WUZHEN: Top executives from US technology giant Apple and Chinese smart phone upstart Xiaomi traded light-hearted barbs at a Chinese Internet conference, acknowledging the fierce competition between the rivals.
Apple stood in sixth place in China’s smart phone market with only a 6.9 percent share in the March-June period while Xiaomi ranked second with 13.5pc.
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 smart phones, 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.”
