Fortune puts Chinese mobile phone manufacturer Xiaomi ’ s value at $ 45bn . The company was founded in Beijing in 2010 by current CEO Lei Jun , whose net worth totals $ 6.9bn . He founded the company on the basis that “ high-quality technology doesn ’ t need to cost a fortune ”. Offering hardware , software and internet services , the company became a unicorn very quickly due to a gap in the market for more reasonably priced smartphone and was rated top valued startup in the world in 2014 , having sold more than 62mn handsets . It declined in 2015 having failed to meet shipment targets but in 2017 made a comeback to be placed as the fifth largest smartphone provider in the world . It currently has a 6.2 % market share worldwide . Recently it announced plans to focus on India , predicted to be home to 1.4bn mobile subscriptions by 2022 . 46 January 2018