Xiaomi Technology announced that they would launch a new iteration of their MiOne (MI) Smartphone. This announcement of the new rival to iPhone was made on August 9. According to reports the new iteration of their MiOne is way better than the iPhone on paper, and yet it comes for less half price of the Phone 4S. Xiaomi was founded two years ago and already worth more than RIM, developer of BlackBerry phones. The company has become so popular that it managed to sell out a few minutes after it went on sale online. In a July interview Lei Jun, CEO and founder of Xiaomi, said that the company’s revenue reached up to $1billion as it managed to move more than 3 million units.
Lei charged fans of Xiaomi $31.30 so they could attend Apple’s annual worldwide developers’ conference where the company was going to showcase its upcoming products. More than 1,000 fans attended the Apple’s Beijing lunch, which attendance was not for free and the company planned to give the whole income to Charity. Even though iPhone sales in China are expected to increase, Apple’s market shares are expected not to rise further, or even decrease because of the changing market. According to a research by IDC conducted in 2011, Smartphones while costing less than $200 own up to 40%, and iPhone sales in China, on the other hand, made up 11% even though they cost as much as $700.
Growth in the industry is driven mainly by Smartphone developers like ZTE Corp, Lenovo Group, and other smaller companies like Xiaomi, Gionee and Meizu Technology. They make cheaper devices with much more advanced features than bigger firms. A good example is Meizu which is praised by western technology for their high quality but cheap phones.
