Xiaomi has signed a Strategic Framework Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in order to deepen and improve the partnership between the companies. This will allow to strengthen Xiaomi’s position in mobile, smart devices, and services with Microsoft’s breakthroughs in cloud computing and AI.
Their partnership will focus on these aspects:
- Cloud Support – Xiaomi and Microsoft will further explore and utilize the Microsoft Azure Cloud Platform to support Xiaomi’s user data storage, bandwidth, computing, and other cloud services.
- Laptop-type devices – It’s no secret that Xiaomi has delved in the laptop market. With this partnership, Xiaomi will get leverage from Microsoft by using joint marketing, channel support, and future product development for the Chinese company’s laptop-type devices. This would also help them engage customers in other markets.
- Microsoft Cortana and Mi AI Speaker – Both companies are currently discussing mutual opportunities to integrate Cortana with Xiaomi’s Mi AI Speaker since this is a market segment that is expected to grow rapidly in the next few years as shown with the Amazon Echo, Apple HomePod, and Google Home.
- AI services collaboration – Both companies aim to do projects using Microsoft’s AI technologies such as Computer Vision, Speech, Natural Language Processing, Text Input, Conversional AI, Knowledge Graph, and Search. These will also include Microsoft AI products and services like Bing, Edge, Cortana, XiaoIce, SwiftKey, Translator, Pix, Cognitive Services, and Skype. Together with Xiaomi’s hardware, big data, and smart device ecosystem, both companies aim to generate even more cohesion between hardware and software to better service the user experience.
This isn’t the first time that Xiaomi and Microsoft has partnered with each other. Since 2015, Xiaomi has used Microsoft Azure via 21Vianet in China to run its Mi Cloud service for its smartphone users. In June 2016, both companies has agreed on a global-scale partnership and Xiaomi began to pre-install Microsoft Office and Skype apps on its Android-based smartphones and tablets.
It’s an interesting partnership between these two tech giants. It seems that Xiaomi is cracking down on improving the overall experience both in their back-end systems and end-user items. With Xiaomi strengthening its presence in the Philippines with its first-ever official store, we’ll likely see what these two companies are up to in the near future.
