adminBeijing — Chinese budget smartphone maker Xiaomi unveiled its first tablet yesterday, expanding its product lineup to directly challenge established rivals Samsung and Apple.
The MiPad, which comes in six colours, will have a 7.9-inch screen, the same size as an iPad Mini.
Like other tablets, it comes equipped with wireless internet, front and back cameras and a built-in memory capacity of 16 gigabytes or 64 gigabytes. But it is priced cheaper than comparable iPad Mini and Samsung Galaxy Tab models at $240 for the smaller version.
The company did not say anything about a 4G version.
“We wanted the hardware to come close to, or even surpass Apple’s iPad,” Xiaomi’s founder Lei Jun said at the launch event in Beijing.
Xiaomi’s flagship smartphones, which are among the fastest selling in China, resemble Apple’s iPhone.
Lei said an initial version of the tablet would be available for testing by the public in mid-June, but he declined to specify a launch date or sales targets. It was also not clear if the MiPad would be sold outside China.
The worldwide tablet market, which saw shipments of 195.4 million devices in 2013, is forecast to grow nearly 40 percent this year, according to consultants Gartner, with China especially seeing significant growth.
Privately held Xiaomi became the world’s sixth-largest smartphone vendor in the first quarter of 2014, according to data firm Canalys, after repeatedly doubling its sales.
Its cheap yet sleek phones are popular in China, the world’s largest market for smartphones.
The company expects to sell 40 million phones this year, compared to 18.7 million last year and 7.2 million the year before. — Reuters.
Online Reporter