Xiaomi back on top in China
- Thread starter Pawan Fangaria
- Start date
Paul McLellan
Moderator
Given that Apple is expected to announce the 6S family in a month or so, I'm surprised Apple does as well as it does. Apple always does well in Q4 and Q1 and then falls off coming up to its next annual announcement. I think Xiaomi and Huawei must be pretty much tied, that has to be within the margin of error and it wouldn't surprise me if other analysts have them in the other order.
Xiaomi is also encouraging rumors again about doing an AP in-house: supposedly they took out a comprehensive core license from ARM. In this age of "Real Man Makes His Own Chip", the cynical take is that Xiaomi wants the industry to think that they are with the big boys - especially re Huawei, being so close and all.
On the other hand, Xiaomi's LeadCore play turned out to be more real than I thought, so I should probably be humble
. The Red-Mi 2A debuted in March, with Leadcore's LC1860 that was $3 below Qualcomm counterparts. 2A already accounts for half of all Red-Mi shipments. Wrists got slapped: MTK and QCT called Xiaomi's bluff in price negotaions, but ... This is not a good sign for struggling AP vendors: the Xiaomi founder once famously said that silicon comes from sand and should be priced accordingly - you see, he tried very hard to win that popularity contest after Jobs passed...
On the other hand, Xiaomi's LeadCore play turned out to be more real than I thought, so I should probably be humble
. The Red-Mi 2A debuted in March, with Leadcore's LC1860 that was $3 below Qualcomm counterparts. 2A already accounts for half of all Red-Mi shipments. Wrists got slapped: MTK and QCT called Xiaomi's bluff in price negotaions, but ... This is not a good sign for struggling AP vendors: the Xiaomi founder once famously said that silicon comes from sand and should be priced accordingly - you see, he tried very hard to win that popularity contest after Jobs passed...Pawan Fangaria
New member
"Stake in QCT"? That's interesting. May be if QCT can see a winning side with Xiaomi on low-price war.
Okay, Xiaomi has ~16% market share in China. They have to consistently defend that first and then the uphill task is to go to the world. India may be a easy story for Xiaomi after China.
Okay, Xiaomi has ~16% market share in China. They have to consistently defend that first and then the uphill task is to go to the world. India may be a easy story for Xiaomi after China.
Pawan Fangaria
New member
Good observation Paul. You are right, in China it looks like 6 months cycle for Smartphones
For Samsung, even less. Huawei is definitely doing well and that's remarkable.Good observation Paul. You are right, in China it looks like 6 months cycle for Smartphones
Well, we don't know what's really happening in China. Apple had a small single digit market share in China until 1Q and 2Q of 2015 (in Apple's FY) when it became #1 seller, so it's difficult to tell whether this is just a seasonal (or cyclical) slump. Samsung had, on the other hand, held #1 smartphone maker spot in China continuously for almost 3 years before it collapsed in 3Q 2014 last year and has since stayed down at #4 or #5.
My guess is that China will be all Chinese phones in the not too distant future. Except for maybe Apple on the very high end. The Chinese government has an incredible amount of influence when it comes to controlling the masses. It's the definition of nationalism: Make China strong, buy Chinese products.... I would not be surprised to see a Chinese Government version of Android if there's not one already. It's also about security which is why the Chinese Government has invested so much in semiconductor manufacturing.
Dan: you can rest assured that "all Chinese phones" in China won't happen any time soon. Two words: Conspicuous Consumption. Chinese consumers are - and will stay - very vain about the brand significance of personal items: bags, watches, sneakers, phones ... The only way Chinese consumers can wean themselves off Apple will be if a new generation of Western consumers decide to abandon the brand. In other words, Apple failure in China will have to follow - not precede - the same fate in US.
On another note: I remember some TED speech about key factors that make things addictive; a sense of self-assurance is one, and connectedness to a community is another. Apple and Xiaomi both provide for these 2 factors, albeit to different social demographics, and in different ways. I am not a fan of Xiaomi or its founder, Lei Jun, but they were smart enough to figure out a clever community strategy that, regardless of its merit in terms of technical sophistication, is no copycat as some NYT analysts have suggested.
On another note: I remember some TED speech about key factors that make things addictive; a sense of self-assurance is one, and connectedness to a community is another. Apple and Xiaomi both provide for these 2 factors, albeit to different social demographics, and in different ways. I am not a fan of Xiaomi or its founder, Lei Jun, but they were smart enough to figure out a clever community strategy that, regardless of its merit in terms of technical sophistication, is no copycat as some NYT analysts have suggested.
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In fact, there have been no short supply of Chinese Government-sponsored/encouraged/approved version of Android: from companies as diverse as Lenovo, China Mobile, and Alibaba. I am not seeing much of a real impact.
A friend of mine once said that Google built Android like a bird cage: it's not big enough for the bird to fly, but big enough for it to perch and sing, so it won't be so desperate to escape or go on hunger strike. For a company who had very public rows with the Chinese government, Google has demonstrated the kind of subtle cynicism about its rivals' capabilities and intentions (hence the authenticity of "threats", that many Chinese would call their own.
A friend of mine once said that Google built Android like a bird cage: it's not big enough for the bird to fly, but big enough for it to perch and sing, so it won't be so desperate to escape or go on hunger strike. For a company who had very public rows with the Chinese government, Google has demonstrated the kind of subtle cynicism about its rivals' capabilities and intentions (hence the authenticity of "threats", that many Chinese would call their own.
Pawan Fangaria
New member
Yes, Chinese government is able to control masses. But then they are also making things affordable for the masses with good (not conspicuous) working level quality. That's where the difference with other countries. People in China are listening to their government; I wouldn't say willingly or unwillingly, because still there is good number of population going after Apple phones at high prices.
However, one common pattern I see is that Chinese suppliers are making other world suppliers to slash prices. Samsung started with high price for Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge. Now they are slashing prices!!