Disbursing Funds Of Up To IDR 217.6 Trillion, Xiaomi Is Ready To Kick Apple From The Smart Device Market

Xiaomi intends to overthrow Apple. (photo: doc. unsplash)

JAKARTA - Who doesn't want to overtake Apple as the largest smart device company in the world? It wasn't Samsung that had such intentions. However, it is the Chinese brand, Xiaomi who will come forward against Apple.

Xiaomi intends to overthrow Apple by disbursing US$15.17 billion or equivalent to Rp217.6 trillion in research and development over the next five years.

Xiaomi founder and chief executive Lei Jun said that his company will become the number one high-end smartphone brand in China in the next three years.

In a direct challenge to Apple, Samsung and other Chinese brands, Jun also questioned the company's strategic goal of becoming the largest smartphone brand in the same time period.

"(We aim to) fully benchmark Apple in product and experience, and become China's biggest high-end brand in the next three years," Jun said in a post on Chinese microblogging platform Weibo.

In filling the void left by Huawei, and other Chinese brands like OPPO, OnePlus, Xiaomi has tried to make a name for themselves in the flagship category.

While OnePlus and OPPO have seen some success with their attempts to rival Apple and Samsung in the flagship segment, but Xiaomi's flagships are more than what can be described as entry-level like the Galaxy S21 FE.

The Canalys report said Apple overtook Samsung to become the world's largest smartphone vendor in the fourth quarter of last year, thanks to strong demand for the iPhone 13 line.

Another report from Counterpoint shows that Apple dethroned Vivo in the fourth quarter to become China's top smartphone vendor after six years.

Apple's rise to the top spot in China after so many years seems to have shaken Xiaomi, which describes the competition as a life and death war.

In a bid to attract more consumers, Xiaomi plans to open 20,000 new retail stores in China over the next three years, bringing the number of stores to 30,000. This was reported by Neowin, Saturday, February 12.