Phone maker Xiaomi falls then rises in Hong Kong debut

Xiaomi’s Founder, Chairman and CEO Lei Jun (right) and Chew Shou Zi, senior vice president and chief financial officer gesture during the listing ceremony at the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in Hong Kong on July 9, 2018. (AP)

HONG KONG  — Xiaomi Corp. shares slipped and then rebounded Monday in the Chinese smartphone maker’s first trading day in Hong Kong following a multibillion-dollar initial public offering.

Trading opened at 16.60 Hong Kong dollars ($2.11) per share, below Xiaomi’s offering price of 17 Hong Kong dollars ($2.17). Shares lost about 4 percent in early trading but rebounded to 17 Hong Kong dollars ($2.17) at midday.

Xiaomi, which helped to pioneer the trend for ultra-low-priced smartphones, says it plans to become an equipment-and-hardware brand alongside Apple Inc. The 8-year-old company has yet to give details of how that business model will work outside China.

Speaking at the ceremonial opening of trading, Xiaomi’s chairman Jun Lei acknowledged that the timing of the IPO might not be optimal given the state of trade friction between the US and China. But he was undaunted.

“Although the macro-economic conditions are far from ideal, we believe a great company can still rise to the challenge and distinguish itself,” he said.