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May 18, 2015

Watch out Apple, Xiaomi is coming to the West

Storefront opening in UK, US, France and Germany.

By Alexander Sword

Xiaomi is launching its own storefront in the UK, US, France and Germany.

The Chinese smartphone vendor announced through its Twitter account that its Mi beta accessory store will begin selling products and shipping from China to Western customers on 18 and 19 May.

The store will offer the 5000mAh and 10400mAh Mi Power Banks, Mi Headphones and the Mi Band wearable. Customers can now register online to create a Mi account.

Xiaomi was founded in China in 2010 by Lei Jun, receiving investment from mobile processor developer Qualcomm amongst others.

Although generally unknown in the West, Xiaomi this year overtook Lenovo and LG to become the third biggest player in the global smartphone market, behind only Samsung and Apple.

Xiaomi’s smartphones are notably absent from the storefront. The company’s plans to sell its smartphones in the Western market may be hampered by low brand awareness and legal challenges from Apple, whose designs it has been accused of copying. The comparisons have led to Xiaomi being described as the ‘Apple of China’.

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