China's sexiest phones: Xiaomi vs Meizu
Last week, few tech stories in China made more headlines than the announcement of Android-based smartphone Xiaomi, the first product by Xiaomi Tech. The tech specs of Xiaomi look quite competitive with a 1.5GHz dual core processor and a GPU with 64 MB of independent RAM, and despite the attractive price, it may cost just as much as an iPhone to make. Xiaomi boasts that it is “Designed for Tech Geeks,” running 200 percent faster than current mainstream smartphones and 40 percent faster than the top ones. The announcement was met with excitement and cheers.
However, not everyone was happy about Xiaomi. Remember Meizu? It’s the “other” much-hyped Chinese smartphone. Meizu’s founder Huang Zhang, more widely known as J Wong, was far from pleased to hear about Xiaomi. Soon after the announcement, J Wong said on Meizu’s forum in reply to a topic:
I am not afraid of him, but I am simply sick of him. He used to pretend to be interested in investing in Meizu and approached me through his guanxi with leaders of the High Tech Zone. He got me to tell him all about how Meizu was running — from phone design, production, supply chain, marketing and even financial operation. He totally got me with his “sincerity.” So do not talk about them, leave me alone, please!
The person he is referring to here is Xiaomi’s founder Mr. Lei Jun. J Wong subsequently banned all Xiaomi related discussions on his forum. In addition, Xiaomi’s Miliao (group messaging) app has reportedly been blocked on Meizu phones, and cannot be installed.
The two met in 2008 when Meizu was only making MP3 players and just starting out with its M8 smartphone, widely regarded as an iPhone knockoff. Mr Lei was a possible investor. And despite repeated delays of Meizu’s M8 and M9, Mr Lei Jun has more than once expressed his support and compliments for Meizu. On Aug 4th, 2010, before the M9 was shipped, Mr Lei said on Weibo:
I, along with all fans, am eagerly expecting the M9. Meizu is a dedicated company which I adore. I wish the M9 and J Wong success. Android is a ferocious marketplace, and the M9 will bear huge pressure if it comes out late.
It is widely believed the two gentlemen fell apart after Xiaomi announced the MIUI, its own user mobile user interface.
On Dec 14, 2010, J Wong posted on Meizu forums:
Stay updated on the go with our mobile app.
Get latest insights with smoother, more personalized experience through TIA mobile app.
