A gold TV? Why not. Mi (aka Xiaomi) has unveiled its latest TV that offers some insight to the state of Chinese design. The TV is just 9.9 millimeters at the thinnest point.
Mi launches Chinese design TV
The TV industry has been dominated by the Koreans for years, and before that the Japanese manufacturers. Mi and others are enjoyed huge sales in a booming domestic market and are hoping to take advantage of this to expand to other regions.
Mi is probably best known for its phones. The company has been called "China's Apple" and “copycat” but the company seems determined in its mission to convince the world that Chinese-designed electronics products can compete globally.
Their latest TV reveals how far Mi has come. "Mi TV S2" is a series of five TVs in different color options, including a golden color that imitates gold. The TV is just 9.9 millimeters at the thinnest point and has a polished aluminum back. However, the bottom half of the TV is thicker to make room for electronics. In many ways it resembles Sony's ultra slim X90C.
The specifications look good, too. It uses an Ultra HD LCD panel made by Samsung and a powerful processor to run the MIUI operating system, a fork of Android 5.0. It also offers HDMI 2.0 ports and HEVC decoding for 4K content.
Expanding to Europe & the US
Mi’s TVs are not on sale in Europe and the US yet but the company has started selling headphones and fitness wristbands in USA, France, Germany, and Great Britain. The Mi TV S2 comes only in 48” and will be available in China starting next week for 2999 Chinese Yuan (approx. $485).
The question of whether Chinese manufacturers can compete in the TV market has been a hot topic in the debate for years. Recent developments such as TCL’s entry into the US and Europe, Hisense's partnership with Loewe and Mi's latest TVs appear to shed some light on the matter.
- Source: Mi
