIUI. They have numerous line-ups of smartphones including; Mi Series, Mi Note Series, Mi Max Series, Mi Mix Series and the Redmi Series. They also offer tablets, laptops and other wearable and smart home devices on their web store.

China's Xiaomi Corp priced its Hong Kong initial public offering at HK$17 per share ($2.17), which is  at the bottom of an indicative range, raising $4.72 billion in the world's biggest tech float in four years, reports said. Xiaomi is selling about 2.18 billion shares, making the IPO the largest in the technology sector since Group Holding Ltd raised $25 billion in New York in 2014.