computer science

Xiaomi

Xiaomi is a computer science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Xiaomi rather than just read about it. In short: Xiaomi (; Chinese: 小米; pinyin: Xiǎomǐ) is a Chinese multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Beijing, China. It is best known for its consumer electronics, software, and electric vehicles.

Key takeaways

Xiaomi belongs to computer science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Xiaomi to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Xiaomi from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Xiaomi (; Chinese: 小米; pinyin: Xiǎomǐ) is a Chinese multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Beijing, China. It is best known for its consumer electronics, software, and electric vehicles. It is the third-largest smartphone seller in the world as of 2025, behind Apple and Samsung, most of which run on the Xiaomi HyperOS (former MIUI) operating system. It has 754.1 million global monthly active users, as of December 2025. The company is ranked 232nd and is the youngest company on the Fortune Global 500. It has been called the "Apple of China". Xiaomi was founded in 2010 in Beijing by Lei Jun along with six associates. Lei had worked at Kingsoft as an executive and been involved in the founding and management of Joyo.com, the latter of which was sold to Amazon for $75 million in 2004. In August 2011, Xiaomi released its first smartphone and by 2014 it had the largest market share of smartphones sold in China. Initially the company only sold its products online; however, it later opened brick and mortar stores. By 2015, it was developing a wide range of consumer electronics. In 2020, the company sold 149.4 million smartphones and MIUI had over 500 million monthly active users. As of August 2024, Xiaomi is the second-largest seller of smartphones worldwide, with a market share of about 12%, according to Counterpoint. It has come up with its own range of wearable items. It also is a major manufacturer of appliances including televisions, flashlights, unmanned aerial vehicles, and air purifiers using its Internet of things and Xiaomi Smart Home product ecosystems. Xiaomi keeps its prices close to its manufacturing and bill of materials costs by keeping most of its products in the market for 18 months, longer than most smartphone companies. The company also uses inventory optimization and flash sales to keep its inventory low.

History

2010–2013 On 6 April 2010, Xiaomi was co-founded by Lei Jun and six others:

Lin Bin (林斌), vice president of the Google China Institute of Engineering Zhou Guangping (周光平), senior director of the Motorola Beijing R&D center Liu De (刘德), department chair of the Department of Industrial Design at the University of Science and Technology Beijing Li Wanqiang (黎万强), general manager of Kingsoft Dictionary Huang Jiangji (黄江吉), principal development manager Hong Feng (洪峰), senior product manager for Google China Lei had worked at Kingsoft as an executive and been involved in the founding and management of Joyo.com, the latter of which was sold to Amazon for $75 million in 2004. At the time of the founding of the company, Lei was dissatisfied with the products of other mobile phone manufacturers and thought he could make a better product. On 16 August 2010, Xiaomi launched its first Android-based firmware MIUI (Now Xiaomi HyperOS). In 2010, the company raised $41 million in a Series A round. In August 2011, the company launched its first phone, the Xiaomi Mi 1. The device had Xiaomi's MIUI firmware along with Android installation. In December 2011, the company raised $90 million in a Series B round. In June 2012, the company raised $216 million of funding in a Series C round at a $4 billion valuation. Institutional investors participating in the first round of funding included Temasek Holdings, IDG Capital, Qiming Venture Partners and Qualcomm. In August 2013, the company hired Hugo Barra from Google, where he served as vice president of product management for the Android platform. He was employed as vice president of Xiaomi to expand the company outside of mainland China, making Xiaomi the first company selling smartphones to poach a senior staffer from Google's Android team. He left the company in February 2017. In September 2013, Xiaomi announced its Xiaomi Mi 3 smartphone and an Android-based 47-inch 3D-capable Smart TV assembled by Sony TV manufacturer Wistron of Taiwan. In October 2013, it became the fifth most used smartphone brand in China. In 2013, Xiaomi sold 18.7 million smartphones.

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

A Mi-Home store with the 2021 new logo

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Xiaomi

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Xiaomi claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Xiaomi before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Xiaomi ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Xiaomi

In research: Xiaomi appears in computer science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Xiaomi in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Xiaomi is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 2018 initial public offerings, Chinese brands, Chinese companies established in 2010, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Xiaomi outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “Xiaomi” →

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Xiaomi in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Xiaomi means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Xiaomi out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Xiaomi in simple terms?

Why does Xiaomi matter?

Because it connects several computer science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Xiaomi?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Xiaomi.