Xiaomi’s business is booming lately. This Chinese manufacturer was founded in 2010 and it will sell over 60 million devices this year while it plans to raise that number to 100 million in 2010. These are staggering numbers considering how recent the company was founded and the fact they sold only 19 million handsets last year. Company has huge plans to expand to Latin America, India and Russia soon and quite probably move to Europe and U.S. after that. This company makes high quality devices and sells them for a significantly lower price than you might think. Xiaomi’s CEO, Lei Jun, recently said that it will take the company 5-10 years to become the world’s biggest smartphone manufacturer. Xiaomi is currently world’s third smartphone OEM, while it is placed on top of that list in China, where the company sells most of its smartphones. Samsung executives have questioned Xiaomi’s ability to do business outside of China recently and now Apple has some remarks as well, a company to which people compare Xiaomi.
Apple’s head of legal and government affairs, Bruce Sewell, had some remarks of his own to share with the public, reports Business Insider. “It is easy to say, it is more difficult to do,” said Bruce Sewell. It will be interesting to see if Xiaomi can actually surpass Apple and Samsung and sit on the top of this list. Xiaomi holds about 6% of global smartphone market, compared to Apple’s 12% and Samsung’s 25% market share. Apple’s Jony Ive also had some remarks to share when it comes to Xiaomi, though he did that back in October. “I don’t see it as flattery, I see it as theft,” said Jony Ive. He referred to the similarities between Apple’s and Xiaomi’s products, people often call Xiaomi “Apple-inspired” and “Apple of China”, considering their products really do resemble Apple’s a whole lot. Xiaomi’s latest flagship, Mi4, definitely resembles Apple’s select iPhone handsets. What do you think about all this, do you think that a young company like Xiaomi can surpass Samsung and Apple in 5-10 year as Xiaomi’s CEO has predicted or do you believe Xiaomi will lose its way after it enters other markets?