China: Chinese smartphone sensation Xiaomi was getting bad press

It was only last December at the same time as Chinese smartphone sensation Xiaomi was getting bad press for a reported intellectual property trouble in India. Five months later, that story has faded, restored by a well-received product launch in the country in April along with even additional striking news: Esteemed Indian tycoon business leader Tata has bought a stake in the company. Terms weren’t disclosed.

That quick reversal in perceptions and new partnership in India underscores how Xiaomi, a “startup” flush with experienced leadership at the top of the company, has been finding ways to challenge odds and advance in business. Though only five years old, its chief Lei Jun combines two decades of experience in the industry. Co-founders hail from Google, Microsoft and Motorola, bringing ideas about how small businesses can get ahead of entrenched ones. Xiaomi shook up smartphone sales in China, the world’s major market for the devices, in part by eliminating middlemen in its sales channels and passing savings from an online business model along to grateful, mostly young, consumers.

Lei, Forbes Asia’s Businessman of the Year in 2014 and a billionaire whose investments in U.S.-listed businesses include YY, Cheetah Mobile, Xunlei and 21ViaNet, was correct at the same time as he said last month Tata, himself a former Forbes Asia Businessman of the Year, is one of the world’s well-respected leaders and his investment is an affirmation of Xiaomi’s strategy in India, a key increase market. He joins other Xiaomi investors inclunding Morningside, Qiming, Yuri Milner’s DST, Yunfeng Capital and GIC of Singapore.

It’s authentic that Xiaomi is a David versus Goliaths Apple and Samsung at the same time as it comes to technology and resources. From presently on small firms find ways to shake up markets around the world each day. It’s hard to say how far Lei Jun’s and Xiaomi’s remarkable run will go, but the path ahead will be interesting to watch.