Facebook discussed investing in Xiaomi, ended up not doing that

A new report claims that Facebook held investment discussions in late 2014 with China-based smartphone company Xiaomi. However, those talks did not result in a formal deal between the two companies.

Reuters, citing unnamed sources, claims that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg met for dinner in October 2014 with Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun while Zuckerberg was visiting China. The story says that while the two men discussed a possible investment deal, they never went beyond that informal dinner. Xiaomi later announced it had raised $1.1 billion in new funding from a variety of other financial sources, which gives the company a market value of $45 billion.

This new report may show that Facebook is actively looking to break into the Chinese market. However, the social network itself is currently banned in China and Reuters' story claims that Lei was fearful that a Facebook investment could cause unwanted political issues with China's government. He also reportedly didn't want to hurt Xiaomi's current relationship with Google.

Source: Reuters

Xiaomi announces 61.12 million Mi phones sold in 2014

Xiaomi had a big 2014, and is looking to expand into more countries next year. This helped the company reach revenues of CNY 74.3 billion, or roughly $12.1 billion. In a letter to Xiaomi employees, CEO Lei Jun congratulated the company on 2014, and talked a bit about plans for the future, including overseas expansion.

Xiaomi has entered 7 countries and areas beyond China in 2014 , and we made great success in those markets. For example, Xiaomi sold out 1 million Mi phones in India in less than 5 months. There is no doubt that we will go to other countries and make a stir in there this year. Of course, there will be obstacles awaiting us. But we will face the challenges positively and let everyone around the globe have the opportunity to enjoy technology.

Xiaomi has already started off 2015 by announcing the Redmi 2, and is expected to announce their new flagship device this week at CES 2015.

Source: MIUI

Xiaomi completes latest funding round of $1.1 billion, now valued at $45 billion

Xiaomi has completed its latest round of funding, raising $1.1 billion, at a valuation of $45 billion. Funding at this level was reported a couple of weeks ago, and as the report said, the funding was led by All-Stars Investments.

In a statement, Xiaomi president Bin Lin said that the company will continue towards its goal of making high-quality devices for everyone. Lin also said that they would debut their next flagship device, expected by many to be called the Mi 5, in January 2015:

We just completed the latest round of funding last week, raising US$1.1 billion at valuation of US$45 billion. Investors include All-Stars Investment, DST, GIC, Hopu Fund and Yunfeng Capital among others. This is an affirmation of Xiaomi's stellar results in four years, and heralds a new phase for the company.

We will strive to continue bringing innovation to everyone, with a goal of producing high-quality, high-performance devices with great user experience. In January 2015, we will be unveiling our next flagship device. Big thanks to all Mi fans, business partners and investors for your strong support.

Source: Bin Lin on Facebook

Xiaomi has sold 1 million smartphones in India

China-based Xiaomi has now sold one million of its Android smartphones in India, according to an announcement today from its Indian chief Manu Kumar Jain on Twitter.

The company started selling smartphones in India just under six months ago. Until just recently, it had three devices on sale in that country; the Xiaomi Mi 3, the Xiaomi Redmi 1S, and the Xiaomi Redmi Note. However, Xiaomi got hit with a sales ban in India earlier this month, due to a claim from Ericsson that its smartphones violate several of its patents. The sales ban won't be lifted until at least Feb. 5. However, the company later got an Indian court to allow them to sell smartphones that have Qualcomm chipsets until Jan. 8, which allows sales of the Redmi 1S to continue. The Redmi Note 4G will go on sale in India next week.