But Lee says his company will start shipping the laptops “in the first or second quarter of next year”, so we should have some details before too much longer.
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Inventec chairperson, Richard Lee, confirmed the rumours in an interview with news site Taipei Times.
“The leaks so far show that the Xiaomi laptop resembles Apple Macbook Air in looks and it may sport a 15” HD display powered by Intel Core i7-4500U processor with two 8GB RAM modules, taking the total RAM to 16GB.
I am not sure if the smartphone approach will be applicable to notebooks, but I expect Xiaomi’s entry into the notebook industry to bring something new to the market.
Xiaomi was the world’s fourth-largest smartphone maker in the second quarter of this year, capturing a 5.3% share and trailing behind Samsung’s 21.7%, Apple’s 14.1% and Huawei’s 8.9%, according to research group worldwide Data Corp (IDC).
According to the article, the revelation comes courtesy of Taiwanese manufacturer Inventec, who Xiaomi has reportedly conscripted to build its fledgling notebook.
Xiaomi is one of a few companies that were granted license by the Chinese government past year to operate virtual telecom networks.
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While Xiaomi only sells smartphones in select markets, it’s possible a Xiaomi laptop could have a wider reach, since there’s no need to work with global wireless carriers since most laptops don’t include cellular modems. Xiaomi also lacks the sort of patent portfolio that would shield it from intellectual-property lawsuits from Apple or other companies. “Most geeks and enthusiasts can afford an iPhone”.
