Chinese electronics maker Xiaomi hopes to enter the US smartphone market as early as late 2018. The company is currently the world's fourth-largest smartphone manufacturer and has seen substantial success in Asian markets. Now, ahead of its planned IPO, efforts to reach Western markets at large seem to be ramping up.

“We’ve always been considering entering the US market,” Xiaomi Chairman Lei Jun said, adding the company plans to enter the market “by end 2018, or by early 2019.” Xiaomi's got some pretty solid offerings—we called the $215 Mi A1 the best value of any Android smartphone right now. Unfettered access to such options would be a boon for US consumers.

Chinese smartphone manufacturers haven't had an easy time finding success in the crowded US smartphone market, though. In January, AT&T backed out of a planned deal to sell Huawei phones, and last month, several US intelligence agencies cautioned against using devices made by Chinese firms like Huawei and ZTE.

But Xiaomi has been making inroads to the West for some time; the company opened two retail locations in Spain last fall. And considering a number of Xiaomi's non-phone products have been widely available in the US for a while now—most notably its affordable 4K Android TV player, the Mi Box—it's possible Xiaomi will have better luck.

Source: The Wall Street Journal