Xiaomi targets niche smartphone market as growth slows down

Lei Jun, founder of Xiaomi launched the Mi Max in Beijing on May 10, 2016. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Di Jin, research manager of IDC China, said that such a large-screen smartphone is not targeted at mass market as it is not easy to carry it.

But it would attract users who want larger screen to fit for their using habits, she said.

She noted that the whole market is slowing and Xiaomi has also been losing momentum over the past quarters although it managed to retain its No 1 position at the home market last year.

A report released by IDC in late April showed that both Xiaomi and Lenovo has been pushed out of the top five vendors club globally, eclipsed by Vivo and OPPO. Vendors shipped a total of 334.9 million smartphones worldwide in the first quarter of this year, up slightly from the 334.3 million units in the same period last year. However, the research company said it cannot disclose Xiaomi's shipment in the first three months at this moment, but added that it saw a drop quarter on quarter.