Xiaomi should just buy them out
3 Chinese smartphone brands among global Top 5
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cirr
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Rumor: CEC may compete to buy Marvell handset chip business unit 
OFweek | Posted: 06 Jan 2015, 15:18
After a series of overall arrangement of information industry chain in the integrated circuit filed, China Electronics Corporation (CEC) now turns its eyes on the mobile phone chip area.
"CEC is planning to buy Marvell mobile phone chip business," said an informed source on January 5, "The Company (CEC) will be self-funded, yet as for the price and form of the acquisition, it is still under the negotiation."
Marvell did not comment any on it, while CEC directly denied it over the telephone when the reporter asked them about it.
However, according to several informed insiders, the negotiation between CEC and Marvell handset business unit has already been rumored for half a year. It is mainly driven by Shanghai government, while American investment banks also want Marvell to sell its mobile phone business.
OFweek | Posted: 06 Jan 2015, 15:18
After a series of overall arrangement of information industry chain in the integrated circuit filed, China Electronics Corporation (CEC) now turns its eyes on the mobile phone chip area.
"CEC is planning to buy Marvell mobile phone chip business," said an informed source on January 5, "The Company (CEC) will be self-funded, yet as for the price and form of the acquisition, it is still under the negotiation."
Marvell did not comment any on it, while CEC directly denied it over the telephone when the reporter asked them about it.
However, according to several informed insiders, the negotiation between CEC and Marvell handset business unit has already been rumored for half a year. It is mainly driven by Shanghai government, while American investment banks also want Marvell to sell its mobile phone business.
cirr
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January 6, 2015 11:29 pm
Motorola returns to Chinese smartphone market
Tim Bradshaw in Las Vegas
Motorola is planning a return to the Chinese smartphone market to take on local manufacturers such as Xiaomi and Huawei, as the venerable mobile maker’s recovery gains momentum.
Putting its Moto X and G devices on sale in the country in the first quarter of this year, Motorola is aiming for younger and more affluent customers in the world’s largest and most competitive mobile market.
While under Google’s ownership, Motorola withdrew from China in 2013. Rick Osterloh, Motorola’s president and chief operating officer, told the FT on Tuesday that the company sees a new opportunity there after its sale to Chinese electronics group Lenovo, which closed in October.
“If you want to be amongst the top [smartphone] providers, you have to be in China. It’s a maths problem,” he said. “We see this as a huge synergy as part of the Lenovo acquisition.”
Mr Osterloh said that it was “incredibly painful for us” to stop doing business in China under Google.
But after being written off by some analysts, a revamped product line-up helped Motorola to double its unit sales last year, Mr Osterloh said, giving it confidence to accelerate its international expansion after several years of retrenchment. From a low point of selling in just 10 countries, Motorola is now in 50 markets and expanding further.
“We’ve got a lot of momentum,” Mr Osterloh said. “The counterpoint to that is, a year-and-a-half ago we did not a have a lot of momentum. We had hit a low point in our quarterly shipments.”
Mr Osterloh said that Motorola’s near-death experience gave it the freedom to rethink its products and manufacturing, including the ability to produce thousands of different potential configurations of its Moto X, which customers can choose from an online portal that will also be made available in China.
“Our focus going forward is a small number of great products, great software and giving users the power to choose,” he said.
Describing the changes required to provide extensive customisation as a “restart” for the business and its supply chain, he said: “It would be exceptionally hard for someone at massive scale to do this. It was a unique capability that was made possible quite frankly because we were so small.”
Customers’ ability to personalise their devices with different colours, finishes and specifications is central to Motorola’s renewed pitch in China, where Xiaomi’s low-cost, well-designed devices have seen the four-year-old company steal huge share from Samsung in the last year. Last month, Xiaomi closed a $1bn round of funding to further its expansion.
Mr Osterloh said Motorola saw an opportunity in Samsung’s sudden weakness, suggesting that the world’s largest mobile maker might even go the way of Nokia and BlackBerry.
“It’s a fascinating market because every several years, the leader tends to turn over,” he said. “Unfortunately, way back when, Motorola was in that trend. BlackBerry went through this terrible thing, Nokia’s been through this. Samsung’s had a pretty precipitous drop in share in most markets and who knows what’s next.”
The combined market share of Lenovo and Motorola today puts it in third place in the smartphone market, behind Apple and Samsung.
Retooling its Android-based phones for Chinese consumers will mean replacing Google internet services, such as search and email, with “locally appropriate” alternatives.
But Mr Osterloh said that it would retain the full Android service in other markets, rejecting the suggestion from some market watchers that it could create greater differentiation by selling Android-based phones without Google services outside China as “a bad idea”.
Motorola returns to Chinese smartphone market
Tim Bradshaw in Las Vegas
Motorola is planning a return to the Chinese smartphone market to take on local manufacturers such as Xiaomi and Huawei, as the venerable mobile maker’s recovery gains momentum.
Putting its Moto X and G devices on sale in the country in the first quarter of this year, Motorola is aiming for younger and more affluent customers in the world’s largest and most competitive mobile market.
While under Google’s ownership, Motorola withdrew from China in 2013. Rick Osterloh, Motorola’s president and chief operating officer, told the FT on Tuesday that the company sees a new opportunity there after its sale to Chinese electronics group Lenovo, which closed in October.
“If you want to be amongst the top [smartphone] providers, you have to be in China. It’s a maths problem,” he said. “We see this as a huge synergy as part of the Lenovo acquisition.”
Mr Osterloh said that it was “incredibly painful for us” to stop doing business in China under Google.
But after being written off by some analysts, a revamped product line-up helped Motorola to double its unit sales last year, Mr Osterloh said, giving it confidence to accelerate its international expansion after several years of retrenchment. From a low point of selling in just 10 countries, Motorola is now in 50 markets and expanding further.
“We’ve got a lot of momentum,” Mr Osterloh said. “The counterpoint to that is, a year-and-a-half ago we did not a have a lot of momentum. We had hit a low point in our quarterly shipments.”
Mr Osterloh said that Motorola’s near-death experience gave it the freedom to rethink its products and manufacturing, including the ability to produce thousands of different potential configurations of its Moto X, which customers can choose from an online portal that will also be made available in China.
“Our focus going forward is a small number of great products, great software and giving users the power to choose,” he said.
Describing the changes required to provide extensive customisation as a “restart” for the business and its supply chain, he said: “It would be exceptionally hard for someone at massive scale to do this. It was a unique capability that was made possible quite frankly because we were so small.”
Customers’ ability to personalise their devices with different colours, finishes and specifications is central to Motorola’s renewed pitch in China, where Xiaomi’s low-cost, well-designed devices have seen the four-year-old company steal huge share from Samsung in the last year. Last month, Xiaomi closed a $1bn round of funding to further its expansion.
Mr Osterloh said Motorola saw an opportunity in Samsung’s sudden weakness, suggesting that the world’s largest mobile maker might even go the way of Nokia and BlackBerry.
“It’s a fascinating market because every several years, the leader tends to turn over,” he said. “Unfortunately, way back when, Motorola was in that trend. BlackBerry went through this terrible thing, Nokia’s been through this. Samsung’s had a pretty precipitous drop in share in most markets and who knows what’s next.”
The combined market share of Lenovo and Motorola today puts it in third place in the smartphone market, behind Apple and Samsung.
Retooling its Android-based phones for Chinese consumers will mean replacing Google internet services, such as search and email, with “locally appropriate” alternatives.
But Mr Osterloh said that it would retain the full Android service in other markets, rejecting the suggestion from some market watchers that it could create greater differentiation by selling Android-based phones without Google services outside China as “a bad idea”.
TaiShang
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China’s Qihoo bets on old software and new hardware to crack global markets
When it comes to Chinese companies looking abroad for growth, most industry observers keep their eyes firmly on Baidu, Alibaba, and Tencent – the so-called BAT companies. The three internet giants have each stretched beyond their borders and are making high-profile investments in US-based companies. While Qihoo 360 isn’t as well-known internationally as BAT, it’s just as serious about winning over users outside of its backyard.
Qihoo executives have expressed a tentative commitment to expanding abroad, particularly to fast-growing developing nations. Over time, Qihoo’s vision for international growth has become a bit clearer. In a conversation with Tech in Asia at Asia Beat in December, Tiger Shen, VP at Qihoo, elaborated on the company’s structure and vision for international expansion.
Old software, new markets
Founded by Zhou Hongyi in 2005, Qihoo became best known for its PC security software. Using aggressive user acquisition tactics, the company fought its way onto 95 percent of all desktops in China. Its reckless approach to growth and penchant for lawsuits earned it the ire of China’s longer-established internet giants. But the strategy paid off, and the company ultimately leveraged its market reach to launch a search engine, a browser, and a mobile app store. All of those products make excellent touch points for advertising and app distribution, and that’s how the company earns its revenue.
Outside of China, however, Qihoo faces several challenges. How can a company borne out of China’s insular internet capture users in a world where Google and Facebook, not Baidu and Tencent, reign supreme? How can a company borne out of the PC era jump right over to mobile abroad?
As Shen describes Qihoo’s operations outside of China, it’s clear that there are two components to its international strategy. The first involves exporting its competency in utility apps – things like antivirus software – and distribution into markets where it can add value, specifically in Taiwan, Brazil, and Japan.
Qihoo’s strategy for Taiwan more-or-less mirrors its strategy for China, but Shen claims that its PC software isn’t as important as mobile. Its team in Taipei localizes Qihoo’s mobile security app and promotes it aggressively. Ads can be seen inside taxi cabs around Taipei right now.
“Smartphone penetration is extremely high in Taiwan, and there are many Android phones. So we feel that it’s a perfect market for our security app. We also promote our PC security app here, but we believe that it will gradually become just a base to promote other products in the future.”
A screenshot of Qihoo’s security app for Taiwan. One of the ways Qihoo monetizes is by facilitating installs of other apps through its own properties.
In Japan, Qihoo owns a 2.6 percent stake in KLabs, which it partners with to publish China-made games.
“We originally wanted to [publish PC security software] in Japan, but we realized that PCs had already died out. We then decided to use our security app as an entry point onto users’ smartphones, but we also gave up on that. [We realized that] smartphone games in Japan had potential, so we considered how we could make a difference in this space,” Shen explains.
In Brazil, Qihoo has a joint venture with PSafe, which it investedUS$25 million a year ago. True to its partner’s origins, PSafe offers antivirus software for desktop and mobile that’s free to download, and has an install base in the tens of millions.
“Brazil, in my opinion, is more similar to China,” says Shen. “We’ll start from the PC there, and then do smartphone security. We might even do an app store. We can maybe cover more ground there because our Brazil team is pretty big.”
Qihoo at home
Even beyond security software and utility apps, Qihoo has its sights set firmly on an entirely different speciality – smart home devices. Under its own name, the company has released alocation-tracking wristband for children and a security-focused router. Beyond that, Shen added that the company has invested in Life360, a San Francisco-based location tracking app that hasambitions to integrate into cars, and will also open an ‘internet of things’ accelerator in Sunnyvale in the near future.
The connection between security software and connected devices might seem tenuous. But Shen says that Qihoo will leverage its brand (and possibly its technology) by targeting hardware and startups that factor in safety as part of their mission.
Tiger Shen, VP at Qihoo 360
“Our router is a safe router. In the future, your household lamps and TVs will all be online. We can prevent hackers from entering your network. So we’re expanding our brand.”
Qihoo’s commitment to developing smart home devices places it right alongside China’s biggest internet companies. Baidu, Xiaomi, Tencent, and even Cheetah Mobile (which Kingsoft owns a majority stake in) have all either developed hardware for the home, or have integrated their services into it.
“I think our model is in between that of Xiaomi and Baidu,” says Shen. “Baidu mainly does the cloud, it doesn’t have a team that does hardware. Xiaomi is of a different type. It does all of its own products – smartphones, batteries… it’s similar to Apple. We do a little on our own and then collaborate with others.”
The jury is still out on which Chinese tech giant is best poised to dominate the nascent smart home industry. At Tech in Asia, we’ve written that Tencent has an extremely strong advantage in this space thanks to WeChat, its powerful chat app that’s using messaging as a means to branch out into marketing, ecommerce, and even banking. But Shen thinks that WeChat’s stronghold on communication doesn’t necessarily transfer over to hardware.
“WeChat’s most important function is connecting people to other people. [A person] that likes to jog might want a group or community to share [data with], but you won’t want to share about your household appliances,” he says.
When it comes to Chinese companies looking abroad for growth, most industry observers keep their eyes firmly on Baidu, Alibaba, and Tencent – the so-called BAT companies. The three internet giants have each stretched beyond their borders and are making high-profile investments in US-based companies. While Qihoo 360 isn’t as well-known internationally as BAT, it’s just as serious about winning over users outside of its backyard.
Qihoo executives have expressed a tentative commitment to expanding abroad, particularly to fast-growing developing nations. Over time, Qihoo’s vision for international growth has become a bit clearer. In a conversation with Tech in Asia at Asia Beat in December, Tiger Shen, VP at Qihoo, elaborated on the company’s structure and vision for international expansion.
Old software, new markets
Founded by Zhou Hongyi in 2005, Qihoo became best known for its PC security software. Using aggressive user acquisition tactics, the company fought its way onto 95 percent of all desktops in China. Its reckless approach to growth and penchant for lawsuits earned it the ire of China’s longer-established internet giants. But the strategy paid off, and the company ultimately leveraged its market reach to launch a search engine, a browser, and a mobile app store. All of those products make excellent touch points for advertising and app distribution, and that’s how the company earns its revenue.
Outside of China, however, Qihoo faces several challenges. How can a company borne out of China’s insular internet capture users in a world where Google and Facebook, not Baidu and Tencent, reign supreme? How can a company borne out of the PC era jump right over to mobile abroad?
As Shen describes Qihoo’s operations outside of China, it’s clear that there are two components to its international strategy. The first involves exporting its competency in utility apps – things like antivirus software – and distribution into markets where it can add value, specifically in Taiwan, Brazil, and Japan.
Qihoo’s strategy for Taiwan more-or-less mirrors its strategy for China, but Shen claims that its PC software isn’t as important as mobile. Its team in Taipei localizes Qihoo’s mobile security app and promotes it aggressively. Ads can be seen inside taxi cabs around Taipei right now.
“Smartphone penetration is extremely high in Taiwan, and there are many Android phones. So we feel that it’s a perfect market for our security app. We also promote our PC security app here, but we believe that it will gradually become just a base to promote other products in the future.”
A screenshot of Qihoo’s security app for Taiwan. One of the ways Qihoo monetizes is by facilitating installs of other apps through its own properties.
In Japan, Qihoo owns a 2.6 percent stake in KLabs, which it partners with to publish China-made games.
“We originally wanted to [publish PC security software] in Japan, but we realized that PCs had already died out. We then decided to use our security app as an entry point onto users’ smartphones, but we also gave up on that. [We realized that] smartphone games in Japan had potential, so we considered how we could make a difference in this space,” Shen explains.
In Brazil, Qihoo has a joint venture with PSafe, which it investedUS$25 million a year ago. True to its partner’s origins, PSafe offers antivirus software for desktop and mobile that’s free to download, and has an install base in the tens of millions.
“Brazil, in my opinion, is more similar to China,” says Shen. “We’ll start from the PC there, and then do smartphone security. We might even do an app store. We can maybe cover more ground there because our Brazil team is pretty big.”
Qihoo at home
Even beyond security software and utility apps, Qihoo has its sights set firmly on an entirely different speciality – smart home devices. Under its own name, the company has released alocation-tracking wristband for children and a security-focused router. Beyond that, Shen added that the company has invested in Life360, a San Francisco-based location tracking app that hasambitions to integrate into cars, and will also open an ‘internet of things’ accelerator in Sunnyvale in the near future.
The connection between security software and connected devices might seem tenuous. But Shen says that Qihoo will leverage its brand (and possibly its technology) by targeting hardware and startups that factor in safety as part of their mission.
Tiger Shen, VP at Qihoo 360
“Our router is a safe router. In the future, your household lamps and TVs will all be online. We can prevent hackers from entering your network. So we’re expanding our brand.”
Qihoo’s commitment to developing smart home devices places it right alongside China’s biggest internet companies. Baidu, Xiaomi, Tencent, and even Cheetah Mobile (which Kingsoft owns a majority stake in) have all either developed hardware for the home, or have integrated their services into it.
“I think our model is in between that of Xiaomi and Baidu,” says Shen. “Baidu mainly does the cloud, it doesn’t have a team that does hardware. Xiaomi is of a different type. It does all of its own products – smartphones, batteries… it’s similar to Apple. We do a little on our own and then collaborate with others.”
The jury is still out on which Chinese tech giant is best poised to dominate the nascent smart home industry. At Tech in Asia, we’ve written that Tencent has an extremely strong advantage in this space thanks to WeChat, its powerful chat app that’s using messaging as a means to branch out into marketing, ecommerce, and even banking. But Shen thinks that WeChat’s stronghold on communication doesn’t necessarily transfer over to hardware.
“WeChat’s most important function is connecting people to other people. [A person] that likes to jog might want a group or community to share [data with], but you won’t want to share about your household appliances,” he says.
cirr
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Huawei showcases full-range of integrated mobile offerings at CES 2015
huawei | Posted: 09 Jan 2015, 10:28
(Visitors crowded in Huawei Booth)
Huawei Consumer Business Group (BG) showcased more than one hundred products at CES 2015 including its latest flagship smartphones, wearable devices, tablets, mobile access devices, home access devices, smart home devices, OTT and vehicle-mounted modules. The company also introduced the start of the Hilink era - its strategy to offer fully integrated mobile internet solutions to consumers all around the world – as part of its commitment to bringing the latest technology to consumers and creating extraordinary connected experiences for people everywhere.
"2014 saw our greatest achievements to date. Our strategy of focusing on premium mid- to high-end products has borne fruit, with year-on-year smartphone sales increasing by 30% to over US$11.8 billion. Flagship smartphones Huawei P7 and Huawei Mate7 have proven popular with consumers the world over. Meanwhile, the global influence of our brand has continued to grow with Huawei becoming the first mainland Chinese company to successfully enter Interbrand’s Top 100 Global Brands of 2014 list," said Mr. Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei Consumer BG.
"Looking ahead, we are committed to further consolidating and strengthening our smartphone business, and will continue to bring people an integrated, intelligent experience. Leveraging Huawei’s strong capabilities and advantages in mobile broadband connectivity, we will continue to focus on exploring opportunities in car networking and Internet of Things and strive to create better overall smart experiences (such as driving plans, driving preferences, safety analysis, etc.) through the integration of big data and cloud services," concluded Mr. Yu.
Huawei’s Flagship Handsets Lead The Way
Reflecting the success of Huawei’s mid- to high-end flagship phone strategy, the company’s smartphones have been well-received by consumers all over the world, leading to a surge in shipments throughout the year. As a result, Huawei’s brand awareness rose from 52% in 2013 to 65% in 2014, and brand recommendation value reached 43% according to IPSOS.
Both Huawei and Honor flagship products were showcased at CES 2105. These included Huawei P7 (the Sapphire, Arsenal, and standard editions), Huawei Mate7 (both the premium and standard editions), as well as Huawei Honor 6 and Honor 6 Plus.
(People experiencing Huawei Ascend Mate7)
Following the success of Huawei P6, the Huawei P7 smartphone achieved shipments of 4 million units only six months after it was launched at a standalone event in Paris in May 2014. The Huawei Mate7 meanwhile was well received worldwide since its launch in September last year. Further consolidating Huawei’s position as a leading vendor in the high-end smartphone market, the premium G7 (also launched at IFA) shipped more than one million units within two months of its launch.
Huawei Consumer BG Unveils "Hilink" Era
(Huawei HiLink Solution)
In addition to its flagship smartphones, the exhibition included Huawei’s vision of the Hilink era, its strategy to offer fully integrated mobile internet solutions to consumers all around the world. Huawei products designed to address the diverse technology needs of consumers in the age of global mobile internet. The platform of home-based networked smart products comprising media and storage and air quality monitor, smart sockets, infrared remote controlled light, and a smart electric fan, among many others, aims to bring easy connection to people everywhere anytime. Huawei MediaPad T1 and X1, wearable device TalkBand B1, mobile access device E5 PRO, home access devices PT500 and WS331C, OTT Huawei M330 and vehicle-mounted module ME909Tu-565 were also on show to demonstrate Huawei’s integrated "Hilink" solution.
huawei | Posted: 09 Jan 2015, 10:28
(Visitors crowded in Huawei Booth)
Huawei Consumer Business Group (BG) showcased more than one hundred products at CES 2015 including its latest flagship smartphones, wearable devices, tablets, mobile access devices, home access devices, smart home devices, OTT and vehicle-mounted modules. The company also introduced the start of the Hilink era - its strategy to offer fully integrated mobile internet solutions to consumers all around the world – as part of its commitment to bringing the latest technology to consumers and creating extraordinary connected experiences for people everywhere.
"2014 saw our greatest achievements to date. Our strategy of focusing on premium mid- to high-end products has borne fruit, with year-on-year smartphone sales increasing by 30% to over US$11.8 billion. Flagship smartphones Huawei P7 and Huawei Mate7 have proven popular with consumers the world over. Meanwhile, the global influence of our brand has continued to grow with Huawei becoming the first mainland Chinese company to successfully enter Interbrand’s Top 100 Global Brands of 2014 list," said Mr. Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei Consumer BG.
"Looking ahead, we are committed to further consolidating and strengthening our smartphone business, and will continue to bring people an integrated, intelligent experience. Leveraging Huawei’s strong capabilities and advantages in mobile broadband connectivity, we will continue to focus on exploring opportunities in car networking and Internet of Things and strive to create better overall smart experiences (such as driving plans, driving preferences, safety analysis, etc.) through the integration of big data and cloud services," concluded Mr. Yu.
Huawei’s Flagship Handsets Lead The Way
Reflecting the success of Huawei’s mid- to high-end flagship phone strategy, the company’s smartphones have been well-received by consumers all over the world, leading to a surge in shipments throughout the year. As a result, Huawei’s brand awareness rose from 52% in 2013 to 65% in 2014, and brand recommendation value reached 43% according to IPSOS.
Both Huawei and Honor flagship products were showcased at CES 2105. These included Huawei P7 (the Sapphire, Arsenal, and standard editions), Huawei Mate7 (both the premium and standard editions), as well as Huawei Honor 6 and Honor 6 Plus.
(People experiencing Huawei Ascend Mate7)
Following the success of Huawei P6, the Huawei P7 smartphone achieved shipments of 4 million units only six months after it was launched at a standalone event in Paris in May 2014. The Huawei Mate7 meanwhile was well received worldwide since its launch in September last year. Further consolidating Huawei’s position as a leading vendor in the high-end smartphone market, the premium G7 (also launched at IFA) shipped more than one million units within two months of its launch.
Huawei Consumer BG Unveils "Hilink" Era
(Huawei HiLink Solution)
In addition to its flagship smartphones, the exhibition included Huawei’s vision of the Hilink era, its strategy to offer fully integrated mobile internet solutions to consumers all around the world. Huawei products designed to address the diverse technology needs of consumers in the age of global mobile internet. The platform of home-based networked smart products comprising media and storage and air quality monitor, smart sockets, infrared remote controlled light, and a smart electric fan, among many others, aims to bring easy connection to people everywhere anytime. Huawei MediaPad T1 and X1, wearable device TalkBand B1, mobile access device E5 PRO, home access devices PT500 and WS331C, OTT Huawei M330 and vehicle-mounted module ME909Tu-565 were also on show to demonstrate Huawei’s integrated "Hilink" solution.
TaiShang
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Coolpad Dazen X7 unveiled with glass body and 8MP Sony IMX214 front camera
January 8, 2015
Coolpad has announced a new flagship device in the market called as the Coolpad Dazen X7. The size and the features of the phone put it in direct competition with the Meizu MX4. The company has focused on the built quality as well as the camera on the new flagship.
The Dazen X7 comes with a unique double sided glass and aluminum frame design. Although the phone features a tradition form factor, the intricate details gives it a premium look. Both the front and the back is protected by Corning’s gorilla glass 3. The company claims that it derived inspiration from the Louvre Glass Pyramids in Paris for the phone’s design. As a result, the overall design stands out from the crowd. The phone is quite compact and thin too. It measures just 6.45mm in thickness which makes it even thinner than the new iPhone 6.
As for the tech specs, the Coolpad Dazen X7 features a 5.2-inch Super AMOLED display with 1080p resolution. While the screen size is almost the same as the Meizu MX4, the resolution on this device is much lower. The X7 is powered by the MT6595 octa-core Mediatek processor clocked at 2.3GHz. There will also be a Snapdragon 801 powered variant, for those who prefer Qualcomm’s chipset. The processor is mated with 3GB onboard RAM and 16GB internal memory.
The camera is the true highlight of the Dazen X7. It features an 8MP back side illuminated Sony IMX214 second generation sensor which will click high quality selfies. Yes, this 8MP camera is on the front, which mean selfie lovers are in for a treat. Even the rear camera is quite capable, thanks to the 13MP sensor with f /1.8 wide aperture, 28mm wide-angle,and color temperature flash. Much like the OPPO models, the phone can synthesize even 60MP resolution images using multiple shots. Other camera features include fast shot, Panorama, Slo-Mo videos etc.
Like all true flagships, the phone supports 4G LTE networks. It comes with dual SIM card slots which is similar to the one found on the Vivo X5 Max. So, there is a single SIM slot and a microSD + Nano sim card slot. The phone accepts microSD cards up to 128GB in size.
The phone runs on Android 4.4.2 KitKat OS with the company’s own Cool UI 6.0 on top. The OS comes with a number of software features like shake to change wallpaper, integrated content services etc.
Coolpad Dazen X7 comes in a number of network variants. The China Mobile 4G variant features the Mediatek processor and will retail for 1599 Yuan i.e. $257; the China Unicom 4G model will also feature the MT6795 processor and will sell for 1699 Yuan i.e. $272. Finally the dual 4G edition features the Snapdragon 801 processor and will be available for 1999 Yuan i.e. $327.
The MT6595 powered variants will be available for pre-order from JD.com starting 9 January 2015 for the above prices. It will ship from 15 January 2015. The company also adds that the Dual 4G Dazen X7 edition will be available for purchase directly from February.
Here are some photos of the new Dazen X7.
January 8, 2015
Coolpad has announced a new flagship device in the market called as the Coolpad Dazen X7. The size and the features of the phone put it in direct competition with the Meizu MX4. The company has focused on the built quality as well as the camera on the new flagship.
The Dazen X7 comes with a unique double sided glass and aluminum frame design. Although the phone features a tradition form factor, the intricate details gives it a premium look. Both the front and the back is protected by Corning’s gorilla glass 3. The company claims that it derived inspiration from the Louvre Glass Pyramids in Paris for the phone’s design. As a result, the overall design stands out from the crowd. The phone is quite compact and thin too. It measures just 6.45mm in thickness which makes it even thinner than the new iPhone 6.
As for the tech specs, the Coolpad Dazen X7 features a 5.2-inch Super AMOLED display with 1080p resolution. While the screen size is almost the same as the Meizu MX4, the resolution on this device is much lower. The X7 is powered by the MT6595 octa-core Mediatek processor clocked at 2.3GHz. There will also be a Snapdragon 801 powered variant, for those who prefer Qualcomm’s chipset. The processor is mated with 3GB onboard RAM and 16GB internal memory.
The camera is the true highlight of the Dazen X7. It features an 8MP back side illuminated Sony IMX214 second generation sensor which will click high quality selfies. Yes, this 8MP camera is on the front, which mean selfie lovers are in for a treat. Even the rear camera is quite capable, thanks to the 13MP sensor with f /1.8 wide aperture, 28mm wide-angle,and color temperature flash. Much like the OPPO models, the phone can synthesize even 60MP resolution images using multiple shots. Other camera features include fast shot, Panorama, Slo-Mo videos etc.
Like all true flagships, the phone supports 4G LTE networks. It comes with dual SIM card slots which is similar to the one found on the Vivo X5 Max. So, there is a single SIM slot and a microSD + Nano sim card slot. The phone accepts microSD cards up to 128GB in size.
The phone runs on Android 4.4.2 KitKat OS with the company’s own Cool UI 6.0 on top. The OS comes with a number of software features like shake to change wallpaper, integrated content services etc.
Coolpad Dazen X7 comes in a number of network variants. The China Mobile 4G variant features the Mediatek processor and will retail for 1599 Yuan i.e. $257; the China Unicom 4G model will also feature the MT6795 processor and will sell for 1699 Yuan i.e. $272. Finally the dual 4G edition features the Snapdragon 801 processor and will be available for 1999 Yuan i.e. $327.
The MT6595 powered variants will be available for pre-order from JD.com starting 9 January 2015 for the above prices. It will ship from 15 January 2015. The company also adds that the Dual 4G Dazen X7 edition will be available for purchase directly from February.
Here are some photos of the new Dazen X7.
cirr
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Facebook, Xiaomi discussed possible investment in the Chinese smartphone maker
By: Denny Thomas & Gerry Shih | reuters | Posted: 13 Jan 2015, 10:14
Lei Jun, founder and chief executive officer of China's mobile company Xiaomi Inc, introduces the new features of Xiaomi Phone 4 at its launching ceremony, in Beijing, July 22, 2014. (Credit: Reuters/Jason Lee)
Mark Zuckerberg and Xiaomi Inc CEO Lei Jun discussed a potential investment by Facebook in China's top smartphone maker ahead of its $1.1 billion fundraising last month, but a deal never materialized, several people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
The discussions, at a private dinner when Zuckerberg visited Beijing in October, were never formalized, three of those people said, as the two CEOs weighed the political and commercial implications of Facebook - which has been banned in China since 2009 - buying into the Chinese tech star now valued at $45 billion.
One individual with direct knowledge of Xiaomi's fundraising said the mooted Facebook investment was "not huge," but the talks underscore how ties between U.S. and Chinese companies have deepened as China's tech industry matures.
A Facebook investment in Xiaomi would have raised the international profile of the popular handset maker dubbed "China's Apple" by its fans and linked it to a U.S. social networking phenomenon with more than 1.3 billion users.
Facebook, for its part, has long harbored ambitions to expand into the world's most populous country, potentially with partners. One of the individuals said Facebook and Xiaomi began discussing a possible investment in mid-2014.
Xiaomi's Lei was partly put off by the potential for political fallout at home of selling a stake to Facebook while the U.S. social network is still banned in China, two of the people said, adding Xiaomi also feared a tie-up with Facebook could threaten its relationship with Google Inc, a crucial business partner. Xiaomi's phones are built on Google's Android operating system.
Xiaomi ultimately announced last month it raised $1.1 billion from investors including Hong Kong-based tech fund All Stars Investment; DST Global, a private equity firm that has invested in Facebook and Alibaba Group; Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC; Chinese fund Hopu Management; and Alibaba founder Jack Ma's Yunfeng Capital.
The fundraising valued Beijing-based Xiaomi at $45 billion just three years after it sold its first smartphone. The company had revenue of close to $12 billion in 2014.
Zuckerberg has eyed China as a critical piece of his vision to connect the global population. But, like Google and Twitter, the social networking giant has been blocked by China's internet censors, who cite national security concerns.
"Facebook wants to get into China, and Xiaomi is keen to expand outside, so they both recognize the importance of working together," said one of the knowledgeable individuals, none of whom wanted to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter.
Xiaomi and Facebook declined to comment for this article.
The two CEOs knew each other previously and deepened their relationship last year. In October, Zuckerberg was invited for dinner at Lei's Beijing home along with Facebook business development chief John Lagerling and China head Vaughan Smith.
The next day, Zuckerberg, whose wife is Chinese-American, addressed the prestigious Tsinghua University and won plaudits for speaking in Mandarin during a 30-minute Q&A session.
As Xiaomi sought financing last year, ICONIQ Capital, a San Francisco-based fund that manages several individuals' personal wealth, including Zuckerberg's, also considered buying shares, but ultimately did not, several people with knowledge of the matter said. Talks about ICONIQ taking part in Xiaomi's financing were not led by Zuckerberg himself.
ICONIQ declined to comment.
CALLED OFF
Xiaomi is China's biggest smartphone maker, according to some industry analysts, and trails only Samsung Electronics and Apple in global market share.
A strategic partnership with Xiaomi would give Facebook
another avenue to distribute its apps and potentially provide a powerful ally in its bid to overturn its China ban.
For Xiaomi, access to Facebook's vast banks of user data would be valuable as it seeks to grow into a global internet company providing comprehensive online services.
But Lei thought it would be "too sensitive" to sell an equity stake to Facebook given its uncertain political status in China, said one of the people with knowledge of the matter.
China's top internet censor, Lu Wei, has warned that social media, particularly foreign services, could be a destabilizing force for Chinese society. Lu, however, visited Facebook's U.S. headquarters last month, prompting speculation that relations between Facebook and China's government were warming.
Facebook, Xiaomi discussed possible investment in the Chinese smartphone maker - OFweek News
By: Denny Thomas & Gerry Shih | reuters | Posted: 13 Jan 2015, 10:14
Lei Jun, founder and chief executive officer of China's mobile company Xiaomi Inc, introduces the new features of Xiaomi Phone 4 at its launching ceremony, in Beijing, July 22, 2014. (Credit: Reuters/Jason Lee)
Mark Zuckerberg and Xiaomi Inc CEO Lei Jun discussed a potential investment by Facebook in China's top smartphone maker ahead of its $1.1 billion fundraising last month, but a deal never materialized, several people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
The discussions, at a private dinner when Zuckerberg visited Beijing in October, were never formalized, three of those people said, as the two CEOs weighed the political and commercial implications of Facebook - which has been banned in China since 2009 - buying into the Chinese tech star now valued at $45 billion.
One individual with direct knowledge of Xiaomi's fundraising said the mooted Facebook investment was "not huge," but the talks underscore how ties between U.S. and Chinese companies have deepened as China's tech industry matures.
A Facebook investment in Xiaomi would have raised the international profile of the popular handset maker dubbed "China's Apple" by its fans and linked it to a U.S. social networking phenomenon with more than 1.3 billion users.
Facebook, for its part, has long harbored ambitions to expand into the world's most populous country, potentially with partners. One of the individuals said Facebook and Xiaomi began discussing a possible investment in mid-2014.
Xiaomi's Lei was partly put off by the potential for political fallout at home of selling a stake to Facebook while the U.S. social network is still banned in China, two of the people said, adding Xiaomi also feared a tie-up with Facebook could threaten its relationship with Google Inc, a crucial business partner. Xiaomi's phones are built on Google's Android operating system.
Xiaomi ultimately announced last month it raised $1.1 billion from investors including Hong Kong-based tech fund All Stars Investment; DST Global, a private equity firm that has invested in Facebook and Alibaba Group; Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC; Chinese fund Hopu Management; and Alibaba founder Jack Ma's Yunfeng Capital.
The fundraising valued Beijing-based Xiaomi at $45 billion just three years after it sold its first smartphone. The company had revenue of close to $12 billion in 2014.
Zuckerberg has eyed China as a critical piece of his vision to connect the global population. But, like Google and Twitter, the social networking giant has been blocked by China's internet censors, who cite national security concerns.
"Facebook wants to get into China, and Xiaomi is keen to expand outside, so they both recognize the importance of working together," said one of the knowledgeable individuals, none of whom wanted to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter.
Xiaomi and Facebook declined to comment for this article.
The two CEOs knew each other previously and deepened their relationship last year. In October, Zuckerberg was invited for dinner at Lei's Beijing home along with Facebook business development chief John Lagerling and China head Vaughan Smith.
The next day, Zuckerberg, whose wife is Chinese-American, addressed the prestigious Tsinghua University and won plaudits for speaking in Mandarin during a 30-minute Q&A session.
As Xiaomi sought financing last year, ICONIQ Capital, a San Francisco-based fund that manages several individuals' personal wealth, including Zuckerberg's, also considered buying shares, but ultimately did not, several people with knowledge of the matter said. Talks about ICONIQ taking part in Xiaomi's financing were not led by Zuckerberg himself.
ICONIQ declined to comment.
CALLED OFF
Xiaomi is China's biggest smartphone maker, according to some industry analysts, and trails only Samsung Electronics and Apple in global market share.
A strategic partnership with Xiaomi would give Facebook
another avenue to distribute its apps and potentially provide a powerful ally in its bid to overturn its China ban.
For Xiaomi, access to Facebook's vast banks of user data would be valuable as it seeks to grow into a global internet company providing comprehensive online services.
But Lei thought it would be "too sensitive" to sell an equity stake to Facebook given its uncertain political status in China, said one of the people with knowledge of the matter.
China's top internet censor, Lu Wei, has warned that social media, particularly foreign services, could be a destabilizing force for Chinese society. Lu, however, visited Facebook's U.S. headquarters last month, prompting speculation that relations between Facebook and China's government were warming.
Facebook, Xiaomi discussed possible investment in the Chinese smartphone maker - OFweek News
TaiShang
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ZTE Blade S6 Leaked and Gets Listed On Gearbest
Frank Tu January 12, 2015 Leaks, News, ZTE
We had seen ZTE’s new phone ZTE Q7 gets listed on TENAA at the start of December, and at that time, we had no idea when this “iPhone 6 clone” was going to be released in the market. But today I saw this ZTE Blade S6 Gets Listed On Gearbest, and it looked similar to the ZTE Q7 on TENAA. And the title said “ZTE Blade S6 5.0 inch Android 5.0 4G Smartphone”, could it have a 5 inch display, LTE connectivity and Android 5.0? This is totally different than the specifications of ZTE Q7 on TENAA. So, it could be a new phone from ZTE for International market.
Gearbest was one of the official distributors of Meizu. Hence, we wonder whether Gearbest is collaborating with ZTE this time? And from the site we can see this ZTE Blade S6 can be pre-ordered from January 29. If Gearbest becomes ZTE’s official distributor this time, how can they make people to pre-order it before ZTE released the product? So this ZTE Q7 will be released before January 29?
And also We got 2 hands on pictures from the same account that leaked the renders for Mi5.
The phone seemed to have a 5 inch 2D glass screen and the metal body design makes it like a topper of midrange phones. It could be a killer to many mid-range phones if it really has Android 5.0.
That being said, this handset looks almost identical to the ZTE Q7. It looks so similar, that it could be the International edition of the ZTE Q7. I don’t know what to think of this to be honest, these specs look rather solid and considering if this is supposed to be really affordable, I believe it would sell well.
Frank Tu January 12, 2015 Leaks, News, ZTE
We had seen ZTE’s new phone ZTE Q7 gets listed on TENAA at the start of December, and at that time, we had no idea when this “iPhone 6 clone” was going to be released in the market. But today I saw this ZTE Blade S6 Gets Listed On Gearbest, and it looked similar to the ZTE Q7 on TENAA. And the title said “ZTE Blade S6 5.0 inch Android 5.0 4G Smartphone”, could it have a 5 inch display, LTE connectivity and Android 5.0? This is totally different than the specifications of ZTE Q7 on TENAA. So, it could be a new phone from ZTE for International market.
Gearbest was one of the official distributors of Meizu. Hence, we wonder whether Gearbest is collaborating with ZTE this time? And from the site we can see this ZTE Blade S6 can be pre-ordered from January 29. If Gearbest becomes ZTE’s official distributor this time, how can they make people to pre-order it before ZTE released the product? So this ZTE Q7 will be released before January 29?
And also We got 2 hands on pictures from the same account that leaked the renders for Mi5.
The phone seemed to have a 5 inch 2D glass screen and the metal body design makes it like a topper of midrange phones. It could be a killer to many mid-range phones if it really has Android 5.0.
That being said, this handset looks almost identical to the ZTE Q7. It looks so similar, that it could be the International edition of the ZTE Q7. I don’t know what to think of this to be honest, these specs look rather solid and considering if this is supposed to be really affordable, I believe it would sell well.
cirr
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Chinese phone maker threatens legal action against Polaroid for ripping off rotating camera design
Paul Bischoff
2 hours ago
Oppo N1 (left), Polaroid Selfie (right)
In an ironic twist, a Chinese smartphone maker has all but accused an American brand of infringing on its patents.
Shenzhen-based Oppo is now weighing the possibility of filing a lawsuit against Polaroid for the latter’s new phone unveiled at CES last week. The Polaroid Selfie touts a rotating camera, which "has a remarkably similar design to the patented rotating camera phone Oppo N1," according to a statement from Oppo.
“ Oppo has not licensed the design of the rotating camera to any third parties […] We Will continue to keep track of the event and reserve the right to take further legal action. ”
Oppo N1 (left), Polaroid Selfie (right)
The camera in question sits on top of the smartphone and can spin to face the user, which makes for better selfies than the typical low-resolution front camera. Oppo’s design has carried over from the N1 (launched in September 2013) to the newer N3, which we reviewed favorably last week.
Polaroid responded to Tech in Asia‘s request for comment on the matter with the following statement from CEO Scott W. Hardy:
“ Polaroid and its mobile phone licensee partners are respectful of third party intellectual party rights. Oppo has not contacted us regarding their concerns, so we have not had an opportunity to evaluate the claims asserted and are unable to comment further on this matter at this time. ”
To be clear, the Polaroid Selfie was not actually designed by Polaroid. It’s actually just a rebranded Chinese phone originally called the iNew V8. The V8 was widely deemed an Oppo N1 clone when it was released in mid-2014.
That won’t absolve Polaroid of responsibility if Oppo wants to take the case further, however.
iNew V8
Oppo threatens legal action against Polaroid over new phone
Paul Bischoff
2 hours ago
Oppo N1 (left), Polaroid Selfie (right)
In an ironic twist, a Chinese smartphone maker has all but accused an American brand of infringing on its patents.
Shenzhen-based Oppo is now weighing the possibility of filing a lawsuit against Polaroid for the latter’s new phone unveiled at CES last week. The Polaroid Selfie touts a rotating camera, which "has a remarkably similar design to the patented rotating camera phone Oppo N1," according to a statement from Oppo.
“ Oppo has not licensed the design of the rotating camera to any third parties […] We Will continue to keep track of the event and reserve the right to take further legal action. ”
Oppo N1 (left), Polaroid Selfie (right)
The camera in question sits on top of the smartphone and can spin to face the user, which makes for better selfies than the typical low-resolution front camera. Oppo’s design has carried over from the N1 (launched in September 2013) to the newer N3, which we reviewed favorably last week.
Polaroid responded to Tech in Asia‘s request for comment on the matter with the following statement from CEO Scott W. Hardy:
“ Polaroid and its mobile phone licensee partners are respectful of third party intellectual party rights. Oppo has not contacted us regarding their concerns, so we have not had an opportunity to evaluate the claims asserted and are unable to comment further on this matter at this time. ”
To be clear, the Polaroid Selfie was not actually designed by Polaroid. It’s actually just a rebranded Chinese phone originally called the iNew V8. The V8 was widely deemed an Oppo N1 clone when it was released in mid-2014.
That won’t absolve Polaroid of responsibility if Oppo wants to take the case further, however.
iNew V8
Oppo threatens legal action against Polaroid over new phone
frequency
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Chinese telecommunication giant Huawei launched its Honor 6 Plus smartphone in China today at 1,999 Yuan (Rs. 20,500). The smartphone boasts a dual 8MP rear camera and a front-facing 8MP camera as well.
The Honor 6 Plus is a significant upgrade over the Honor 6 which is currently being sold in India. The Honor 6 Plus has a 5.5-inch screen 1080p screen and has almost the same design as its predecessor. The smartphone is powered by Huawei’s own Kirin 925 octa-core chipset with 3GB of RAM. It comes with 16 or 32GB of internal storage which can be upgraded via a microSD card upto 128GB.
Huawei has also increased the battery size to 3600mAh but the highlight of the smartphone is the dual 8MP symmetrical cameras that takes the effective pixel size to 1.98 microns, which almost similar to the 2-micron Ultra Pixelon the HTC One M8. This allows the camera to capture more resulting in better picture quality in low light as well as cleaner images.
Huawei is currently only selling the Honor 6 Plus in China and has not announced any plans regarding global price or availability.
I bought this phone and after using it for 2 days, it crapped out on me. The screen went black, I couldn't power on. Nothing works. So I returned the product. Never again.
TaiShang
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Huawei continues ascend with bumper sales growth
Revenue rises about 20% as recent investments pay off
Customers shop for Huawei phones at a store in Yichang, Central China's Hubei Province, in October 2014. Photo: IC
Huawei Technologies Co, China's leading communication technology company, announced on Tuesday a more than 20 percent year-on-year growth in revenue.
Huawei's 2014 global sales revenue likely stood at 287 billion yuan ($46.29 billion) to 289 billion yuan, an increase of roughly 20 percent from a year earlier, according to unaudited financial results published on Tuesday.
Experts said that for Huawei, which has during the past years expanded into consumer devices and enterprise computing business, the acorn has now grown into an oak tree.
"In 2014, 4G networks are widely established in the global markets. The costly migration period, in which Huawei invested heavily in R&D, patent base and customer education, is over," Li Yi, secretary-general of the China Mobile Internet Industry Alliance, told the Global Times Tuesday.
The company's operating profit in 2014 likely stood between 33.9 billion yuan to 34.3 billion yuan, an increase of 17 percent from 2013, Huawei said.
Revenue at Huawei's carrier network business, which rivals world's leading telecommunications equipment maker Ericsson, grew by approximately 15 percent year-on-year. Its enterprise business expanded by around 27 percent and consumer business by about 32 percent.
"With carrier network business still accounting for the bulk of Huawei's revenue, Huawei's focus on its enterprise business in the recent years has paid off," IDC said in a research note e-mailed to the Global Times Tuesday.
According to IDC, just in first three quarters of 2014 in Chinese mainland market, Huawei's x86 server revenue grew by 80 percent year-on-year and their revenue from external disk storage achieved a year-on-year growth of 58 percent during the same period, which are the highest among the major players in the market.
Back in 2010, the carrier network business accounted for about 66 percent of Huawei's total, according to the company's annual report.
Li said Huawei's consumer business grew rapidly in 2014, thanks partly to an Internet marketing strategy resembling that of rising start-up Xiaomi Inc.
Yu Chengdong, CEO of Huawei's Consumer Business Group, said on December 31, 2014 that the company shipped more than 75 million smartphones in 2014, over 40 percent year-on-year growth, making it the world's third-largest smarphone maker and narrowing its gap with the market leaders Samsung and Apple.
"What's noteworthy is that several of Huawei models have good profit margins, which indicates the company is already starting to benefit from a brand value premium," Li said.
On January 4, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang paid a visit to the company's headquarters in Shenzhen in South China's Guangdong Province. The visit was seen by the media as a recognition of the company's achievements.
"With its new products, such as chips with a fat margin and fast-charging gadgets, which have huge potential, Huawei will find its future voyage less bumpy," Li said.
Xiaomi, on the other hand, faces growth bottlenecks in its overseas expansion as it has to pay for patent royalty fees due to its fewer self-owned patents, he noted.
"As Huawei is able to benefit from synergies of its three business groups, it will grow from a company into a phenomenon in the coming era powered by Mobile Internet technologies. Think of Apple plus IBM," Li told the Global Times.
However, as Huawei reaps rewards from its three growth engines, it will also find such synergies more difficult to achieve as its three businesses evolve further and become more independent, Fu Liang, a Beijing-based independent IT industry analyst, told the Global Times Tuesday.
"The three different business groups have inherent differences in terms of sales channels and target customers. They are like three arrows. As these arrows come closer to customers, which they have to, their gap will widen," Fu noted.
This change poses a hefty challenge to the company's management methods and operating tactics, human resources alignment, and staff training, he said.
Revenue rises about 20% as recent investments pay off
Customers shop for Huawei phones at a store in Yichang, Central China's Hubei Province, in October 2014. Photo: IC
Huawei Technologies Co, China's leading communication technology company, announced on Tuesday a more than 20 percent year-on-year growth in revenue.
Huawei's 2014 global sales revenue likely stood at 287 billion yuan ($46.29 billion) to 289 billion yuan, an increase of roughly 20 percent from a year earlier, according to unaudited financial results published on Tuesday.
Experts said that for Huawei, which has during the past years expanded into consumer devices and enterprise computing business, the acorn has now grown into an oak tree.
"In 2014, 4G networks are widely established in the global markets. The costly migration period, in which Huawei invested heavily in R&D, patent base and customer education, is over," Li Yi, secretary-general of the China Mobile Internet Industry Alliance, told the Global Times Tuesday.
The company's operating profit in 2014 likely stood between 33.9 billion yuan to 34.3 billion yuan, an increase of 17 percent from 2013, Huawei said.
Revenue at Huawei's carrier network business, which rivals world's leading telecommunications equipment maker Ericsson, grew by approximately 15 percent year-on-year. Its enterprise business expanded by around 27 percent and consumer business by about 32 percent.
"With carrier network business still accounting for the bulk of Huawei's revenue, Huawei's focus on its enterprise business in the recent years has paid off," IDC said in a research note e-mailed to the Global Times Tuesday.
According to IDC, just in first three quarters of 2014 in Chinese mainland market, Huawei's x86 server revenue grew by 80 percent year-on-year and their revenue from external disk storage achieved a year-on-year growth of 58 percent during the same period, which are the highest among the major players in the market.
Back in 2010, the carrier network business accounted for about 66 percent of Huawei's total, according to the company's annual report.
Li said Huawei's consumer business grew rapidly in 2014, thanks partly to an Internet marketing strategy resembling that of rising start-up Xiaomi Inc.
Yu Chengdong, CEO of Huawei's Consumer Business Group, said on December 31, 2014 that the company shipped more than 75 million smartphones in 2014, over 40 percent year-on-year growth, making it the world's third-largest smarphone maker and narrowing its gap with the market leaders Samsung and Apple.
"What's noteworthy is that several of Huawei models have good profit margins, which indicates the company is already starting to benefit from a brand value premium," Li said.
On January 4, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang paid a visit to the company's headquarters in Shenzhen in South China's Guangdong Province. The visit was seen by the media as a recognition of the company's achievements.
"With its new products, such as chips with a fat margin and fast-charging gadgets, which have huge potential, Huawei will find its future voyage less bumpy," Li said.
Xiaomi, on the other hand, faces growth bottlenecks in its overseas expansion as it has to pay for patent royalty fees due to its fewer self-owned patents, he noted.
"As Huawei is able to benefit from synergies of its three business groups, it will grow from a company into a phenomenon in the coming era powered by Mobile Internet technologies. Think of Apple plus IBM," Li told the Global Times.
However, as Huawei reaps rewards from its three growth engines, it will also find such synergies more difficult to achieve as its three businesses evolve further and become more independent, Fu Liang, a Beijing-based independent IT industry analyst, told the Global Times Tuesday.
"The three different business groups have inherent differences in terms of sales channels and target customers. They are like three arrows. As these arrows come closer to customers, which they have to, their gap will widen," Fu noted.
This change poses a hefty challenge to the company's management methods and operating tactics, human resources alignment, and staff training, he said.
TaiShang
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Xiaomi Mi Note Steel Ball Impact Test And Drop Test
Jan 14, 2015
It seems that the Xiaomi has put a lot of effort to make a great device with its just announced Xiaomi MI Note not only on the inside, but on the outside as well. As we already know that the device will be powered by the beast of the chip – Snapdragon 810 (other specs are just being officially unveiled at the moment), we have something interesting to share with you, which involves a presentation about the Xiaomi’s new flagship phablet being abused in several ways.
The test, which was made by the company is called a steel ball impact test and a drop test, where the company tests how sturdy their new device is.
During the first test, the steel ball weight was chosen to be at 131 grams and it was dropped from the height of 30 cm right on the plastic back of the device. Of course, nothing happened to the device (who would show their own device fail on video?).
During the second test, the MI Note device was dropped face down from the height of 150 cm. It dropped right on the hard concrete floor and it seemed that it was too easy for the device as nothing happened to the screen.
Having said all this, we should say that most of the companies do all kinds of drop tests, which may be similar to these seen in the video above. Still, we are happy to see that Xiaomi is proud of making another sturdy device, which can survive a few drops in different situations.
Xiaomi teases a new gaming hardware for Jan 20 launch
Jan 17, 2015
Just when we thought things have settled down for a few days, Xiaomi went ahead and released a new image on its official Weibo page. This hints at a possible new announcement by the company on the 20th of January 2015. The teaser image comes not from its smartphone weibo account but from its official gaming account. As always, the teaser image doesn’t reveal what the device would be.
As you can see in the image added to the post, it features three rectangles, with the title — Bigger is Better. Below, you can see the date, 20 January 2015 which is probably the launch date of the device. Given that this image comes from the company’s gaming weibo account, its very likely that this upcoming device is a gaming hardware. But that’s doesn’t help us short down the list.
Along with the image, the page said the following lines: “不管多大、一举拿下”以及“玩大的才爽” whose translation comes to “No matter how big it is, can be taken in one hand”. Now, this means the device will be large, yet compact, which is actually a contradicting statement.
We have a number of theories about the upcoming device, but aren’t sure about any. The first possible option is a new Xiaomi Mi gaming console. The largest rectangle in the picture could represent this. The words, bigger yet compact suits this possibility as consoles can be connected to your large screen HDTVs which makes the overall set up large, however, a console by itself is quite small. But there’s is one problem with this option — Xiaomi just recently unveiled the Mi Box Mini which can also run Android games. There’s even the Xiaomi Mi Box, which is a larger version of the Mini. Now, a dedicated gaming console looks like a great option, but there’s a very little chance that it is actually going to happen.
This brings us to another possibility — a gaming controller. A controller would be logical given that Xiaomi Mi Box was unveiled recently and a controller would be the perfect hardware partner for its users to play games. But this doesn’t explain the bigger is better tag line. So, we are not sure about this.
Another possibility is a gaming focused tablet. Xiaomi could rebrand its Mi Pad lineup to a gaming centric tablet or it could unveil a brand new device itself. This makes better sense and it is in line with the tagline and would be much bigger than the existing Xiaomi Mi Note and the Xiaomi Mi4 devices. It could also bring gaming directly in your hands, instead of a console + TV combination, which could be why Xiaomi hinted that its large yet can be taken in one hand.
As we mentioned earlier, these are just our speculation and we are not yet sure which one of these will be unveiled on January 20. Maybe it will be a whole new device itself, but for now, we don’t know what it is.
We expect more details about the upcoming device in the next two days, so stay tuned to our website for more updates.
What do you think Xiaomi has in store for us on Jan 20?
Xiaomi Gaming Console
Xiaomi Controller
Xiaomi Gaming tablet
Xiaomi TV
Jan 14, 2015
It seems that the Xiaomi has put a lot of effort to make a great device with its just announced Xiaomi MI Note not only on the inside, but on the outside as well. As we already know that the device will be powered by the beast of the chip – Snapdragon 810 (other specs are just being officially unveiled at the moment), we have something interesting to share with you, which involves a presentation about the Xiaomi’s new flagship phablet being abused in several ways.
The test, which was made by the company is called a steel ball impact test and a drop test, where the company tests how sturdy their new device is.
During the first test, the steel ball weight was chosen to be at 131 grams and it was dropped from the height of 30 cm right on the plastic back of the device. Of course, nothing happened to the device (who would show their own device fail on video?).
During the second test, the MI Note device was dropped face down from the height of 150 cm. It dropped right on the hard concrete floor and it seemed that it was too easy for the device as nothing happened to the screen.
Having said all this, we should say that most of the companies do all kinds of drop tests, which may be similar to these seen in the video above. Still, we are happy to see that Xiaomi is proud of making another sturdy device, which can survive a few drops in different situations.
Xiaomi teases a new gaming hardware for Jan 20 launch
Jan 17, 2015
Just when we thought things have settled down for a few days, Xiaomi went ahead and released a new image on its official Weibo page. This hints at a possible new announcement by the company on the 20th of January 2015. The teaser image comes not from its smartphone weibo account but from its official gaming account. As always, the teaser image doesn’t reveal what the device would be.
As you can see in the image added to the post, it features three rectangles, with the title — Bigger is Better. Below, you can see the date, 20 January 2015 which is probably the launch date of the device. Given that this image comes from the company’s gaming weibo account, its very likely that this upcoming device is a gaming hardware. But that’s doesn’t help us short down the list.
Along with the image, the page said the following lines: “不管多大、一举拿下”以及“玩大的才爽” whose translation comes to “No matter how big it is, can be taken in one hand”. Now, this means the device will be large, yet compact, which is actually a contradicting statement.
We have a number of theories about the upcoming device, but aren’t sure about any. The first possible option is a new Xiaomi Mi gaming console. The largest rectangle in the picture could represent this. The words, bigger yet compact suits this possibility as consoles can be connected to your large screen HDTVs which makes the overall set up large, however, a console by itself is quite small. But there’s is one problem with this option — Xiaomi just recently unveiled the Mi Box Mini which can also run Android games. There’s even the Xiaomi Mi Box, which is a larger version of the Mini. Now, a dedicated gaming console looks like a great option, but there’s a very little chance that it is actually going to happen.
This brings us to another possibility — a gaming controller. A controller would be logical given that Xiaomi Mi Box was unveiled recently and a controller would be the perfect hardware partner for its users to play games. But this doesn’t explain the bigger is better tag line. So, we are not sure about this.
Another possibility is a gaming focused tablet. Xiaomi could rebrand its Mi Pad lineup to a gaming centric tablet or it could unveil a brand new device itself. This makes better sense and it is in line with the tagline and would be much bigger than the existing Xiaomi Mi Note and the Xiaomi Mi4 devices. It could also bring gaming directly in your hands, instead of a console + TV combination, which could be why Xiaomi hinted that its large yet can be taken in one hand.
As we mentioned earlier, these are just our speculation and we are not yet sure which one of these will be unveiled on January 20. Maybe it will be a whole new device itself, but for now, we don’t know what it is.
We expect more details about the upcoming device in the next two days, so stay tuned to our website for more updates.
What do you think Xiaomi has in store for us on Jan 20?
Xiaomi Gaming Console
Xiaomi Controller
Xiaomi Gaming tablet
Xiaomi TV
Chinese phone maker threatens legal action against Polaroid for ripping off rotating camera design
Paul Bischoff
2 hours ago
Oppo N1 (left), Polaroid Selfie (right)
In an ironic twist, a Chinese smartphone maker has all but accused an American brand of infringing on its patents.
Shenzhen-based Oppo is now weighing the possibility of filing a lawsuit against Polaroid for the latter’s new phone unveiled at CES last week. The Polaroid Selfie touts a rotating camera, which "has a remarkably similar design to the patented rotating camera phone Oppo N1," according to a statement from Oppo.
“ Oppo has not licensed the design of the rotating camera to any third parties […] We Will continue to keep track of the event and reserve the right to take further legal action. ”
Oppo N1 (left), Polaroid Selfie (right)
The camera in question sits on top of the smartphone and can spin to face the user, which makes for better selfies than the typical low-resolution front camera. Oppo’s design has carried over from the N1 (launched in September 2013) to the newer N3, which we reviewed favorably last week.
Polaroid responded to Tech in Asia‘s request for comment on the matter with the following statement from CEO Scott W. Hardy:
“ Polaroid and its mobile phone licensee partners are respectful of third party intellectual party rights. Oppo has not contacted us regarding their concerns, so we have not had an opportunity to evaluate the claims asserted and are unable to comment further on this matter at this time. ”
To be clear, the Polaroid Selfie was not actually designed by Polaroid. It’s actually just a rebranded Chinese phone originally called the iNew V8. The V8 was widely deemed an Oppo N1 clone when it was released in mid-2014.
That won’t absolve Polaroid of responsibility if Oppo wants to take the case further, however.
iNew V8
Oppo threatens legal action against Polaroid over new phone
Wow? US shall get down from their high horse now?
TaiShang
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Wow? US shall get down from their high horse now?
No. They have the IP rights of the horse. LOL
TaiShang
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Phone brands around the world are now rushing to emulate Xiaomi
Once dismissed as a cloner, now a growing number of phone brands are rushing to copy China’s Xiaomi. What they want to replicate is the secret sauce that has propelled the young Beijing company from zero to 60 million phones sold per year in just four years.
The recipe to that secret sauce, however, is a lot more complex than it appears. To those who haven’t yet come to understand Xiaomi, it seems that it’s just copying Apple at bargain basement prices – but that kind of assessment is way off the mark. “[T]he key to understanding Xiaomi [is] they’re not so much selling smartphones as they are selling a lifestyle,” explains Ben Thompson, a writer who blogs as Stratechery, in a recent article.
That lifestyle is aimed primarily at young people. It’s made up of a mix of elements that no other gadget maker has blended together before, all of which help engender a sense of ownership for fans of the brand – a strong sense of community, social marketing, listening to and incorporating user feedback, an emphasis on adaptable and personalizable software, and surprisingly powerful phones at low prices. Xiaomi has also pioneered online-first sales.
Now that some rival phone makers have seen how Xiaomi puts this together and makes it work, they’re trying to emulate the entire package.
A blank slate
Other established brands are launching spin-offs too, realizing that they need a different strategy – in addition to separate models and marketing – in order to appeal to younger (and pickier) smartphone buyers. Lenovo is set to launch the Shenqi sub-brand in April, using web-only sales, in an attempt to pry Chinese shoppers away from Xiaomi. “We want to build a pure internet-oriented model,” said Lenovo CEO Yang Yuanqing in arecent Bloomberg interview. “If we do this kind of model within the current Lenovo, there is a lot of conflict with existing channels and carrier partners. With a different team mechanism, we can do whatever we want.”
It’s a blank slate. A way for Lenovo to act like a startup, to get away from the fusty image conjured up by many kids of their dad’s breadcrumb-encrusted Lenovo laptop.
China’s Coolpad has already done the same thing, shedding its smartphone-for-farmers image with an edgier and more spritely brand called Ivvi.
It’s too early to tell if these sizable companies have got all the ingredients to make a new brand that clones Xiaomi in the hope of battling Xiaomi. Making a powerful phone that costs slightly less than you’d imagine is a good start, but it’s only the most tangible aspect of what has made Xiaomi a break-out success in the past few years.
Fans
OnePlus, which is born out of China’s Oppo, is keen to emulate Xiaomi too. OnePluslaunched in May 2014, going immediately for international roll-outs, in contrast to Xiaomi’s more cautious selection of Asian markets.
OnePlus, coming several years after Xiaomi first appeared, is carefully building up a brand that owners will care about, fostering a community that encompasses a kind of lifestyle. Just as Xiaomi did from the start, OnePlus has a lively forums section on its homepage with posts, created by its customers, with titles like “Pinoy fan club” (the company hasn’t yet started sales in the Philippines). The forum feels more like Reddit in places. “A girl said she loves me, what do I do?” reads another post topic that has so far prompted 17 pages of replies.
While it’s debatable whether Apple had any hand in cultivating the “Apple fanboys” who idolize the brand, it’s evident that Xiaomi did so very deliberately, starting back in 2010 before even its first phone came out. That’s when it started a community, first based around a series of forums, of what it now calls “Mi fans.” These supporters are a vital part of the recipe.
When OnePlus founder Pete Lau first launched the brand, he said that “a lot of the phones on the market today […] are just unsatisfactory – they’re either ugly or bulky or poorly built.” That used to be true of phones costing just over US$300, but models like the Xiaomi Mi4 and OnePlus One have made a speciality of giving a lot of bang for your bucks, thereby exposing how over-priced are the mid-range models from brands like HTC, Samsung, and Apple.
OnePlus sold 500,000 phones in its first six months. While that number isn’t yet enough to give the likes of Samsung or Xiaomi sleepless nights, the favorable reviews for the OnePlus One phone (pictured above) – even in The New York Times – have validated Lau’s vision for better phones and shown that Xiaomi’s path is the right one for hip phone makers to follow.
Indonesia’s Himax is trying the same ploy. Some would say that it’s cloning Xiaomi too literally, right down to copying the Chinese firm’s minimalistic cardboard packaging.
Himax’s packaging (left; image by Tech in Asia) and Xiaomi’s packaging (right; image by Chewhow)
Samsung is the giant at the top of the beanstalk
Whatever the extent of these young brands emulating Xiaomi’s strategies, things like online sales, fan clubs, and more powerful budget phones appear to be the preferred plan of attack for many in the battle against Samsung. While Samsung still leads in India and Indonesia by a wide margin, and in China by a thinner thread, it’s clear that these tactics – fighting fire with fire – are also needed to take on Xiaomi as it ventures into emerging markets like India, Indonesia, and eventually Brazil.
Xiaomi’s phones are not about to win awards for original design, but the way it sells them is shaking up the smartphone industry.
Once dismissed as a cloner, now a growing number of phone brands are rushing to copy China’s Xiaomi. What they want to replicate is the secret sauce that has propelled the young Beijing company from zero to 60 million phones sold per year in just four years.
The recipe to that secret sauce, however, is a lot more complex than it appears. To those who haven’t yet come to understand Xiaomi, it seems that it’s just copying Apple at bargain basement prices – but that kind of assessment is way off the mark. “[T]he key to understanding Xiaomi [is] they’re not so much selling smartphones as they are selling a lifestyle,” explains Ben Thompson, a writer who blogs as Stratechery, in a recent article.
That lifestyle is aimed primarily at young people. It’s made up of a mix of elements that no other gadget maker has blended together before, all of which help engender a sense of ownership for fans of the brand – a strong sense of community, social marketing, listening to and incorporating user feedback, an emphasis on adaptable and personalizable software, and surprisingly powerful phones at low prices. Xiaomi has also pioneered online-first sales.
Now that some rival phone makers have seen how Xiaomi puts this together and makes it work, they’re trying to emulate the entire package.
A blank slate
Other established brands are launching spin-offs too, realizing that they need a different strategy – in addition to separate models and marketing – in order to appeal to younger (and pickier) smartphone buyers. Lenovo is set to launch the Shenqi sub-brand in April, using web-only sales, in an attempt to pry Chinese shoppers away from Xiaomi. “We want to build a pure internet-oriented model,” said Lenovo CEO Yang Yuanqing in arecent Bloomberg interview. “If we do this kind of model within the current Lenovo, there is a lot of conflict with existing channels and carrier partners. With a different team mechanism, we can do whatever we want.”
It’s a blank slate. A way for Lenovo to act like a startup, to get away from the fusty image conjured up by many kids of their dad’s breadcrumb-encrusted Lenovo laptop.
China’s Coolpad has already done the same thing, shedding its smartphone-for-farmers image with an edgier and more spritely brand called Ivvi.
It’s too early to tell if these sizable companies have got all the ingredients to make a new brand that clones Xiaomi in the hope of battling Xiaomi. Making a powerful phone that costs slightly less than you’d imagine is a good start, but it’s only the most tangible aspect of what has made Xiaomi a break-out success in the past few years.
Fans
OnePlus, which is born out of China’s Oppo, is keen to emulate Xiaomi too. OnePluslaunched in May 2014, going immediately for international roll-outs, in contrast to Xiaomi’s more cautious selection of Asian markets.
OnePlus, coming several years after Xiaomi first appeared, is carefully building up a brand that owners will care about, fostering a community that encompasses a kind of lifestyle. Just as Xiaomi did from the start, OnePlus has a lively forums section on its homepage with posts, created by its customers, with titles like “Pinoy fan club” (the company hasn’t yet started sales in the Philippines). The forum feels more like Reddit in places. “A girl said she loves me, what do I do?” reads another post topic that has so far prompted 17 pages of replies.
While it’s debatable whether Apple had any hand in cultivating the “Apple fanboys” who idolize the brand, it’s evident that Xiaomi did so very deliberately, starting back in 2010 before even its first phone came out. That’s when it started a community, first based around a series of forums, of what it now calls “Mi fans.” These supporters are a vital part of the recipe.
When OnePlus founder Pete Lau first launched the brand, he said that “a lot of the phones on the market today […] are just unsatisfactory – they’re either ugly or bulky or poorly built.” That used to be true of phones costing just over US$300, but models like the Xiaomi Mi4 and OnePlus One have made a speciality of giving a lot of bang for your bucks, thereby exposing how over-priced are the mid-range models from brands like HTC, Samsung, and Apple.
OnePlus sold 500,000 phones in its first six months. While that number isn’t yet enough to give the likes of Samsung or Xiaomi sleepless nights, the favorable reviews for the OnePlus One phone (pictured above) – even in The New York Times – have validated Lau’s vision for better phones and shown that Xiaomi’s path is the right one for hip phone makers to follow.
Indonesia’s Himax is trying the same ploy. Some would say that it’s cloning Xiaomi too literally, right down to copying the Chinese firm’s minimalistic cardboard packaging.
Himax’s packaging (left; image by Tech in Asia) and Xiaomi’s packaging (right; image by Chewhow)
Samsung is the giant at the top of the beanstalk
Whatever the extent of these young brands emulating Xiaomi’s strategies, things like online sales, fan clubs, and more powerful budget phones appear to be the preferred plan of attack for many in the battle against Samsung. While Samsung still leads in India and Indonesia by a wide margin, and in China by a thinner thread, it’s clear that these tactics – fighting fire with fire – are also needed to take on Xiaomi as it ventures into emerging markets like India, Indonesia, and eventually Brazil.
Xiaomi’s phones are not about to win awards for original design, but the way it sells them is shaking up the smartphone industry.
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