With Apple (
AAPL
,
quote
) and Samsung (
SSNLF
,
quote
) counting on Chinese smartphone adoption for continued growth,
there would not seem room for more competitors. But Xiaomi has been
described by
Forbes
as "
China's hottest smartphone company
."
[caption id="attachment_69111" align="alignright" width="300"
caption="Is this the best smartphone for the money in China?"]
[/caption]
It has the numbers to back up the designation. Millions in the
People's Republic are finding it the best smartphone for the
money.
When Xiaomi put its MI-One smartphone on the market last
September, it received 300,000 pre-orders in the first 24 hours. In
less than a year Xiaomi has sold more than three million MI-Ones in
China. The appeal of the MI-One is that it is a
"...high-powered phone based on a dual-core processor from
Qualcomm but with a price far lower than many comparably equipped
phones sold in China. That combination of raw power and a
reasonable price tag has attracted huge attention from Chinese
consumers."
At present Samsung sells the most mobile phones in China with
21.8% of the market. Apple is next with 18.9%. There is a huge drop
off in market share after that. While the number of mobile phones
in China is now over one billion, the amount of those not being a
smart phone has plummeted from about 500 million to around 400
million. Next year more than three quarters of the mobile phones
sold in the People's Republic will be smartphones.
The Xiaomi MI-One has a huge advantage in pricing for those
looking for the best smartphone for the money. The Apple iPhone 4S
costs $790, while the price of a Xiaomi MI-One is only $320. But
nothing is ever for sure in China, not even for a hometown
favorite. Thanks to heavy competition, "good-enough" smartphones
from Android or Windows can be purchased for under $100.
If Xiaomi can make
significant penetrations in China, it will do well
in other countries
for those buying the best smartphone for the money. This is
certainly daunting against the likes of Samsung and Apple.
However, it was only recently that Nokia (
NOK
,
quote
) sold more mobile phones than any other company in the world. And
it was Research-in-Motion (
RIMM
,
quote
) that introduced the first smartphone to the masses with the
Blackberry. Selling three million units in its first year of
operations is a good start for Xiamoi with its MI-One. Change comes
quickly in the mobile phone industry.
