Marco Angelo D'Souza
Xiaomi has announced an association with Chinese sportswear company Li Ning to create a range of smart running shoes that will work in concert with a phone-based app.
The smart running shoes will monitor telemetric data during a run, including parameters such as distance covered, run progress, achievements that can be shared with friends on your social network.
Helping them develop these connected shoes is the same company they partnered with for their Mi band for fitness monitoring. Going by Xiaomi’s precedents in launching products that pack cutting-edge specifications at affordable prices, their foray into the world of running could potentially cause yet another disruption, given their innovative product and pricing strategies.
Xiaomi is serious about their plans for the connected device ecosystem as evidenced by their $200 million investment in Midea, a home appliance manufacturer that is known in China for products such as air conditioners, refrigerators and kitchen appliances. This company, with their alleged $2 billion investment in ‘Internet of Things’ (IoT) over the next three years, appears to be a complementary partner to Xiaomi in their plans to expand into this lucrative space of connected appliances.
While many of these connected products are yet to be launched in Indian markets, it is clear that we can expect the IoT segment to boom in the near term. Xiaomi recently revealed that they have their connected devices in nearly 25 countries, including devices like a smart TV, an ultra-tiny set-top box, blood pressure management system and more.
And with established Indian companies, such as Videocon who recently launched a line of Wi-Fi enabled air conditioners, it appears we are but at the cusp of a connected devices revolution. Stay tuned, things are about to get very interesting here.
