Uber will deliver Xiaomi phones to customers in Singapore and Malaysia

23 Jul 2015

Uber drivers in Singapore and Malaysia will soon be shuttling around more than just people after the e-hailing app agreed a deal with Xiaomi that will allow users to order the Chinese company’s new Mi Note smartphone the same way they hail a ride.

Xiaomi is preparing to release its flagship 5.7-inch device and, as reported by CNBC, will allow customers in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur to use Uber to order the Mi Note on 27 July – a full day before the phone goes on general sale. All they have to do is open up Uber and use the slider at the bottom to select ‘Xiaomi’. The app will display Uber cars on the map equipped to deliver the new smartphone by marking them with Xiaomi’s recognisable orange colouring. Payment is charged directly to the credit card tied to the user’s account and the phone will be delivered within a few minutes of the order being made.

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Xiaomi recently reported that it sold 34.7m smartphones in the first half of 2015, up a third on last year. It has dominated the lower end of the Android market, entering the list of top five phone sellers last year despite its market being limited to just Asia. The company is now, however, expanding outside of its traditional base, entering Brazil as a way of negating the impending saturation point in its home markets.

Uber, meanwhile, has become so popular in New York that the number of its cars on the road now outnumber the city’s iconic yellow cabs. According to stats released by the Taxi and Limousine Commission in March, the company has 14,088 black and luxury cars on the roads of NYC’s five boroughs, compared to the 13,587 traditional taxis currently in operation.

Kuala Lumpur image via Shutterstock

Dean Van Nguyen was a contributor to Silicon Republic

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