Asus and Xiaomi: A story of underdogs
While fancy flagship phones always make more interesting topics, the reality, too, is that for many of us, these phones are way off what we are willing to spend on a smartphone.
T his is a story of underdogs. A story about up and comers, that, from out of nowhere, rise to challenge the usual suspects and the status quo. It’s also a story of great technology, better access and empowering users in the developing world.
This is the story of Chinese smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi, whose team of exGooglers and Apple- esque design sense took the smartphone world by storm in 2014 to become the third largest manufacturer in the world behind Apple and Samsung.
It is also the story of Taiwanese tech company Asus, that has, in a span of a year, gone from being a virtual unknown in the smartphone space, to becoming creators of the most anticipated Android smartphone of 2015.
For both companies, the challenge was to differentiate themselves from the barrage of generic China-phones that were either cheap imitations of existing flagships, or boring OEMs – generic hardware plastered with a company’s brand name.
XIAOMI
Xiaomi was a new startup out of Beijing, incorporating in 2010 and launching its fi rst smartphone a year after. In an effort to do things differently, the company spent less on marketing, focusing instead on growing what it preferred to call its “fan base”.
That strategy worked for two reasons – reducing marketing costs meant that smartphones could be sold for much less, while focusing on fans created a deep trough of fiercely loyal users that gobbled up millions of phones at a time during online sales.
But nothing sells better than a good product – and what Xiaomi was offering was leaps and bounds better than what other smartphone startups had up their sleeves. Their implementation of Android, for example, the MiUi, remains to this day one of the best third party implementation of Android, I hate to make this comparison, but it’s almost iOS-like, and for users that’s a great thing.
I reviewed my first Mi smartphone, the Mi 3, back in 2014 and was blown away, so much so that when the time came to give it back, it stung a little. The hardware was great, the software, too, both coming together to give users an experience – not just utility.
By October 2014, without even entering Europe or North America, Xiaomi became the third largest smartphone manufacturer in the world, unseating the likes of Huawei and Lenovo.
I sat down with Xiaomi’s new Global Vice President Hugo Barra last year and he told me that focusing on select markets is their main priority. “We’re not quite ready for (other) markets yet. We’ve got to be humble and it’s a bit too much to take on so we’ll get there at the right time.”
After becoming the dominant player in China, Xiaomi has since set its sights on India. Last year Barra moved to India to spearhead operations there. The former Google VP describes this move as an investment in the company’s future. Two weeks back, Xiaomi launched its latest flagship – the Mi 4i – in New Delhi, the company’s first major product launch outside of China.
The flagship Mi4 is a 5- inch smartphone available for a quarter of what you’d shell out for a high-end flagship but with a pretty decent spec sheet and a huge 3120 mAh battery.
While tricky for the rest of the world to acquire, the just-announced Mi 4i ($205) and its big brother the Mi Note Pro ($480) are both phones worth keeping an eye out for.
ASUS
Like many PC manufacturers, Taiwan-based Asus (from the word Pegasus) sought to find relevance in a market that was shifting habits and moving to mobile.
After several failed attempts, the world’s fifth largest PC- vendor in 2014 fi nally struck gold last year when it introduced the Zenfone, a range of Android smartphones powered by Intel chips – processors similar to what you’d find on many tablets and netbook computers.
Sources from inside the company tell me, the product came as a result of a “great management shift.” By using Intel chips, the company also set itself apart from generic smartphones that used lesser known processors from chip manufacturers like MediaTek.
By the end of 2014 Asus had sold 10 million Zenfones worldwide.
In emerging markets like the Philippines the buzz generated around the Zenfone is unprecedented. In 2014 Asus broke into the country’s top 10 smartphone brands, placing sixth behind the likes of Samsung and local players Cherry Mobile and MyPhone. I expect 2015 to be even sweeter. When a smartphone, from a company that’s not even among the world’s top smartphone brands, suddenly becomes the year’s most anticipated release, you need to pay attention.
Announced at last January’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) the Zenfone 2 is turning heads because it is the world’s first smartphone to come with 4GB of RAM.
But power isn’t the only other major draw, in fact, probably even more buzz-worthy is the phone’s price tag. Like Xiaomi, Asus promises base models will start at $199 – making it the first global brand to break the $200 price point for a fl agship device.
But unlike Xiaomi that only sells smartphones via online fl ash sales, Zenfones are available via brick and mortar stores, allowing Asus to target emerging markets that lack a proper e-commerce infrastructure.
Its phones are also available globally. The phone is already available in China, Hong Kong, Singapore and France with rollouts in the United States, Italy and Southeast Asia expected in the next few weeks.
In the Philippines the phone is slated for a May 16 launch, with the entry-level model pegged at under P8,000.
Disruption
While fancy flagship phones always make more interesting topics, the reality too, is that for many of us, these phones are way off what we are willing to spend on a smartphone. I like to call them “aspirational devices” – a glimpse of a desired future that, for lack of a better term, is not yet practical.
That’s why mid-range phones are appealing for markets like the Philippines.
But imagine if you could purchase a highend phone for the price of a budget phone? That’s the secret to success enjoyed by the likes of Xiaomi and Asus. Both companies offer smartphones that look good, come with high end specs, and have real world performance to back it up – all for a fraction of the cost.
If you’re reading this from a market where neither of these phones is available, the relevance of all this may be lost on you, but I guarantee in a few years time, when other stories are written, we will all collectively look back at the stories of Xiaomi and Asus, underdogs that disrupted the smartphone space, and changed it for the better.
Michael Josh Villanueva is a tech journalist, content creator on YouTube, and gadget matchmaker, passionate about helping people find the right devices to match their lifestyle. You can find him on youtube.com/gadgetmatch and twitter.com/michaeljosh. For comments or questions email josh@gadgetmatch.co.