Xiaomi is set to host its Mi Smarter Living event in India on August 26 and will launch multiple AIoT products on the same day, Raghu Reddy Chief Business Officer Xiaomi India, told India Today Tech in an exclusive conversation. Raghu confirmed that at least two of these products will be the new models of the Mi Notebook and the much-awaited Mi Band 6.
Apart from this, Xiaomi will also launch products in different categories some of which will mark its entry to new segments. The company can launch around five to six new products on the same day.
“The Mi Smarter Living is our flagship event for AIoT products, and it is scheduled for August 26. We definitely have the next generation of Mi Notebook launching on the same day. It has been more than a year since we launched the Mi Notebook in India, and it was received really well.
At the same time, we have also got feedback on what can be better, and we have worked on that,” Raghu said, without revealing the name or specifications of the new Mi Notebook.
However, he has already teased the upcoming Mi Notebook through his Twitter handle. Raghu had posted a picture of the laptop, confirming that it will come with a backlit keyboard.
Since the company has recently launched the more affordable RedmiBook line-up, the Mi Notebook will be costlier than before but, is also claimed to come with major upgrades.
Raghu also confirmed that with the introduction of new Mi Notebook series, the older models which were launched last year will be discontinued. These include Mi Notebook 14, Mi Notebook 14 Horizon Edition and Mi Notebook 14 e-learning edition.
The customers will still be able to purchase these laptops from offline stores but, Xiaomi has stopped their production and new units will not be added to the remaining stock.
“The new Mi Notebook will be a serious upgrade on what we had to offer last year. You will see a lot of class leading features on the new model. We believe that the creator economy wants laptops that are not just good from the processing point of view but, also from the display point of view. That’s what you will get to see on the new Mi Notebook,” he said.
The much-awaited Mi Band 6 is almost here
Xiaomi will launch the much-awaited Mi Band 6 during its Mi Smarter Living Event 2022. Fitness band has been a huge category for Xiaomi, and it’s usually around this time of the year when we get an update from the electronics maker. Raghu told India Today Tech that the next-gen Mi Band 6 will also launch alongside the new Mi Notebook.
“Mi Band has always been the most looked forward to product in the country. All of our bands have set new standards about what to expect from a fitness band. We are very excited and Mi Band 6 has to come given that how well this category has been received in the country,” he said.
The fitness band was introduced globally alongside the Mi 11 smartphones in March. It comes with a larger 1.56-inch AMOLED touchscreen display when compared to the predecessor and with a standby time of up to 14 days. The fitness band supports up to 30 sports models and can auto-detect six activities like walking, running, indoor treadmill and cycling.
The other features on the band include 24×7 blood pressure monitoring, blood oxygen (SPO2), and heart-rate monitoring and sleep tracking.
What else to expect from Mi Smarter Living 2022?
The Mi Notebook and Mi Band 6 will be the headline makers in the Mi Smarter Living 2022. However, Xiaomi will not stop here. It plans to launch more products on the same day. Raghu revealed that the electronics maker will launch more than three products during the event. He said that the other categories Xiaomi is aiming this year are entertainment, connectivity and security.
“I can’t reveal everything in one conversation but, this is our flagship event. We try to ensure that when we enter this event, we have a lot to offer to our customers,” Raghu added.
Since neither Mi Notebook nor Mi band falls in any of these categories, it would be safe to assume that Xiaomi can launch somewhere around five to six new products on August 26. At least of them can be a new smart box or a smart TV which will be Xiaomi’s new offering in the entertainment category. The odds are in favour of the first.
New TWS coming later this year
Xiaomi has been the number one smartphone maker in India for a while now but, took its time to explore the AIoT space. The Mi Band was launched back in 2015 but, it was only last year when the company entered popular categories like TWS, smart speaker and smartwatches. The same period has seen Xiaomi add a significant number of AIoT users to its ecosystem.
“Xiaomi is now the world’s biggest AIoT company. We had more than 350 million connected devices on our platforms by the end of Q1 2021. In 2019, this number was around 240 millions. So, it has grown a lot. And, I am not even talking about smartphones or smart TVs,” Raghu said.
He added that there was a shift in company’s strategy post-2018 when it started to look beyond smartphones in India.
“Our first IoT product was the Mi Band in 2015 but, we started taking this seriously from 2018 onwards. Till then, our focus was largely on the smartphones. We started with TVs and that’s been a big story for Xiaomi. We have shipped out more than 6 million TVs by now and continue to improve the TVs and their software. Since then, we have branched out to other categories as well,” he said.
Last year, Xiaomi launched its first truly wireless earbuds and since then, has added three more devices in the same category. Yet, Raghu believes that Xiaomi is yet to deliver its best in this category and has confirmed that a new TWS will be launched in India soon, possibly in the next quarter.
“2020 was a big year. We launched four TWS last year two under the Redmi sub-brand and two other the Mi branding. We have seen great response to all these earbuds but, we believe our best is yet to come in this category. We are excited about what’s in store in the coming quarter,” he concluded.
