Xiaomi launches Mi5 smartphone; price to start at Rs 21,000 in India

Barcelona: Chinese handset company Xiaomi has unveiled its latest flagship device 'Mi 5' here as it looks to compete head-on with larger rivals like Samsung and Apple to capture a bigger share of the global smartphone market.

Priced RMB 1,999 (USD 305 or about Rs 21,000) onwards, Mi 5 will be one of the first devices with Snapdragon 820 processor to be commercially available. It features up to 4GB RAM and 128 GB flash memory.

Sales will start from March 1 on Mi.Com and Mi Home outlets in China. It will be made available in selected global markets at a later date, Xiaomi founder and CEO Lei Jun said.

"Our latest flagship has been in the making for 19 months, and it's the most beautiful device we have unveiled so far. With several tech breakthroughs built into Mi 5, it is insanely fast. I am extremely excited to start 2016 on such a strong note," he added.

Mi 5 builds upon the design language of Mi Note, featuring 3D glass. It weighs 129 gm and has 3000 mAh battery and a front fingerprint sensor. It supports 4G+ network (Cat 12) and VoLTE.

Founded in 2010, Xiaomi has grown to become the world's fifth largest smartphone maker.

According to research firm IDC, Xiaomi shipped 70.8 million units in 2015, posting year-on-year growth of 22.8 percent from 2014.

The overall smartphone market grew 10.1 percent to 1.43 billion in 2015 from 1.30 billion units shipped in 2014.

Xiaomi had a global market share of 4.9 percent, behind Samsung (22.7 percent), Apple (16.2 percent), Huawei (7.4 percent) and Lenovo (5.2 percent) till the end of December 2015.

IDC said Xiaomi still gets close to 90 percent of its sales from China.

Xioami sells its products in countries like India, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia and Brazil.