Xiaomi confirms US Mobile is not an authorized reseller of its smartphones

Chinese brands like Xiaomi are becoming less of a niche product. After all, the Chinese manufacturer now ranks fifth on the list of largest smartphone manufacturers ahead of other household names like LG and Sony on a worldwide scale.

Xiaomi sells its products directly on Mi.com. Brazil, India, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and parts of Africa also sell Xiaomi devices in brick and mortar stores via official distributors. Still, Xiaomi is absent in major stores around the United States and service providers generally do not offer Xiaomi smartphones directly to consumers.

Earlier this week, however, sources were circulating about US Mobile officially selling the Redmi 2, Redmi 3, and Mi 4i to U.S. customers, which would have made it the first major service provider to offer Xiaomi smartphones directly in the region. Xiaomi quickly shot this down with an official statement earlier today:

"Xiaomi only offers a small selection of accessories for sale in the US through Mi.com. There are no plans to sell smartphones through any authorized distributors in the US. US Mobile is not authorized to sell Xiaomi products in the US."

Xiaomi VP Hugo Barra explicitly stated last year that the company is in no hurry to sell its smartphones directly to U.S. customers due to a variety of reasons. More specifically, U.S. users are drawn towards contracts and subsidized smartphones as opposed to full price offerings. Xiaomi would have to take careful steps when entering the market without being overshadowed by more popular brand names.

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