China’s Xiaomi lands 3G, 4G licensing deal with Qualcomm amid push to sell more internet-connected smart devices globally

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Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun is shown introducing the Redmi Note 3 in Beijing on November 24. Co-founder Lin Bin said earlier that “we’d rather be known as an internet company” and Xiaomi hopes the new deal smooths the way for it to roll out more smart products. Photo: EPA

Published: 4:30pm, 4 Dec 2015Updated: 2:55am, 28 Apr 2019

Xiaomi, China’s high-flying consumer technology start-up, is looking to accelerate its global business expansion plans after landing a new 3G and 4G license deal with US mobile chip giant Qualcomm.

“A license from Qualcomm will play an important role in helping us bring the newest and most innovative products to our growing customer base,” Xiaomi co-founder and chief executive Lei Jun said on Thursday.

In a joint statement, Qualcomm said it has granted Xiaomi a “royalty-bearing patent license” to develop, manufacture and sell 3G and 4G devices.

It is a deal designed to push forward plans Xiaomi’s plans to develop and sell more internet-connected smart devices for consumers.

The company, which was initially derided as an Apple clone, has come into its own as a supplier of trendy low-cost smartphones in many markets around the world. Ironically, it now has clones of its own.

Data from research firm IDC showed that Xiaomi shipped 18.3 million smartphones in the third quarter, up from 17.3 million in the same period last year, to rank as the world’s fifth-largest supplier of smartphones.

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