Euronews had a rare chance to step inside Xiaomi's Beijing factory, which is almost fully automated and reveals the manufacturing muscle behind a brand seeking to challenge Apple and Samsung at the premium end of the global smartphone market.
Approaching the Xiaomi campus in Beijing, its scale is immediately striking. Expansive buildings linked by landscaped courtyards that feature an installation of rabbit mascots in varying sizes, a flying‑pig sculpture symbolising realised dreams, and a giant company logo reflected in a shallow water feature.
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Xiaomi Group makes cars, home appliances and smartphones. But the Xiaomi Smart Factory that assembles the phones, gaining popularity in Europe, is in a separate facility. The factory complex covers about 81,000 sq metres and has plans for further expansion.
On the production line, a new smartphone rolls off around every six seconds, pushing annual output past 10 million units. But assembly is only the endpoint. The process begins in laboratories that feel more like a lived‑in neighbourhood than a test facility.
A 50‑metre corridor houses a Chinese‑style restaurant, a Starbucks corner, a staged living room, an indoor amusement area and a museum with exhibits in glass cases. These real‑world sets recreate varied lighting and environments so camera systems can be tuned for everyday conditions — from high‑contrast daylight to dim interiors.
The focus on real‑world testing feeds directly into Xiaomi’s imaging work. The 17 Series flagship, unveiled in February in Barcelona and co‑engineered with Leica, underwent evaluations across these simulated scenes to refine detail preservation, reduce flicker and minimise optical interference.
The company representatives say those tests help deliver cleaner light to the sensor and more consistent results across challenging conditions.
Leaving the creative testing spaces, the assembly halls feel clinical by contrast: bright, white and geometrically precise. Automated carts — referred to by staff as “delivery boys” — glide along the tracks carrying components such as larger robotic arms to perform repetitive tasks with machine precision.
Xiaomi reports an overall automation rate of 81% and claims full automation for several critical processes. But humans are still essential: about 220 workers oversee a 310-metre production line, performing inspections, intervening when anomalies arise and ultimately ensuring quality control. The plant now assembles roughly 600 phones per hour.
The manufacturing choreography is tightly orchestrated. Surface-mount technology lines place components onto circuit boards, motherboards undergo dozens of simultaneous functional checks to detect defects, and structural reinforcements — foam, steel plates and cushioning pads — are added to protect fragile parts.
Each back panel is fitted, then devices pass water-resistance checks and aesthetic inspections. Finished units face exhaustive performance testing — power consumption, antenna performance, audio, camera, display and sensors — and extended “aging” in chambers, each capable of testing over 2,400 smartphones simultaneously. Only after clearing every test are phones boxed and dispatched.
According to the technology research group Omdia, Xiaomi’s share of the Chinese market rose to 15% in 2025, up four percentage points. Its global share slipped to 13%, down two points, while Europe bucked the trend, rising one point to 20%, solidifying Xiaomi’s third‑place position.
Xiaomi’s smartphone range spans entry-level and mid-range models up to premium options, topping out with the Leica Leitzphone powered by Xiaomi at around €2,000.
