Xiaomi unveils its new flagship smartphone, the Mi 4, with a metal frame

[Avik274]

shi&&y phone..Only putting high end snapdragon doesn't make it better..It has no Custom Rom,No development on XDA or outside,bad software implementation..Indeed The price tag is too good for that kind of configuration...

 

[cirr]

After China smartphone success, Lenovo plans leap forward overseas

BY GERRY SHIH

BEIJING Thu Aug 14, 2014 3:05am EDT

People walk past a Lenovo shop in Hefei, Anhui province, October 18, 2013.

CREDIT: REUTERS/STRINGER


(Reuters) - China's Lenovo Group said first-quarter profit jumped 23 percent, beating estimates, as a surge in smartphone sales showed how quickly the world's biggest personal computer maker is transforming itself into a major player in mobile technology.

Beijing-based Lenovo said on Thursday net income climbed to $214 million in the three months through June from $174 million in the same period a year earlier, the opening quarter of its fiscal year. That was ahead of estimates of $202 million, according to a Thomson Reuters SmartEstimate poll of analysts.

This year the ambitious hardware company has accelerated its strategy to diversify away from the crumbling PC market, agreeing to buy IBM's server unit and the iconic Motorola handset brand in deals worth over $5 billion. Lenovo's Chief Executive Yang Yuanqing said he sees potential for more smartphone sales growth outside China - though he won't chase it at the expense of profit margins.

Lenovo reported 39 percent growth in worldwide handset shipments, helped by strong sales in China. The company has displaced South Korean giant Samsung Electronics Co Ltd over the past year to become the No. 1 smartphone seller in China, according to recent estimates by IDC.

But it has been closely trailed in its home country by rival handset makers like Xiaomi, the three-year old Beijing-based upstart that has been gobbling up smartphone market share at the cost of razor-thin margins.

On Thursday CEO Yang said Lenovo will prioritize profitable markets overseas rather than jostle with unidentified "unhealthy" rivals in China.

"There are local players who only chase growth so they can attract investors in the capital markets, which is not a healthy model," Yang said in a telephone interview. "We don't do business that way. We will balance growth and profitability."

"China is still one of the most important markets for Lenovo, but actually we have more potential opportunity outside of China," Yang said. He cited recent sales growth rates of 300 percent and 500 percent in Southeast Asia and Eastern Europe, respectively.

Overall revenue for the quarter rose 18 percent to $10.4 billion, with significant gains coming in Europe.

MOTOROLA REVIVAL?

Lenovo's core PC business, which still accounts for roughly 82 percent of sales, continued to tighten its grip on the market despite what many view as a long-term decline in the broader industry. Lenovo's laptop sales rose 12 percent over the year while global laptop shipments fell 3.7 percent, the company said.

Yang said on Thursday both the $2.9 billion deal with Google Inc to acquire Motorola and the proposed $2.3 billion tie-up for IBM's low-end server unit were "on schedule for closing."

Although Lenovo already has put employees on the ground working with Motorola and IBM, the two deals hinge on U.S. regulatory approval. The company publicly says it hopes to close the deals before the end of the year, while analysts say they could come as early as this quarter.

Yang anticipated a return to profitability for Motorola within four to six quarters - or "maybe earlier," he said. Yang said he was surprised by how well its newest handset models, including the Moto G, have been received on the market.

Sanford Bernstein analyst Alberto Moel said that timeframe for a turnaround may be unrealistic, and "they might have to re-think it." But Moel said he believed Lenovo has been advising Motorola for several months on its recent products, and so far to good effect.

"The price point, the new markets, 'Shut that down, cut that out' - it's all got Lenovo's fingerprints on it," he said. "The deal's been cooking since November."

Although the pioneering U.S. telephony brand appeared to struggle almost continuously since it was folded into Google in 2011, Yang said he was confident Motorola's road map would finally bear fruit.

"They have a good plan to improve," Yang said. "Since Google acquired Motorola, they have started to develop new products. I think now it's time for them to harvest that investment."

(Editing by Kenneth Maxwell)

 

[jkroo]

Huawei is a handset maker itself。Contradiction of interests？

Maybe Huawei can spin-off Hisilicon but remain the controlling shareholder by selling a small stake in the company to a few strategic investors with a view for possible IPO in the future。

Good idea, Huawei and ZTE all have their resources and talents to do this. But the strategy will finally determined.

It will be good if there are 2-3 domestic professional chip companies compete in mobile market and the cost will get down further.

Now, Huawei have an independent mobile industry. Xiaomi should catch up. Recently, Xiaomi and Huawei fight hard in low end handsets.

It's very interesting to wait and see final market performance of year 2014 of Xiaomi, Huawei, ZTE, Meizu and Lenovo.

Meizu's OS Ubuntu is now marketing you can learn it and I think Huawei, Xiaomi have the capabilities to make one.

Will Ubuntu survive for the development community & ecology?

There are definitely a good show coming.

 

[cirr]

Xiaomi unveils MIUI 6, coming to select Mi phones in Oct

As promised, Xiaomi detailed its new version of MIUI OS at an event in Beijing today. Called MIUI 6, the version will go in beta-testing today and the testing will continue until October, when the final version will be released for select Mi smartphones. The testing of MIUI 6 for Xiaomi Mi 2/2S/2A, Redmi devices and Redmi Note will begin later this year with final release sometime next year.

The launch of MIUI 6 marks the fourth anniversary of MIUI and the press event for the MIUI 6 unveiling happened at the same place where MIUI was first introduced to the world four years ago.

According to Xiaomi, the MIUI 6 brings a number of improvements and optimisations and is in line with the current trend of flatter design. Xiaomi claims that it wants to give the best user experience with MIUI 6 and for the same, it has removed unnecessary distractions from the UI and notes that this will help the users in focussing on the right things in the right place, when they need them.



Among the most prominent changes, MIUI 6 has seen a lot of changes on the home-screen front. The launcher now supports batch organisation of icons and includes a quick search panel, which can be accessed by a swipe-up gesture.

The company has also refreshed the Calendar, Calculator, Weather, Compass, Clock and other native apps with new flatter design. Notification centre has also seen a revamp. Notifications are also visible on the lock-screen, which are collapsed by default but can be expanded with a small gesture.

Xiaomi has also redesigned the mail app, which now combines all mails with the same subject into one folder, so the users can see what’s new at single glance. The attachment list allows users to view and save attachments directly.

Among the under-the-hood changes, MIUI 6 introduces various Linux kernel & RAM optimization techniques like Smart CGroup, ZRAM, Bitmap Cache and TrimHeaps, which allow applications to run more efficiently.

Other highlights of MIUI 6

• More power-saving modes
• Option to load own song files or select the best music from various FM stations in the Music app.
• New options to take photo from front or rear camera by just swiping down, swipe left to bring out the menu panel, and swipe right to bring out the real-time filter.
• Easier photo-sharing and backup on Mi Cloud

Here are some screenshots from MIUI 6:

 

[Kyle Sun]

I can buy Mi3 with 1699 RMB ,and I get 1699RMB phone fee.

 

[cirr]

Xiaomi sells most smartphones in China for 4th consecutive month

(Xinhua) Updated: 2014-08-29 09:13

Lei Jun, founder and CEO of China's mobile company Xiaomi, speaks at a launch ceremony of Xiaomi Phone 4, in Beijing, July 22, 2014. [Photo/Agencies]

BEIJING - Chinese manufacturer Xiaomi has continued its reign over the Chinese smartphone market in July, holding on to the top spot with ease for the fourth consecutive month, according to the latest smartphone sales data.

Xiaomi boasted an astounding 31.6-percent share of the urban Chinese market in July, followed by the South Korean brand Samsung and another Chinese-born brand Huawei, UK-based market research company Kantar Worldpanel Comtech said on Thursday.

"We have seen huge shifts in power in the Chinese smartphone market over the past year," it said. Xiaomi, whose name translates into the grain "millet", has been the standout performer and Huawei has also seen excellent growth.

Xiaomi Inc was founded in April of 2010 in Zhongguancun, Beijing's technology hub dubbed China's Silicon Valley. On Aug 16 of 2011, Xiaomi debuted its first smartphone.

In the first half of 2014, Xiaomi shipped 26.11 million units, enjoying growth of 271 percent from the previous year. Sales revenues from the first half 2014 marked a year-on-year growth of 149 percent.

In the second quarter this year, Xiaomi secured a 27-percent share of smartphone sales in China, compared with 21.1 percent for Samsung, according to data from Kantar.

Considering the success of rapidly growing local brands in the Chinese market, it will be only a question of time before they seek further expansion internationally in a similar way to Huawei, and more recently Xiaomi, Kantar said.

The same success, however, is not shared by all Chinese local brands such as ZTE, Lenovo and Oppo who have seen their shares come under pressure recently, it added.

 

[cirr]

Huawei Ascend P7 Sapphire Edition Confirmed for China Launch: Report

by Robin Sinha, August 28, 2014

After confirmation from Yu Chengdong, Device Chairman of Huawei, the company on Thursday reportedly reconfirmed the upcoming launch of the Ascend P7 variant with a sapphire display, and the launch country.

According to GSMArena, besides the name Huawei Ascend P7 Sapphire Edition, the firm also confirmed that the smartphone will be available to buy in China soon, indicating an exclusive release in the country.

Huawei also mentioned that the Ascend P7 Sapphire Edition would also come with 4G LTE connectivity like the original Ascend P7. The specifications of the new variant have not yet been confirmed by the company, however, it is being speculated to sport the same specifications as the original - except with a sapphire display.

The Ascend P7 features a 5-inch full-HD display; a quad-core HiSilicon Kirin 910T processor clocked at 1.8GHz; 2GB of RAM; a 13-megapixel rear camera, and an 8-megapixel front-facing camera.

On Tuesday, Yu Chengdong, Device Chairman of Huawei teased an image of the Ascend P7 with sapphire screen on his Weibo account tipping that the handset might be revealed at this year's IFA event in early September along with the rumoured Ascend Mate 3 phablet. The company has already sent invites for aSeptember 4 event.

Along with the image of the smartphone, Chengdong posted "The company will release the Huawei Ascend P7 in a more exclusive flavour boasting sapphire display."

Huawei's head of consumer business group, Richard Yu, also revealed that the company is currently planning no handset devices with either Windows Phone OS or the Samsung's Tizen OS.

Huawei Ascend P7 Sapphire Edition Confirmed for China Launch: Report | NDTV Gadgets

 

[FNFAL]

ONEPLUS RULES

 

[MandarK]

Xiomi is doing extremely good in India however, they are selling mobiles in very less quantity. 10000 or 20000 in one stock. I think they should increase the number. These phones are certainly better than over priced and over hyped iphones and galaxy flagship devices.

Couldnt get MI3....now waiting for 1S sale

 

[cirr]

8/27/2014

China's Coolpad Races To Sell More Smartphones For Less Online

This story appears in the September 8, 2014 issue of Forbes Asia.

“Go online or go home” seems to be the ethos of retail in China these days. Even at the risk of having a lower profit margin, Chinese smartphone maker Coolpad is determined to charge ahead in the e-commerce battle.

Roughly half of its sales will come through e-commerce channels within two to three years, says CFO Jiang Chao of the Shenzhen company. In the first half of 2014 Coolpad sold 3 million smartphones online, 13% of its total volume.

“Moving into e-commerce is not simply a change in sales channel. It is part of a revolution [in] future business models,” explains Chairman Guo Deying of the rationale for going all out. “We need to face the customers directly. We expect gross margins of hardware to continue to lower, [therefore] we hope to have an interactive relationship with our customers to grow our customer base. This business model is consistent with the broader trend.”

Coolpad is China’s third-largest smartphone brand by market share, according to research firm IDC. In the first half of 2014 revenue surged 55% year-on-year to $1.93 billion, while net profit grew 94% to $53.3 million.

Formerly China Wireless Technologies, the company was founded by Guo, now 50, in 1993 and went public in Hong Kong a decade later. In late August his 39% stake was worth $382 million. Guo’s engineering-based emphasis on innovation led to the company’s first smartphone in 2003, and it released a 4G handset four years ago, ahead of domestic rivals.

But if you do not have a foreign name, it is not technology but price that ultimately wins over China’s mass consumers. Originally touted as “high-end” and “for business use,” Coolpad has climbed down the price ladder to reach the mid-to-lower-end market. Now its cheapest model costs less than $100. Price is its key advantage compared with other domestic brands, notes Christopher Tse, an analyst at RHB Research Institute in Hong Kong.

Coolpad currently sells most of its devices through the big three Chinese mobile operators, which has helped hold up average profit margins of 10% to 12% for 3G phones and 14% to 16% for its 4G phones. Higher marketing and advertising expenses for the online channels bring those down. But Guo says economies of scale, which will continue to lower hardware costs, and Coolpad’s fast-growing wireless Internet business will help make up for the difference.

From clothing to food to home appliances, e-commerce is proving to be an ever more powerful distribution channel in China, where the likes of Alibaba, JD.com and Vipshop formulate a thriving ecosystem. Mobile phones are not an exception to this trend–online sales amounted to 42 million units last year; among those 23 million were domestic brands, according to iResearch. Xiaomi, China’s No. 2 smart-phone maker by market share, counted 70% of its sales from online channels in 2013.

Market leader Lenovo and Coolpad are both playing catch-up this year. A month apart, each signed pacts for sales and other arrangements with China’s second-largest e-commerce site, JD.com. In May Coolpad launched its first online “festival,” where 1 million smartphones in its Great God series reportedly sold out–at heavily discounted prices. The company will also explore e-commerce channels overseas, as it plans major expansions in Southeast Asia, Europe and North America.

The move online is made all the more urgent by a policy change in June that upped taxes for China’s mobile operators. To compensate for the loss, they opted to scale back subsidies in the billions for smartphone makers. The impact of the subsidy cut on Coolpad was “bigger than expected,” wrote one analyst at Haitong International Research.

China's Coolpad Races To Sell More Smartphones For Less Online - Forbes

 

[GORKHALI]

Great,I bought MI3 recently for my Mom,must say an impressive device in 14 K Price tag,The one thing I hate about is MIUI.

 

[ExtraOdinary]

A friend bought it yesterday. Looks like a damn good deal for the price tag.

 

[BoQ77]

Chinese could consider Lei Jun as Steve Jobs of China, although Steve Jobs isn't good at copying other's designs

 

[cirr]

ONEPLUS RULES

OnePlus One is a good choice。

Equally good is Smartisan。

Xiomi is doing extremely good in India however, they are selling mobiles in very less quantity. 10000 or 20000 in one stock. I think they should increase the number. These phones are certainly better than over priced and over hyped iphones and galaxy flagship devices.

Couldnt get MI3....now waiting for 1S sale

We have the same problem here in China even though where Xiaomi phones are sold in 300000 - 500000 batches。

Still the phones run out of stock in a couple of mins。

A smartphone is just a tool。It shouldn't be taken as something that gives you a perceived higher social status。There is absolutely no need to waste money on the so-called recognized brands。

 

[MandarK]

We have the same problem here in China even though where Xiaomi phones are sold in 300000 - 500000 batches。

Still the phones run out of stock in a couple of mins。

Minutes?? In India its like 10 second, 5 seconds and then 2 seconds....result of releasing small batches....