Is Xiaomi a Game Changer?

Abstract

 Mobile phones have become ubiquitous today. As they evolve, they are packing more and more functionality. The feature phone to 
Smartphone transition marks a major leap. As with every technological change, new companies are emerging to take advantage of the 
changes in market. Some of them may simply be imitating what others before them have done. Once in a while, emerges a company that seeks 
to change the very fundamentals of a market. It may be in terms of innovating new products, like Apple did by introducing iphone a few years 
ago. It may also be in terms of offering value at a price point which may have been considered impossible so far. Xiaomi is one such company 
that has come up in the last four years. It has offered features to customers at less than half the price that its competitors are offering. To make 
it possible, it has utilized hitherto unheard business models that are made possible by emerging technology. By eliminating entire heads from 
its cost structure, it is able to offer smartphones at unbelievably low prices. Xiaomi was initially considered to be pursuing a non-scalable and 
non-sustainable business model and its critics were waiting for the forces of gravity to catch up with the company. However Xiaomi has 
defied expectations by capturing the numero uno slot in world's biggest Smartphone market – China. As it expands its footprint to more 
countries, including India, it will be more closely examined. This case study is an attempt to understand the things that make Xiaomi distinct 
and potentially a game changer.