Xiaomi gets weak response ahead of HK float

Once the world's most valuable unicorn - a startup valued at more than $1 billion - Xiaomi, the world's fourth-largest smartphone maker by shipments, got off to a bad start even before its shares officially started trading in Hong Kong.

The smartphone manufacturer, founded eight years ago by serial entrepreneur Lei Jun, priced its listing on Friday at HK$17 ($2.17) per share, trimming its IPO by almost one-fourth to $4.7 billion amid mounting concern over its hefty pricing and valuation.

The gray market for the company's once-highly anticipated IPO - the first under Hong Kong's newly-launched dual-class share structure - opened as low as HK$16 on Friday, with retail investors giving Xiaomi the cold shoulder and placing orders merely 8.5 times more than the number of shares available to the public.