Xiaomi unveils smart air conditioner

Chinese tech firm Xiaomi unveiled a new smart air conditioner Monday in its latest efforts to expand its smart product ecosystem.

View of a store of Xiaomi in Huaibei city, east China's Anhui province, 3 July 2018. [Photo: IC]

The appliance, with a minimalist appearance design, features app control and voice commands as well as precise temperature adjustment by 0.1 degree Celsius, according to a statement from Xiaomi.

The air conditioner is priced at 1,999 yuan (294.4 U.S. dollars).

This is the second time Xiaomi has made a foray into air conditioning after it teamed up with home appliance maker Midea Group in 2015 to create a smart AC unit.

The new unit adds to Xiaomi's range of smart devices which include refrigerators, air purifiers, desk lamps and robot vacuum cleaners.

Founded as a handset-maker in 2010, Xiaomi has evolved into an internet company with hardware connected to the Internet-of-Things (IoT) at its core.

Chinese manufacturers' spending on IoT is expected to grow by around 15 percent each year and be close to 130 billion U.S. dollars by 2020, according to International Data Corp.