Xiaomi announces an agreement with Microsoft
Competition is fierce in the mobile world! While the top two places are securely held (for now) by Apple and Samsung, the fight for number 3 rages on between Huawei and Xiaomi. Each company is expanding beyond its home territory to capture a larger share of the world market.
In the latest move, Xiaomi makes a play by concluding an agreement with Microsoft.
Beginning in September 2016, Xiaomi Android devices, including Mi 5, Mi Max, Mi 4s, Redmi Note 3 and Redmi 3, will come pre-installed with Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and Skype applications. This is the latest announcement from the mobile company Xiaomi who has concluded an agreement with Microsoft.
Xiaomi was a name of a company a few outside of China knew about. But Xiaomi has expanded into the other countries outside of its home turf selling more than 70 million handset in 2015 in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, India, Indonesia and Brazil. Xiaomi is also available in South Africa and Africa under the Mi brand.
In the Microsoft agreement, Xiaomi will ship Microsoft Office and Skype on Xiaomi Android smartphones and tablets. As a result, tens of millions of consumers and business customers in China, India and around the world will have access to the Office system on their Xiaomi devices.
“We are excited to be working closely with Microsoft on a broad technology collaboration partnership,” said Xiang Wang, senior vice president at Xiaomi. “As demonstrated by this agreement with Microsoft, Xiaomi is looking to build sustainable, long-term partnerships with global technology leaders, with the ultimate goal of bringing the best user experience to our Mi fans.”
“People want their favorite apps and experiences to work seamlessly on the device of their choice, and that’s exactly what this partnership offers,” said Peggy Johnson, executive vice president of Business Development at Microsoft. “Together with Xiaomi, we’re bringing the very best in mobile productivity to millions more customers in China and around the world.”
But there is more.
Xiaomi has also purchased 1500 patents from Microsoft according to the WSJ. “The deal reflects Xiaomi’s efforts to acquire the intellectual property it needs to one day sell its devices beyond developing markets. One of its ultimate goals is to sell its phones in the U.S.”
These announcements are made as Microsoft Chief Executive Satya Nadella starts a visit to Beijing.
For these Chinese mobile brands, the holy-grail of the US remains an illusive market they are yet unable to crack. There seems to be some mistrust in the minds of the American consumer when I show my Mi4 or my Huawei P7 device. However, this is an image that the companies are working hard to change and with time, products, services and price this too will change.
