Why Xiaomi is not a threat to iPhone?

Though not a household name in the United States, there's still a good chance you've heard of Xiaomi, a Chinese electronics company that designs and manufactures smartphones, tablets, HDTVs, and an wide assortment of other consumer products.

虽然小米在美国并不是一个家喻户晓的品牌名字，但人们仍旧有机会听到这个来自中国的电子公司名字，它设计、生产智能手机、平板、高清电视以及其中各种各样的消费级电子产品。

Since releasing its first smartphone in 2011, Xiaomi's popularity has increased substantially, in part because the company is generally shameless about copying hardware designs from other companies, and from Apple in particular. Over the past two years or so, there have been no shortage of examples where new Xiaomi products seem to be borderline carbon copies of existing Apple products; the company has even copied Apple event invitations.

自2011年首次发布智能手机以来，小米的支持率就大幅增长，部分原因是这家公司总是会"毫不吝啬"地抄袭其他公司产品，特别是苹果。在过去2年左右的时间里，这样的情况一直没有断过，并且除了产品之外，它甚至还抄起了苹果发布会的邀请函。 

That aside, the key aspect to Xiaomi's success is that the company operates on razor thin margins and offers compelling devices at much cheaper pricepoints than the competition. And so far, that strategy has been paying off handsomely.

还有一个让小米获得成功的关键因素则是这家公司选择了薄利多销的战略。到目前为止，这一战略已经获得了相当可观的回报。

According to the market research firm IHS Technology, Xiaomi's share of the Chinese smartphone market is already at 18%. Indeed, the emergence of Xiaomi is largely viewed as one of the reasons why Samsung's smartphone sales have been trending downward in recent years.

根据市场研究公司IHS Technology调查显示，小米在中国智能手机市场的份额已经达到18%。实际上，小米的横空出世被视为是造成三星智能手机销售出现疲软的原因之一。

"Selling full-featured phones at near cost, it has come to battle Apple and Samsung Electronics Co. for the No. 1 spot in China," The Wall Street Journal wrote this past June. "It dented Samsung's China market share badly in 2014, one factor forcing the South Korean company to post a sharp profit drop and to rethink its strategy."

今年6月，《华尔街日报》曾在一篇报道中写道："以接近成本价的价格销售功能齐全的手机是其与苹果和三星电子争夺中国智能手机市场第一的资本。2014年，它就让三星在中国市场的份额受到严重损害，这迫使这家韩国公司不得不大幅降低利润并开始反思自己的战略。"

With that as the backdrop, a recent article in Fast Company posits that Xiaomi is Apple's biggest threat in China and will soon be the company's biggest threat everywhere else.

以此为背景，Fast Company近期发表文章称，小米现在成为了苹果在中国市场的最大威胁，并且很快还会在其他各个地方也成为其最大威胁。 

While certainly a compelling headline, the story itself conspicuously lacks any evidence that would bolster such a bold claim. If anything, the story highlights how the peculiarities of Xiaomi's success in China may be difficult, if not impossible, to emulate elsewhere.

虽然这个观点非常大胆，但其实文章并没有提供支持该观点的强有力证据。文章主要谈论了小米在中国市场获得成功的特点，并强调这一过程非常艰难，另外还指出，当它在中国成功之后，它就可以在其他市场也采用相类似的发展方针。

Xiaomi has begun experimenting in markets outside China., such as U.S. and Europe, What's more, Xiaomi has conveniently avoided smartphone and tablet sales in the U.S. because it's all but a given that Apple would aggressively take Xiaomi to court for patent infringement.

Fast Company称，渐渐地，小米开始尝试在中国以外的市场试水，如美国和欧洲。不过，它特别避开在美销售智能手机和平板电脑，因为很有可能会被苹果告上法庭。

A more promising battleground for Xiaomi could be India, Apple isn't exactly the top dog in India when it comes to smartphone sales. Which is to say, Xiaomi making inroads in India, on the low end of the market no less, won't realistically do much to Apple's iPhone sales in the country.

对于小米来说，印度似乎应该是它更具有发展前景的市场。在那里，苹果并不是智能手机销量最高的品牌。也就是说，小米跟苹果的发展都不会影响到对方，苹果做的是高端市场，而小米选择的是低端市场。

Looking ahead, it's no secret that Xiaomi has ambitions that extend far beyond mainland China. But that's not to say that Apple has anything to truly fear from Xiaomi. After all, threat Apple faces from Xiaomi is no different than the threats its seen before from the likes of Samsung, HTC, Palm, Motorola and others.

小米想要抢占中国内地市场之外的市场已经是公开的秘密。但这并不是说苹果就要对小米心生畏惧了。对于这家公司来说，小米之于它的威胁其实跟三星、HTC、Palm、摩托罗拉等这些公司没什么差别。