Xiaomi's 'Mi' brand reportedly comes to an end after more than a decade

What you need to know

• Xiaomi has reportedly dropped its long-time "Mi" branding.
• The move was signaled by the recent launch of the Xiaomi Mix 4 and will apparently apply to future launches.
• Xiaomi products have used the Mi branding for a decade.

The top smartphone brand has decided to make a major change, as Xiaomi shifts its products away from the "Mi" branding that they're known for.

According to XDA-Developers, this change started with the recently announced Xiaomi Mix 4, and will continue with future releases. We've reached out to Xiaomi for more details on the name change, but a representative told XDA that it would apply to upcoming products like the rumored Mi 11T, which may well be called the Xiaomi 11T.

Xiaomi has used the "Mi" brand for just about all of its products until now. Even a cursory glance at Xiaomi's U.S. website shows the "Mi" name just about everywhere, including the logo which was recently redesigned.

The move comes just after Xiaomi was crowned the largest smartphone OEM in the world, overtaking Samsung for the first time. While the company doesn't have much of a presence in the U.S., Xiaomi has managed to capture a large part of the global market with its mid-range, high-value smartphones and flagship devices like the Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra.

Retiring the "Mi" brand comes 10 years after the Xiaomi Mi 1 was released, which itself launched a year after MIUI, marking the end of an era for the company. However, as noted by XDA, the company already sells its smartphones in China, sans the Mi branding, so the move works to unify its products.

It's unclear how exactly the move will affect its branding, but given Xiaomi's growing popularity, dropping the "Mi" brand could help to make the company more of a household name in many regions, especially in the U.S., where devices like the Xiaomi Mi Band 6 are available to take on some of the best fitness trackers.