Xiaomi, the low-cost smartphone manufacturer that has quickly grown to challenge the dominance of Samsung and Apple in the industry, seems not to be content with just releasing smartphones.
While speculations continue about the possible entry of the company's flagship Mi 4 smartphone in India next week on Jan. 28, the gaming account of Xiaomi released a teaser that hints at the company possibly launching a new gaming console on Jan. 20.
The teaser, a poster featuring three concentric white rectangles on a black background and an image of a controller in the top-left corner, was posted by the gaming division of Xiaomi. The poster also featured the text: "Bigger is better."
The fact that the teaser comes from the gaming account of Xiaomi in the Weibo social network, and not from its main account for smartphones, lends credence to the theories of a possible gaming console by Xiaomi. There are some speculations that Xiaomi is teasing a completely new gaming console, though there have also been some guesses that the teaser points to a release of an online gaming platform or simply an update for gaming capabilities to the company's Mi Box.
Theories on a possible gaming console by Xiaomi, however, have been fueled by the fact that China discontinued the country's ban against gaming consoles in 2014. In addition, Xiaomi had already previously developed game controllers that are compatible with the company's smart TVs and set-top boxes.
Xiaomi has also just closed the $68 million acquisition for about three percent of Kingsoft from Tencent Holdings, which is a social networking and video game giant in China.
While Kingsoft has released several products in the past, such as antivirus programs, word processors and software for cloud storage, the company has been an established developer for PC games for some time. Kingsoft began as a company that developed games for Windows before expanding into the development of other kinds of software.
Hugo Barra, vice president of the global division of Xiaomi, has also previously said that the Beijing-based smartphone company will be increasing its investments in content and media, including attempting to acquire additional content and media from outside China.
Barra added that Xiaomi has earmarked $1 billion toward such acquisitions, which will include investments in startup companies in India that specialize in e-commerce and mobile services.
Xiaomi has rapidly ascended to become the third-biggest smartphone maker in the world in terms of shipments. Last year, Xiaomi shipped over 60 million units of its smartphones, more than doubling its sales from 2013.
"My goal is to turn Xiaomi into a national brand in China, influence all of China's industry and benefit everyone in the world," said Xiaomi CEO and founder Lei Jun during an interview with Forbes Asia.
