Xiaomi wants to fight Apple more effectively

Courageous voices poured in from the first Xiaomi management meeting this year. Lei Jun, the company’s founder and director, was tempted to say that the competition with Apple should take the form of a “life-and-death war”. Of course, this should not be taken literally, but it gives a clear indication of the imminent attack of the Chinese manufacturer.

First of all, the advantage that Xiaomi has in his country – the location – will be used. Over the next three years, up to 20,000 additional salons will be opened in China, as well as in vast rural areas. This could make a big difference, as they account for 70 percent of the smartphone market in China and are less saturated with electronic equipment than cities.

Looking at the entire Chinese market and the global market, Xiaomi will want to focus more on premium smartphones. Although it already has an offer on offer, many users still equate it with cheaper offers. And they, even with millions of copies, do not earn very well. In this context, and the necessity of dimming iPhones, Lei Jun mentioned “the war for life and death.” He also repeated the statements made not so long ago that in the next five years up to 100 billion yuan will be allocated to research and development. Double the amount compared to the previous pool for this purpose is to help realize the ambitions of the company.

“We aim to compare with Apple in terms of product and experience to become the largest high-end brand in China in the next three years.” – Lee Jun, founder of Xiaomi

It was boiling because Apple managed to regain the throne in the Chinese market

According to Canalys data, in the second quarter of last year, Xiaomi managed to become the world’s second largest smartphone maker for the first time. Apple managed to bypass Samsung directly. Later the situation began to turn for the worse. Xiaomi fell victim to the global semiconductor shortage and at the same time also to weak demand in the Chinese market.

The trend continued until the end of last year. Recently disclosed CounterPoint accounts showed that after a few years, Apple managed to reclaim the throne in the Chinese market. The iPhone 13 series smartphones were very well received, there was also no shortage of store shelves. It turns out, by and large, that it’s Apple that fills the gap after Huawei’s continued dipping. It has grown at the expense of not only Xiaomi, but all the domestic leaders.

This table hurts Xiaomi a lot.

Xiaomi better? Or maybe still just copying?

Xiaomi seems to have a long way to go, longer than a few months ago. It turns out that the seemingly stable smartphone market could change a lot in not a long time. Will top-shelf smartphones help Xiaomi? Will there be more of them than before? It is difficult to judge. Also because customers can be unpredictable, and external factors can also mix a lot.

Apple’s opponents have a lot of arguments in the discussions, but, as you can see, the manufacturer defends the most important in business, that is, sales results. There are also various kinds of accusations towards Xiaomi. Also those related to strong inspiration from Apple. In recent months, a lot has been said about mimicking the look of iOS in a MIUI overlay, copying marketing materials, or making product presentations with a similar style. He even laughed that Lei Jun started wearing jeans and using the phrase “something else”.

Or maybe Xiaomi should not set itself the goal of direct competition with Apple, just because Android and iOS are completely different worlds? The latest data showed that Xiaomi must first catch up with other manufacturers to be behind Apple at all, and only then will it be possible to talk about an attempt to regain the throne.

Have you been looking for a new smartphone lately? Was he a model for one of the main characters in this post?

Source: scmp, photo: unplash