Xiaomi is commonly known as the Apple of China, and the company is set to invest more than £5.3 billion over the next five years in order to cement its place in the technology sector, with the company planning investments in AI, the Internet of Things and 5G.

The massive investment was confirmed by Xiaomi chief executive Lei Jun in a letter posted to the company’s social media account, with the firm wanting to turn its “continuous advantage” in AIoT and intelligent life into “absolute victory in intelligent full scene”. 

While that doesn’t exactly spell out what the company plans to do, we can already see part of the strategy Xiaomi has been pursuing over the past few years. The firm has invested heavily in the Internet of Things, embedding technology into as many products as it possibly can. The firm now offers everything from smart purifiers to smart rice cookers, and pretty much everything in between. 

The firm is likely to diversify even further, and its commitment to both the Internet of Things and 5G technology could see it develop sensors for commercial applications, as well as end-users. This means we could see an array of Xiaomi-made sensors feeding information to a data centre and running full cities in the future, although the company’s exact plans for its 50 billion yuan investment has yet to be fully explained. 

In terms of the immediate future for the company, Xiaomi plans to release an onslaught of new smartphones over the next year, with many touting 5G connectivity. While the firm’s phones may not be popular outside of Asia, it does have the benefit of being one of the leading manufacturers in both its home country of China, as well as in India.