Xiaomi’s first smartphone of 2016 is the Redmi 3, a standard sized device, which features a massive 4100mAh battery. Xiaomi announced the device Monday.
In addition to a high battery capacity, the Xiaomi Redmi 3 features a 5-inch display, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 616 chip, 2GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage with memory expandable up to 128GB, a 13-megapixel rear camera and 5-megapixel front camera. The Xiaomi Redmi 3 will be available in China starting Jan. 12, selling for 699 Yuan ($106).
Xiaomi has been churning out phones every few weeks. But its low cost devices with iPhone-like designs appear to be losing their appeal as the company has reportedly missed its 2015 projection of selling 80 million smartphones in the year, according to the Wall Street Journal.
In addition to economic issues within China, Xiaomi’s devices have begun to lose their elusive luster. In 2014, consumers were purchasing handsets in record time, while it became difficult to keep track of how many smartphones Xiaomi released in 2016, the WSJ noted.
After posing as major competition for the likes of Samsung and Apple in 2014, Xiaomi is getting a taste of its own medicine as several Chinese competitors.
Xiaomi’s rumors Mi5 flagship smartphone is expected to launch next week with the Snapdragon 820 chip, has already been outshone by a Chinese smartphone maker Letv, which announced its Le Max Pro smartphone last week at CES 2016.
Meanwhile, another Chinese competitor, Huawei, has begun branching further into the U.S. market. After collaborating with Google on the Nexus 6P in 2015, the manufacturer also announced at CES 2016, the Honor 5X, the first Honor device for the U.S. market.
As it is only the second week of 2016, it remains to be seen how Xiaomi will fare in the ever-changing market.
