Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Xiaomi Pledges 'War of Life and Death' Against Apple to Become World's Biggest Smartphone Brand

boss.king said:
I’m not being sarcastic. Apple did not invent the smartphone because smartphones existed before the iPhone (as you acknowledge in your post). They made a really good line of smartphones.

The only way you could think they invented the category is if you don’t know what invent means.
Click to expand...

At that point, you might as well make a "nothing ever gets invented" argument.

Previous smartphones were essentially iterations of PDA with an added cellular modem. Which was also a category Apple had spearheaded, with the Newton.

The iPhone completely changed the product category and continues to define it to this day.

By your logic, the car also wasn't invented because carriages existed before; they just required horses.
 
  • Like
Reactions: gregohb, coolfactor, Analog Kid and 1 other person
chucker23n1 said:
At that point, you might as well make a "nothing ever gets invented" argument.

Previous smartphones were essentially iterations of PDA with an added cellular modem. Which was also a category Apple had spearheaded, with the Newton.

The iPhone completely changed the product category and continues to define it to this day.

By your logic, the car also wasn't invented because carriages existed before; they just required horses.
Click to expand...
Not really. Things get invented all the time, but that doesn’t make every single one the beginning of a new category. The iPhone was not the first smartphone. It wasn’t even the first popular smartphone.

It was a really good phone that got a lot of things right. End of story.
 
  • Like
Reactions: nvmls and BF1M
Xiaomi should not be underestimated. They make really good phones. That being said they are an arm of the Chinese government and set profits at 10% or something very low on hardware. How can Apple compete when they don't make anything?? Foxconn is also a part of the Chinese government and as such there is no patent law in China so Xiaomi will have access to all of Apple's design so they can reverse engineer and copy very well.

The problem I see for Xiaomi is software. Android is good but Xiaomi do not actually make any software that is Google and that is a handicap in a big way. If Xiaomi targets the US market and puts all the correct LTE and 5g bands for use in the USA then I think other Android manufacturers are in big trouble. Xiaomi is cheap and the hardware is good so a lot of budget minded Americans will buy them up and the competition is at a disadvantage if they don't manufacture their phones because Xiaomi can cut out the middle man and because of their set profits they will always be able to undercut in terms of cost for hardware. The other problem is brand identity. Who is going to pay serious money for a Xiaomi phone in the US compared to Samsung?? Samsung is offering 4 years OS updates and 5 years security and has excellent hardware and great trade in deals. I don't see how Xiaomi can compete in the s22 space? They should offer mid range phones super cheap and build up like OnePlus did then once people know who they are and have used their devices they might have a chance. In China they have a serious advantage because the Chinese people would probably rather buy a Chinese made phone made by a Chinese company than an iPhone if the hardware is good enough.

As for Apple as long as they continue to do what they are doing in terms of excellent hardware and software that is unique to Apple I don't see Xiaomi as a threat. It is bluster from the Chinese. I would be wary of building my devices in China if I were Apple but all Apple cares about is access to the Chinese market which might come to bite them in the @ss in the future.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Username: Required
It wont last, because those that focus on volume rather than quality and ecosystem, have come and gone many times over.
 
Technerd108 said:
Xiaomi should not be underestimated. They make really good phones. That being said they are an arm of the Chinese government and set profits at 10% or something very low on hardware. How can Apple compete when they don't make anything?? Foxconn is also a part of the Chinese government and as such there is no patent law in China so Xiaomi will have access to all of Apple's design so they can reverse engineer and copy very well.

The problem I see for Xiaomi is software. Android is good but Xiaomi do not actually make any software that is Google and that is a handicap in a big way. If Xiaomi targets the US market and puts all the correct LTE and 5g bands for use in the USA then I think other Android manufacturers are in big trouble. Xiaomi is cheap and the hardware is good so a lot of budget minded Americans will buy them up and the competition is at a disadvantage if they don't manufacture their phones because Xiaomi can cut out the middle man and because of their set profits they will always be able to undercut in terms of cost for hardware. The other problem is brand identity. Who is going to pay serious money for a Xiaomi phone in the US compared to Samsung?? Samsung is offering 4 years OS updates and 5 years security and has excellent hardware and great trade in deals. I don't see how Xiaomi can compete in the s22 space? They should offer mid range phones super cheap and build up like OnePlus did then once people know who they are and have used their devices they might have a chance. In China they have a serious advantage because the Chinese people would probably rather buy a Chinese made phone made by a Chinese company than an iPhone if the hardware is good enough.

As for Apple as long as they continue to do what they are doing in terms of excellent hardware and software that is unique to Apple I don't see Xiaomi as a threat. It is bluster from the Chinese. I would be wary of building my devices in China if I were Apple but all Apple cares about is access to the Chinese market which might come to bite them in the @ss in the future.
Click to expand...

If Apple was genuinely threatened by cheap android phones, they would never have grown to the size they are today. Apple’s only real competition these days are older iPhones, and even that is less of a problem today as they have a ready ecosystem of accessories and services to market to existing iPhone users.
 
  • Like
Reactions: coolfactor
boss.king said:
So they iterated on the smartphone then.

They made a really good phone, but that’s not inventing the smartphone category.
Click to expand...

When every modern smartphone basically still looks like an all-screen version of the original 2007 iPhone, then yes... Apple defined the current smartphone market. That's not saying they invented the smartphone itself, just defined its current modern design, which still holds true 15 years later.
 
boss.king said:
I’m not being sarcastic. Apple did not invent the smartphone because smartphones existed before the iPhone (as you acknowledge in your post). They made a really good line of smartphones.

The only way you could think they invented the category is if you don’t know what invent means.
Click to expand...

From Wikipedia...

Invent — create or design (something that has not existed before); be the originator of.
"he invented an improved form of the steam engine"
Click to expand...

So yes, a new category or version can be invented, which Apple did indeed do with the smartphone.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Ferc Kast
tobybrut said:
They made the first smart phone that anyone actually wanted to buy. I had Windows CE phones before Apple created the iPhone. Before the iPhone, people having cell phones were an extremely niche market where only business people and those in high tech had one (for me, it was being in high tech). After the iPhone, everyone has one, including little kids. It's better to say Apple created the modern smart phone. What passed for smart phones before the iPhone was crap. I had many different ones and I could never mention my phone without a curse word since they were so bad. Apple made the smart phone popular and mainstream.
Click to expand...

I remember trying to help someone configure their email on a RIM Blackberry. What a *painful* experience, yet it passed as modern and futuristic in their mind. I was shaking my head, and this was back in 2005, before the iPhone.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Ferc Kast
gwhizkids said:
Lol. Stealing is stealing. And no, it’s not “disinformation”. I’ll put you down as an apologist for an evil regime. Nice chatting!
Click to expand...
The FBI has identified China as the largest thief of IP in the US. They are opening new cases involving China several times each day. Its so bad that every single US military system has been hacked by the Chinese. Even their top of the line J20 fighter plane is a knock off of the F-22 - the most advanced fighter in the world. Meanwhile, while they take all this information to China in legal and illegal ways, and take so much money there, they hobble foreign companies from operating in China without technology transfer. Chinese companies can ship you a kitchen gadget for a total price less than an American company can make it - because they get preferential shipping rates.
 
Technerd108 said:
Xiaomi should not be underestimated. They make really good phones. That being said they are an arm of the Chinese government and set profits at 10% or something very low on hardware. How can Apple compete when they don't make anything?? Foxconn is also a part of the Chinese government and as such there is no patent law in China so Xiaomi will have access to all of Apple's design so they can reverse engineer and copy very well.

The problem I see for Xiaomi is software. Android is good but Xiaomi do not actually make any software that is Google and that is a handicap in a big way. If Xiaomi targets the US market and puts all the correct LTE and 5g bands for use in the USA then I think other Android manufacturers are in big trouble. Xiaomi is cheap and the hardware is good so a lot of budget minded Americans will buy them up and the competition is at a disadvantage if they don't manufacture their phones because Xiaomi can cut out the middle man and because of their set profits they will always be able to undercut in terms of cost for hardware. The other problem is brand identity. Who is going to pay serious money for a Xiaomi phone in the US compared to Samsung?? Samsung is offering 4 years OS updates and 5 years security and has excellent hardware and great trade in deals. I don't see how Xiaomi can compete in the s22 space? They should offer mid range phones super cheap and build up like OnePlus did then once people know who they are and have used their devices they might have a chance. In China they have a serious advantage because the Chinese people would probably rather buy a Chinese made phone made by a Chinese company than an iPhone if the hardware is good enough.

As for Apple as long as they continue to do what they are doing in terms of excellent hardware and software that is unique to Apple I don't see Xiaomi as a threat. It is bluster from the Chinese. I would be wary of building my devices in China if I were Apple but all Apple cares about is access to the Chinese market which might come to bite them in the @ss in the future.
Click to expand...

In the computer world, there have always been computers (particularly for gamers) that are probably have superior specs than the top Macs, but that never tempts anyone to buy them - because you would be leaving the Apple eco-system. And in the case of computers and iPhones, the specs may look good, but Apple seems to get more performance out of lower specs. So the Chinese companies have decades of optimization, engineering, and software to truly compete.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Technerd108
chucker23n1 said:
Everything is just an iteration. Some iterations are more significant than others. We call those inventions.
Click to expand...

Exactly this. We romanticize inventions as bolt of lightning experiences that only happen to geniuses, and then revise history to support that view. “Edison invented the lightbulb”, “The Wright Brothers invented the airplane”, “Steve Jobs invented the smartphone”. None of them true.

chucker23n1 said:
Something Xiaomi will never be capable of.
Click to expand...

LOLWUT?! How can you go from being so precise and reasonable to irrational without so much as a paragraph break?
 
Last edited:
MJaP said:
It's a China-phobic view, but I wouldn't trust any Chinese assocaited phone company that can push new firmware to your phone containing whatever suspect elements they want whenever they want, I'm not saying other countries and manufacturers are perfect either but at least there's more accountability and a better record of trust... especially with someone like Apple.
Click to expand...
A phobia is an irrational fear of something. Distrust of communist China is neither fear nor irrational.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Technerd108
coolfactor said:
When every modern smartphone basically still looks like an all-screen version of the original 2007 iPhone, then yes... Apple defined the current smartphone market. That's not saying they invented the smartphone itself, just defined its current modern design, which still holds true 15 years later.
Click to expand...
That’s an entirely different thing than what was said before though.
 
coolfactor said:
From Wikipedia...



So yes, a new category or version can be invented, which Apple did indeed do with the smartphone.
Click to expand...
Only if you close your eyes really tight and pretend that smartphones and touchscreens didn’t exist beforehand. They iterated and improved them, they did not invent them.

Next you’ll be telling me Apple invented the smartwatch or wireless headphones, or that Tesla invented the car.
 
Last edited:
  • Disagree
Reactions: Ferc Kast
BF1M said:
It’s a simple question: did smart phones exist before the iPhone came out in 2007? I sure remember owning a few. If the answer is yes, then they did not invent the smartphone.
Click to expand...
Yea yea. Whatever please you.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back