Beijing-based Xiaomi Inc on Wednesday launched its latest flagship smartphone, with its top executive calling it the best handset the company has had in the past seven years.
Although Xiaomi rolled out its proprietary mobile processor Surge S1 in late February, the new phone model Mi 6 is still powered by Qualcomm's latest chip Snapdragon 835.
"The Mi 6 is the culmination of our seven years of research and development in the smartphone industry, and it represents the pinnacle of our journey thus far," Xiaomi founder and CEO Lei Jun told a press conference held in Beijing on Wednesday.
Featuring four-sided 3D curved glass and a stainless steel frame, the Mi 6 will be available online and also in all of Xiaomi's 72 domestic physical stores next Friday, priced from 2,499 yuan ($363).
Xiaomi plans to open 1,000 new physical stores in first- and second-tier cities within the next three years, said Lei. Lei forecast that the company's revenue from its own physical sales channels will surpass 70 billion yuan in five years.
The building up of physical store network is part of Xiaomi's new strategy to increase product sales. Over the past year, Xiaomi's market share has been greatly squeezed by lesser-known phonemakers.
