Samsung or iPhone8 may not be the years biggest smartphones

We do know an interest something going on with phones in China.

Qualper, this site

Express.co.uk -- More at the source.

The likes of Huawei, Oppo and Xiaomi may be little known in the West (for now at least), but in a country of over a billion people, such brands have jumped at the chance to exploit a customer base numbering in the hundreds of millions.

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Recent figures from analyst firm Strategy Analytics show that Huawei, probably the best-known Chinese brand in the West, overtook Samsung to become the world’s most profitable Android device maker in the last quarter of 2016.

Many of these Chinese phone makers will be launching new devices at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona next month, allowing them to grab more media attention, and therefore more consumer awareness.

The power of marketing in the hyper-competitive smartphone market cannot be denied, and several Chinese firms have already tried to show off their goods in a big way.

Huawei currently has partnerships with many leading European football clubs, including Arsenal, Paris St Germain, AC Milan and Borussia Dortmund.

Adverts for the likes of Oppo and Vivo, whose phones retail at the fraction of the price of Apple and Samsung, are also becoming commonplace at televised sporting games, especially those which are broadcast back in China.

Vivo phones even made an appearance in last year’s biggest superhero movie, with a branded concept Vivo device ending up in the hands of Robert Downey Junior’s Iron Man in the blockbuster Avengers: Civil War - a film seen by millions worldwide.

Regional Xaiomi -- MWC

Xaiomi is one of the regionals to watch.

Apparently up to something soon, we'll see what happens.



The Chinese company Xiaomi will be boasting its Xiaomi Mi 6 flagship this year. It is projected that it will have its grand reveal in the Mobile World Congress from Feb. 27 to March 2. Tech writers and fans are anticipating for its appearance to see whether it is as good as the leaked specs and features floating online.

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Tech writers believe that this is the surprise product that Xiaomi VP Li Wanquiang has mentioned during the Geek Park Innovation conference in Beijing. It is worth noting that Xiaomi has made its first time appearance at CES just this month and many speculate that they will again be seen at MWC next month bringing Xiaomi Mi 6 series.

Xiaomi is another regional company worth watching. They have been on the radar as long as Micromax. If they're already doing a push into the US they would be an equally interesting regional player to be adopting Microvision's tech.


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Xiaomi is one of Apple 's(NASDAQ: AAPL) biggest rivals in the Chinese smartphone market, but the six-year-old start-up has only taken baby steps into the U.S. market. It launched a U.S. shopping portal for headphones, power banks, fitness trackers, and other accessories last year. Earlier this year, it declared its intentions to enter the U.S. smartphone market despite tough competition and concerns about saturation.

But before taking that big step, Xiaomi is taking a swing at another market where Apple looms large -- set-top boxes. Xiaomi recently launched the Mi Box -- an Android TV box which comes with Sling TV, Pandora, and Vudu credit -- as its first major hardware push into the U.S. market. The device is currently available on its U.S. website and at Vudu parent company Wal-Mart 's(NYSE: WMT) stores.

Xaiomi First US Product

Xaiomi has been watched for a long time without a lot that's noteworthy happening.

This development is very noteworthy. They're going to undercut the prices of Roku and Apple TV with a similar product, and this is their intro to the US market. Now that they're here, a lot is open.

TomsGuide -- More at the source

You'll control the Mi Box with a handheld remote. Like Apple TV's remote, you can use voice commands to search for content, change channels, jump to shows and launch apps. Xiaomi says the Bluetooth remote also dobules as a controller for games.

You can buy the Mi Box at Xiaomi's website. The set-top box will also be available at Wal-Mart this month. Getting its first U.S. product into the country's largerst brick-and-mortar retailer should be a considerable help in introducing Xiaomi to U.S. audiences.

Xiaomi's ambitions go far beyond the set-top box market. The company is China's largest phone seller, and it's made a name for itself selling high-end phones at extremely competitive prices. Xiaomi has said it hopes to eventually sell phones in the U.S., with vice president Hugo Barra telling Bloomberg in August that a U.S. launch would happen "in the near future."