Apple might feel like Samsung is the biggest competition right now, but when we hear news in China about Xiaomi, it feels like the new Chinese phone maker is the biggest threat, if they should ever go international.
In a report published earlier today, Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun announced the company had sold more phones in the first six months, than they did in the whole of last year. Currently at 26.1 million phones sold, compared to 18.7 million in 2013, a 271 percent growth for the company.
This is huge and shows Xiaomi’s small expansion into Singapore, Malaysia, The Philippines and India has went smoothly. Xiaomi is even looking into more expansion across East Asia and potentially Latin America, sometime in the future.
Hugo Barra, ex-VP of Google and now VP for Xiaomi Global, has been working hard on carriers and retailers in other countries, insuring that once the Xiaomi phone hits, it is big news in the country and everyone who wants a new phone knows the new name.
Xiaomi has made a business of the back of a cheap and powerful smartphones. Their Android software redesign is vibrant and for stock fans a little off-putting, but is big in China and works better than some other choices, like Samsung’s TouchWiz and LG’s skin.
The cheap prices for their smartphones really make them more consumer friendly, Redmi goes for around $130 off contract and the flagship Mi3 goes for $332, a lot cheaper than high-end phones in the US.
Xiaomi has also been capable of hitting huge sales, by offering new phones through pre-order on social media and making sure they are a dominant and well known brand in China, resonating well with the younger audience in China.
Inside China, the CEO Lei Jun is known as the “Steve Jobs of China” and his company is the “Apple of China,” while this does not resonate well with Jun, it certainly shows the appeal of their phones in the homeland.
