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How China's smartphone start-ups could expand to the US

The US market is massive, and China's smartphone start-ups are ignoring it. Tech in Asia reports on what they need to do to get in

Image via Tech in Asia

Image via Tech in Asia

C. Custer Tech in Asia
Outside of the established players like Huawei and ZTE, who are already in the US, newer players like Xiaomi, OnePlus, and Letv have all been hesitant to launch in the United States. 

To make a big impact in the US, here’s what Chinese smartphone brands will have to do:

Brand Correctly
To make a splash in the crowded US market, a Chinese smartphone’s best hope is to come across as something hip and new. Being a Chinese company is, if anything, a hindrance, and being cheap isn’t a selling point. Affordability might be icing on the cake, but first and foremost American smartphone consumers want something cool.
 

No ‘starvation’ marketing gimmicks
In China, Xiaomi has been able to get a shocking amount of mileage out of what the Chinese call ‘starvation marketing’, its approach of releasing extremely limited quantities of phones at a time, leading to flash sales where tens of thousands of units sell out almost instantaneously. This approach might work once or twice in the US for building hype, but my instinct is that after that, American consumers will tire of it fast.

Offer things competitors don’t
If they really want to stand out, Chinese smartphone startups like Xiaomi and Letv should create phones with features that their competitors aren’t offering. Obvious examples of this are things like swappable batteries and microSD storage.
 
How China's smartphone start-ups could expand to the US
Partner with local carriers
This is another tough one, but it’s probably necessary. Even with Verizon and others ditching the carrier subsidy model, a lot of Americans still buy their phones through local carriers.


This is an excerpt from Tech in Asia. You can read the full article here.

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First Published: Nov 17 2015 | 4:17 PM IST

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