Chinese Phone Giant Hasn't Lived Up to Its Mega-IPO Hype
- The phone maker reports results for the first time Wednesday
- Analysts urge investors to gauge Xiaomi over the longer term
This article is for subscribers only.
Xiaomi Corp. raised $5.4 billion by selling investors on its promise as a high-growth internet company. Some are starting to lose faith.
The Beijing-based purveyor of mostly cheap smartphones has sunk 19 percent from its post-IPO peak despite a spate of positive ratings -- mostly from the same banks and outfits that sponsored its coming-out party. On Wednesday, Xiaomi reports earnings for the first time as a public company, offering a close-up of two of its most important initiatives: an international expansion and its evolution beyond hardware and into online services from music to video, a la Apple Inc.