Xiaomi is the Chinese word for "millet".[18] In 2011 its CEO Lei Jun suggested there are more meanings than just the "millet and rice."[19] He linked the "Xiao" part to the Buddhist concept that "a single grain of rice of a Buddhist is as great as a mountain," suggesting Xiaomi wants to work from the little things, instead of starting by striving for perfection,[19] while "mi" is an acronym for Mobile Internet and also Mission Impossible, referring to the obstacles encountered in starting the company.[19][20] He also stated that he thinks the name is cute.[19] In 2012 Lei Jun said that the name is about revolution and being able to bring innovation into a new area.[21] Xiaomi's new 'Rifle' processor[22] has given weight to several sources linking the latter meaning to the Communist Party of China's "millet and rifle" (小米加步枪) revolutionary idiom[23][24] during the Second Sino-Japanese War.[25][26][27][28]
History
Early beginnings
Xiaomi was co-founded by eight partners on 6 April 2010. In the first round of funding, institutional investors included Temasek Holdings, a Singaporean government-owned investment company, the Chinese venture capital funds IDG Capital and Qiming Venture Partners,[29] and mobile processor developer Qualcomm.[30] On 16 August 2010, Xiaomi officially launched its first Android-based firmware MIUI.[31] The Xiaomi Mi1 smartphone was announced in August 2011. It was shipped with Xiaomi's MIUI firmware which is based on Android and resembles Samsung's TouchWiz and Apple's iOS. The device could also be equipped with stock Android.
