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China's Xiaomi Confirms It Will Enter US Smartphone Market By the End of This Year or Early Next Year (venturebeat.com)
Sensing an opening, Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi says it plans to enter the U.S. smartphone market in late 2018 or 2019. From a report: The news comes just several weeks after rival Huawei, which appeared to have a head start, had its hopes dashed when a partnership with AT&T was scuttled. While both companies said the parting was mutual, the decision came after intense political blowback from U.S. politicians who worried that Huawei's technology poses security risks for U.S. businesses and customers. Today, the Wall Street Journal reported that Xiaomi chair Lei Jun told one of its reporters: "We've always been considering entering the U.S. market. We plan to start entering the market by end 2018, or by early 2019." In general, while Chinese tech companies have become massive primarily by succeeding on their home turf, they are facing challenges in exporting that success to Western markets.
Anything that will help knock Samsung and Apple down a peg (or three) is good in my book.
Not only that, but also a more-secure (from the POV of a US citozen) alternative to security-weakened Western phone models. Sure, Chinese phones may have Chinese backdoors, but the Chinese aren't going to invade the US to come get you or I of we were to insult their new "leader for life" whereas the US government has already been caught "weaponizing" Federal departments and agencies as domestic political tools of control.
As a US citizen, or nearly anyone else in the West, you have much more to fear personally from US/Five-Eyes spying than from Chinese spying.
Strat
Progressivism (aka US 'Liberalism'): Ideas so good they need a police/surveillance-state to enforce.
Chinese phones may have Chinese backdoors, but the Chinese aren't going to invade the US to come get you or I of we were to insult their new "leader for life" whereas the US government has already been caught "weaponizing" Federal departments and agencies as domestic political tools of control.
But they can sell your data to the US government. The Chinese are smart. They know the agencies want your data. This is a lucrative opportunity for them. And the agencies can protect themselves from backlash by simply saying 'its the Chinese who steal data'. And the military gets its Chinese boogeyman. It's a win-win for everyone. Except you.
Entia non sunt multiplicanda praeter necessitatem.
Or... Maybe the government of China will subsidize this enough they can be successful?
Seriously, bring on the clones. Let's have some competition. I'm pretty tired of dropping almost $1k on a smart phone. Crazy price if you ask me. Maybe a bit of competition will bring phone prices down some and drive innovation...
"File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
I couldn't care less about my phone hardware. They're all roughly the same. I have an "Alcatel", which I've never heard of before, outside of really old VOIP stuff from a few decades ago. As long as it runs the software I like (I like Windows Phone), I don't care who makes it.
I don't respond to AC's.