Xiaomi launches new high-end smartphone to challenge Apple

Xiaomi Corp. will launch a new generation of high-end smartphones this month, aiming to compete head-on with Apple Inc. for market share in the high-end smartphone segment.

The Beijing-based company is accelerating its launch schedule beyond its usual schedule and jumping straight from the Xiaomi 15 series to the new 17 series. The move is in line with Apple’s iPhone naming scheme, with the Xiaomi 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max models coming soon.

Xiaomi founder and CEO Lei Jun said on September 15 that Xiaomi wants to be compared with Apple's smartphone lines, which have long been considered the benchmark in the high-end segment.

Apple's iPhone 17 will go on sale globally on September 19, with the Pro versions featuring a new design.

Apple controls 62% of sales in the premium segment – devices priced at $600 or more – according to Counterpoint Research. Xiaomi, meanwhile, has a tiny share of the segment globally, although its sales in that segment grew 55% in the first half of the year and it has a better chance of competing in its home market of China, where Apple’s iPhone Air has been delayed.

In a post on Weibo, Xiaomi President Lu Weibing said the company started its premiumization strategy five years ago to learn from its biggest rival, using the iPhone as a benchmark. He admitted that Apple is still excellent, but Xiaomi is confident it can meet the challenge with a similar generation of products.

Long known for its quality, affordable products, from smartphones and laptops to home appliances and luggage, Xiaomi has made a bold foray into electric vehicles. The strategy has started to pay off over the past year, helping its Hong Kong-listed shares nearly triple. Success in an emerging sector that Apple has abandoned appears to have given Xiaomi the confidence to take on the US smartphone giant head-on.

IDC analyst Bryan Ma said that jumping straight to the 17 series shows that Xiaomi seems confident enough to claim that it can compete with Apple, a brand that is still very respected in China.

Mr. Ma added that 10% of Xiaomi's smartphones shipped in China in the first half of this year were priced above $600, marking a jump from almost zero in 2019./.

(TTXVN/Vietnam+)

Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/xiaomi-ra-mat-mau-dien-thoai-thong-minh-cao-cap-moi-thach-thuc-apple-post1061940.vnp