Xiaomi wants to be the only name on your wrist in 2015

The Mi Band in all its $13 glory. Photo: Xiaomi

The Mi Band in all its $13 glory. Photo: Xiaomi

Xiaomi may have risen rapidly to become the world’s third-biggest smartphone maker, but that’s not enough for a company which seems to have Apple-sized ambitions to go along with its Apple-borrowed designs.

With wearables being the next huge tech revolution, Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun has laid out its expectations for 2015 shipments of its Mi Band smart bracelet, as announced last summer — and they’re big.

Having sold one million units since going on sale in 2014, Jun claims his company’s smart bracelet will top sales of 10 million units within the next 12 months.

Given that global estimates for smart bracelet sales are expected to reach 30-40 million units in 2015, that means that Xiaomi believes it can capture between 25% and one-third of the total global market — with rivals including Samsung, Sony, Pebble, Fibit and Jawbone.

The Mi Band was unveiled alongside Xiaomi’s Mi 4 flagship smartphone last July. It packs a bunch of smart sensors for fitness tracking and sleep monitoring, while LED lights and built-in vibrations let you set discrete alarms, or alert you to incoming notifications on your smartphone. It’s also got an impressive battery life of up 30 days.

Interestingly, despite its reputation as an Apple copycat, Xiaomi is steering clear of borrowing too much from the Apple Watch design. Not only does the Mi Band not come with a screen, but it also costs just ¥79 in China, which translates as around $13.

Source: Digitimes