Xiaomi disrupted the smartphone and hardware market by offering high-quality, cutting-edge products at an accessible price point, challenging the status quo of expensive premium hardware. When they first launched their smartphones, Xiaomi broke the mould by focusing on design elements inspired by user feedback, community engagement, and a rapid prototyping cycle that defied traditional long product development times. Read more about it here.

Mijia is a Xiaomi sub-brand that launched an app controlled Rice Cooker. Users could scan barcodes of different rice types to achieve perfect cooking. It wasn’t just a kitchen appliance anymore — it became a connected, intelligent device. Xiaomi didn’t settle for making a good rice cooker; they made it smarter.

Hototools, another Xiaomi sub-brand, took a traditional power washer which is typically bulky and made it battery-powered, lightweight, with adjustable pressure modes and smart water flow controlled. And… they made it exceptionally beautiful! Basically, it’s proof that even the most boring hardware can get a serious upgrade.

Hototools' Brushless Drill Tool Set isn’t the typical Bosch clunky drill. It's sleek, minimalistic and for the first time in my life… I felt like someone really designed a proper drill set. I feel it’s the future of power tools.

Learn more:

• Book: Xiaomi: How a Startup Disrupted the Market and Created a Cult Following

• Book: The Xiaomi Way: Customer Engagement Strategies That Built One of the Largest Smartphone Companies in the World