Xiaomi plans to take on Apple in the flagship phone market, a "war of life and death"

According to the latest report by Counterpoint Research, the top three smartphone companies, holding the largest global market share are Apple, Samsung and Xiaomi, with the latter firmly in third place (with a 12% market share).

Although a Chinese company that's not as well known in the US as its market share might suggest, Xiaomi has gradually become a household name in many other western regions.

And while particularly in developing markets the company is quite popular with its midrange and affordable phones, that doesn't mean Xiaomi is a budget phone company exclusively, nor does it want to be known as such.

As the South China Morning Post reports, Xiaomi's CEO Lei Jun recently shared some of the company's plans via Weibo (a Twitter equivalent, popular in China), which most notably include stepping up to the high-end phone competition, which the entrepreneur also called "a war of life and death". And as can be expected, target number one to overcome, or more accurately – follow the example of, in the eyes of Jun is none other than Apple.



Jun also reported on Xiaomi's plans to invest 100 billion yuan, equal to about $15.71 billion, in research and development in the following five years, in an effort to reach its goal of overcoming the high-end phone market competition.



On the topic of Xiaomi's future endeavors, recently we received new Xiaomi Mix Fold 2 info in the form of leaked specs, revealing it to be quite a heavy-hitter in the works. That folding phone is rumored to sport an 8-inch main display (larger than the one on the Galaxy Z Fold 3), but we're yet to know whether the aspect ratio will be widescreen or instead – square like on the Oppo Find N.

In any case, Xiaomi definitely has some exciting projects in the works, and hopefully we'll start seeing them come to fruition as early as this year.

In related news, as part of a rebranding strategy, a few months back Xiaomi stopped using the "Mi" branding, and its latest flagship series – the Xiaomi 12 – reflects that. For reference, this series' predecessor was called the Xiaomi Mi 11.