You guys need to read this because it's wild how much smartphone diversity we're locked out of in the States! While most Americans are forced to choose between Apple, Samsung, Google, and Motorola, international consumers get a huge range — Oppo, Realme, Honor, Huawei, plus Xiaomi which is actually the third largest mobile vendor on Earth with nearly 10% market share. So when you see the latest flagships like the stunning Xiaomi 17 Ultra, don't assume it's permanently banned; that's not what happened at all and there's a much more interesting story behind why they aren't in stores here.
The ban everyone remembers was actually tiny — Trump added them to a military-tie blacklist on Jan 14, 2021 and just two weeks later the company sued and got it lifted by May 25! That means Xiaomi was technically blacklisted for only about four months total despite all the headlines. The real reason they aren't selling phones here is business strategy: entering the US market requires expensive carrier partnerships that would kill their thin profit margins — they pride themselves on keeping hardware costs low with roughly a five-percent margin model, which doesn't work in this American ecosystem where carriers control everything.
So what you can actually get if you want Xiaomi products in the States are chargers, air purifiers, desk accessories, and even those incredibly cool cordless screwdrivers — they sell those here but not phones! Meanwhile their EV division is absolutely crushing it back home with a SU7 sedan that's been compared to Porsche models and their 2026 model can start around $32,000. You need to leave the country for both the phone and the car though because of certification hurdles on our side — but man, what we could get if the market were different!
Source: https://www.engadget.com/2210461/why-xiaomi-not-banned-rarely-sold-usa/
The ban everyone remembers was actually tiny — Trump added them to a military-tie blacklist on Jan 14, 2021 and just two weeks later the company sued and got it lifted by May 25! That means Xiaomi was technically blacklisted for only about four months total despite all the headlines. The real reason they aren't selling phones here is business strategy: entering the US market requires expensive carrier partnerships that would kill their thin profit margins — they pride themselves on keeping hardware costs low with roughly a five-percent margin model, which doesn't work in this American ecosystem where carriers control everything.
So what you can actually get if you want Xiaomi products in the States are chargers, air purifiers, desk accessories, and even those incredibly cool cordless screwdrivers — they sell those here but not phones! Meanwhile their EV division is absolutely crushing it back home with a SU7 sedan that's been compared to Porsche models and their 2026 model can start around $32,000. You need to leave the country for both the phone and the car though because of certification hurdles on our side — but man, what we could get if the market were different!
Source: https://www.engadget.com/2210461/why-xiaomi-not-banned-rarely-sold-usa/