Having gained a strong foothold in the smartphone market, especially in China and neighboring India, Xiaomi now plans to launch its maiden laptop in early 2016. The Chinese tech giant has already held talks with Samsung for supplying memory chips for its upcoming device. Samsung may also supply displays for Xiaomi's purported notebook.

According to IB Times, although there is hardly enough information about the new product, sources familiar with the developments in Xiaomi revealed to Bloomberg that the notebook is likely to be available in the first quarter of 2016. According to sources, the upcoming Xiaomi laptop will directly compete with premium products like Apple's MacBook Air and Lenovo's ThinkPad series.

DigiTimes was the first to break the news. It reported that currently Xiaomi is developing the notebook with its ODM partners, Inventec and Foxconn. However, mass production of the laptop is yet to be confirmed. Sources in the supply chain further revealed that the company is expected to continue with the same approach it pursued for its smartphones. They added that the notebooks will not only deliver high performance, but will be equally expensive.

The sources further claimed that the upcoming notebook is expected to sport a 15-inch screen and will be priced around $471. According to them, Lenovo, which currently has 20% to 25% market share in China, is likely to be hit badly.

Meanwhile, both Xiaomi and Samsung have declined to comment on these claims. A recent IDC report suggests that worldwide PC shipments are expected to fall by about -8.7% in 2015 and the growth will start again only in 2017. However, the second quarter of 2015 may prove to be a transition period, as vendors prepare for the Windows 10 operating system around this same time.