The Chinese are coming. As we reported back in May, brands like Xiaomi and Huawei have come from nowhere to become the market leaders in China, taking Samsung off the top spot.
These upstart brands are unafraid to take the best of Apple and Samsung and repackage it at incredibly low prices, some even as low as just $46.
Xiaomi and Huawei, the largest brands in China today, already have their sights set on our shores. Huawei’s last Mate S model had top of the range features, and even boasted every single headline feature of the latest iPhone, weeks before it was even announced.
The brands to watch
If you’re an iPhone customer, you might be tempted to try switch to Xiaomi or Huawei for your next upgrade. But as these brands move upmarket, a new crop of Chinese challengers is charging ahead, taking huge marketshare across the developing world.
Some of the brands we met at Mobile World Congress are shipping as many as 600,000 handsets every month and yet you’ve never heard of them.
People say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and these challengers take it to the next level, with near carbon copies of iPhones, Apple Watches, HP laptops and more at knock-down prices.
Meet the next up-and-coming brands that want your hard-earned cash.
Marszone
Marszone is a Chinese brand to watch, making waves in India, Pakistan and Russia. Sales director Totti explained the brand shifts over 600,000 handsets every month and has big plans for expansion in the future.
75% of the devices they sell are so-called feature phones, which have basic call and SMS functions, but as prices drop, their marketshare in smartphones is growing. Totti has high hopes for their latest high-end device which boasts 4G at just $65 and share a striking similarity with the devices being developed by the likes of Apple and Samsung.
“I’m not worried about Apple saying we’ve copied them because we are a low-price manufacturer.”
Like all of the challenger manufacturers we met at Mobile World Congress, Marszone sells its devices unbranded to partners in other countries, who then brand the devices themselves and deal with any copyright issues. Despite this, Totti has big ambitions for the future.
“In the future we want to be as big as Huawei.”
New Explorer
Founded in 2006, New Explorer boasts mid-range smartphones for the developing world.
Inside a luminously lit yellow stand we met Sky, New Explorer’s Sales Director. Like all of the challengers we met, Sky’s company is based in Shenzhen, the factory of the world, just a short drive from the Chinese border with Hong Kong.
A polished saleswoman, Sky showed us New Explorer’s range of smartphones with her genuine gold iPhone sat next to the company’s near-identical copies that sell in large quantities for less than $50 a handset.
“We give people in the developing world value. In markets like India and Indonesia, we’re free to sell these devices without restrictions”
Business is booming for New Explorer, but like all manufacturers at the bottom end of the market, the company is suffering from razor thin margins in a race to the bottom.
“Huawei and ZTE are eating away at our market share, it’s hard for us to make our prices lower than theirs”.
Bluboo
Bluboo is no stranger to Mobile World Congress, exhibiting for the third year in the row.
The company sells exclusively outside of China with market share in Europe, Russia, Africa and South America.
This year Bluboo is working hard to become a consumer brand in its own right for smartphones and wearable tech. The company’s flagship device, the Picasso, is aimed at design-conscious European customers and sells direct for just $99.
“We want our brand to be known across the world.”
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