Xiaomi: China’s New Apple? 小米：下一个中国的苹果公司？
The sales and marketing people at smartphone wannabes like ZTE (HKEx: 763; Shenzhen: 000063), Huawei and Lenovo (HKEx: 992) are probably green with envy over the surge in publicity surrounding the upcoming launch of the newest low-cost smartphone by up-and-comer Xiaomi. I’m not usually someone who gets too excited by new product launches, but I have to admit that even I am increasingly intrigued not only by this new phone, Xiaomi’s second following the launch of its first model last fall, but also by Xiaomi itself. The hype looks very similar to the kind of excitement that companies love but often have difficulty generating for their new product launches, with Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) as one of the few companies that can successfully generate such buzz.
So is Xiaomi the next Chinese Apple? The comparison seems like a bit of a stretch, since Xiaomi is only a few years old and this is only its second model. But in its short lifetime, the company has certainly learned to develop products the market likes, focusing on low-cost, high performance smartphones priced at about $300. And equally important, its marketing-savvy founder and chief executive Lei Jun has proven himself capable of attracting widespread media attention for both himself and his products, again reminiscent of former Apple CEO Steve Jobs and in sharp contrast to the faceless executives who sit at the top of companies like Huawei, ZTE, and Samsung (Seoul: 005930).
Let’s have a look at the latest news, which has media reporting that Xiaomi’s second smartphone will be unveiled at a press conference set for August 16. (Chinese article) Like Apple, Xiaomi is keeping most of the details about its newest offering secret until the launch date. And in an interesting twist, an unnamed company official is saying that passes for the launch event are actually selling for 199 yuan each to everyone except reporters. Of course, it’s possible that no one at the event will actually be paying for their tickets, as China’s definition of reporter is rather loose and can include anyone who writes anything at all about the industry.
But the fact that Xioami is getting media to report the 199 yuan ticket price, which equates to around $30, is a brilliant marketing strategy, as it only adds to the hype surrounding the company’s newest smartphone and will undoubtedly help the launch event get even more publicity. I’ll be the first to admit that I haven’t personally tested out a Xiaomi smartphone, though the reviews and handful of people I know who have used them seem to indicate the phones are well designed and have good support from the company, similar to Apple’s strategy with its iPhones and Appstore.
Also like Apple, Xiaomi is focusing all of its efforts on just a handful of models, unlike smartphone makers like Huawei, ZTE and Samsung, which believe that more models are better and, perhaps as a result, have more difficulty generating much hype for each new product release. Obviously the most important factor for Xiaomi will be how well its newest smartphone is received by reviewers and consumers, since even the best marketing campaign is meaningless without a good product behind it. But based on what we’ve seen so far, the future could indeed by bright for this company which is trying to mold itself as China’s answer to Apple.
Bottom line: The buzz surrounding Xiaomi’s new smartphone is reminiscent of earlier campaigns by Apple, and could position the company as one to watch as it enters its rapid growth mode.
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