Xiaomi is holding a launch event in London this Thursday on November 8, where it could unveil the Mi 8 Pro for the UK market. The product will go sale with Xiaomi’s first-ever retail store in the country. The Chinese smartphone maker has started teasing the event and one of the images shows a device with in-display fingerprint sensor.
Another image released by the company as part of its teaser shows an infinity symbol, which could mean the number “8” as a hint to the launch of Mi 8 Pro in the UK market. Xiaomi, like most other Chinese smartphone makers, is trying to expand into the European market. Among all Chinese smartphone makers, Huawei is only one with significant presence in the European market and with Apple launching expensive iPhone, these Chinese smartphone makers see an entry point for themselves.
Xiaomi celebrated its 8th anniversary early this year where it launched the Mi 8 series. The company launched Mi 8 and Mi 8 SE at its event in May but then added two more models in the form of Mi 8 Pro and Mi 8 Lite. Since the Mi 8 Pro and Mi 8 Lite were introduced in China only in September, it is likely that these two devices will debut in UK as part of Xiaomi’s launch portfolio.
After strong growth in smartphones sales in 2017, Xiaomi started the year with a target to sell 100 million devices. The company announced last month it has shipped 100 million smartphones and reached target two months ahead of schedule. However, its shipments mainly come from countries like China, India and other Southeast Asian markets.
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At its first store in the UK, Xiaomi is expected to sell a wide variety of devices including smartphones, laptops, televisions and other accessories. The company had previously announced that it will limit margin to five percent from the sale of smartphones. At the event, we will know what Xiaomi has in store for UK market, and whether it plans to tie-up operators to offer bundled subscription.
