Apple, Xiaomi trade smartphone barbs in China
Xiaomi -- which was only established four years ago -- ranked second in China's smartphone market.
WUZHEN (AFP) - Top executives from US technology giant Apple and Chinese smartphone upstart Xiaomi traded light-hearted barbs on Thursday at a Chinese Internet conference, acknowledging the fierce competition between the rivals.
Apple s iPhones and iPads are wildly popular in China, encouraging smuggling and crowds at the company s stores as consumers try to lay their hands on the latest products.
Yet Apple stood in sixth place in China s fractured smartphone market with only a 6.9 percent share in the March-June period according to consultancy Analysys International, while Xiaomi -- which was only established four years ago -- ranked second with 13.5 percent.
Bruce Sewell, Apple s general counsel and senior vice president of legal and government affairs, told a panel discussion at the World Internet Conference that there are "many good competitive phones in China" in a nod to Xiaomi founder Lei Jun, sitting alongside him.
But when asked about Lei s previous claims that Xiaomi will become the world s market leader in smartphones, he said: "It is easy to say, it is more difficult to do," to laughter and applause from the audience in Wuzhen.
Lei shot back: "In this magic land, we produced not only a company like Alibaba, but a small miracle like Xiaomi."
Alibaba founder Jack Ma was also onstage, fresh from the listing of his company on the New York Stock Exchange, the world s biggest initial public offering to date.
Xiaomi phones boast processors that use Google s Android software and sleek designs which some say mimic top Apple models.
But they compete at a different price point, selling at a fraction of the cost of a Galaxy S5 from market leader Samsung, or the latest iPhones.
