Xiaomi a Copy Cat of Apple?

Lei Jun - billionaire entrepreneur - in Beijing is notorious for his apple like smart phones. He is known as Steve Jobs of the east by many Chinese consumers, although the title may be a little stretched he certainly built a giant company. The design, marketing and strategy seems to be mimicking Apples marketing strategies. His company called Xiaomi manufactures and sells smart phones that closely resemble the IPhone. The phones are so popular among Chinese consumers that the first release of the phone was sold out with in a single day. The main reason why Xiaomi's smart phone is so popular is not because of its specs, it is due to the great value in price of the smart phone. A typical smart phone from Xiaomi will cost half the price of an iPhone or an galaxy. This price advantage gives Xiaomi a slight advantage in attracting large groups of consumers to purchase their smart phones. Although the company has still a long ways to go in order to compare with Apple, it is on the right track on becoming a super tech giant.

The poor enforcement of antitrust laws in China have caused a surge of knock-off brands to appear
in the Chinese market. One would be surprised to see the striking similarities between the actual brand and the knock off brand. Due to China's poor copy right laws it has become increasingly risky for new companies to enter the Chinese market simply because they risk their technology being stolen. It will be primarily up to the Chinese government to enforce copy right laws in order to protect new innovation. By enforcing such laws, will give companies the opportunity to patent a certain technological innovation and advance it.

Reflection

a. The international aspects that were discussed in this class would be the most valuable in my understanding of how the world works. I believe it is important to have knowledge on other countries because it will broaden my perspective of the world. For example, the presentations that we did for our country of choice taught me many facts that were new to me. The economic concepts covered such as arbitrage, law of one price and foreign exchange rates will be practical in my future travels abroad.

b. I am interested in learning more about the specific international economic concepts and to further develop my knowledge of the concepts we have discussed in class.

c. Any students taking this course should be ready to have an interactive discussion and be excited to learn economics (if they have no economic background). The students should be aware that this course will require them to write everyday. Most of the blog assignments are interesting because they allow you to write your opinion/research in a blog format.