Smartphones in China
Smartphones in China
Taking a bite out of Apple
Xiaomi, often described as China’s answer to Apple, is actually quite different
Sep 14th 2013 | BEIJING | From the print edition
IT FEELS more like a rock concert than a press conference as the casually dressed chief executive takes to a darkened stage to unveil his firm’s sleek new smartphone to an adoring crowd. Yet this was not the launch of the new iPhone by Apple on
September 10th, but of the Mi-3 handset by
Xiaomi, a Chinese firm, in Beijing on September
5th. With its emphasis on snazzy design, glitzy launches and the cult-like fervour it inspires in its users, no wonder Xiaomi is often compared to its giant American rival, both by admirers and by critics who call it a copycat. Xiaomi’s boss, Lei
Jun (pictured), even wears jeans and a black shirt, Steve Jobs-style. Is Xiaomi really China’s answer to Apple?
Xiaomi sold 7.2m handsets last year, in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, earning revenues of 12.6 billion yuan ($2.1 billion). Apple sold 125m smartphones globally, earning about $80 billion of its $157 billion sales. But since it was founded in 2010, Xiaomi has grown fast. A recent funding round valued it at $10 billion, more than Microsoft just paid for Nokia’s handset unit. That made
Xiaomi one of the 15 most heavily venture-backed mobile start-ups ever, says Rajeev Chand of
Rutberg, an investment bank. In the second quarter of 2013 Xiaomi’s market share in China was
5%, says Canalys, a research firm—more than Apple’s (4.8%) for the first time.
Yet “we have never compared ourselves to Apple—we are more like Amazon,” says Lin Bin,
Xiaomi’s co-founder, who once worked for the Chinese arms of Microsoft and Google. Apple sells its iPhone 5 for around $860 in China and has the industry’s highest margins. Xiaomi offers its handsets at or near cost: the Mi-3, its new flagship, costs 2,000 yuan ($330). Xiaomi sells direct to customers online, rather than via network operators or retail
Taking a bite out of Apple
Xiaomi, often described as China’s answer to Apple, is actually quite different
Sep 14th 2013 | BEIJING | From the print edition
IT FEELS more like a rock concert than a press conference as the casually dressed chief executive takes to a darkened stage to unveil his firm’s sleek new smartphone to an adoring crowd. Yet this was not the launch of the new iPhone by Apple on
September 10th, but of the Mi-3 handset by
Xiaomi, a Chinese firm, in Beijing on September
5th. With its emphasis on snazzy design, glitzy launches and the cult-like fervour it inspires in its users, no wonder Xiaomi is often compared to its giant American rival, both by admirers and by critics who call it a copycat. Xiaomi’s boss, Lei
Jun (pictured), even wears jeans and a black shirt, Steve Jobs-style. Is Xiaomi really China’s answer to Apple?
Xiaomi sold 7.2m handsets last year, in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, earning revenues of 12.6 billion yuan ($2.1 billion). Apple sold 125m smartphones globally, earning about $80 billion of its $157 billion sales. But since it was founded in 2010, Xiaomi has grown fast. A recent funding round valued it at $10 billion, more than Microsoft just paid for Nokia’s handset unit. That made
Xiaomi one of the 15 most heavily venture-backed mobile start-ups ever, says Rajeev Chand of
Rutberg, an investment bank. In the second quarter of 2013 Xiaomi’s market share in China was
5%, says Canalys, a research firm—more than Apple’s (4.8%) for the first time.
Yet “we have never compared ourselves to Apple—we are more like Amazon,” says Lin Bin,
Xiaomi’s co-founder, who once worked for the Chinese arms of Microsoft and Google. Apple sells its iPhone 5 for around $860 in China and has the industry’s highest margins. Xiaomi offers its handsets at or near cost: the Mi-3, its new flagship, costs 2,000 yuan ($330). Xiaomi sells direct to customers online, rather than via network operators or retail