Published : Aug. 10, 2021 - 16:01
Xiaomi announces on Twitter that it‘s holding a livestream event on Aug. 10 to unveil the Mi Mix 4. (Twitter)
Chinese electronics firm Xiaomi has scheduled a livestream event on Tuesday night to unveil its new flagship smartphone Mi Mix 4, just one day before Samsung’s annual Unpacked event, in an attempt to steal the spotlight from the South Korean electronics giant.
Industry watchers say the timing of the Mi Mix 4 launch, an under-display camera model, is an open challenge to Samsung, whose soon-to-be unveiled foldable phone also happens to be a UDC model.
A UDC smartphone refers to a model that hides a front-facing camera under a panel.
According to industry sources Tuesday, Samsung notified global media and partners on July 21 that it would hold its Unpacked event on Aug. 11 to unveil its Galaxy Z Fold 3, Galaxy Z Flip 3, Galaxy Watch3 and Galaxy Buds 2.
On Aug. 4, Xiaomi made an official announcement through a post on Weibo that the company would hold a livestream event on Aug. 10 to introduce Mi Mix 4 along with new Mi Pad tablet series.
This isn’t the first time that Xiaomi has attempted to outshine Samsung. In 2019, Xiaomi rolled out its Mi 9 on the same day that Samsung launched the Galaxy S10. Last year, Xiaomi released the Mi 10 on the same day Samsung laid out Galaxy S20.
But this year, it’s difficult to neglect the move as yet another way to get buzz. In June, Xiaomi proved that it’s more than just a mid-range electronics company, overtaking Samsung and Apple in global smartphone sales.
According to Counterpoint Research, Xiaomi was ranked the No. 1 player in June by commanding 17.1 percent of global smartphone sales, followed by Samsung’s 15.7 percent and Apple’s 14.3 percent. This was the first time Xiaomi enjoyed the top spot since the firm started business in 2010.
Xiaomi continued its momentum in July by taking the second spot with 17 percent, after Samsung’s 19 percent, according to a Singapore-based market tracker Canalys.
Meanwhile, Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 3 is expected to support S Pen and become the world’s first waterproof foldable smartphone. The model’s price is projected to be 1.99 million won ($1,733), almost twice as expensive as the Xiaomi Mi Mix, which costs 1.06 million won.
By Kim Byung-wook (
kbw@heraldcorp.com)