Xiaomi investors question the company's valuation of $ 46 billion

In 2014, the Chinese company raised $ 1 billion in the next round of financing, which also contributed to its cost increase - now Xiaomi is valued at $ 46 billion. Nevertheless, according to the latest information, the company is currently facing difficulties associated with the difficult period for the Chinese economy. Xiaomi is now under pressure also because it did not fulfill the sales plan for 2015.

Last year, the company's CEO, who was also its founder, Lei Jun, said that by the end of 2015, Xiaomi would sell 100 million units of smartphones, but later this figure was changed to 80 million. According to insider sources, and this figure was unattainable for the company. Against the background of the understatement of the sales plan, the actions of the competitor Huawei are curious, which, after selling 27.4 million phones during the quarter in October, announced that the company will be able to sell 100 million units of smartphones. After Xiaomi did not live up to expectations related to sales, investors questioned the company's valuation of $ 46 billion.

Companies such as Xiaomi, which received huge funding during the rapid development of the mobile industry and the Internet in China, are now facing certain difficulties, since in the current conditions in the Chinese market it is becoming increasingly difficult to meet the expectations of investors. A Xiaomi representative did not officially comment on the situation, noting only that “the competition in the Chinese smartphone market this year has grown incredibly” and the company's sales “are in line with expectations.”

One of the reasons Xiaomi failed to achieve the expected level of sales is the slowdown in China's economy. Some strategies of the company also negatively influenced sales, including flash sales, the company’s lack of high-tech chips and the fact that the most expensive Xiaomi product, which is the Mi Note model, did not win the expected love of users.

Recall that Xiaomi belongs to the portfolio projects of the Yuri Milner and Alisher Usmanov Foundation under the name DST Global. The fund last participated in a round of financing a Chinese project in 2014, when Xaomi managed to raise more than a billion dollars.