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Xiaomi wants to sell fancier phones, but people think they aren’t swanky enough
Can Xiaomi shake off its image as a maker of cheap phones?
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This article originally appeared on ABACUS
Sitting in the very heart of Beijing, surrounded by two miles of majestic crimson walls, is the historic Forbidden City -- one of the world’s most well-preserved ancient palaces. It was here, on a crisp October afternoon, that Xiaomi’s Lei Jun let go a rhetorical punch against unnamed rivals, defending a principle he’s held dearly for the last eight years.
How Xiaomi forged a unique path
“Other phone makers sell exorbitantly expensive handsets, but expensive phones aren’t necessarily the best,” he said.
It was Lei’s third major phone launch this year, and the CEO is under a lot of pressure. In February, he set a lofty goal: In two and a half years, Xiaomi wants to recapture its former glory as China’s best-selling smartphone brand.
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Lei only has 20 more months to achieve that. Yet the latest scorecard shows how hard it will be. Xiaomi sold 15% fewer phones in the last quarter compared to a year ago. Huawei, which launched a flagship phone just a week before Xiaomi, saw double-digit growth.
Some analysts say Huawei’s success comes down to putting high-end features into affordable handsets, giving consumers value for money -- a strategy that Xiaomi also prides itself on. At US$420, the Mi 8 smartphone gives you 6GB of RAM and 128GB storage with a strong processor -- not a bad deal at all. But somehow, it didn’t fly off the shelves.
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“To people from that generation, there are more features on a smartphone than they actually use. Meanwhile in their minds, the image of Xiaomi is just too tawdry,” said Meishigenzheluan, a Zhihu user.
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