Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun says more affordable phones will be released this year

Xiaomi has launched five phones this year, with the flagship Mi 5, the powerful Mi 4s, the gigantic Mi Max, the battery mammoth Redmi Note 3, and the affordable mid rangers Redmi 3S/3X.

But it looks like the Chinese OEM is not yet done with its portfolio for 2016.

Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun, took to social network Weibo, to make a surprise announcement. Jun says that Xiaomi will be releasing more affordable phones this year. There was no time frame given for the launches, like Q3 or Q4, but his message just mentions the 2nd half of 2016, which we speculate will see new handsets emerge at the end of the year. It is also unclear as to how many devices will be launched either.

It is very difficult to predict which market Xiaomi could be targeting, as its mid range devices come in 5.0 inch, 5.5-inch, and even a 6.44-inch display sizes.  What about a phone with a smaller display?

Earlier last month, there was a leak which suggested that Xiaomi could be launching a small screen device, i.e, a 4.3-inch 720p HD display, with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor, 3GB of RAM, and 32GB of internal storage. The phone’s size, sounds as if it was inspired by the Apple iPhone 6 SE (a 4.0 inch phone). The Xiaomi 4.3-inch phone will supposedly have a front facing fingerprint scanner, and a 13 megapixel camera.

But these are flagship specifications, except for the display, are they not? Well, according to the leak, the phone, (shall we call it the Xiaomi Mi 5 Mini or the Xiaomi Mi 5 SE?) is expected to be priced at around $275 to $300, which is around 18000 to 20000 Rupees, and which can be considered as an affordable phone.

This is likely one of the affordable phones, which Jun may have teased about.

Additionally, it is rumoured that Xiaomi will be launching a new flagship phablet, the Xiaomi Mi Note 2 soon.