Apple could face fierce competition as it begins to take the Chinese market more seriously
Apple is beginning to turn its sights to the Chinese market, but the company could face significant competition from Xiaomi. Few people outside of China may be familiar with Xiaomi. The company is a maker of smartphones and other mobile devices that has established a very strong presence in the Chinese market. Analysts at Rosenblatt Securities suggest that Xiaomi has the potential to compete with both Apple and Samsung in China.
Xiaomi manages to outpace Apple when it comes to sales, but lags behind Samsung
Xiaomi is often referred to as the “Apple of China.” This if a lofty title that the company has managed to attain through an aggressive approach to the market. Xiaomi has seen the rapidly growing popularity of mobile technology among consumers and has made efforts to satisfy the demand for smartphones and other devices that offer features that they are interested in, such as mobile commerce support and the ability to share digital content.
Engaging mobile consumers has managed to help Xiaomi find significant success
Currently, Xiaomi outsells Apple in the Chinese market, but falls behind when compared to Samsung. Many of the devices offered by Xiaomi actually resemble Apple’s iOS devices and the company itself approaches the mobile market in a similar fashion to Apple. When it comes to mobile commerce, however, Xiaomi is somewhat more cavalier than Apple. Apple has only very recently begun entering in to the mobile commerce space, opting to take a slow and caution approach to the market in order to avoid any significant disasters.
Consumers throughout China are becoming more mobile-centric, relying more heavily on mobile technology
Mobile commerce has become quite popular throughout China. Many consumers are opting to shop for and purchase products online from their mobile devices because it is more convenient. Companies that cater to these consumers are beginning to find significant success. Mobile consumers are becoming quite active in the market and are beginning to account for a significant portion of retail sales and revenue in various business sectors.
The same forecasts have seen those devices outselling notebooks in 2014.
Although smaller sized tablets have been growing in popularity over the last few years, it is phablets that are expected to be the hot mobile devices, this year, as at least one analyst has already predicted that they will become the top gadget in terms of sales.
The Kindle Fire’s 7 inch tablet exploded into the market, changing the consumer expectation for screen size.
That device was first launched near the end of 2011. They have gone on to produce many more mobile devices at that and small tablet model sizes. Others have jumped into that mobile devices market, as well, including the Nexus 7 from Google. Though some screen size is lost, there are a number of appealing advantages to a smaller sized gadget. Among the primary benefits that have been identified by users are that they are more portable, they are lighter, and they are typically less expensive than models that are 8 inches and larger.
These mobile devices have taken off due to lower price and functionality alone, but there is more to this market.
These small tablets may be the volume leader at the moment, but it is anticipated that a whole new class is about to take over. The Galaxy Note kicked this trend started, when Samsung’s gadget was nicknamed a phablet. Since then, devices with displays between 5 and 6 inches have been growing in popularity as they combine the practicality of a small tablet with the capabilities of a smartphone.
Technology analyst Bob O’Donnell, from Technalysis Research, has forecasted that this year, phablets will become popular to such a degree that they will begin outselling 7 inch tablets before the year comes to a close. The prediction is that more than 240 million phablets will be shipped this year, when compared to 158 million small screen tablets (7 to 8 inch displays), and 173 million notebooks.
O’Donnell pointed out that “We are in the midst of a dramatic recasting of the entire market for devices.” He said that this may be the next phase in entirely redefining computing, once again. It will mean that computing can occur in a new way and in new places. The outcome, he said, is that there will likely be yet another considerable shift in influence and power among the various manufacturers.
