Xiaomi is arriving in Japan earlier than expected

The world’s fourth best-selling smartphone brand will land in Japan a week from now, according to a tweet from Xiaomi Japan.

The announcement comes after a Xiaomi executive said last month that his company would start selling phones and wearables in Japan by next year. Speaking about the plan, head of international business Wang Xiang told Nikkei Asian Review, “The sooner the better.”

Xiaomi is actively expanding its global reach. Last quarter, for the first time ever, more than two-thirds of its smartphones were shipped outside of its home market of China. It has branched into Western Europe in recent years, with plans to open 2,000 stores globally by 2020.

But domestically, Xiaomi’s phone sales have come under pressure from Huawei, whose sales have been buoyed by nationalist sentiment during the ongoing US-China trade war.