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Forget Apple. Xiaomi CEO Now Wants to Be More Like Costco (bloomberg.com)
Xiaomi says it's misunderstood. Once compared with Apple for its sleek smartphones and charismatic leadership, the Chinese startup is seeking an image makeover as it tries to recover from a sales-growth slide. From a report: And the brand its billionaire co-founder Lei Jun wants to be compared with: Costco Wholesale Corp., the Issaquah, Washington-based warehouse retailer that sells everything from wine and diamond rings to bulging boxes of cereal and fruit at knockdown prices. Xiaomi's revenue will probably reach $15 billion this year as the Beijing-based maker of products ranging from pens and air purifiers to TVs and smartphones adopts a new business model and fine-tunes operations, Lei, 47, said in a recent interview. "We are not Apple," Lei, clad in a black polo shirt and blue jeans, said at Xiaomi's Bengaluru office in India, its biggest overseas market. "We have the same value system as Costco. We want users to enjoy better products at an affordable price."
...it takes a lot of discipline to be willing to take less than one could justify. The structure of Costco does this, their upper management does not take all they could, they do not pass all they can on to shareholders. They instead pay their workers well enough that it's possible to make working for Costco in a store a career and to retire from a life in that career.
It's very tempting to instead take more and more and more. It's hard to resist that. Hopefully if they really want to be like Costco they have the fortitude to really mean it.
Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
Steve Jobs handing out free samples on a Saturday afternoon.... I can't picture it.
and I believe you. I don't want Apple's products, average products sold at an inflated price.
I mean, what their aim is, not what they actually are.
Seems to also be the target of many other chinese giants, like Le Eco with it's crazy event.
I can't imagine working conditions and whatnot being good at all... though US based companies probably don't have it any better.
But Xiaomi is among the companies that have been expanding their lines of electronics at an alarming rate, and really coming up with some amazing stuff for the prices... smartphones, drones, sports cameras, you name it.
Smartphones are plenty decent, they have models that goes right up to the mid-ranger flagship killers of last year. I've heard people saying nice stuff about their drones too, though they probably are nowhere near DJI quality. The Yi cameras sound like a very good proposition versus GoPro. And also, the whole bezel less thing about this year models of Android phones? Xiaomi Mi Mix lead this up, and it's still a very attractive piece... even though you just can't find it to buy.
It was out november last year chinese market only with limited units, but it had most specs big brand smartphones this year have, and their bezel less technology still is more advanced in some areas than what's coming out now.
For most people, they haven't reached a self-sustaining cycle of perpetual greed. They are not free to manipulate the very system that builds wealth to direct it to themselves.
Corporate officers are much more able to do that. This is why the rich get richer.
Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
I currently live in in Hong Kong. I needed a remotely controllable webcam for baby monitoring and a friend suggested me to check out xiaomi. Indeed, I found a well-designed Apple-like product that works well for a good price. I also found their other products on display well made and beautiful for a sensible price.
In the end I came home not only with the webcam but also with their elegant "urban backpack", a well designed non-utilitarian looking backpack that is just perfect to gonto the office with, and not even embarassing when visiting customers.
Xiaomi earned my goodwill.
Everyone keeps mentioning Costco's corporate structure, or how they pay their employees. I took the comment to be more of a reference to Kirkland products. Good products sold for a reasonable price that are relying on their value rather than a name to make them attractive.
But that means stripping humanity away from materialism and vanity. Not going to happen anytime soon unless we fall into another great depression and at that point everyone is screwed.