An Update on Smartphone Makers in China

choi

(1) 竞争对手试图借鉴小米业务模式实现超越. 华尔街日报, Sept 8, 2015
cn.wsj.com/gb/20150908/tec125356.asp

, which is translated from

Eva Dou, Rivals Grasp Xiaomi’s Business Model; Smartphone makers add high-end devices at budget prices in China; Echoes of Web startups. Wall Street Journal, Sept 8, 2015.
www.wsj.com/articles/rivals-try- ... ss-model-1441658086

the first three paragraphs:

"A growing number of companies big and small believe they can beat China’s Xiaomi Corp. at its own budget-phone game, revving up competition and threatening profits in the world’s largest smartphone market.

"Established computer maker Lenovo Group Ltd. in recent weeks began selling its first smartphone from its new Xiaomi-like spinoff called ZUK. Like Xiaomi, it will sell the high-end smartphone at a budget price of about $280 through online sales, thereby cutting marketing costs. ZUK’s chief executive, Chang Cheng 常程, said he saw an opportunity to out-Xiaomi Xiaomi.

" 'You can use someone else’s model to defeat them,' Mr Chang said in an interview. In a hint of how quickly Lenovo has worked to develop a Xiaomi rival, Mr Chang said his team was still figuring out what the name ZUK [no Chinese name; '诞生于2015年': official website] stands for.

choi

(2) Eva Dou, A Peek Into the Home of China’s Cheap-Phone Revolution. China Real Time, Sept 8, 2015.
blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2015/09/08/a-peek-into-the-home-of-chinas-cheap-phone-revolution/

Quote:

"This is where the world’s cheap phones are born.  The facility is owned by Shanghai’s Wingtech Communications 闻泰通讯, which counts among its customers many of the world’s fastest-growing smartphone brands, including China’s Xiaomi, Huawei and Meizu 魅族 and India’s Micromax.

"Wingtech started out in 2006 as one of China’s many independent design houses, or IDHs in industry lingo, which sold off-the-shelf handset designs that customers could sell under their own brands.

"In 2008, Wingtech made the jump to manufacturing and opened its own factory. It became an original design manufacturer or ODM, which meant it offered customers a line of services from product design to manufacturing and even some aftersales service.

" 'We’re not just a contract manufacturer like Foxconn,' said Deng Anming, Wingtech strategic manager ['战略负责人邓安明']. 'Our core competitiveness is our research and design capability.'

"Wingtech moved into a new headquarters in Shanghai in February

"Chinese listed real estate company Join In (Holding) Co 中茵股份有限公司 acquired 51% of Wingtech last month.