Apple and Xiaomi executives got into a little trash talk fight at the World Internet Conference this week in China. Xiaomi’s CEO Lei Jun described his company as a “small miracle” that’s ready to dominate the smartphone world. But Apple’s general counsel, Bruce Sewell, who was also at the conference, wasn’t impressed with all of Xiaomi’s boasting.
Xiaomi’s sudden rise to being the world’s third largest smartphone maker has been nothing short of miraculous. Executives at the Apple copy-cat are bullish on the company’s future and hope to become the top smartphone maker in 5 to 10 years, but Sewell thinks that’s much easier said than done.
“It is easy to say, it is more difficult to do,” Bruce Sewell, Apple’s general counsel and senior vice president of legal and government affairs, told the conference when asked about Lei’s bold claims which would require Xiaomi to displace Apple in second place, adding that there were “many good competitive phones in China”.
Xiaomi was founded in 2010 and released its first smartphone in 2011, but the company’s sudden success has been accredited to designs that wholesale copy the iPhone and iPad. The company is often referred to as “The Apple of China,” as it’s now the top smartphone maker, with over 70 million users.
Apple executives have taken Xiaomi to task for its flagrant copying. In a recent interview, Jony Ive called the company out for design theft, and said that imitating his work is not flattering. Apple currently sits in sixth place among smartphone makers in China. The iPhone 6 is expected to boost the company’s market share with support for all of the country’s networks, but Xiaomi is already setting its sights on taking over India too.
Lei Jun told conference attendees that India is becoming the company’s largest overseas market, and that the company expects to almost triple its user base in the next year to 200 million users.
Buster Hein is a freelance writer who lives in Phoenix, Arizona. Twitter: @bst3r.
20 responses to “Apple schools Xiaomi in art of trash talk”
Well, it really is a sign of working with the devil. Every industry that does work with China sees their work copied. Look what happened to Hummer. The tried to sell them there, when no agreement was reached, a Chinese company just blatantly copied the Hummer. Their stealth fighter was probably built after the theft of US and Russian fighter tech. It’s just sad how few original ideas come from Chinese companies that make it big.
http://www.cultofmac.com/303730/apple-xiaomi-becoming-1-easier-say/#disqus_thread
Jony Ive’s design of the phone is pretty lame. Camera lens sticking out, wide plastic antenna line on the back??? He’s really over rated. I hope Xiaom does well.
And we/Apple copy a lot too…
Come on dude. There’s copying cues here and there, and there’s BLATANT copying. Know the difference.
Apple is losing it’s charm. I still bought a new iPhone 6 and iPad Air but I can still be critical.
And “dude”,,,well that’s cute.
I know the difference Juan )p
Bla bla bla….like and old record who is broken. You think the design is lame and still buys it!! I wonder who is lame and stupid.
And you call yourself an Apple fan boy? You’re the exact opposite, please don’t speak on this topic ever again.
np canada
I don’t drink the cool aid
I don’t drink the cool aid, but you obviously drink the “support-the-copy-artists” aid, which is what Xiaomi is, much worse than Samsung even is.
Who are you, the Canadian topic police.
Apple can do no wrong to people with closed minds.
Good day.
Apple does wrong all the time but thats not the issue here. The issue is that you have a company that steals everything. If you worked with China company you would know that´s in their culture to steel.
Overrated? He (and his 15 person team) designed the iMac, iPod line, Power Mac G3/4, G5, Mac Mini, unibody MacBook Pro, iPhone, MacBook Air, iPad, iOS 7, Mavericks, and now the Apple Watch.
Industrial designers would consider it the accomplishment of a lifetime to have one of those influential hits to their name, and Ive arguably has about a dozen. Each one sold tens or hundreds of millions of units and sprung its own copycats or trends in product design. Please explain how he is overrated and who you want think is a better designer.
Nothing beats the original. Copycat phones will always get the impression of being wannabes of something else. You might get people to notice your Xiaomi phone because it looks like an iPhone, but guess what the reaction would be when they find out it’s not an iPhone? “Oh, nevermind, I thought it’s an iPhone. Looks good though (thx to Apple).”. Reminds me of those people who fixes up their cars to look like a BMW or a Mercedes. It’s TACKY.
Anyone notice the typo on the red screen? “…Someting…
ha ha ha … goes with my comment. “Someting” is up :) typical Chinese english… Bruce Lei fooled me many times when I used to die to watch Bruce Lee movies ! LOL !
Xiaomi is not the “Apple of China”. It is at best, the “Samsung of China”. One can even praise them sort of for having out-Samsunged Samsung. But only because they are greedier, less ethical, and far more willing to sacrifice their self-respect than Samsung. Coming from a culture that supposedly values ‘face’ so much, Xiaomi’s utter shamelessness is breathtaking. Then again, so were those people who would bring sack loads of empty Amway cleaning products to Amway branches in China and with a straight face, claim a refund because they were ‘dissatisfied’ with the product.
Now don’t get all worked up. I’m not saying all Chinese, I’m just saying the exceptions are so jarring because of the value that is traditionally put on ‘face’.
There will be a % of people who will buy it in short term thinking its cost effective and in the end shows them the dream of owning the apple “like” device for fraction of the cost, but the first opportunity they get, they will get the real thing…cause quality is not just the hardware or the software alone… its over all experience. Today I might buy a cheaper sports car since I cannot afford the high end. But the first opportunity I get, why would I settle for anything less? The end performance always shows. When I drive the BMW, I always remember how it felt driving uphill with four people in a corolla… HUGE difference ! The other side, if xiaomi copied well enough and they are really equally good, they won’t sustain the cost anyways in long run. Once the costs match up, you know who will win. Let me say one last thing, whether people consider apple to be better or not, whether people like Jony Ive or not, stop copying for heavens sake
If you want all your data send to China then buy their phones. They collect more data then Google. It’s scary.
If the design team at Xiaomi is anything like its marketing team, it will require the company much more attention to detail with its products to overcome Apple’s quality and meticulous craft. Take a look at that image, there is someting wrong with it.
Are you referring to the compass? That looks messed up to me, just like their product.