The year of 2018 will seem to be a great moment for Xiaomi. The smartphone provider is ready for a great tech IPO, which is predicted to reach at least $50 billion. If it is true, this will be breaking through success. Xiaomi smartphone first appeared on the market in August 2011. Only six years after the first launch, the Beijing-based firm is ready to make the world’s biggest public listing ever. The record will double that of Alibaba, which broke the record by valuating $25 billion three years ago.

The last time Xiaomi raised fund was in 2014, when it recorded $46 billion valuation. At that time, it became the most valuable private company. According to the data presented on CB Insights, the Chinese smartphone maker now becomes the third largest unicorn, after Didi Chuxing and Uber.

Xiaomi Smartphone Is On the Road to Success

The company has not given any comment about the record. However, Lei Jun (a founder and chairman for the company) said that they are setting a plan to transplant their country’s business ideas to others. He said, at the recent World Internet Conference held in Wuzhen, that IPO, which is held at the right time, will be a great ammunition for expansion. Besides the IPO, some factors contribute to its road to success:

New Sales Method

Actually, the company had experienced some ups and downs in the last few years. However, it made a successful comeback in the second quarter of 2017. Xiaomi smartphone came with new models and new sales method, namely direct-to-customer system.

Actually, most of its phones are sold online. A new sales channel strategy made a great acceleration in 2017. It opened physical stores in easy-to-touch locations, thus allowing the customers to get to know the products closer. The physical store also integrates after-sale services.

“Me Home” Expansion

Lei said that the company is setting up a plan to open 1.000 physical stores, which he called “Mi Home” within the coming two years. If it achieves the target, Xiaomi will double the number of of global Apple stores. He believes that when the new sales method is combined wih e-commerce marketing, the company will be able to ship about 1 million smartphone this year.

Impressive Growth in India

Xiaomi smartphone is increasingly popular in India. The company makes a significant growth in the country, with a record of 290% growth in the last few years. Market research show that brick-n-mortal expansion by means of Mi Home makes significant contributions to the growth in India.

The phone maker also applied a smart online marketing strategy in India. It targeted mid-segment customers by means of ‘value-for-money’ pricing. The strategy seems to work, as Xiaomi now becomes the second largest smartphone provider (after Samsung) in India.  Analyst Rushabh Doshi predicts that if Xiaomi is able to maintain the current growth, it will be able to take over Samsung’s position in a couple of quarters.

Those aspects that contribute to the growth of Xiaomi smartphone leads to a mega IPO, which is expected to make a $50 billion valuation. Let’s see how Xiaomi will prove that it is on the right track for success.