Xiaomi's Global Spokesperson Talks About 5G & Foldable Smartphones
Xiaomi's Global Spokesperson and a Director of Product Management, Donovan Sung, got interviewed by Venture Beat at MWC, and during the interview, he talked about both 5G and foldable smartphones.
Xiaomi's 5G Phone Is Here
For those of you who do not know, Xiaomi did introduce a 5G-enabled smartphone at MWC 2019, the Xiaomi Mi MIX 3 5G. That is essentially the Mi MIX 3 with the Snapdragon 855 SoC and Qualcomm's X50 modem, so it's basically the same phone with a more powerful SoC and 5G capability. There are a couple of added differences, in the battery department, for example.
Mr. Sung said that the company really wanted to make its first 5G smartphone as affordable as possible, as that is the company's philosophy, to be extremely competitive as far as price is concerned, while offering the best possible products that they can. The company definitely managed to do that with the Mi MIX 3 5G, as it is only about $50 more expensive than the regular Mi MIX 3, the device is priced at $680.
Sung also confirmed that the Mi MIX 3 5G will include a larger battery (3,800mAh compared to 3,200mAh in the Mi MIX 3), and that the company needed to add a new processor, and the X50 5G modem, which required more space, but that didn't really change the dimensions of the device. This info is particularly interesting as Xiaomi did not announce the MI MIX 3 5G dimensions at launch.
During the interview, Sung also said that the company opted to remove dual SIM capability of the device as it needed that extra space on the inside to accommodate a larger battery, processor, and the X50 modem. The source also asked Mr. Sung to comment on the US expansion, as Lin Bin said that the company plans to enter the US market in 2019 or 2020, but considering all the issues that ZTE and Huawei faced and are facing, Xiaomi's stance probably changed.
Sung said that the company will continue to look towards expansion (as far as smartphones are concerned) to the US in 2019 and 2020, but that he doesn't have much info regarding that. The company is already selling its "ecosystem products" in the US through Amazon and Walmart, and through a number of other partners, so it has a considerable presence in the States. Mr. Sung added that 5G could be a real game-changer for smartphones, especially in terms of how we use applications.
Is Xiaomi's Foldable Phone Coming Soon?
Xiaomi's CEO did demo the company's foldable smartphone prototype quite recently, he actually played around with the device in a hands-on video. So, asking Xiaomi whether its foldable smartphone will launch in the near future is a rather expected question. Mr. Sung had an answer, he said that the company "wants to wait for it to be more mature" before it announces the device. Sung also added that Xiaomi is trying out a number of different foldable concepts, and reassured everyone that the company is working hard on making the phone a reality.
While commenting on foldable smartphone technology that was shown off at MWC 2019, Mr. Sung that it seems to him that the technology is still half-baked. He said that there's a reason why OEMs don't allow everyone to play around with those phones, and some of them did not allow anyone to touch them. Foldable phones are still not there, and those OEMs are aware of that, which is why release dates for foldable phones are still months away.
Mr. Sung also commented Lin Bin's video on Weibo, he simply said that the company's CEO tried to demonstrate one of the concepts the company is working on, while adding that Xiaomi is making some real progress in that regard, but it is taking its time to perfect the technology before announcing anything.
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