Despite Xiaomi’s staggering growth in the smartphone market in China, India, and parts of Asia in 2017, the company was largely absent from one of the world’s largest smartphone market: United States. This was despite Xiaomi making statements every once in a while that it will soon start selling its smartphones in the country.

Now, a new report from WSJ citing Xiaomi’s Chairman Lei Jun claims that we might just see Xiaomi enter the U.S. smartphone market this year or early next year. The move will be a part of Xiaomi’s western expansion and will also help boost its IPO which it is planning for later this year. The company needs to expand the set of markets where it sells it smartphones to ensure that its growth does not stall in 2018.

“We’ve always been considering entering the U.S. market,” Xiaomi Chairman Lei Jun said at the sidelines of China’s annual legislative session in Beijing. “We plan to start entering the market by end 2018, or by early 2019.”

Xiaomi faces a number of challenges in its move to enter the U.S. smartphone market. Apart from facing stiff competition from existing smartphone players, Xiaomi can also potentially face a regulatory pushback similar to what happened with Huawei as it tried to make a major push to enter into the U.S. smartphone market earlier this year.

Our Take

Xiaomi sells its power banks, speakers, and other accessories in the United States but the company is yet to start selling its smartphones in the country. Given the value for money that Xioami smartphones pack, it is possible that the company’s products will end up taking the U.S. smartphone market by storm. However, for that to happen, Xiaomi needs to pass a lot of regulatory hurdles and ensure that it is able to understand the local taste of people better to be able to cater to them properly.