Xiaomi Corp debuted a super-mobility laptop yesterday in Beijing as the budget-phone maker made its first foray into the struggling personal-computer market.
Xiaomi's new Mi Notebook Air models, costing 3,499 yuan ($525) for the 12.5-inch model and 4,999 yuan for the 13.3-inch model with an independent graphic card, will start selling next Tuesday. Xiaomi's founder and Chief Executive Lei Jun claimed the products are lower-priced rivals of Apple Inc's Macbook Air with unique gaming hardware inside.
The new models are likely to put pressure on other PC makers like Lenovo, HP and Dell, industry insiders said.
The global PC market sales fell about 5 percent annually as consumers bought more mobile devices, said research firms Gartner and IDC.
Xiaomi also aims to establish its own eco-system on various devices, covering smartphone, TV and laptop. The number of users of Xiaomi's Miui system exceeded 200 million by June.
Xiaomi yesterday also unveiled its first dual-camera Redmi Pro smartphones, whose prices range from 1,499 yuan.
