As Great As A Mountain:

The Xiaomi Story So Far

IN SuCH A SHORT TIME, THE CHINESE DEVICE MANuFACTuRER HAS BECOME THE TOAST OF THE MARKET. BuT CAN IT HANG ON TO ITS SuCCESS AND GOODWILL?

look at that phone right there. Just look at it. A monumental task has finally been achieved – a smartphone screen that eliminates the bezel (the fancy word for the border between the screen and the edge of a phone) and expands the screen from edge to edge. In an era where every smartphone model is trying to outdo the last in terms of screen size and resolution, one smartphone manufacturer has maximized the real estate a screen takes up. Whose hand do we shake for this achievement? samsung? apple? or an upstart company poised to pose a serious threat to the existing smart device market?look at that phone right there. Just look at it. A monumental task has finally been achieved – a smartphone screen that eliminates the bezel (the fancy word for the border between the screen and the edge of a phone) and expands the screen from edge to edge. In an era where every smartphone model is trying to outdo the last in terms of screen size and resolution, one smartphone manufacturer has maximized the real estate a screen takes up. Whose hand do we shake for this achievement? samsung? apple? or an upstart company poised to pose a serious threat to the existing smart device market?

xiaomi is that upstart company in question. Quickly earning rabid fans from all over the world, the beijing-based company (whose name means “millet” in mandarin) is offering innovative, highpowered, and insanely attractive devices at prices far lower than many of the major brands on the market. In less than a decade, the company has gone from its founding to product introduction to domination; as apple faltered in its goal to make a large imprint on the chinese market, xiaomi became the largest smartphone vendor in the country in 2014, selling 61 million units. their popularity comes, in part, from the strategy to sell their phones (close to) at cost, and make a profit from services such as their self-made MiUI operating system and home integration systems. they have expanded their presence far beyond its homeland, first to the rest of Asia, and then further abroad.

However, just because the rise has been quick doesn’t mean the ride has been smooth. xiaomi’s emphasis on sleek design and eye-catching As Great As A Mountain:  The Xiaomi Story So Far IN SuCH A SHORT TIME, THE CHINESE DEVICE MANuFACTuRER HAS BECOME THE TOAST OF THE MARKET. BuT CAN IT HANG ON TO ITS SuCCESS AND GOODWILL?16  THE XIOAMI STORYmarketing campaigns have earned them comparisons to, and accusations of ripping off, a much more well-known Us-based tech giant. “many chinese consumers have come to idolize the apple brand, and xiaomi has been there to provide a similar product at a much cheaper price,” says Wei Wuhui, a technology industry expert at shanghai Jiaotong University. ceo lei Jun has even taken steps to model himself after apple co-founder steve Jobs, making high-profile announcements of new products in Jobsesque casual attire.

Is xiaomi shying away from these accusations and comparisons? Not in the slightest. rather, the company and its ceo are embracing their position as the “apple of the east.” David barboza notes that vaunted products such as the iphone are made in china, but rarely invented there. so why, then, wouldn’t xiaomi look to brag on its own accomplishments by taking cues from one of tech’s all-time top iconoclastic figureheads to project its presence? Great artists, and tech entrepreneurs, steal. even steve Jobs knew that.

to place so much emphasis on a chinese company ripping off a Western one is to miss a very important point – Xiaomi is filling an important niche in the chinese smartphone market. barboza says that the company caters to young college graduate who are eager to own a phone but cannot afford a samsung or an apple. lei Jun’s intuition about his target market has got other tech executives singing his praises. “He’s insightful about user needs and markets, and now he has this incredible desire to create a household brand in technology.” says kai-fu lee, a former Google executive who now runs a beijing-based firm that invests in Chinese start-ups.

the translation of xiaomi’s name – millet, a kind of rice – is linked to the buddhist concept that a single grain of rice is as great as a mountain. Indeed, this company has done great things and made a gigantic footprint for itself in a short time. as with yin and yang, with every rise must come a fall. Is there cause for concern about a coming downfall for xiaomi?

It is true that xiaomi’s sales have been in decline since 2015 relative to sales projections, when it made good on only 71% of its forecast for that year. by 2016, its foothold on the global smartphone market slipped by 16%, even as it captured more of the market in places like India. although many analysts signaled the death knell for the company, they overlooked two things. first, their possibility to evolve, which is exactly what they have done. In Q1 of 2017, xiaomi became the world’s largest vendor of wearable technology (which runs on its miUI os), eclipsing not only apple, but fitbit, the former undefeated champ of the wearables market. together with the aforementioned services they offer, this news is one signal that xiaomi may be a top contender in the tech industry for the foreseeable future.

the uninitiated may read the above point and scoff, thinking that xiaomi is only moving from product to product to stay afloat as a viable company because they couldn’t hack it in the smartphone world. However, the second point that could hold the key to their success is their perception as a lifestyle brand. the college graduates and young professionals who compose its fanbase don’t just love the xiaomi brand, they identify with it, and this is something apple has also manage to do on its path to greatness. these demographics’ enthusiasm for xiaomi products have helped them form an online community bursting at the seams with praise and feedback, which the company listens to and incorporates into its products. the cohesiveness of this community can be explained with sociopolitical reasoning, but that, however is far beyond the scope of this piece (although lawrence li of the ringer wrote an excellent piece touching on this subject). Nevertheless, the existence of this community signals that Xiaomi is not just another flash-inthe-pan chinese goods manufacturer.

In spite of the doomsaying, it does appear as though xiaomi is here to stay. they are adaptable and interact with a built-in fanbase that is ready to follow them wherever they may go. In the 21st century, the most successful companies are the ones that don’t lose sight of these attributes.