This is a big deal as the UK market is one of the markets that Xiaomi had yet to officially break into, although it remains to be seen how well the company’s smartphones will be received. Xiaomi had previously managed to enter the Spanish, French, and Italian markets, so technically this isn’t the first time they’re launching in the west.
Xiaomi had long spoken about their plans to break into the US market but they claim that they are not ready, although earlier this year they did state that they still very much have plans to do so. The US market will be a tricky one, especially in light of how other Chinese companies such as Huawei and ZTE are perceived in the country, where both companies have been accused in the past of having the potential to spy on behalf of the Chinese government, to the extent where other countries have banned them from supplying communications infrastructure.