[bh7171]

Interesting watch and listen as to how Xiaomi has taken over globally in Android sells. Just imagine for one moment what they would have done by now in the US IF the carriers didn't control user options as they do?

The mobile model and efficiencies Xiaomi was designed and built with would have wrecked havoc on carrier brick and mortar stores and the duopoly they impose in the US. IF the US government allowed true free enterprise in the smartphone market we would have already seen the complete and utter implosion of ALL flagships. Although nobody here in the US pays or has to pay flagship prices with the subsidies, trade ins and amortization the carriers offer it seems the rest of the world is just more informed and pays the least amount up front for performance as possible.

That Xiaomi is dominating market share with but 20% of a Samsung workforce has to scare the living hell out of ALL OEM's.

Maybe PKB users should hope Xiaomi would throw us niche users a bone? I suspect a POCO level Key 3 like device could sell well in their mobile dominated (carrier omitted) sells channels.

[conite]

Interesting watch and listen as to how Xiaomi has taken over globally in Android sells. Just imagine for one moment what they would have done by now in the US IF the carriers didn't control user options as they do?

The mobile model and efficiencies Xiaomi was designed and built with would have wrecked havoc on carrier brick and mortar stores and the duopoly they impose in the US. IF the US government allowed true free enterprise in the smartphone market we would have already seen the complete and utter implosion of ALL flagships. Although nobody here in the US pays or has to pay flagship prices with the subsidies, trade ins and amortization the carriers offer it seems the rest of the world is just more informed and pays the least amount up front for performance as possible.

That Xiaomi is dominating market share with but 20% of a Samsung workforce has to scare the living hell out of ALL OEM's.

Maybe PKB users should hope Xiaomi would throw us niche users a bone? I suspect a POCO level Key 3 like device could sell well in their mobile dominated (carrier omitted) sells channels.

Xiaomi simply filled the hole left by Huawei.

[bh7171]

Xiaomi simply filled the hole left by Huawei.

Certainly not here in the US. The global trend and what Xiaomi has done in sales is going to make all existing and future Android OEM's adopt similar streamlined workforce strategies. If the US didn't protect Apple and Samsung and our carrier model the US market would already look vastly different than it does.

How has Xiaomi done in Canadian markets?

[conite]

Certainly not here in the US. The global trend and what Xiaomi has done in sales is going to make all existing and future Android OEM's adopt similar streamlined workforce strategies. If the US didn't protect Apple and Samsung and our carrier model the US market would already look vastly different than it does.

How has Xiaomi done in Canadian markets?

Not much different than Huawei. Not well.

We have very little carrier strong-arm tactics here and have no restrictions on advanced features and/or BYOD. However we were STILL mainly iPhone and Samsung.

The fact is the West has more money to afford premium offerings.

[brookie229]

Xiaomi simply filled the hole left by Huawei.

Xiaomi will probably be the next with sanctions.

[brookie229]

Certainly not here in the US. The global trend and what Xiaomi has done in sales is going to make all existing and future Android OEM's adopt similar streamlined workforce strategies. If the US didn't protect Apple and Samsung and our carrier model the US market would already look vastly different than it does.

How has Xiaomi done in Canadian markets?

Xiaomi has absolutely no presence here in Canada. Should qualify that as being in cellular providers. You can, however, buy at 3rd party stores such as https://canadaunlockedphones.com/pro...ory/xiaomi-mi/ or https://pdaplaza.ca/collections/xiaomi . PDAPlaza is one shop that I recommend if buying unlocked and without carrier.

[bh7171]

Not much different than Huawei. Not well.

We have very little carrier strong-arm tactics here, and we are mostly iPhone and Samsung.

The fact is the West has more money to afford premium offerings.

Europeans have plenty of money to afford ahem "premium" marketed (Chinese manufactured) iPhones and Vietnamese and Korean manufactured Samsungs.

Sales wise they don't seem to be as brand specific in their choices. Perhaps its more to do with the geopolitical climate? And perhaps this is also why Google is being so country limiting with Pixel sales, knowing they simply cannot compete on price to performance.

[bh7171]

Xiaomi has absolutely no presence here in Canada.

That's what I suspected.

[conite]

Europeans have plenty of money to afford ahem "premium" marketed (Chinese manufactured) iPhones.

You keep repeating this fallacy.

IPhones are assembled by a Taiwanese company in China, under the full-time supervision of Apple, using parts sourced by Apple from elsewhere.

HUGE difference.

And yes, the support offered by Apple and Samsung make them truly premium. Unlike other jurisdictions, carriers and consumers in North America have very high expectations in this regard.

[bh7171]

You keep repeating this fallacy.

IPhones are assembled by a Taiwanese company in China, under the full-time supervision of Apple, using parts sourced by Apple from elsewhere.

HUGE difference.

And yes, the support offered by Apple and Samsung make them truly premium. Unlike other jurisdictions, carriers and consumers in North America have very high expectations in this regard.

What fallacy? Are iPhones not manufactured in mainland China by a Taiwanese company utilizing Chinese citizens for their labor in the construction of the iPhone? (China considers Taiwan part of China. They even now put their Olympic medals under their country and count).

You can try and explain around all these facts but the iPhone remains manufactured in China so that Apple can make as much profit per unit as absolutely possible. They are no different in that regard than the Chinese branded companies. Apple is 100 percent symbiotic and dependent on a partnership with a Taiwanese company benefitting financially by cheaper labor and manufacturing in mainland China.

(I am just glad the ever watchful China would never spy on or infiltrate a Taiwanesse company manufacturing devices in their country by their citizens simply because it works with Apple)

[conite]

What fallacy? Are iPhones not manufactured in mainland China by a Taiwanese company utilizing Chinese citizens for their labor in the construction of the iPhone? (China considers Taiwan part of China. They even now put their Olympic medals under their country and count).

You can try and explain around all these facts but the iPhone remains manufactured in China so that Apple can make as much profit per unit as absolutely possible. They are no different in that regard than the Chinese branded companies. Apple is 100 percent symbiotic and dependent on a partnership with a Taiwanese company benefitting financially by cheaper labor and manufacturing in mainland China.

(I am just glad the ever watchful China would never spy on or infiltrate a Taiwanesse company manufacturing devices in their country by their citizens simply because it works with Apple)

But your implication was that there is a security risk. There isn't.

They don't manufacture there - only assemble. And Apple execs are everywhere. China can think Taiwan is part of them as much as they want, but Foxconn doesn't - nor is Foxconn subject to the espionage law.

[Chuck Finley69]

Certainly not here in the US. The global trend and what Xiaomi has done in sales is going to make all existing and future Android OEM's adopt similar streamlined workforce strategies. If the US didn't protect Apple and Samsung and our carrier model the US market would already look vastly different than it does.

How has Xiaomi done in Canadian markets?

There wasn't any hole to fill in the USA beyond the prepaid entry level Android burners that had been ceded to already present TCL selling Alcatel branded choices. I'd suspect OEMs will fight the onslaught in all regions.

[Dunt Dunt Dunt]

Xiaomi will probably be the next with sanctions.

I doubt they make the mistakes that Huawei did in their dealings with Iran.

[brookie229]

I doubt they make the mistakes that Huawei did in their dealings with Iran.

That may not be enough to avoid problems, but we'll see what happens when Xiaomi overtakes Samsung, Apple and others to become the global leader (if it hasn't already). Will be interesting.

[Chuck Finley69]

That may not be enough to avoid problems, but we'll see what happens when Xiaomi overtakes Samsung, Apple and others to become the global leader (if it hasn't already). Will be interesting.

The problems will be how consumers ultimately view the brand origin country. With OEMs pulling their manufacturing from the PRC in certain instances, part of that has to be more about the optics too.

[brookie229]

The problems will be how consumers ultimately view the brand origin country. With OEMs pulling their manufacturing from the PRC in certain instances, part of that has to be more about the optics too.

For sure.

[bh7171]

The problems will be how consumers ultimately view the brand origin country. With OEMs pulling their manufacturing from the PRC in certain instances, part of that has to be more about the optics too.

Yeah but almost nobody, outside of Samsung, is or has pulled their manufacturing from China for fear of loosing that market. Most of this is purely optics.

Take the Amazon Fire and Kindle tablet lines that have been extremely popular. Manufactured and assembled in China but being an "Amazon" branded device and product with no carrier limitations and usually no middle store involved they stay under any governmental oversight and sale by the millions online, like Xaiomi has apparently perfected, in major portions of the world.

Apple manufactures and assembles their iPhone and iPad lines in mainland China. The average American may ***** about geopolitical issues and differences but over half of us consumers buy a product that supports governance which they are, in truth, not really concerned with. The little emblazoned or etched Apple logo is enough to make so many ok to be encumbered to a US carrier for a 24 to 36 month period.

The average consumer and companies are simply looking for an affordable, free or amortized way to communicate with their workers, colleagues, immediate family and friends.

Most people and companies only pretend to care where their computers (Lenovo), smartphones (Apple) or tablets (Amazon and Apple) are manufactured. It's the branding or sticker that matters.

[Dunt Dunt Dunt]

Fire Tablet is made per Amazon's specification and Amazon controls the OS.... people trust Amazon. Plus Amazon is subsidizing those tablets which is why there is even an Android Tablet market to speak of, outside of Samsung.

I can't speak for all... but I know I've started watching WHO I'm dealing with on major purchases or anything "smart" I put in my house. And I know many business have stopped even using Lenovo - because of the issues they had back in 2014 - 2016. I don't know if they are still on Federal Restriction lists or not. It's pretty clear that brands do matter - Lenovo is #1 in the world, but in my local Best Buy their section was pretty limited compared to HP, Dell, Apple.... even ASUS had more displays.

[Chuck Finley69]

Yeah but almost nobody, outside of Samsung, is or has pulled their manufacturing from China for fear of loosing that market. Most of this is purely optics.

Take the Amazon Fire and Kindle tablet lines that have been extremely popular. Manufactured and assembled in China but being an "Amazon" branded device and product with no carrier limitations and usually no middle store involved they stay under any governmental oversight and sale by the millions online, like Xaiomi has apparently perfected, in major portions of the world.

Apple manufactures and assembles their iPhone and iPad lines in mainland China. The average American may ***** about geopolitical issues and differences but over half of us consumers buy a product that supports governance which they are, in truth, not really concerned with. The little emblazoned or etched Apple logo is enough to make so many ok to be encumbered to a US carrier for a 24 to 36 month period.

The average consumer and companies are simply looking for an affordable, free or amortized way to communicate with their workers, colleagues, immediate family and friends.

Most people and companies only pretend to care where their computers (Lenovo), smartphones (Apple) or tablets (Amazon and Apple) are manufactured. It's the branding or sticker that matters.

The optics aren’t really just the end individual consumer though but also Enterprise buyers and COVID-19 has changed the consumer perspective recently. Apple has made announcements with Foxconn to move production from PRC to other Asian countries… the companies do care because of not wanting to share business intelligence…

Regardless the PRC does control the OEMs domiciled in the PRC far more than companies just using their assembly plants and that’s changing as well.

Ultimately, I don’t think people have chosen PRC brands and in my opinion that’s been good for consumers in the carrier model since the current leading brands have benefit our country and it’s relationships with allied trading partners.

[conite]

Yeah but almost nobody, outside of Samsung, is or has pulled their manufacturing from China for fear of loosing that market. Most of this is purely optics.

Take the Amazon Fire and Kindle tablet lines that have been extremely popular. Manufactured and assembled in China but being an "Amazon" branded device and product with no carrier limitations and usually no middle store involved they stay under any governmental oversight and sale by the millions online, like Xaiomi has apparently perfected, in major portions of the world.

Apple manufactures and assembles their iPhone and iPad lines in mainland China. The average American may ***** about geopolitical issues and differences but over half of us consumers buy a product that supports governance which they are, in truth, not really concerned with. The little emblazoned or etched Apple logo is enough to make so many ok to be encumbered to a US carrier for a 24 to 36 month period.

The average consumer and companies are simply looking for an affordable, free or amortized way to communicate with their workers, colleagues, immediate family and friends.

Most people and companies only pretend to care where their computers (Lenovo), smartphones (Apple) or tablets (Amazon and Apple) are manufactured. It's the branding or sticker that matters.

Apple does not manufacture in China. They simply use a Taiwanese company to assemble many of their products there under their direct supervision (using parts from outside). Huge difference.

Same for Google, although they've moved most of it to Vietnam now for tax reasons.

Nokia has always been in Vietnam, Samsung is in South Korea, Sony is in Japan, and ASUS is in Taiwan. You can add "and India" to most of these.

That pretty much covers all non-Chinese OEMs.

[Dunt Dunt Dunt]

Apple does not manufacture in China. They simply use a Taiwanese company to assemble many of their products there under their direct supervision (using parts from outside). Huge difference.

Same for Google, although they've moved most of it to Vietnam now for tax reasons.

Nokia has always been in Vietnam, Samsung is in South Korea, Sony is in Japan, and ASUS is in Taiwan. You can add "and India" to most of these.

That pretty much covers all non-Chinese OEMs.

One reason LG leaving the game was bad.... as they were also Vietnam, had pulled production out of Korea earlier as sales declined.

India is a strange market... in order to give local builders an advantage they created import laws that put a huge tax on devices made outside of the country. In the end I'm not sure how many of the local OEM still exist, or have converted to assembly of outside company's finial products. But a phone in India, no matter from who... good chance it was assembled in India. But still by the standards of the original specs and standards of the company in question..

[Chuck Finley69]

Yeah but almost nobody, outside of Samsung, is or has pulled their manufacturing from China for fear of loosing that market. Most of this is purely optics.

Take the Amazon Fire and Kindle tablet lines that have been extremely popular. Manufactured and assembled in China but being an "Amazon" branded device and product with no carrier limitations and usually no middle store involved they stay under any governmental oversight and sale by the millions online, like Xaiomi has apparently perfected, in major portions of the world.

Apple manufactures and assembles their iPhone and iPad lines in mainland China. The average American may ***** about geopolitical issues and differences but over half of us consumers buy a product that supports governance which they are, in truth, not really concerned with. The little emblazoned or etched Apple logo is enough to make so many ok to be encumbered to a US carrier for a 24 to 36 month period.

The average consumer and companies are simply looking for an affordable, free or amortized way to communicate with their workers, colleagues, immediate family and friends.

Most people and companies only pretend to care where their computers (Lenovo), smartphones (Apple) or tablets (Amazon and Apple) are manufactured. It's the branding or sticker that matters.

Another interesting article regarding why factory unlocked devices never succeed here

https://www.theverge.com/2021/3/10/2...nlimited-plans

[Laura Knotek]

Another interesting article regarding why factory unlocked devices never succeed here

https://www.theverge.com/2021/3/10/2...nlimited-plans

That's interesting, and I hadn't seen that before. I'm already on the GetMore plan, and I'll probably upgrade to a new Samsung device (either S22 or Note 21) next year.

[Dunt Dunt Dunt]

Another interesting article regarding why factory unlocked devices never succeed here

https://www.theverge.com/2021/3/10/2...nlimited-plans

Not sure it matters for me... as I doubt Verizon is going to put on of those highspeed mini towers in my rural neighborhood anyway. That said to get her "free" iPhone my wife had to get a "Get More" Plan. While it does cost more, it did allow us to cut other bills. It includes Apple Music and the full Disney Bundle.

[Laura Knotek]

Not sure it matters for me... as I doubt Verizon is going to put on of those highspeed mini towers in my rural neighborhood anyway. That said to get her "free" iPhone my wife had to get a "Get More" Plan. While it does cost more, it did allow us to cut other bills. It includes Apple Music and the full Disney Bundle.

That's why I chose this plan. I was able to cancel other TV services that were more expensive.