Xiaomi is reportedly planning to enter the PC market next year

Xiaomi Corp. is considering the introduction of its first laptop early next year, people with direct knowledge of the matter said, opening a new front in its battle against Apple Inc. and Lenovo Group Ltd. Xiaomi’s notebook may go on sale in the first quarter to compete with such premium computers as Apple’s MacBook Air and Lenovo’s ThinkPad, the people said, asking not to be identified because the matter is private. Xiaomi has held talks with Samsung Electronics Co. to supply memory chips, and that initial agreement may extend to providing displays, the people said. Only five years after its founding, Xiaomi vaulted into the global smartphone industry’s top ranks by providing stylish devices with premium components at mid-range prices. Xiaomi getting into the PC business risks bringing additional cost pressures against industry leaders Lenovo, Hewlett-Packard Co. and Apple. Supplying Xiaomi, the fourth-largest smartphone vendor, will boost Samsung’s components business as its tries to reduce reliance on providing for its own Galaxy devices. Samsung and Xiaomi declined to comment in separate e-mails.