Let the battle of affordable powerful smartphones begin – In a recent announcement by ex-Googler Hugo Barra now working under Xiaomi(小米), a major Android smartphone manufacturer based in China, they have confirmed that Singapore will be the next destination market they are offering their smartphones plus there’s even an official Xiaomi Singapore Facebook page. We have talk about Moto G in an earlier story, an impressive mid-range Android smartphone from Motorola which will be available here this month and possibly priced around S$250 without contract. The announcement seems to have spur on Xiaomi’s interest in our tiny country, though it’s little surprise since Singapore is the no.1 most connected country in Asia, and a respectable second in the world.
[[perfectpullquote]]sold over 26 million mobile smartphones till date[/[perfectpullquote]]If you haven’t heard of Xiaomi, a quick Google will tell you just how popular they have become in just three short years. Xiaomi is quickly becoming the leading smartphone manufacturer in China having sold over 26 million mobile smartphones till date. There have been a lot of international fans questioning the availability of the phones in their country from Xiaomi’s official Facebook page so it’s really exciting we will be seeing them first in the Southeast Asia region, though we believe Temasek Holdings stake in Xiaomi has nothing to do with this decision. ;)
Speculate all you can but one thing for sure, the trend of affordable smartphones are here to stay. Gone are the days where we need to fork out a thousand bucks just to have a go at the latest tech in our hands. Just how will the telcos react is anyone’s guess but we are hoping that Xiaomi will offer their smartphones independently without pesky tie-ins because honestly, contracts are something we can all do without.
[fve]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J43iiOcY_H0[/fve]
