Chinese phone giant Xiaomi could be twice as expensive as Apple

A customer looks at smartphones inside a Xiaomi Corp. store in Paris, France, on Friday, May 25, 2018. Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi opened it's first store in Paris and plans for more shops in France, Spain and Italy, testing the appetite of consumers in developed markets as its executives consider a U.S. expansion. Photographer: Christophe Morin/Bloomberg

Chinese serial entrepreneur Lei Jun has been compared with Steve Jobs. Now, analysts are saying the smartphone giant he built could be twice as expensive as Apple Inc. 

Xiaomi Corp deserves to trade at a premium to global phone brands due to its market-share gains and faster growth trajectory, according to research from Morgan Stanley, one of banks leading its Hong Kong IPO. The Beijing-based company has a fair value of about US$65bil (RM259.24bil) to US$85bil (RM339.01bil), translating into around 27 times to 34 times forecasts for its 2019 adjusted earnings, Morgan Stanley wrote in a report this week.