They’re an independent firm

Ever since China-based gaming brand Black Shark made waves last year with their first-ever affordable gaming phone, people (including us) have wrongly assumed that the company was associated with bang-for-the-buck experts Xiaomi. But that’s not the case – the company has since clarified that Xiaomi doesn’t own them, and operates completely independently of the brand. Black Shark, in fact, owns its own facilities for R&D, manufacturing, and marketing.

So why the confusion? Well, Black Shark was first introduced to the west by Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun in 2018 announcing their investment in the brand, and since then everyone incorrectly referred to the brand as “Xiaomi Black Shark”.

That’s not true, and the confusion stems from Xiaomi’s penchant for investing in “ecosystem companies”. These companies produce everything from bags, headphones, power banks, mobility devices that Xiaomi then brands and sells on their stores as their own.

But apparently their set up with Black Shark is quite different. The company maintains and operates its own presence in India and Malaysia independently from Xiaomi, and that might be the case when the brand officially arrives in the Philippines as well.

Speaking of the Philippines, company reps have said that they do see a large market for their devices in our country, and are aware of the popularity of their brand despite not being locally available.

Black Shark plans to enter the Philippine market “soon”, though hasn’t given a solid timeframe yet when they’ll actually make the move to the pearl of the orient. That being said, when Black Shark does arrive in the Philippines, they’ll be extensively using online sales channels to start, and will slowly build up their brick-and-mortar presence after they’ve gained momentum locally.