10 ms·

I posted something similar about Xiaomi about a week back. For me, Xiaomi is a fantastic company, but I think they are still unavailable to most Westerns... per

by bt3 12y ago

I posted something similar about Xiaomi about a week back. For me, Xiaomi is a fantastic company, but I think they are still unavailable to most Westerns... perhaps this is why we might not "care" about them? Having never lived in China, I'm not sure how difficult is it to buy a Western-produced good (e.g. iPhone), but I know from trying to buy an Xiaomi product in the past, it's rather difficult. There is no "direct" avenue of purchase, and the only reputable suppliers seem to tack on huge premiums that all but negate the usual price advantage that Xiaomi provides. Have you ever tried to explain to someone non-tech who Xiaomi is? Same goes when people ask if my OnePlus One is an HTC product.

blfr 12y ago
Can't you get their products with minimal markup on AliExpress?
- bt3 12y ago
  You can, and I say that hesitantly because there is no official seller of the product, and as such, one can quickly become a victim of fraud if they aren't careful. For the same reason you can't purchase RayBans on AliExpress, I'm assuming the same holds true for mobile phones.
- xorcist 12y ago
  Yes. You can also find them quite cheap on Ebay. I found it quite easy. The only snag with international phone buys is that you have to really make sure to get one with support for the radio bands your operator uses.
TazeTSchnitzel 12y ago
> Have you ever tried to explain to someone non-tech who Xiaomi is? Why would that be difficult? "They're a Chinese phone company, they're quite big in China but not really in the West for now."
- bt3 12y ago
  It's not so much that it's difficult to explain, it's just tough to explain the credibility that this company has when someone hasn't heard of them. Like I originally mentioned, this dialogue is typically only from someone that likely doesn't frequent HN either. A similar scenario might be how some people construed open-source products to be lesser than their paid counterparts (e.g. Ubuntu vs Windows). Similarly, those who haven't heard of Xiaomi, might consider it inferior to their iPhone, since they're well aware of Apple's brand, identity, and product line.
  - TazeTSchnitzel 12y ago
    Ah, I understand you now. Yeah, conveying that it's not awful is quite a different task.
zhte415 12y ago
> Having never lived in China, I'm not sure how difficult is it to buy a Western-produced good (e.g. iPhone), but I know from trying to buy an Xiaomi product in the past, it's rather difficult. Not hard at all, as most of the options are by Western brands. Samsung is huge, Apple is too. Usually the OS (for mobile devices) is tweaked by removing Google services from Android (all Google services are blocked in mainland China, but not in HK/Macau/Taiwan) and replaced with a domestic equivalent. Physical stores are usually not branded by manufacturer, but by mobile service provider (China Mobile or China Unicom), with a range of domestic or international brand names inside. Online stores: See 139shop.com as an example of what's available.

by bt3 12y ago

blfr 12y ago

Can't you get their products with minimal markup on AliExpress?

bt3 12y ago
You can, and I say that hesitantly because there is no official seller of the product, and as such, one can quickly become a victim of fraud if they aren't careful. For the same reason you can't purchase RayBans on AliExpress, I'm assuming the same holds true for mobile phones.
xorcist 12y ago
Yes. You can also find them quite cheap on Ebay. I found it quite easy. The only snag with international phone buys is that you have to really make sure to get one with support for the radio bands your operator uses.

TazeTSchnitzel 12y ago

> Have you ever tried to explain to someone non-tech who Xiaomi is? Why would that be difficult? "They're a Chinese phone company, they're quite big in China but not really in the West for now."

bt3 12y ago
It's not so much that it's difficult to explain, it's just tough to explain the credibility that this company has when someone hasn't heard of them. Like I originally mentioned, this dialogue is typically only from someone that likely doesn't frequent HN either. A similar scenario might be how some people construed open-source products to be lesser than their paid counterparts (e.g. Ubuntu vs Windows). Similarly, those who haven't heard of Xiaomi, might consider it inferior to their iPhone, since they're well aware of Apple's brand, identity, and product line.
- TazeTSchnitzel 12y ago
  Ah, I understand you now. Yeah, conveying that it's not awful is quite a different task.

zhte415 12y ago

> Having never lived in China, I'm not sure how difficult is it to buy a Western-produced good (e.g. iPhone), but I know from trying to buy an Xiaomi product in the past, it's rather difficult. Not hard at all, as most of the options are by Western brands. Samsung is huge, Apple is too. Usually the OS (for mobile devices) is tweaked by removing Google services from Android (all Google services are blocked in mainland China, but not in HK/Macau/Taiwan) and replaced with a domestic equivalent. Physical stores are usually not branded by manufacturer, but by mobile service provider (China Mobile or China Unicom), with a range of domestic or international brand names inside. Online stores: See 139shop.com as an example of what's available.