Fast-growing Chinese tech firm Xiaomi Technology Ltd Co booked 74.3 billion yuan ($11.97 billion) in pre-tax sales last year, up 135 percent from 2013, the firm’s chief executive Lei Jun said on his official microblog account on Sunday.
[…]
Xiaomi sold a total of just over 61 million phones in 2014, up 227 percent from a year earlier, Lei added in a post on his Sina Weibo microblog account.
The post did not give a related profit figure, although a filing last month showed that the firm was grappling with razor thin margins as it rapidly expands. A part of the business made around 347.5 million yuan net profit last year on revenue of 26.6 billion yuan and an operating margin of just 1.8 percent.
Shamelessness sells.
Selling beautiful, highend phones for lowend prices in your home market. In other words, very small profit margins so their customers get extreme value for money
Imagine what Apple would have done with all these sales :
– decent working conditions for all the workers
– decent supplier margins
– stop that marketing bullcrap, use true words
– babylities…
Seriously, guys.
Please, don’t be candid. Apple squeeze suppliers more than any other, exploit workers as far as Public Relations allow them, and are the Mauna Loa of marketing BS.
Not that I find any virtues in Xiaomei as a company, other than their products are inexpensive; I wish at least they would refrain from adding that laughable layer of iOS imitation over the OS, and provided clean, stock Android.
And a pinch of sarcasm…
Some invester is a sucker and will never get their money back.
This company made billions in revenue and only 50 million profits, so if they double their revenue they may barely double their profits.
Suckers. Lol.
On top of the problem of expansion because of being Apple clones. They will end up with the Samsung problem when they have to stop cloning and come up with their own designs.
http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/aapl/dividend-history
Seeing as Apple has only paid dividends since 2012, most investers didn’t get their money back for a long time either.
If a company has massive profits and an overabundance of cash reserves, it means someone’s being duped out of their money and/or the company is not doing enough with its investment efforts.
And Apple will watch their factories being investigated by the Chinese government. The only people more shameless than Xiaomi are the people who rule China.
Interesting cause Apple bought back 58 billion in stock in 2014 and still has 150 billion in the bank. So thats a misnomer.
The Chinese Government has not been the one investigating Apples Factories, for one Apple has no Factories, They hire companies and those companies own the Factories and those same Factories are used by most other companies that make the same type of devices. On top of that EVERYONE else is “Investigating” Apple (Like the story last week that came out of the UK.) And its only because Apple is number one thats its even a story because most companies again use the same factories to make their devices.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foxconn
I don’t care if Xiaomi copies Apple or not, that’s a lawyer’s problem not mine. I just want good products.
And IMHO Xiaomi phones are the only non-Apple phones with beautiful design and simple user interface.
Go Xiaomi go!!!
Indeed it does. Just look at Microsoft, Apple and Google.
I work in China all my staff who are geeky, in the know or have done a little research have bought Xiaomi phones. I need a new phone (dropped mine and cracked the screen), but what the hell I’m going to get a Meizu Ubuntu phone.
As for development in China
I think the argument could be made for successful Chinese companies being better for China, Chinese workers and suppliers than a richer and more powerful Apple.
Foxconn has already begun the process of replacing their 1.2 million factory workers with robots.
You are a Luddite? The progress from hand looms to mechanical looms did not make the world worse did it? Fiat built the strada with robots in the 1970s, this was wrong and evil?
Your point is?
I simply stated that Foxconn is replacing humanas with robots. There was no ‘point’ being made.
Good Artists Copy; Great Artists Steal
– Steve Jobs
They may be shameless, but Steve said it was okay.
It’s not just a mindless copy of iOS. It’s a very well executed Android UI using the iOS design language.
I’ve actually used Xiaomi/MIUI, and while it’s iOS-like, it’s also distinctly not iOS.
Steve said it was okay, so they did it.
Nothing in that says PHOTO COPY. LOL.
stealing [stee-ling]
noun
1. the act of a person who steals. Removes the property from original owner.
2.Usually, stealings. something that is stolen.
adjective
3. given to or characterized by theft.
… but it does not profit.
The only reason people are buying Xiaomi devices (except for the few stupid anti-Apple people) is because they can’t afford an Apple device but hey, slashing prices also slashes profits, did anyone told you? They will not last long.
You are right Thom, shamelessness sells: look at the Apple products right now, their stupidly high prices, the poor quality on their software (Pages, Numbers, I am looking at you right now), their useless watches (that will sell as “hot bread”*). Apple is raising the developer subscription costs in Europe, and they will continue selling as good or better as usual.
Getting “their own medicament”* is good sometimes.
* “Como pan caliente” and “Su propia medicina”; Spanish jargon.
Shamelessness sells.
That’s the very essence of Apple.