Let’s start with an extremely good presentation video by Mrwhosetheboss:
And an actual experience video from Chinese sources (finished by comparing to iPhone 6):
Note that Xiaomi has already been the top Chinese company tracked here:
– Dec 12, 2012: UPDATE Aug’13: Xiaomi $130 Hongmi superphone END MediaTek MT6589 quad-core Cortex-A7 SoC with HSPA+ and TD-SCDMA is available for Android smartphones and tablets of Q1 delivery
– Aug 1, 2013: Xiaomi, OPPO and Meizu–top Chinese brands of smartphone innovation
– Aug 30, 2013: Assesment of the Xiaomi phenomenon before the global storm is starting on Sept 5
– Sept 5, 2013: Xiaomi announcements: from Mi3 to Xiaomi TV
– June 12, 2014: Xiaomi’s global offensive with Hugo Barra in charge is threatening Apple—with 10.4 million smartphones sold in China it had already outsold Apple in Q1’14, having “just” 9 million iPhones sold there
With this Xiaomi will kill the much hoped (by some stock market analysts) incremental opportunities for the $199 Apple iPhone 6 and $299 iPhone 6 Plus in China and throughout the world. And recall that those were announced 11 months ago as “The Biggest Advancements in iPhone History“
This report is similar to later Canalys findings: Xiaomi 15.9%, Huawei 15.7%, and Apple #3. But for the rest: #4 Samsung, #5 vivo. Globally Xiaomi became the #2 Chinese smartphone brand in Q2 2015 according to TrendForce with 5.9% market share, the #1 Huawei having 7.6%, but first time surpassing Lenovo, as well as continuing to distance itself from TCL (Alcatel) and OPPO. Similar to data from Counterpoint Research. See Chinese OEMs Rule. Considering Huawei’s aggressive push since 2011, when Xiaomi devices started in China, Xiaomi’s global achievement is a very remarkable feat.
Why? Because being in the smartphone device business for just 4 years Xiaomi has already been on or around the top in China for the last 12 months, as well as has launched an impressive global march.
That global sales campaign has been going on in Asia, Russia and Turkey so far, but it is now expanding to Latin America with new model launching in Brazil [CCTV America YouTube channel, July 14, 2015]: “The world’s third largest smartphone maker is taking a different approach in its plans for global domination. Instead of looking to expand in the obvious markets like the U.S. and Europe, Xiaomi is looking to South America. CCTV’s Paulo Cabral filed this report from Sao Paulo.”
And it is not difficult to foresee a huge global success for the company as in India Xiaomi became “the 5th biggest seller of phones in the country, a feat accomplished in only 8 months“: Smartphone company Xiaomi expanding to India and beyond [CCTV America YouTube channel, March 20, 2015]
Also this all happened after “The Chinese smartphone maker, Xiaomi, held a second flash sale of its new 4.7″ Redmi 1S [at $110/699 RMB almost of the same price level as this year’s $125/799 RMB Redmi Note 2] on Tuesday [Sept 9, 2014], after selling out in just four seconds a week ago.“: Chinese smartphone Xiaomi competes with Apple [CCTV America YouTube channel, Sept 9, 2014]
from which I will include the following Q2 CY2014 market share slide for China here:
as this position of being “on the top or around it” has been kept by Xiaomi ever since.
Then we should not forget what only 8 months ago was introduced as Xiaomi launches MiNote, a new iPhone competitor [CCTV America YouTube channel, Jan 15, 2015]: “The tech world is abuzz about Chinese tech company Xiaomi’s bid to compete with Apple and Samsung. Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun unveiled the MiNote and MiNote Pro [at $313/1999 RMB and $391/2499 RMB a kind of twice as expensive predecessors to the new Redmi Note 2/Prime] on Thursday, both are cheaper than similar iPhone models. CCTV’s Xia Cheng reported this story from Beijing.”
Finally we should look at the new specification comparisons by GSMinsider: 
With that Xiaomi will kill Samsung high-end opportunities as well.
Let’s look first at the quite drastic decline of the Samsung smartphone business for the last year and a half (data from Strategy Analytics as it’s been represented in the Apple and Huawei move on Samsung article of July 30, 2015 from Telecom.com, with the vendor rankings in the table according to the latest quarter, i.e. Q2 2015):
Note that Coolpad (Yulong) and ZTE are also globally represented Chinese brands, not mentioned so far in this article.
Which unit-wise looks like as follows (in millions):
Then I can again refer to Samsung-related high-end specification comparisons produced by GSMinsider:
And don’t be fooled with the Qualcomm Snadragon 805 and 801 SoCs used by Samsung in these 2014 vintage devices as Samsung itself abandoned Qualcomm as an SoC supplier for its 2015 devices:
Note: Such Samsung move of abandoning the Qualcomm Snadragon 805 and 801 SoCs in its latest high-end products is not an accident but a hard-pressed necessity. The octa-core Qualcomm Snadragon 810 replacing the 805/801 had serious thermal throttling problems, and the Chinese brands were starting to use other octa-cores, among them the quite competitive MediaTek Helio X10. See the following Q1 2015 technology landscape presentation composed of the graphical views from the April 12 and April 24 reports by CINNO Research (in addition to the camera related view on the right):
And software-wise Xaomi is already 5 years in the smartphone business with a lot of quite enthusiastic supporters for its Android based Mi User Interface throughout the world. The MIUI 5th Anniversary: Greetings From MIUI Fans From All Over The World testimonial video from the MIUI ROM YouTube channel dated August 12, 2015 is stating that: “MIUI is one of the most popular Android ROMs in the world. It is based on Android, featuring a rich user experience and user customizable themes. MIUI is updated every Friday based on feedback from its users. Now with over 100 million users and 34 MIUI fan sites worldwide, MIUI is the choice of many Android users globally.“
What kind of “much hoped incremental opportunities (by some stock market analysts) for Apple” I was talking about?
From India Will Overtake US to Become World’s Second Largest Smartphone Market by 2017 [July 1, 2015] by Strategy Analytics the following chart has been produced for Dazeinfo’s Global Smartphone Sales 2015 – 2017: India Will Surpass The US [July 1, 2015] report: That chart has been used by Brian Nichols in his Why Apple’s Growth-Related Fears Are Overblown [Aug 12, 2015] article on Seeking Alpha for its final argument that:
… the market sees China as imperative to Apple’s future growth outlook and while true at the moment, there’s a catalyst forming that should lessen the company’s reliance on China and lead to many millions of new iPhone sales.
…
China is not that “forming catalyst” that I mentioned earlier. Instead, Apple has a prime opportunity to grow in India over the next year or two, a market that’s growing rapidly with middle class consumers and is the world’s second largest economy by population behind only China.
…
… with India’s help, which includes the growth in middle class consumers through 2020, India might very well one day become just as important as China to Apple.
Before coming to such final argument Nichols is talking about the current market situation in China via a chart from Above Avalon’s China Mobile Is a Game Changer for Apple [April 29, 2015] research note and with the following comments around that:
I expect Apple to find additional growth in China next year, regardless of what has transpired from a macro perspective over the last few months. The reason is simple: Improved network coverage. Fact of the matter is that most Chinese consumers are still using 2G or 3G networks, which are hardly compatible with the iPhone 6. At the end of the first quarter, China Mobile (NYSE:CHL) had 153 million 4G customers, up from 90 million in December of 2014 and just 1.3 million in February of 2014. However, China Mobile had 815 million total customers. So that means the majority of its subscribers are still on 2G or 3G networks. Given the rate at which China Mobile has added 4G customers during the last 16 months, investors can rest assured that its network and 4G customers will be far larger by this time next year. Notably, most of those 4G customers will need smartphones, and Apple has quickly become the most popular choice in China.
As for China’s second and third largest wireless carriers, China Unicom (NYSE:CHU) and China Telecom (NYSE:CHA), they have nearly 500 million customers collectively. And believe it or not, China Unicom and China Telecom’s 4G network is even more underdeveloped than China Mobile’s network. However, both China Unicom and China Telecom are working just as fast to build their respective 4G networks. Once more, this increases Apple’s market opportunity in China, and is the key reason why I think Apple’s growth in China will continue through next year, probably at a very high double-digit rate.
So these are the speculations which IMHO do not take into account the new product waves from major Apple and Samsung competitors, especially Xiaomi.
Xiaomi’s new 5.5″ Redmi Note 2 launched in China just this week for $125/799 RMB (16GB version supporting TDD-LTE for a China specific 4G version of LTE as well as TD-SCDMA, the China specific 3.5G — targeted at China Mobile subscribers) and $140/899 RMB (16GB version supporting both TDD-LTE and FDD-LTE, i.e. both 4G versions — for the subscribers of any mobile operators, and especially of China Unicom and China Telecom) is the actual case in this regard. Watch the Xiaomi Redmi Note 2 Prime first look miui 7 pre-order video direct from the launch (the QR code at the start and the end has been positioned out of my embedded view):
Announced: August 13 2015
Network Technology:
GSM / HSPA / LTE
Expected release:
August 16, 2015
Body Dimensions:
152 x 76 x 8.3 mm
Weight: 160 g
SIM: Dual SIM
Display
Type: IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors
Size: 5.5 inches (~72.2% screen-to-body ratio)
Resolution: 1080 x 1920 pixels (~401 ppi pixel density)
Multitouch: Yes
MIUI 7.0
– Platform OS: Android OS, v5.0 (Lollipop)
Chipset: Mediatek MT6795
CPU:
– Octa-core 2.0 GHz Cortex-A53
– Octa-core 2.2 GHz Cortex-A53
GPU: PowerVR G6200
Memory Card slot: No
Internal Memory:
– 16 GB, 2 GB RAM – 2 GHz model
– 32 GB, 2 GB RAM – 2.2 GHz model
Camera:
– Primary: 13 MP, 4128 x 3096 pixels, phase detection autofocus, LED flash
Features: Geo-tagging, touch focus, face/smile detection, HDR, panorama
Video: 1080p@30fps
– Secondary: 5 MP, 720p
Sound Alert Types:
Vibration; MP3, WAV ringtones
Loudspeaker: Yes
3.5mm jack: Yes
Comms:
WLAN Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, WiFi Direct, hotspot
Bluetooth: v4.0, A2DP, LE
GPS: Yes,
with A-GPS, GLONASS, Beidou
Infrared port: Yes
Radio: FM radio
USB: microUSB v2.0
Features Sensors:
Accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass
Messaging:
SMS(threaded view), MMS, Email, Push Mail, IM
Browser: HTML5
Java: No
– Fast battery charging: 60% in 30 min (Quick Charge 2.0)
– Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic
– MP4/H.264 player
– MP3/WAV/eAAC+ player
– Photo/video editor
– Document viewer
Battery: Li-Po 3060 mAh battery
Stand-by: Up to 144 h (3G)
Talk time: Up to 11 h 30 min (3G)
Music play: Up to 46 h
Misc Colors:
White, blue, yellow, pink, mint green
The 2.2 GHz Redmi Note 2 Prime version with 32GB storage and support of TDD-LTE + FDD-LTE will sell at $156 (999 RMB).
More information:
– Aug 13, 2015: All About Redmi Note 2/Prime: Specifications, Price, Hands-on Pictures! review by Xiaomi MIUI Official Forum
– Aug 13, 2015: Xiaomi New Product Launch: MIUI 7(China), Redmi Note 2(Prime), Mi Wi-Fi nano full launch information (not only the Redmi Note 2/Prime) by Xiaomi MIUI Official Forum, from which the major Redmi Note 2 and 2 Pro Android competition (Huawei P8 and P8max with Hisilicon Kirin 930 and 935 SoCs, and Meizu MX5 (with the same MediaTek Helio X10 @2.2 GHz) on the Chinese market is described as:
Note: regarding the benchmarked performance of each SoC I will recommend the results made available in the Exynos 7420 vs Snapdragon 810 vs MediaTek Helio X10 Turbo MT6795T vs Hisilicon Kirin 935: Benchmark Scores [July 3, 2015] GSMinsider article
– For a much broader competitive comparison I will recommend the Redmi Note 2’s comparisons by GSMinsider which currently contains comparisons (spec-wise):
vs Asus Zenfone 2 vs Asus Zenfone Zoom
vs HTC One M9 vs HTC One M9+
vs Huawei Honor 7 vs Huawei Honor 6 Plus
vs Huawei Ascend Mate 7 vs Huawei Honor 6 Plus
vs Huawei P8 vs Huawei P8 Max
vs iPhone 6 vs iPhone 6 Plus
vs Lenovo Vibe Shot vs Lenovo Vibe Z2 Pro
vs Lenovo ZUK Z1
vs LG G Flex 2
vs LG G4 vs LG G3
vs Meizu M2 Note vs Meizu M1 Note
vs Meizu MX5 vs Meizu MX4 Pro
vs Motorola Moto X Style vs Moto X Play
vs Nexus 6 vs Motorola Moto Maxx
vs OnePlus 2 vs OnePlus One
vs Oppo Find 7 vs Oppo Find 7A
vs Oppo N3
vs Redmi Note
vs Samsung Galaxy Note 4 vs Samsung Galaxy S5
vs Samsung Galaxy S6 vs Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge
vs Vivo X5 Pro vs Vivo X5 Max
vs Xiaomi Mi Note vs Xiaomi Mi Note Pro
vs Xiaomi Mi4
vs ZTE Axon Pro vs ZTE Axon Lux
vs ZTE Nubia Z9 Max vs Nubia Z9 Mini
vs ZTE Nubia Z9
xxx
Aug 13, 2015: Additional videos from XiaomiHK YouTube channel:
Xiaomi – MIUI Introduction (with English subtitles)
Xiaomi – MIUI V7 Endurance
Xiaomi – MIUI V7 Performance
Xiaomi – RedmiNote2″>Xiaomi – RedmiNote2
Xiaomi – RedmiNote2 Camera
Important videos available on the Bloomberg Business website only, with 3 most important videos added to them from the CCTV America YouTube channel:
June 5, 2014: Here’s Why Hugo Barra Left Google to Be Xiaomi VP: Xiaomi Early Investor Robin Chan discusses Xiaomi’s hiring of Google’s Hugo Barra on Bloomberg Television’s “Bloomberg West.” Former Xiaomi Board Member Hans Tung also speaks.
July 17, 2015: Xiaomi’s Hugo Barra: Studio 1.0 (Full Show 7/16): This week on Studio 1.0: Emily Chang sits down with Hugo Barra, vice president of global operations at Xiaomi. (Source: Bloomberg) 21 minutes from which I will include here the only slide displayed
Plus a lot of other unique information is available in that interview: like the 2015 vintage business model of Xiaomi (investments into non-platform startups to build business partnerships, a whole ecosystem around Xiaomi etc.).
I will add to that the product shown in the Bloomberg interview as an example of such ecosystem generation. This has been documented in Xiaomi launches $13 fitness band [CCTV America YouTube channel, Aug 18, 2014] as: “Chinese Smartphone maker Xiao-mi has started selling an interactive wristband called the Mi Band. The device can measure one’s heart rate and monitor sleep patterns. It’s not the first such device to hit the market, but so far, it’s the cheapest.”
I will also add the Xiaomi Buying Spree Gives Apple, Samsung Reason to Worry [Bloomberg Business YouTube channel, Jan 8, 2015] video stating that: “Xiaomi zoomed past Apple Inc. and Samsung in China smartphone sales just three years after releasing its first model. Founder Lei Jun is now on a buying spree to take that momentum beyond handsets. Bloomberg’s Edmond Lococo has more on “On The Move Asia.” (Source: Bloomberg)”
Then remember the already known facts mentioned in the second video on the Bloomberg website like: “Xiaomi is not Apple“, “Xiami is an Internet company” (“an Internet platform and services brand” heard in another interview), “services are inherent part of Xiaomi“, “Xiaomi is one of the biggest e-commerce sites in China“, “the Xiaomi platform products are enhanced in functionality on requests from its users by around 50%” etc.
As the latest proof-point of such an Internet platform and service strategy of the company watch the Chinese mobile co. Xiaomi launches wallet app [CCTV America YouTube channel, March 26, 2015] video:
Other videos from Bloomberg Business YouTube channel:
Jan 15, 2015: Xiaomi’s Rapid Rise to $45B Valuation Topping Uber: Xiaomi is Apple and Samsung’s rapidly growing threat. Now the world’s third-largest smartphone maker, Xiaomi is releasing its next phone on Thursday at an event in Beijing. Bloomberg’s Cory Johnson looks at how just fast this company is growing. (Source: Bloomberg)
June 5, 2014: Meet the Billionaire ‘Steve Jobs of China’ Lei Jun: Xiaomi co-founder and chief executive officer Lei Jun is known as the Steve Jobs of China, complete with a wardrobe of black shirts and a cult following. But what did he do before starting Xiaomi, and how has his personality helped drive Xiaomi’s success? Bloomberg West’s Emily Chang gives us an overview of this rock star CEO.
Jan 5, 2015: Xiaomi Doubles Revenue to $12B as Phone Sales Triple: Xiaomi, whose investors include billionaire Yuri Milner, more than doubled its revenue in 2014, according to a blog posting by CEO Lei Jun.
Feb 13, 2015: Xiaomi’s Barra: U.S. Market Is Important in Many Ways: Xiaomi’s Hugo Barra discusses the company’s global expansion plans with Bloomberg’s Brad Stone on “Bloomberg West.”
June 4, 2015: Xiaomi Grows Wearable Device Market Share: Xiaomi is looking to elbow its way into the wearable device market. New figures suggest it took a quarter slice of global sales the first three months of the year. Bloomberg Intelligence’s Jitendra Waral discusses the sales figures on “Trending Business.”
Other videos from the CCTV America YouTube channel:
July 22, 2014: Hugo Barra on latest Xiaomi products: Chinese tech firm Xiaomi showed off some of its latest products on Tuesday. The Beijing-based company unveiled its new Mi smartphone and billed it as a challenger to Apple’s iPhone. Analysts say the Mi 4 will be a make or break product for Xiaomi after sales of the older model proved disappointing.The company is also aggressively expanding overseas. Hugo Barra, Xiaomi’s Vice President for overseas business spoke with CCTV’s Xia Cheng.
July 14, 2015: Eric Schiffer on Xiaomi’s global strategy: For more on Xiaomi’s global strategy, CCTV’s Michelle Makori spoke to Eric Schiffer, CEO of Patriarch Equity.
Dec 22, 2014: Tech company Xiaomi flourishes in China, India despite patent disputes: China’s Xiaomi tech company is often compared to Apple. Founded in 2010, Xiaomi has quickly surpassed Samsung to become the top smartphone in China and third in the world. Xiaomi phones are currently only sold online and in China and India.
Dec 22, 2014: Ari Zoldan of Quantum Networks discusses Chinese companies, patent troubles: CCTV America’s Sean Callebs interviewed tech industry expert and CEO of Quantum Networks Ari Zoldan about the rise of Xiaomi and it’s legal battles.
Filed under: Cloud client SW platforms, consumer computing, consumer devices, Geopolitics, smartphones Tagged: Alcatel, Apple, Brazil, China, China Mobile, China Telecom, China Unicom, Coolpad, disruption, global offensive, global strategy, Helio, Helio X10, Huawei, Hugo Barra, India, iPhone, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhones, Lei Jun, Lenovo, MediaTek, Meizu, Mi Band, Mi User Interface, MIUI, MIUI 7, Motorola, MT6795, Oppo, Redmi Note, Redmi Note 2, Redmi Note 2 Prime, Samsung, smartphone market, TCL, TCL Alcatel, U.S. Market, Vivo, wearable market, wearables, Xiaomi, Xiaomi ecosystem, Xiaomi Global, Xiaomi global expansion, Xiaomi Hongmi, Xiaomi Red Rice, Xiaomi user experience, Xiaomi wallet, ZTE