Smartphones are quickly becoming a commonly used item for literally every person on the planet.

Elementary school students and even grandparents are well aware of the technology and have gotten fairly accustomed to its multiple features. With Apple and Samsung releasing countless updates and new models each year, how do consumers make appropriate decisions and choose the “ best” ?It has become a competition between America and Asia. Apple is by far the dominant American phone company, with Blackberry sinking to its demise years ago. Asia is represented well by Sam-sung, who hit the jackpot with its Galaxy and Note models. However, a lot of consumers and technology experts seem to overlook another quiet giant in the Asian scene: Xiao mi.

Before we talk about Xiaomi Inc., you might ask: Who is Xiaomi? What is Xiaomi? There are not many Americans who actually know what Xiaomi is, or have even heard of the brand.

Xiaomi Inc. is a privately owned Chinese electronics company headquartered in Beijing. It is one of China’s biggest electronics companies that designs, develops, and sells smartphones, mobile apps, and consumer electronics. Apparently, the phones they manufacture have the same hard-ware quality as most of the other popular ones out there, such as Apple iPhones and Samsung Galaxies. Interestingly, the Xiaomi Mi3 has been tested as the world’s fastest Android smartphone according to benchmark testing apps Antutu, Quadrant and Geekbench. Yet the mass market as failed to turn is he a d sand take notice.

The technical quality seems to be on par with other top smartphones on the market, but there’s a stark difference. Xiaomi phones are a lot cheaper by about ＄100. How can they sell their phones at such a low price? For one, hardware is a lot cheaperand affordable in China. A significant amount ofproducts, even those unrelated to technology, areborn from China. The export and import demand is huge and has been a markedly important reason for China’s economic success.

Recently, there have been rumors that Xiaomiplans to enter the American markets. If so, that would be extremely interesting. Will consumers purchase the phone due to its low price point, or will they stick with the popular ones based on pure brand loyalty and reliability? We’ all just have to wait and see.