In the Mid-Range War Between Samsung and Apple... '390,000 Won Xiaomi' Emerges

'Redmi Note 11' Series 2 Models Unveiled
Vivid Display · 108MP Camera
Two-Thirds Price, Ultimate Cost-Performance King

[Asia Economy Reporter Cha Min-young] Xiaomi from China is making a renewed challenge in the domestic smartphone market, Samsung Electronics' stronghold, with ultra-low-cost 5G smartphones ranging from premium to mid-to-low-end models. Steven Wang, General Manager of Xiaomi East Asia, introduced, "The globally beloved mid-range smartphone series ‘Redmi Note’ has returned improved with flagship-level features and charging speeds."

Xiaomi Returns as the Ultimate Cost-Performance King

Xiaomi 'Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G'

On the morning of the 5th, Xiaomi held an online press conference and unveiled two models in the ‘Redmi Note 11 series’: the 5G smartphone ‘Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G’ and the LTE smartphone ‘Redmi Note 11’.

The 5G smartphone 11 Pro features a 108MP (108 million pixels) main camera, an 8MP ultra-wide camera, and a 2MP macro camera, allowing for a variety of photos from wide-angle to close-up shots. The front camera for selfies is 16MP. Although it is a low-cost product, it has a large 6.67-inch AMOLED dot display that provides clear visibility even under sunlight. Dual super linear speakers located at the top and bottom are suitable for enjoying games or streaming videos. It is equipped with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 695 chipset and a 5000mAh battery. The product specifications are at the level of the latest phones, but the price is about two-thirds that of Samsung Electronics and Apple’s mid-range phones. While Samsung’s ‘Galaxy A53’ and ‘iPhone SE3’ are priced around 590,000 KRW, Xiaomi’s Redmi Note 11 Pro is sold at 390,000 KRW.

Xiaomi has also expanded its distribution channels. From the 6th to the 12th of this month, Xiaomi will conduct a 7-day pre-order sale through e-commerce channels such as 11st, SK Telecom’s online agency, Coupang, and Kakao. Steven Wang, General Manager, said, "Xiaomi is focusing on an online mall-centered sales strategy, but last year we also opened offline stores," adding, "Currently, we are achieving the highest sales on platforms like Coupang and Naver."

Can Xiaomi Expand Its 1% Market Share?

Xiaomi 'Redmi Note 11'

Xiaomi has been notably weak in the Korean market, where premium smartphones are highly preferred. According to Counterpoint Research, Samsung Electronics ranked first in the domestic smartphone market last year with a 72% market share, followed by Apple (21%) and LG Electronics (6%). Xiaomi was included in the ‘Others’ category with less than 1%. The top-selling model domestically was the flagship device ‘Galaxy S21’, followed by the foldable smartphone ‘Galaxy Z Flip 3’. Expanding to the top 10 smartphones, Samsung Electronics holds six models and Apple four, with no other smartphones appearing. The mid-to-low-end market’s top-selling products are all Samsung Electronics models.

There have been allegations that Xiaomi’s flagship product ‘Xiaomi 11’ was designed to operate faster during benchmark tests, which is expected to partially affect the cost-performance product ‘Redmi Note 11’ as well. This is similar to the controversy over Samsung Electronics’ ‘Galaxy S22’ Game Optimizing Service (GOS). Geekbench developer John Poole posted on his Twitter on the 28th (local time), stating, "Suspicious circumstances were detected during the Geekbench test process of the ‘Xiaomi 11’," raising the possibility of banning the flagship smartphone series ‘Xiaomi 11·12’.

Meanwhile, on the same day, Xiaomi also launched the earbuds ‘Xiaomi Buds 3T Pro’ with active noise-canceling functionality and the smartwatches ‘Xiaomi Watch S1’ and ‘S1 Active’ alongside the smartphones.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.