Xiaomi are starting to worry even Google

AndiFebruary 18, 2015

Xiaomi’s rise to success in China without the need of Google services is worrying the search giant.

Xiaomi’s amazing growth using the Android platform in China without Google Services is starting to worry the search giant. Anyone who has been to China will know that many services are blocked there including many of Google’s own services. For Chinese Android phone makers this has meant creating a suite of their own services, but none have been so popular as Xiaomi.

With Xiaomi slowly moving out of China with official stores in India, Malaysia, Singapore and a new store headed for the U.S, Android employees at Google have spoken out about how Xiaomi could “present challenges”.

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Currently Xiaomi has it’s own app market, online store, video streaming and messaging services, plus cloud backup, but it is not out of the realm of possibility that they could also enter email, maps and other services which could threaten Google.

Closer to home, Cyanogen have recently been attracting investors to create an Android ecosystem which doesn’t require Google and have already attracted some big names.

[ Business Insider ]

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About the author
Andi

Angry Mobile Nerd
February 18, 2015
WTF if I remember correctly it was Google who decided to exit the Chinese market years ago by their own decision.
- wat
  February 18, 2015
  not a straightforward decision, they couldn’t be bothered to deal with the bullshit and the laws.
  - Airyl
    February 18, 2015
- Vlada
  February 19, 2015
  No, they are boycotted by Chinese communistic government because Google is not willing to support their censorship as much as other companies like Microsoft or Apple.
  - Shahzada Khan
    February 20, 2015
    Why will they not accept Chinese censorship but will hand over your data to US government. Btw one of the google guys went to North korea for US govt and also met Julian assange to get info for US govt. How do u want the comunist government to treat them.
desponent
February 18, 2015
They can only thank themselves for pricing their new Nexus line and the old one outside of US the way it was.

Andrawid
February 18, 2015
Ha Ha. Google’s open source OS shoots itself in the foot.
Patent_pending
February 18, 2015
Xiaomi will get bombarded by patent infringement lawsuites if they try to set foot into the US and Europe. Let’s be honest here MIUI is a clear copy of IOS and as far as I know the only thing protecting Xiaomi is Qualcomms cross-licensing agreements with other smartphone makers.
- Airyl
  February 18, 2015
  Clear copy? No, it’s not a clear copy. There are some design similarities, but MIUI completely destroys iOS in terms of features, extras and customization. If anything, MIUI is what iOS should aim to be.
  - BotondKisKovacs
    February 18, 2015
    They have obvious design elements copied from iOS but I say that they did what Apple couldn’t finish. MIUI is the Android that iOS should have been.
    On the topic of the article though, I am a Xiaomi Redmi Note owner but I do use most Google products, in fact I probably had no use for a smartphone at all if I couldn’t use Google services.
  - Akimitsui
    February 18, 2015
    Yes, they will be bombarded with lawsuits, especially thanks to their own app store. I own a Mi4, and many of the paid apps on the Play Store are free illegally on the Xiaomi Market. This is also the case with the Baidu App Store.
    If you don’t believe me, search up some paid games on any of these markets and you will find them all for free.
    - samuraix
      February 18, 2015
      Maybe they are waiving off the charges by paying to developers themselves like how google plans to do in the near future. Just becoze an app is free on other store dsnt mean it is illegal. Many app on amazon store are free. Ditto with yandex app store.
      - Akimitsui
        February 19, 2015
        Nope, this is definitely not happening for the majority of these free games…. I know this because I have downloaded many simply out of curiosity. Many of the games install a Chinese third-party app that then “cracks” the game, a few show a “this game failed authentication” screen then boot into the game…. or simply close after that. These are pirated games. As I said before, try it yourself… few games for example: Chaos Rings, Need for Speed, Dead Space, Shadowgun… etc.
        Unless they clean-up their app market for a western-release… or just plain ship without their app market and just have the Play Store along-side their themes, music, movies, etc apps, then they will face major lawsuits from multiple companies.
        MaxPower
        February 19, 2015
        I searched those games on MI Market and I found none.
        Akimitsui
        February 19, 2015
        When you search those games, at the bottom it says “search other markets” – click that and you will be able to download those games from within the mi market. Here are screenshots as proof:
        MaxPower
        February 19, 2015
        It seems they are not hosted on miui servers but on third party ones like baidu. So legally they are pretty covered if they made you accept a term of use. Unfortantely I don’t speak any Chinese to verify myself
- Shahzada Khan
  February 20, 2015
  Apple’s Jony Ive himself accepts getting “inspiration” from Dieter Rams of Braun…. where do u want to go with this argument…

balcobomber25
February 18, 2015
Google screwed up with the Nexus line internationally. The Nexus phones used to be flagship specs for mid range prices. The problem was outside of the US you the phones sold for just as much as the Iphone and Samsung. The Nexus 6 is selling for even more than those phones, $700 in India, close to $800 in Thailand. People are finding out they can get better phones for half the price. And when they use Xiaomi and more importantly MIUI they are realizing they don’t actually need the Google Play Store. I have a Mi4 and most apps I get off of MIUI store.
- Airyl
  February 18, 2015
  Pretty much sums it up.
- Akimitsui
  February 18, 2015
  Still, there are many apps that are only on the Play Store and not on any other Chinese app store. And even if they are, some are only in Chinese. I own a Mi4, have the Play Store, Xiaomi Market, and the Baidu App Store. Many of the apps I use are only found on the Play Store.
  Examples: I have a custom-built racing simulator and use my phone screen to show various info on the car I’m driving, these apps are only on the Play Store. Then there are emulators and games, etc.
  - balcobomber25
    February 23, 2015
    A custom app is kind of a one off example that most people will never encounter. As for games and emulators, the Chinese App stores have a much better selection than the play store, including most of the popular paid games for free (illegally of course).
Tony Hounsome
February 18, 2015