Samsung VS Apple

FitnessLife

Would like a brand new high end phone but am stuck between the Samsung S8 and the Iphone 8?
I would like a good all round phone as I use it quite a lot and also a very good camera.

Any opinions?
Thanks

Davy

What do you currently use?

Do you use any other items, like android tablets, iPads etc?

TBi

I’ve used both and prefer iPhone. You’ll find a whole load of other people who prefer Samsung.

What do you have at the minute?

FitnessLife

At the moment I'm using a Moto G4 Plus. I have a Samsung Galaxy Tablet and I like it but ive never had an iPhone.

noel100

I hate apple have Samsung s8+ great camera and screen.
Always been Android once had an apple s5.
Had numerous brands in Android but this is my first Samsung very impressed best phone ever but hate bixby.

Had one plus one great phone but when the glass cracks its useless.

Would of gone for one plus 5 if I was guaranteed if the glass cracks I could still use the phone.

Another phone I wouldn't mind owning is the pixel 2 seems like a good phone

Autochange

Forget about wasting your hard earned on Apple or Samsung. Go check out Xiaomi. Excellent phones with comparable specs for half the money.

http://www.mi.com/en/redmipro/


http://www.mi.com/en/redmipro/#param

There is a huge thread here on Boards out Chinese Android based phones

noel100

I had xiaomi redmi note a few years ago
Good phone at the time but had battery issues
I got caught out in a down pournof rain and phone got damp and died on me.
Another thing about xiaomi is the bloatware stopped apps working and certain bank apps etc.
Couldnt use allcast app.

TBi

Autochange wrote: »

Forget about wasting your hard earned on Apple or Samsung. Go check out Xiaomi. Excellent phones with comparable specs for half the money.

http://www.mi.com/en/redmipro/


http://www.mi.com/en/redmipro/#param

There is a huge thread here on Boards out Chinese Android based phones

I've used these cheaper chinese phones before and there is a reason why they are cheap. A lot of people can put up with the mild inconveniences but they drove me mad.

It's like a car, yes you could get a Dacia Sandero instead of a BMW. You'll save a lot of money and it will get you from A to B. However it won't be the same experience.

Autochange

TBi wrote: »

I've used these cheaper chinese phones before and there is a reason why they are cheap. A lot of people can put up with the mild inconveniences but they drove me mad.

It's like a car, yes you could get a Dacia Sandero instead of a BMW. You'll save a lot of money and it will get you from A to B. However it won't be the same experience.

While i understand the point you are making Xiaomi are not the run of the mill cloned or knock off rubbish we see coming from China so often. They actually hold over 25 percent of the Chinese market. Much more than Apple or Samsung. While in India they hold 30% in comparison to Apples 23 and Samsung's 12%.

Their pricing model is well explained here:

Allow me to explain this with an analogy for a better understanding of the concept.

If you happen to be a visitor at Starbucks ever, you will have definitely been astonished at the high price coffee. When I was there for the first time, I felt robbed comparing the cost of same coffee that I could make at my home. No rocket science, letter will be cheaper than than the former. Then why do we pay high for the same product in a fancy Tata Starbucks outlet?

Not only this, the same product is little cheaper at other chains like Cafe Coffee Day and Barista. Yet Starbucks is the market leader and attracts huge crowd, why?

Before we enter criticizing the coffee houses for expensive products, we need to analyze the exact product being offered bu these coffee houses. Is it just a cup of coffee? No!

They sell the ambiance! When it comes to Ambiance, Starbucks is an undisputed leader and others are not even close. Let us take an example of city like Bangalore. If you happen to be at an outlet in Bangalore in the evening, Starbucks seems like more of a co-working space with students, businessperson, entrepreneurs and software engineers discussing the ideas, working on something or even casually catching up.
This brings me to another point. Starbucks offer unlimited free WiFi and the best part is, you need not necessarily buy or make a purchase to use that WiFi. You can simply walk-in with your laptops/devices, sit for as long as you want and access the WiFi. Unless there is a high traffic, no one will bother you. While other coffee houses do offer WiFi but it is not possible for your to access same unless you buy something.
This makes Starbucks ‘product’ most expensive while others are trying to match up with the leader.

Now, a lot of mobile phones producers invest a lot of money and time in Research and development, advertising and other tactics to increase the sales. Xiaomi, a Chinese company, is a smart marketer when it comes to this. They are saving huge on buying products than investing in RnD and since it is an online mobile selling company, it believes in different tactics of marketing than ‘wasting’ money on advertising.

While the ‘market leaders’ are charging you for a lot of other things than just a mobile phone like Starbucks, Xiaomi is playing the smarter game and expanding in the market.

After coming across this question, I started to research a little about the success of this brand in delivering the exemplary hardware at a cheaper price and complimentary dent in the market of the premium companies. Here is a summary of the my findings:

It has turned its user into its ambassador

Xiaomi avoids spending millions in advertising offline. An online company, it has turned its consumer to be its brand ambassador. A smart word of mouth campaign which saves them money on branding and advertising otherwise.

An example of this can be found from the fact that prior to the launch of Redmi note 3 in March 2016, the company started an explorer program.

It chose 100 Mi fans who were most active on the Mi community one month before the launch and handed out Redmi Note 3 as a beta-testing device.

The content that the users generated on social media helped the brand attract more than 300,000 engagements.

(Source: The secret behind Xiaomi's success in India)

Efficient partners and affiliate marketing

Xiaomi is partners with giants like Amazon, Flipkart, Jabong, Myntra etc and if you make any purchase using the MIUI browser, you are helping them earn. For every purchase you make, Xiaomi is making the money easily out of it. Now, this earning floats in as long as the device is being used. How? Cost per action

That apart, they are selling applications, games and android themes on their MI store. According to the revenue reports in 2013, Xiaomi made some $4.9m per month by selling the above mentioned products.

(Source: Xiaomi reports monthly revenues of $4.9 million from its MIUI Android ecosystem)

Although Xiaomi is now making its own chips under Make in India initiative but its partnership with Qualcomm helped it grow quickly. Out of this deal, it was able to achieve the microprocessors at a cheaper rate than other customers of the latter.

No offline store and production strategy

Xiaomi believes in cost cutting by refusing to maintain the warehouse or storehouse. This saves them cost maintenance and human resource. Apart from this, Xiaomi people are smart as they plan to produce less per unit smartphones to reduce the cost of production. This increases the demand due to less supply of MI devices on online platform.

It is interesting to follow how a brand with 8.1% market share is closely trailing the market leader. With right plan, clear vision and efficient execution, they are able to trouble the market leaders with their product.

Summarizing, while the leading brands charge you for the advertising, maintenance and other factors included in making of a device like Starbucks, Xiaomi has cracked a parallel way easily to deliver the compatible products.