It's interesting to see news reports about the hot-selling Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi describing it as a lot like the
But actually, Xiaomi has customizable features that make the smartphone more advanced in some ways. For sure, this made-in-China smartphone maker is an example of the types of micro-innovations that are coming from China today.
For instance, on a Xiaomi phone, you can change the whole look of the screen and how the apps appear. You can also customize the back cover of your phone, say by putting a printed photo you like as the cover. There's a bunch of fun features built into the phone too, like flying a remote-controlled helicopter over the Great Wall in China.
Unlike the first generation of technology products from China, the Xiaomi smartphone was not meant to be designed in China for the Chinese market. Nor was it meant to reinforce nationalist pride of quality made-in-China products, at least according to co-founder Feng Hong. It was designed for geeks who would then spread the word about its wonders to the world.
Indeed, a new trend among China's tech upstarts and emerging companies is to look to global markets for sales. Many are succeeding on this route. Take Tencent's WeChat service and its 800 million users worldwide if you don't believe. See my earlier post on the strategy behind WeChat.
Last year, Xiaomi sold $2 billion worth of its mobile handsets in an incredibly fast uptake for the huge Chinese mobile market. What's really interesting is that about 35 percent of Xiaomi users are outside China, says Hong, who worked alongside super angel investor Lei Jun in developing the phone's features.
Just as Xiaomi has been compared with the iPhone, it's co-creator Lei Jun is being described as a Steve Jobs-like wunderkind of China. Lei, who seems to have that special gift of ingenuity along with great connections. Lei is also a force behind another Chinese tech success story --
Both startups have capital investment from a blend of top-notch Silicon Valley and Chinese venture firms, including GGV Capital and the Morningside Group.
If you want to get a sense of what this new generation of Chinese tech entrepreneurs is all about, check out this Silicon Dragon video of an on-stage interview by SVB's Arman Zand in Shanghai with Xiaomi's low-key engineer co-founder--quite a contrast to his angel investor partner.
