Hugo Barra envisions Xiaomi as a premium smartphone brand

Xiaomi VP Hugo Barra recently spoke about the plateauing smartphone business and suggested that Xiaomi may become a premium brand in the future to avoid the bloody price wars of low-cost budget smartphones. Barra made the speech at the Mi Home Experience Center in Hong Kong where he reminded an audience that Xiaomi prices have been steadily increasing over the past few years.

Barra is also claiming that customers can expect higher quality components from future Xiaomi products. He even went so far as to proclaim that low-end smartphones will "no longer be a business" for Xiaomi. Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun has expressed interest in opening over 1000 Xiaomi Experience stores worldwide to expand its business overseas.

The move reflects what many other major manufacturers have been leaning towards including Sony and its consolidated Xperia Z series, Microsoft and its Surface series, and Samsung with its revised smartphone plans to better emulate Apple. Simply put, flagship devices bring in much higher profit margins than low-end offerings where cheaper Chinese manufacturers reign supreme.

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