Xiaomi recently took part in a summit of Chinese companies and telephone operators, revealing some details about their past and explaining why the company name is not Red Star, as originally expected!
The summit was in fact the co-founder of Xiaomi, Lin Bin, present as other corporate representatives to discuss the future of 4G in China. Bin, however, took the opportunity to give some details about Xiaomi, recalling first that the company was founded just 4 years ago, and that he started his business with 8 employees in a small office.
As I anticipated, the company was supposed to be called Red Star Technology, but due to a local alcoholic drink called Red Star Erguotou, the founders' plans changed. In the end, the name chosen was Xiaomi.
The name literally means "Small Rice" in Italian (xiao = little and mi = rice). Rice is the most popular and used food in China, and symbolizes stability, the home environment, growth and nourishment, so Xiaomi is a name full of symbolisms. The company is now the top smartphone maker in China, with tens of millions of smartphones sold every year, and was about to call itself the red star!
A curious detail is the presence of a red star in the Xiaomi mascot's cap, which could be the name "Red Star" initially chosen. However, the symbol has often been removed from the company logo, due to unlucky associations with a particular political party.
No doubt the name Xiaomi generates some small pronunciation problem, but "Red Star" could have generated much more ideological problems, especially as a company from China!
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