The Xiaomi story

In such a short time, the Chinese device manufacturer has become the toast of the market. But can it hang on to its success and goodwill? Look at that phone right there. Just look at it. A monumental task has finally been achieved - a smartphone screen that eliminates the bezel (the fancy word for the border between the screen and the edge of a phone) and expands the screen from edge to edge. In an era where every smartphone model is trying to outdo the last in terms of screen size and resolution, one smartphone manufacturer has maximized the real estate a screen takes up. Whose hand do we shake for this achievement? Samsung? Apple? Or an upstart company poised to pose a serious threat to the existing smart device market?

Xiaomi is that upstart company in question. Quickly earning rabid fans from all over the world, the Beijing-based company (whose name means “millet” in Mandarin) is offering innovative, high-powered, and insanely attractive devices at prices far lower than many of the major brands on the market. In less than a decade, the company has gone from its founding to product introduction to domination; as Apple faltered in its goal to make a large imprint on the Chinese market, Xiaomi became the largest smartphone vendor in the country in 2014, selling 61 million units. Their popularity comes, in part, from the strategy to sell their phones (close to) at cost, and make a profit from services such as their self-made MiUI operating system and home integration systems. They have expanded their presence far beyond its homeland, first to the rest of Asia, and then further abroad.

However, just because the rise has been quick doesn’t mean the ride has been smooth. Xiaomi’s emphasis on sleek design and eye-catching marketing campaigns have earned them comparisons to, and accusations of ripping off, a much more well-known US-based tech giant. “Many Chinese consumers have come to idolize the Apple brand, and Xiaomi has been there to provide a similar product at a much cheaper price,” says Wei Wuhui, a technology industry expert at Shanghai Jiaotong University. CEO Lei Jun has even taken steps to model himself after Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, making high-profile announcements of new products in Jobsesque casual attire.

Is Xiaomi shying away from these accusations and comparisons? Not in the slightest. Rather, the company and its CEO are embracing their position as the “Apple of the East.” David Barboza notes that vaunted products such as the iPhone are made in China, but rarely invented there. So why, then, wouldn’t Xiaomi look to brag on its own accomplishments by taking cues from one of tech’s all-time top iconoclastic figureheads to project its presence? Great artists, and tech entrepreneurs, steal. Even Steve Jobs knew that. To place so much emphasis on a Chinese company ripping off a Western one is to miss a very important point – Xiaomi is filling an important niche in the Chinese smartphone market.