Xiaomi Sucks !! Xiaomi Wasting Peoples’ Time !! That was how frustrated people were at Xiaomi today when the supposedly second round of flash sale didn’t take off as planned. Reason – Xiaomi Malaysia experiences technical issue with Amazon Web Services hence affecting Xiaomi Malaysia’s store.
Understandably, hundreds of Malaysians took leave or skip their breakfasts, classes and whatnot in order not to miss this sale, after unsuccessful first attempt last week (20-May-2014), when 4,000 units of Mi3 smartphones and 5,000 units of Mi Power Bank were sold out – within a jaw dropping 17 minutes. The Chinese-made smartphone and power bank were sold at RM889 and RM36 a unit respectively.
Due to the overwhelming response, Xiaomi Malaysia decided to hold a second flash sale today, offering 6,000 units of Mi3 and 5,000 units of its power bank. But we suppose Xiaomi Malaysia fans have to wait another day to try their luck. Xiaomi Malaysia facebook has garnered close to 40,000 likes.
Founded in 2010, Xiaomi becomes one of the fastest growing tech company in China, valued at a whopping US$10 billion and has over 3,000 employees. The company designs, develops and sells smartphones, mobile apps and consumer electronics accessories. Among its investors are Temasek (a Singapore Government-owned investment vehicle), Chinese based IDG Capital and Qualcomm.
Interestingly, its’ logo “MI” carries different meaning – “Mobile Internet”, “Mission Impossible”. Scheduled to officially make Redmi S1 (its flagship) available next month (June) in Malaysia, Xiaomi has four authorized service centers in the country. Xiaomi is working with Celcom, Digi and Maxis to offer its phones to a wider audience.
But that’s not the only offering from Xiaomi. The company decides to take the battlegound to the tablets market, with a specific aim at Apple’s iPad. Well, if the Americans have iPad, China is releasing MiPad (*grin*). Closely resemble iPad in its design, the name could cause confusions in the already heavily imitation goods in China.
Xiaomi CEO, Lei Jun, was not shy about the MiPad, nevertheless. He openly declares that MiPad was designed to compete directly with iPad Mini Retina. You may scream that this is another plastic iPad wannabe but the specification could give Apple a run for its money.
Let’s get the main juice on the table first. Xiaomi MiPad will cost you a mere US$240 while Apple iPad Mini with Retina display is US$399 (16GB Wifi). Both MiPad and iPad Mini have the same 7.9-inch screen size and even the same 2048 x 1536 resolution. Xiaomi acknowledges that it’s using the same materials as on the “unapologetically plastic” iPhone 5C.
Boasting a better pair of cameras both front and back, MiPad also comes with better processor – Tegra K1 quad-core from NVIDIA, as compared to iPad A7 dual-core. Storage-wise, the MiPad is offered with either 16 or 64 GB of on-board storage, alongside a microSD card slot that can be used to expand by up to an additional 128 GB. As for iPad Mini, well, as usual it’s not expandable.
Copycat or not, MiPad is obviously iPad’s closest competitor, at least on the paper. You’re getting a Retina display similar to iPad Mini with a fraction of the price – a whopping 40% cheaper. Stack that with better cameras and flexible storage expansion and voila, you got a winner. However for now, it’s not available to the local market hence we need to wait and see if this copycat can sell like hot potatoes.
| Xiaomi MiPad | Apple iPad Mini (Retina with WiFi) | |
| General | ||
|
Dimensions (mm) |
202.10 x 135.40 x 8.50 | 200.00 x 134.70 x 7.50 |
|
Weight (g) |
360.0 | 331.0 |
|
Battery capacity (mAh) |
6700 | |
| Display | ||
|
Screen Size (inches) |
7.9 | 7.9 |
|
Resolution |
2048×1536 pixels | 2048×1536 pixels |
|
Pixels per inch (PPI) |
326 | 326 |
| Hardware | ||
|
Processor |
2.2 GHz quad-core | A7 1.3 GHz dual-core |
|
Processor Make |
NVIDIA Tegra K1 | |
|
RAM |
2GB | 1 GB |
|
Internal storage |
16GB | 16GB |
|
Expandable storage |
Yes (microSD) | No |
|
Expandable storage size |
128GB | |
| Camera | ||
|
Rear camera |
8-megapixel | 5-megapixel |
|
Front camera |
5-megapixel | 1.2-megapixel |
| Software | ||
|
Operating System |
Android 4.4 | iOS 7 |
| Connectivity | ||
|
Wi-Fi |
Yes | Yes |
|
GPS |
No | Yes |
|
Bluetooth |
Yes | Yes |
| Sensors | ||
|
Compass/ Magnetometer |
Yes | Yes |
|
Proximity sensor |
Yes | No |
|
Accelerometer |
No | Yes |
|
Gyroscope |
Yes | Yes |
| Price | US$240 | US$399 |
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May 27th, 2014 by financetwitter
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