, the first product by Xiaomi Tech. The tech specs of Xiaomi look quite competitive with a 1.5GHz dual core processor and a GPU with 64 MB of independent RAM, and despite the attractive price, itmay cost just as much as an iPhone to make. Xiaomi boasts that it is “Designed for Tech Geeks,” running 200 percent faster than current mainstream smartphones and 40 percent faster than the top ones. The announcement was met with excitement and cheers.
However, not everyone was happy about Xiaomi. Remember Meizu? It’s the “other” much-hyped Chinese smartphone. Meizu’s founder Huang Zhang, more widely known as J Wong, was far from pleased to hear about Xiaomi. Soon after the announcement, J Wong said onMeizu’s forumin reply to a topic:
I am not afraid of him, but I am simply sick of him. He used to pretend to be interested in investing in Meizu and approached me through his guanxi with leaders of the High Tech Zone. He got me to tell him all about how Meizu was running — from phone design, production, supply chain, marketing and even financial operation. He totally got me with his “sincerity.” So do not talk about them, leave me alone, please!
The person he is referring to here is Xiaomi’s founder Mr. Lei Jun. J Wong subsequently banned all Xiaomi related discussions on his forum. In addition, Xiaomi’s Miliao (group messaging) app hasreportedly been blockedon Meizu phones, and cannot be installed.
The two met in 2008 when Meizu was only making MP3 players and just starting out with its M8 smartphone, widely regarded as aniPhoneknockoff. Mr Lei was a possible investor. And despite repeated delays of Meizu’s M8 and M9, Mr Lei Jun has more than once expressed his support and compliments for Meizu. On Aug 4th, 2010, before the M9 was shipped, Mr Lei saidon Weibo:
I, along with all fans, am eagerly expecting the M9. Meizu is a dedicated company which I adore. I wish the M9 and J Wong success. Android is a ferocious marketplace, and the M9 will bear huge pressure if it comes out late.
It is widely believed the two gentlemen fell apart after Xiaomi announced the MIUI, its own user mobile user interface.
On Dec 14, 2010, J Wong posted on Meizu forums:
MIUI is a company funded by Lei Jun, including that browser, which seems to have been made out of the UC browser. After knowing all this, I feel regret for communicating with him on everything about Meizu. I even discussed the design doc of the M9UI with him. MIUI as a company is shameless, so please do not discuss anything about them here. Lei Jun made no formal response to this, but has since stopped mentioning Meizu on Weibo.
Some blogger in China called this the clash between two tech geeks. But some just believe that this is a self-promotion from J Wong, as he is to announce M9 MX before the end of 2011.
As for Mr. Lei and his Xiaomi, the outlook remains unclear. Despite the powerful specs and relatively affordable price, 1999RMB, not many people see a promising future for Xiaomi. Some say even if Xiaomi sells well, it can hardly be profitable. Xiaomi’s news buzz got badly hammered soon after its release whenGoogle’s acquisition of Motorola’s mobile departmenttook over headlines.
We’ll have to wait and see if either of these up-start mobile endeavors, Xiaomi or Meizu, can meet with any real success.
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