Is Xiaomi the new mobile giant on the block?
Words: Guy Aubrey Devito
Like Genghis Khan’s Golden Horde, that emerged from the Far East 800 years ago and challenged the great powers of the world, Xiaomi is attempting a land grab. The Chinese tech giant has come out of nowhere and is looking to challenge the dominance of Apple and Samsung in the mobile and tablet market. Currently, Xiaomi products are only widely available in South – and East – Asia, but many are predicting that the world’s 3rd largest smartphone distributor will go on to be the world’s biggest electronics company. We looks at the reasons (for and against) to consider Xiaomi as the next big thing in personal electronics.
FOR:
Their products are cheap! The Xiaomi Mi Note is a phablet that is currently retailing at £244. It basically does the same job, at the same speed as the iPhone 6 plus or the Galaxy Note 4 which cost £539 and £599 respectively…
The days of iOS dominance are over. If you’re an iOS addict then obviously you’ll want to stick with Apple, but if you’re open minded and are happy with the Android operating system then why not just go with a Xiaomi rather than the much pricier HTC and Samsung models.
They are unstoppable in Asia. It’s no secret that Asians love their tech and Xiaomi is blowing the competition out of the water in China. There’s no reason whatsoever to think that they couldn’t replicate that success worldwide.
AGAINST:
No PC yet. The great thing about Apple products is that you have your iPhone, iPhone and iMac (or Macbook) all working seamlessly together on the same sort of operating system – that option is not yet available on Android and may never be…
Aren’t they just ripping off Apple products? The Xiaomi phones and phablets look just like iPhones, and the comparisons don’t end there – everything Xiaomi does seems to be aping Apple. That’s fine for a bit, but they need to start showing their own initiative rather than just copying others…
They may not remain so cheap… Everything’s cheaper in China and the Far East. But imagine Xiaomi products retailing in the EU with all the bureaucracy, all the taxes, all the minefields. Truth is, they may end up costing just as much as a HTC, or a Nokia, or a Sony – in which case they will no longer remain unique and will have a struggle on their hands to become number one.
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