Xiaomi Strikes Back: Why It Might Escape Huawei’s Fate

After Huawei, Xiaomi is the second big Chinese smartphone manufacturer to get in hot waters with the US administration. However, Xiaomi may have better chances of survival than the former.

How come?

While it’s true that both Xiaomi and Huawei are right now in the middle of a tense situation between China and the US, they aren’t judged for the same thing. 

Unlike Huawei, Xiaomi was only accused of having connections with the Chinese military. See, under the old administration, the Pentagon wrote up a list of companies that have ties with the Communist Chinese military.

One of those turned out to be Xiaomi and although it’s not clear what evidence the U.S. has against it, the American investors have to withdraw holdings. So, Xiaomi won’t get any more capital from US companies the moment this ruling takes place. 

Obviously, this move isn’t a surprise at all, although it won’t cripple Xiaomi as much as it did Huawei. 

Xiaomi’s supply chain won’t be as affected as it was in the case of Huawei. 

That company went from being top dog to barely making the top 5. For most of 2020, they had to deal with delayed launches and fleeing users, after Google services were out of the game. And, believe it or not, Huawei is also on the blacklist with Xiaomi.

Meanwhile, what started as an opportunity for Xiaomi turned into a nightmare. At first, what the U.S. did to Huawei meant Xiaomi had less competition and could make their way to the top. 

And it happened. Xiaomi became the third-largest smartphone vendor in the world. They may have started as an Apple copycat way back but their recent phones show they got out of Apple’s shadow.

Mi 11 was actually the first phone to come with the latest Qualcomm chip and they’re taking the lead in under-displays cameras.

Meanwhile, their midrange lines are selling like crazy in Europe, India, and China, obviously. However, Xiaomi never dared to swim in American waters. They actually didn’t go past selling home devices there. 

In the end, it was better that Xiaomi observed from the sidelines. By focusing on other markets, the current accusations won’t affect sales as much as you may think.

Obviously, their reputation is gonna be under question. After all, the U.S. practically deems them a national threat. It’s no wonder their stocks plunged by 14%!

So how did Xiaomi strike back?

In several ways actually – watch the video above to find out!