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 numerouno 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.
Is Xiaomi a Game Changer?
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Published 2014-09-30
Pages 54-62
Abstract
Keywords
Game changer, mobile, smartphone, business strategy, marketing, sales, Feature phone
References
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