I recalled Steve Jobs compared Sony laptop to Macbook Air in the introduction.
Apple and Samsung have reportedly issued cease-and-desist notices to Xiaomi in India for an ad campaign that directly compares the rivals' devices to Xiaomi's products. The two companies have threatened the Chinese vendor with legal action, calling the ads "disparaging."
Ads have appeared in local print media and on social media that take pot shots at the competitors' premium offerings. One full-page print ad published in April wished readers a "Happy April Fools' Day" if they believed the iPhone 16 Pro Max's cameras could match those on Xiaomi's recently launched 15 Ultra.
In March, another print ad described the triple lens array on the iPhone 16 Pro Max as "cute" and questioned whether it was "really the best," while touting the Ultra's higher camera specifications and more affordable price. Xiaomi has launched similar ad campaigns against Samsung.
Apple and Samsung contend that the tone of Xiaomi's promotions went beyond fair competition, and portrayed the global market leaders in a negative light. Comparative advertising in India is not prohibited provided they are fact-based and fair, but lawyers can legitimately get involved if the tone and language is perceived as mocking.
Samsung's promotional jabs at Apple have recently taken a more understated approach. Its ads typically don't call out iPhones outright, and instead spotlight features where Samsung believes it has the edge.
The tech giants' responses to this particular ad campaign indicate just how fiercely contested India's smartphone sector has become. As the country's two leading high-end vendors, both brands obviously see their reputation and market share as vital in one of the world's fastest-growing and most lucrative markets, and intend to defend them using all the legal tools at their disposal.
Article Link: Apple and Samsung Push Back Against Xiaomi's Bold India Ads
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Apple and Samsung Push Back Against Xiaomi's Bold India Ads
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Sarcasm is very easy to get in written form, of course. How silly of me not to get it at the first time /s
They aren't apples and oranges. They're both oranges. Literally the marketing tells us that they're both oranges which is the problem.
As stated the output of one is objectively horrible and we're doing a disservice to ourselves accepting that is the case.
When a 15 year old DSLR does a better job of a 2025 phone, calling it a camera replacement or substitute is at best a bold marketing lie that we've been programmed to accept.
Phones aren't that good. Our standards have been lowered.
Was this actually taken with a Z50ii, or is it a phone capture you are saying would look much better if it was?
That was the OP. They probably thought no one could possibly read the second sentence and miss the sarcasm, because everyone carefully reads forum posts. /sThe OP missed the /s
The truly strange part is that you seem to think shareholders want Apple to save cash by not innovating, while they actually invest their cash in Apple with the hope that Apple will use that cash to innovate. Apple dividends are rather low and if an investor was looking for yield they wouldn’t go with Apple, so most Apple investors expect the stock value itself to increase, and that is largely dependent on innovation.
Oh, come on. Clearly it should’ve been: 4 years, 11 months, 3 weeks, 6 days, 23 hours, 59 minutes, and 60 seconds. 😏🤣
Apparently the ads violated India's laws regarding advertising, I bet Xiaomi would do the same if the situation were reversed.
Funny thing, though… John Hodgman playing the PC was by far the better character of the two, so they always seemed pretty pro PC to me.
And by doing the whole generic PC/Mac bit, they weren’t even comparing an actual specific competitor. It would be like saying “people are dumb”, which shouldn’t get you a slander accusation, versus specifically saying someone’s name.
I would expect that concept would be taken into account when they review these ads, as they use pictures of specific devices of the competition.
They were memorable and had an Apple logo at the end. In that sense they worked. They also talked computer lingo and tried to mainstream it.
All Cook seems to do lately is sue other companies and suck trumps finger(sic)
Get over yourself Apple…and start making great products again.
Cook OUT!
Get over yourself Apple…and start making great products again.
Cook OUT!
That’s the entire government of Chinas policies. Apple can’t fight that. They are part of the system. But in India, it can still be fought
Then again, I like taking pictures of my sandwich and I need it in RAW Format the biggest largest format available on the iPhone...that seems to be the normal thing to do these days.
I’d rather have a thicker phone than having a bulge for camera(s). It’s one of the most annoying things on my 15 Pro.
Also, fully agree with what other stated, mobile phones are just good for snapshots shared on social media. That’s it. They’re overprocessed and cameras are useless in low light situations.
Physics is physics, doesn’t matter how much you try to fake out of focus rendering (bokeh) it always looks crap. Small sensors don’t allow for good depth of field control. For that you need larger capture area. If you’ve ever shot medium or large format then you know what I’m talking about about when it comes to DoF control.
The idea behind smartphone cameras was to replace point and shoot cameras which they essentially did for most people but they will never replace normal cameras.
Also, fully agree with what other stated, mobile phones are just good for snapshots shared on social media. That’s it. They’re overprocessed and cameras are useless in low light situations.
Physics is physics, doesn’t matter how much you try to fake out of focus rendering (bokeh) it always looks crap. Small sensors don’t allow for good depth of field control. For that you need larger capture area. If you’ve ever shot medium or large format then you know what I’m talking about about when it comes to DoF control.
The idea behind smartphone cameras was to replace point and shoot cameras which they essentially did for most people but they will never replace normal cameras.
That is a nice photo. The problem is that by the time you reduced it to post on an Internet forum, the resolution was low enough that I honestly couldn’t tell if it was taken by a phone.
While I fully agree that the optics and design of a Mirrorless or DSLR will give better raw images, when the vast majority of those images are being greatly reduced and reformatted down, that is a pretty good reason for most people to be perfectly content with the output from a phone camera.
These days I usually only bother taking out my DSLR for photos of the moon, or any other extreme telephoto situation. That said, as I get older I am becoming more about convenience and less about absolute perfection, so that is part of it, along with the phone camera improvements. Since I only bring the DSLR when I know I will have a use for it, I’m very happy to have my phone around when circumstances end up not agreeing with my plans.
If it is illegal to restrict alternative payment methods and abuse market dominance to force vendors/developers to participate in systems that obstruct competition, Apple should just ignore that?
Oh, wait. they did.
