Xiaomi Laptop Coming In 2016

Rumors that Chinese giant Xiaomi is working on a MacBook-clone have been floating around since last December. Now a new report claims to confirm that the company will launch its first laptop in China next year.

According to Taipei Times, Xiaomi recently tapped Inventec to produce the notebook. The new device won’t launch until the first half of 2016, the report said. It’s expected to follow a similar model as the company’s smartphones, which offer solid hardware and features at cutthroat prices.

Xiaomi already has a huge fan base in China and a few other countries where it operates. The firm mostly sells smartphones and a few other gadgets, but a new laptop could give it a whole new source of revenue. “I am upbeat about the business outlook for Xiaomi’s notebook computers,” Inventec chairman Richard Lee told Taipei Times. “The firm has more than 200 million registered smartphone users.”

It sounds like Xiaomi’s laptop will be limited to China at first, though it’s possible the new computer could get a broader launch. The company already offers some non-smartphone products in the U.S. and Europe through its online store, so perhaps this new gadget won’t be limited to just a handful of developing countries.