this measure, ahead of Apple on $14.2 billion
and not far behind Samsung, which spent $16.
billion on R&D that year.
The rise of Xiaomi has, perhaps, been even
more impressive. The company was founded
as recently as 2010, when it was a startup
consisting of seven engineers and technologists,
including former employees of Google,
Motorola and software maker Kingsoft.
“I started Xiaomi after turning 40, and had
figured out 90% of the business model before
starting the project,” Lei Jun, Xiaomi’s founder,
explained in an interview with the South
China Morning Post. He elaborated that this
business model, which his team called “tipping”,
was “to sell our hardware at zero or low-profit
margin, but monetize our complementary
services.”
HOW APPLE IS CONTENDING
WITH THE TRADE WAR
While Huawei and Xiaomi are obviously turning
up the heat on Apple, the Cupertino company
- or more to the point, its CEO Tim Cook – has
also expressed concern about how the tariffs
could affect its continuing fight against its
long-term adversary, Samsung. In August,
President Donald Trump told reporters that
Cook had made “a very compelling argument”
on this point.
“Tim was talking to me about tariffs and...
he made a good case... that Samsung is their
number one competitor, and Samsung is not
paying tariffs,” Trump explained in words
quoted by Observer. “I thought he made a very
compelling argument, so I’m thinking about it.”