Xiaomi officially launches in the UK with the Mi 8 Pro, Band 3 and more
Chinese tech giant Xiaomi, known for everything from air purifiers to electric scooters, officially expanded into the UK on Thursday, November 8, bringing some of its newest smartphones along for the ride.
Senior VP of Xiaomi Inc. and president of the company’s global business, Wang Xiang, took to the stage to formally introduce the brand to the UK press, reeling off a volley of numbers designed to reflect the company’s scale and legitimacy that are nothing short of staggering.
Xiaomi, as it operates today, is a comparatively young organisation compared to other tech titans, such as Apple and Google. It sells an impressive array of products in over 80 different markets worldwide and through its aggressive pricing and robust infrastructure, it has sped towards achieving $15B in revenue in just seven years. It took Google nine and Apple 20 years to reach that same milestone.
Despite next to no presence in markets such as the UK up until now, on the global stage Xiaomi already ranks as the fourth biggest smartphone brand out there. Mr Xiang revealed that there are some 207M+ users of its MIUI Android overlay and with the products unveiled at the UK launch there’s no doubt that that figure will rise quickly in the next few months.
Related: Xiaomi Mi A2 Review
The company announced that it would be bringing its 2018 flagship phone, the Mi 8, to British shores, and that the UK would serve as the first market outside of China to offer the Mi 8 Pro, with its eye-catching transparent glass-backed design.
The company also promised a wealth of other Xiaomi products, including a number of IoT devices, the company’s Mi Electric Scooter and the new Xiaomi Band 3 fitness tracker would all be available to buy soon. In the case of the latter two, Xiaomi is also offering an early-bird discount with the first 100 people to pick up the scooter receiving a £100 discount (£299.99 in place of £399.99) and the first 10,000 potential Band 3 owners able to purchase the wearable for just £19.99 in place of its (still impressively aggressive) £26.99 retail price.
Xiaomi Mi 8 Pro UK price and release date
The Xiaomi Mi 8 Pro is set to arrive on November 9th in the UK and will go up against the likes of the OnePlus 6T with a launch price of £499.99.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
