Live from the Xiaomi Spanish laucnh event and Xiaomi’s first Western European Mi Store.
- 10:48 am – The event is just kicking off now. Introduction to Xiaomi.
#LaEraXiaomi - 10:53 am: Talking about the Redmi Note 4, one of their most popular mobiles and why it’s such a success.
- 10:57 am: Now they are going over their innovation in the mobile sector. How the Mi Mix changed the mobile world with the bezel-less design.
- 11:01 am: Xiaomi is #5 and the fastest growing mobile company with over 100% growth per year.
- They have over 220 stores in China, their goal is to build over 1000 stores in China.
- 11:07 am: 130 stores outside of China. Over 280 million active Xiaomi users globally.
- 11:11 am: Spain is Xiaomi first entry point for Western Europe. The full business model will be coming to Spain. Mi.com Spanish site, eCom partners, Amazon and authorized stores in Spain.
- 11:16 am: Opening here in Madrid on the 11th of November their first store. Redmi Note 5A in one of the photos, so it will be launched here in Europe this model?
- Mi Mix 2 and Mi A1 will officially launch here. The Mi A1 is basically the Mi 5X I’ve reviewed but with Android One and EU LTE bands.
- 11:24 am Xiaomi are just going over the Mi A1 specs. Android One – No MIUI
- 11:29 am: Comes with Android 7.0, guaranteed software updates for two years. Retails for 229 euros.
- 11:31 am: – Now they are talking about the Mi Mix 2. Nothing new.
- 11:42 am: Qualcomm now has the stage, talking about their partnership with Xiaomi.
- 11:49 am: Now onto the price! 499 euros. 6GB / 64GB model Mi Mix 2 model.
Also coming to Spain: Mi electric scooter, Mi Max 2, Mi 6, Redmi 5 series. The Mi scooter will be 349 euros with a limited price of 299 euros for the first week.
The Mi box and Mi band 2 and Mi Action camera 4k will be released too.
All products will be available locally from tomorrow, the 8th. Also on Mi.com and Amazon.es
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I’m here in Madrid ready for tomorrows event. Xiaomi is officially launching in Spain and Europe. I got a late invite and luckily managed to get into Madrid this evening. At least I only live 500kms away.
It’s rumored they might also be launching the Xiaomi Y1 here or a new surprise product tomorrow. The Y1 is basically a Redmi Note 5A. Of course, it might be that mobile just under another name for the Spanish or EU localisation with common European LTE bands. I’m here mainly to see if I can finally get in touch with Xiaomi and what the deal will be with their local launch here. If I get a change I have many questions for them. No doubt you also do?
My questions I hope to ask if not already answered at the press event tomorrow. I’m sure most of them will be.
- LTE Band support? Pretty obvious one, they have to cover all the bands in the countries sold.
- What other countries in Europe will Xiaomi enter and sell locally, will there be walk-in stores or some online distributors only. What is the timeline for this?
- Will it be all of Xiaomi’s product line up including the crowd-funded Mijia items like the, action cams & E-Scooters etc
- How will the tech be priced, items must be aggressively priced to beat online exporters in China in order for Europeans to move away from importing Xiaomi tech themselves from China and buy locally.
- Will items launch globally now? Or will it still be a case of China first and other countries months later like India for example when some launches can take a month or never happen?
- When is MIUI 9 stable finally going to be pushed out via the OTA system?
- How warranty claims etc will work. Will it work for existing Xiaomi tech bought from a 3rd party?
- Mi Home, localisation and translations etc.
- EU support line, ticket and RMA system?
- For New Zealanders and Australians, will Xiaomi ever release in the southern hemisphere? We’re often forgotten and left out.
I’m not sure the plan for tomorrow, but if I’m able to I will record some video and also see if I can at least tweet out anything of interest live. I’ll have my Jumper EZBook 3 Pro with me so keep an eye on the sites Twitter account and this post. Got any questions for them let me know here and in twitter and I’ll see what I can do.
And if you’re going tomorrow, come say hi if you see me.