Mr. Shangkong | Time for Xiaomi to find 'the next big thing' before it's too late
Chinese smartphone maker needs to find 'the next big thing' if it is to achieve global success
Even before the company officially announced its plan to go public, a lot of investors, from New York to Shanghai, were debating whether Xiaomi would be able to follow in Alibaba's footsteps this year and impress the world as another China Inc success.
Xiaomi, like Alibaba, has a pretty mixed reputation in the market. Some joked Xiaomi should be renamed , thief in Chinese, due to its long record of copying foreign innovation and design ideas - for example, Apple's iPhone - and then selling such clones for incredibly low prices.
The most recent controversy followed Xiaomi's decision to move beyond its cheap smartphone business, which established its reputation, and make and sell an air purifier, priced at a few hundred yuan.
Just weeks after Xiaomi launched its cheap air purifier, a Japanese electric fan maker claimed the design closely resembled its own product, according to Japanese media. Xiaomi denied the allegations, just as it did when challenged by fans of Apple about why its smartphone looked so similar to an iPhone.
For a company now valued at about US$50 billion, it somehow feels a bit awkward that Xiaomi has been repeatedly challenged over the role copying others has played in its market success. Innovation would be the best way for it to avoid the need for more denials. What if Xiaomi could make things that surprised the whole world, as late Apple founder Steve Jobs did when he launched the iPhone?
It's time for Xiaomi to do the right thing and surprise us with something that really belongs to Xiaomi. Otherwise, I'd say its current valuation is looking optimistic as there are growing concerns on Wall Street about whether it is really worth that much money.
