Edging out smartphone giants
The Chinese upstarts taking on Apple and Samsung
APPLE and Samsung’s domination of the smartphone world is being challenged like never before, with Chinese companies muscling in with cheaper and just as innovative devices.
In an ominous sign for the tech titans – whose iphone and Galaxy handsets have had a stranglehold on the almost $500 billion
(R7.27 trillion) market for years – China’s Huawei Technologies has unseated Apple to become the world’s second-largest smartphone maker. Now it’s setting its sights on No1, Samsung, which has seen disappointing profits as Chinese phones gain a share of a market that looks increasingly like it has peaked.
And others are not far behind. Here are the players – and phones – to watch:
HUAWEI: Huawei is ploughing cash into bolstering its phones’ camera capabilities in a quest to dominate. Its flagship
P20 Pro boasts a three-lens camera that was co-engineered with the 104-year-old German camera maker, Leica. Huawei also offers a shiny, rainbow-effect handset finish known as Twilight, differentiating their product from the many monotone smartphones on the market.
Like most of the Chinese devices, the P20 Pro is also cheaper. Active in more than 170 countries, Huawei has managed to outstrip Apple on smartphone shipments despite being almost entirely absent from the US, where it has failed to strike a distribution deal amid security concerns.
XIAOMI: Beijing-based Xiaomi hasn’t been shy about aping Apple in everything from the appearance of its phones to the look of its flagship stores. Like Apple, Xiaomi has tried to create its own ecosystem, operating its own app stores and musicstreaming apps. In recent years, though, Apple has trailed the Chinese company on some design features, with Xiaomi shifting to a full display screen long before the smartphone titan.
Xiaomi phones are also a lot cheaper than the big names. Its latest model – the MIX 2S – has a dual camera, ceramic body and what’s known as a bezel-less (read “full”) screen. The company has enlisted Kris Wu – a Chinesecanadian actor often compared to Justin Bieber – to market its wares.
Transsion/tecno: Consumers in the US, Europe – and even China – would be lucky to have seen a Transsion phone, but in Africa, the Shenzhen-based manufacturer is king.
Founded in 2006, the company made an early bet on the continent’s nascent smartphone market, setting up its first assembly line in Ethiopia. It has since grown into Africa’s leading mobile device maker, with three in 10 phones sold there from Transsion’s brand Tecno Mobile.
Oppo: After making their name in China and India with cheaper handsets for first-time smartphone users, Oppo has gone upmarket for its European debut, launching its Find X phone in Paris in June. What stands out with this phone is the screen, which takes up 93.8% of the body, compared with 81.5% for the iphone X. Oppo phone cameras are also highly rated, with its sharp, front-facing cameras popular among selfie-loving millennials.
Vivo: Oppo and Vivo may be smartphone competitors, but they were both co-founded by serial entrepreneur Duan Yongping.
The companies made a splash by selling high quality phones with good battery life at a cheaper price point to Apple and Samsung, and now Vivo is trying to build on that success. It was one of the first Chinese smartphone makers to tap developing countries like India. Vivo launched the world’s slimmest smartphone – the X1 – in 2012 and providing hi-fi level sound on a phone has given it an edge in its main markets of China and South-east Asia.
n Oneplus: With a sleek look and dual-lens camera capable of producing almost ethereal images, Oneplus has gained a following outside China that is pretty unique to the country’s smartphone upstarts. By making its Oneplus One invitation-only – and keeping the price competitive – the company made the device “the most desirable phone in the world”, according to thenextweb.com
But it’s the phones’ speed that has made Oneplus a serious contender. Shown in some benchmark tests to be faster than the iphone X, the fast pace of its latest offering, Oneplus 6, is made possible by a lighter software system that carries only essential functions.
Users can then buy add-ons to the system based on their needs. – Bloomberg