Xiaomi kicks off global expansion with new Redmi brand

In their first international step toward becoming a major global player, Chinese mobile phone manufacturer Xiaomi has announced their new brand, Redmi, to the world. Redmi, previously known as Hongmi for sales within China, will make its first international sales in Singapore soon.

On the surface, very little information is provided in this announcement. They provide a touch of background info – Xiamo created its first phone in 2011 and introduced Redmi (as Hongmi) in 2013. We better know Xiaomi by their Mi3 Android phone, with the option between the Tegra 4 or Snapdragon 800 processors, 5-inch 1920×1080 display and a healthy set of other high-end specs, including a 13 megapixel Sony Exmor camera sensor and more. Check out the video.

Last year, Xiaomi scored a significant hire, snapping up Hugo Barra as their VP of Xiaomi Global. You’ve probably seen Hugo on the web, he was the go-to product announcement guy for Google, you’ll be hard pressed to find images of him not holding up one Android device or another. Oh, he was also the Director of Product Management for Android. Hugo launched both versions of the Nexus 7 and a handful of other Nexus branded devices, and I do not believe Android would be what it is today without Hugo’s influence. In Hugo Barra, Xiaomi gains a wealth of knowledge for handling the global market, and a skilled presenter that still maintains some of his celebrity status with Android fans back in the States, and around the world.

We’ll have to wait for further product information from Xiaomi on the new Redmi, but they may keep the specs of its predecessor. Hongmi is a MIUI V5 skinned Android phone, packing specs like 1GB RAM, 8MP camera, 4.7 inch IPS 1280×720 display and a 1.5 GHz quad-core processor into a $130 phone.

This is a very exciting announcement to us, we can’t wait for the day we get to see Xiamoi’s inexpensive high-performance devices on shelves around the globe. Are you excited about this move, or do you feel you have enough phone options already?