Both Xiaomi and Huawei have been trying to enter the U.S market for quite some time. Xiaomi is even reported to be negotiating agreements with US-based carriers.
As of now, Apple holds the biggest smartphone market share in the U.S. The picture could easily change once Huawei and Xiaomi come into play.
If things go according to plan, Xiaomi can officially enter the US market with its latest flagship device Mi 7 in collaboration with carriers like AT&T and Verizon. There could be complicated situations as this could affect the US economy.
The US carriers do support Apple a lot. This has helped Apple to create a huge loyal customer base over time. Apple smartly subsidizes its expensive iPhones and lowers the upfront price for customers. But with increasing number of manufacturers entering the market, the subsidies and the discounts have got affected. The price of the latest Apple devices has become considerably high.
Xiang Wang, Head of the Supply Chain and Intellectual Property teams at Xiaomi didn’t hide their intentions while making it clear that the Chinese smartphone manufacturer is planning to get their phones released in the U.S. within 2019. He also said that he is perfectly aware how time-consuming the entire procedure of working through specifications with each carrier could be.
Xiaomi is recognized worldwide for selling premium devices at a very competitive price. The US carriers can easily provide these Chinese smartphones with a price tag of $500-$600 which is very reasonable given the impressive performance of the devices.
But once they have entered the US, Xiaomi and Huawei will be solely dependent on AT&T and Verizon for distribution. Naturally, this allows the carrier companies to profit seriously in the local market without being accountable to the manufacturers. They can easily control the discounts and freebies, creating serious competition for Apple in terms of market share.
Do you own a Xiaomi device? What do you think are Xiaomi’s odds in the US? Do you think they have what it takes to challenge Apple in their backyard? Do let us know in the comments section below.
