It seems like only recently that Xiaomi wowed the world with its affordable smartphones that were always sold out at launch. Yet, it has been a decade and the company is looking at building on its smartphone success for the next 10 years.

In an open letter, Lei Jun, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Xiaomi announced that the upgrading of its core strategy to smartphone x AIoT for the coming decade.

“From the very beginning, the dream has been to make the world’s best phones and sell them at half the price, so that everyone can afford them. Over the past decade, the smartphone business has been our core. Smartphones are critical to our success, and is a cornerstone for our business model,” he said.

The smartphone will remain an integral part of Xiaomi in the foreseeable future. With the smartphone x AIoT core strategy, the company envisions the smartphone to be the control centre for interaction and connecting AIoT devices.

Of partners and entrepreneurs

Lei also announced two new programmes — the Partnership Programme and the New Decade Entrepreneur Programme.

Xiaomi’s partner team will be expanded to include those with a strong sense of duty, a great sense of responsibility, unbeatable track records and performance, and a high recognition of Xiaomi’s culture and core values, to share benefits and shoulder risks together.

The New Decade Entrepreneur Programme will identify 100 staff with an entrepreneurial spirit to bring the company to new levels in the upcoming decade.

“We will offer all levels of talents the freedom to grow and the rewards to match, so that every colleague can live up to their full potential,” said Lei.