Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun silent on US expansion plan amid trade war, focuses on European markets
- Shift in focus reflects how the US-China trade war has knocked the wind out of the Chinese hi-tech industry’s sails
Smartphone giant Xiaomi Corp is looking to sharpen its operations in Europe this year, as the US-China trade war casts a shadow on its expansion plans in the world’s biggest economy.
“The European market is our main focus for international expansion this year,” Lei Jun, the chairman and chief executive of Hong Kong-listed Xiaomi, said in an interview in Beijing on Thursday, sidestepping a question about the firm’s activities in the US.
“We aim to rank [either] first or second in [the smartphone markets of] various European countries, especially in Spain,” he said.
That strategy is in stark contrast to the one declared by Xiaomi in March, when the goal was to expand its operations in the US by the end of last year or early this year. The company planned to launch a smartphone model tailored to the US market, with distribution supported by the country’s major mobile network operators.
The shift in strategy charted by Lei for Xiaomi reflects how the US-China trade war has knocked the wind out of the Chinese hi-tech industry’s sails. The conflict has threatened to slow down China’s expansion in everything from smartphones, wireless network equipment and self-driving cars to semiconductors, e-commerce and financial technology.