I Know Apple. And You, Xiaomi, Are No Apple

MacObserver ^ | Jan 16th, 2015 7:20 PM EST | By Bryan Chaffin

[Swordmaker]

Xiaomi is chopping up Samsung's China market at the low end. . . and Apple is eating it at the high end. But Xiaomi is not making any profit in doing it. They posted the equivalent of only $7 million in profit last year. . . and that was with not paying any licensing fees or royalties on the Standards Essential Patents or non-Standards patents they are infringing. Xiaomi ran into a legal buzz-saw when they attempted to open a new market for their phones and tablets in India where the rule of law is very strong. There, they had many of the imports seized and products turned away at the port of entry for infringing the patents held by Cisco, Nokia, Microsoft, Samsung, and a myriad of other cell phone makers who developed the technologies and are due payment for their technology that every other maker pays. — Swordmaker

[Swordmaker]

Some pundits are claiming that China's phone maker Xiaomi is the next Apple. . . but can it be? — PING!

Is Apple being threatened by Xiaomi Ping!

If you want on or off the Mac Ping List, Freepmail me.

[dennisw]

The author looks gayer than Tim Cooks. Author wears two hoop earnings. The only reason I looked up his image was this article’s tone made me suspicious//// Xiomi has a good business model for less developed nations beyond patent laws. Like I give a bleep they don’t pay Tim Cooks any royalties.....lol

[2ndDivisionVet]

A £30,000 copycat Rolls-Royce? It must be made in China
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1172635/A-30-000-copycat-Rolls-Royce-It-China.html

[Swordmaker]

The author looks gayer than Tim Cooks. Author wears two hoop earnings. The only reason I looked up his image was this article’s tone made me suspicious//// Xiomi has a good business model for less developed nations beyond patent laws. Like I give a bleep they don’t pay Tim Cooks any royalties.....lol

It is not APPLE that is suing Xiaomi for patent infringement, Dennis. It is Ericsson, Microsoft, Cisco, Nokia, and a host of other companies. Apple has basically ignored Xiaomi, except for Jony Ives' bitter statement at their ripping off his designs. You aren't paying attention. The author of this story is saying the same thing as a lot of other pundits and analysts as well. Xiaomi cannot compete in the world market without paying the SEP royalties. If they try they will be sued into bankruptcy. The ONLY reason they have been successful so far is the lax IP courts in China. . . and even they are starting to crack down on IP Law.

One saving grace I see for Xiaomi is that they are, for the first time, NOT COPYING their designs from Apple. The Xiaomi mi Note is actually a very nice looking phablet. Up until this year, their designs and even their phone names names aped Apple's models and designs, down to the "skins" they put on their version of Android to make it look as much like iOS as possible.

[House Atreides]

“The author looks gayer than Tim Cooks. Author wears two hoop earnings. The only reason I looked up his image was this article’s tone made me suspicious///...”
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So, you’re attracted to that sort of thing? Not that there’s anything wrong with it. /s

[dennisw]

Apple....official computer of the fruitcake communuity

[RayChuang88]

I believe that when Xiaomi phones finally make to the Western world (e.g., Western Europe and North America), they won't be anything like the phones you see now. Expect a truly unique design and likely running a pure Google version of Android just like the Google Play editions of the Samsung Galaxy S5 and HTC One (M8) phones.

[House Atreides]

“This is the beginning of a new day.
God has given me this day to use as I will.
I can waste it or use it for good...”
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So, you’ve chosen to waste this God given day on gratuitous insults of users of Apple products. The founders would be so proud of you.

[LearnsFromMistakes]

If you really want to shame me, buy me one of those iMac Retina 5k thingies with an i7 and 16 gig of ram...that would really make me feel bad...

[dennisw]

You are likely correct. Right now Xiaomi is bringing lots of cash in a way that is not entirely kosher....With Xiaomi not caring about patent laws. It will invest this money in becoming stronger and better to the point they will sell everywhere in the world and obey patent laws.

IOW operate guerrilla fashion now and legit later. Time is on their side due to Chinese and Asians getting more prosperous. Xiaomi sells in Burma or Thailand? I doubt patent laws are enforced there. Apple is for the status seeking mincing elites of the First World. Like this clown/fruitcake/reviewer with his two hoop earrings.
The rest of the world is more practical

[ReignOfError]

An example of dennisw’s acute knowledge of the Asian market:

“You obviously don’t know how big Manny Pacquiao is across Asia. Billions of Asians are going buy HP’s TouchPad due to him. Apple will lose 98% of their Asian sales. HP is in very very close cooperation with the Taiwanese geniuses producing a superior product. They have torn part hundreds of iPads and know what makes them tick. They know how to make it all work better and the result is the HP TouchPad”

[dennisw]

My words were prophetic. Just give Xiomi a few years. Lenovo too

[ProtectOurFreedom]

You don’t give a bleep, huh? That is little mind thinking. Do you work for free? Do you give away your IP?

Imagine if IP laws were not vigorously enforced and IP theft were more rampant than it is. What would happen to the incentive to innovate? It would evaporate overnight and risk capital would dry up. New product flow would end. Do you really want that? Or are you just making ignorant remarks to just hear yourself babble?

[RayChuang88]

Xiaomi right now is more into brand-building than making phones competitive in Western markets. That's why I believe Xiaomi is quietly working on phones with much more unique designs (and likely using the new USB Type C connector) and will use a pure Google version of Android to make it easier for end users and allow access to the Google Play store.

[dennisw]

Lenovo has come along way and Xiami will prolly do the same.

[ReignOfError]

If they come up with some truly outstanding hardware designs, they might do well. And if I were running Android, my preference would be for a vanilla Google install (though I haven’t used any of the vendor UIs much).

The problem is, absent some really compelling hardware designs, they’re competing in a commodified market with razor-thin margins, and if they want to compete in markets where they’ll have to pay for patent licensing, they’ll have to squeeze profits from somewhere else.

[ReignOfError]

My words were prophetic.

So did the HP Touchpad really achieve 98% market share in Asia that somehow no one including HP heard about? Or is there a future Touchpad lurking out there like the 13th imam?

Just give Xiomi a few years. Lenovo too

The iPod/Phone/Pad killer is about 2-3 years away, and always will be.

[Justa]

My Lenovo A9, purchased 3 years ago, killed the iPhone. I.e., for $300 more the iPhone was dead to me.

[Mad Dawgg]

"My Lenovo A9, purchased 3 years ago, killed the iPhone. I.e., for $300 more the iPhone was dead to me."

We got Fire Phones. When we compared prices on our AT&T plan we could've had the latest Android for 200 bucks and a two year plan or an Iphone 6 for 400 bucks and a two year plan or the Fire phone for 99 cents and a 1 year plan. It was a a simple choice for us.

Now our friends who swore by iPhones and were going to upgrade to the six went with the Fire Phone once they saw ours.. They actually ended up getting a cheaper plan over what they had with the iPhone 5.