“What a difference two years makes. In late 2014, the financial media became obsessed with a small smartphone company called Xiaomi,” Bob Ciura writes for Seeking Alpha. “The company was founded in 2010 and was growing rapidly. By early 2015, the hype turned into full-blown mania. Analysts fell in love with the Xiaomi story. Xiaomi was seen as a real threat to Apple and was being lauded as the ‘Apple of China.'”
“Fast forward and hardly anyone ever talks about Xiaomi anymore. It virtually disappeared from the financial media, and only recently resurfaced, albeit for all the wrong reasons,” Ciura writes. “A recent article in International Business Times suggests Xiaomi’s valuation has plunged to less than $4 billion in the private markets.”
“The lesson we can glean from the Xiaomi case is that Apple’s brand is too strong to be undone by low-cost competition, even in international markets where Apple’s brand equity is not as high as it is in the United States,” Ciura writes. “Just as cheap competition from Xiaomi and others did not stop Apple in China, moving forward, Apple won’t be stopped in India either… Apple won out because of its premium brand, high-quality devices and the benefits of its ecosystem. Cheap competition simply can’t fully replicate the Apple experience.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Xiaomi makes Samsung look like original thinkers. Hugo Barra, who used to be in charge of Google’s Android division, is a Xiaomi VP. Plus, the knockoff outfit is led by an even more despicable slime bucket than Samsung:
“[Steve] Jobs will die someday, so there are still opportunities for us. The meaning of our existence is just waiting for him to kick the bucket.” – Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun, August 30, 2011
The “Apple of China?” More like The BlackBerry of China.
Xiaomi can’t FOAD fast enough.
SEE ALSO:
Where it all went wrong for China’s Apple iPhone-knockoff maker Xiaomi – August 19, 2016
Xiaomi phone shipments slump by 38 percent in China – August 17, 2016
China’s Apple iPhone-knockoff maker Xiaomi banned from peddling phones in India – June 27, 2016
Don’t be silly, Xiaomi is no threat to Apple – January 19, 2015
Xiaomi, which makes billions ripping off Apple, warns people not to buy knockoff versions of its devices – January 12, 2015
Chinese Xiaomi copycat hit with patent infringement lawsuits, sales bans – December 23, 2014
China’s Xiaomi made a meager $56 million profit in 2013 – December 15, 2014
Xiaomi’s MIUI 6 Android skin mimics Apple’s iOS 7 – August 18, 2014
7 things Chinese copycat Xiaomi blatantly ripped off from Apple – July 24, 2014
Xiaomi MiPad? Seriously? Apple must be absolutely furious – May 15, 2014
The Death Spiral: It’s what happens to those who steal from Apple – November 10, 2014
Apple’s iPhone can soon reap 100 percent of world’s smartphone profits – November 17, 2015
Apple’s iPhone owns 94% of smartphone industry’s profits – November 16, 2015
Apple iPhone owns over 90% of smartphone profits, so why do others even bother fighting over Apple’s scraps? – October 8, 2015
Apple’s iPhone juggernaut continues with record-breaking sales while Android peddlers fight over scraps – September 28, 2015
Apple’s iPhone owns 92% of smartphone industry’s profits – July 13, 2015
Poor man’s iPhone: Android on the decline – February 26, 2015
Study: iPhone users are smarter and richer than those who settle for Android phones – January 22, 2015
Why Android users can’t have the nicest things – January 5, 2015
iPhone users earn significantly more than those who settle for Android phones – October 8, 2014
Yet more proof that Android is for poor people – June 27, 2014
More proof that Android is for poor people – May 13, 2014
Android users poorer, shorter, unhealthier, less educated, far less charitable than Apple iPhone users – November 13, 2013
IDC data shows two thirds of Android’s 81% smartphone share are cheap junk phones – November 13, 2013
CIRP: Apple iPhone users are younger, richer, and better educated than those who settle for Samsung knockoff phones – August 19, 2013