Xiaomi parties like a winner after coming second on world smartphone sales charts Analyst firm Canalys has, for the first time, found Chinese firm Xiaomi the world’s second-ranked smartphone vendor, as measured by unit shipments. The firm stated that Xiaomi achieved the feat in Q2 2021, when it enjoyed 17 percent market share, behind Samsung’s 19 percent but ahead of Apple’s 14 points. Canalys’ market …
>Now, where are the UK phones?
First we renationalise BT and roll it back into the GPO
Then we convince the GPO that this telephony business is worth looking at and won't affect the telegram business. Then we get an agreement from the Union of sub-PostMistresses and Allied Trades.
Then we get the boffins at Dollis hill to start looking at making a mobile phone with valves, rather than brass gears
its average selling price is around 40 percent and 75 percent cheaper respectively
To be fair, companies should be required to publish what kind of standards they offer for their workers. Something similar like we have on the eggs. I would like to buy a phone made by free range workers paid living wage at very least.
I love companies who plaster their website with statements that they are being open and fair blah blah, and then when you want to find out where they actually manufacture their products there is nothing on there and you have to dig. Unfortunately your link does not pass the smell test for me.
Fairphone's work has been well documented. For example, they admit that it's almost impossible to get untainted minerals. But the bigger problem with mass adoption is that the phones are considered several generations behind.
From what I see, these are Chinese phones with legacy technology repackaged as repair friendly. There is some vague information that workers can elect union representative and they have "European standard" 8-hour shifts, but frankly by buying these phones you are supporting a communist regime anyway - the difference is that you get an outdated phone with added fake feel good feeling.
I have my doubts that Chinese workers could be classed as "free range" with their social score system and other abusive measures.
While I fully support your stance, I can't help but wonder what tech have you actually managed to buy in the last 20 years? In fact, what are you typing on now?
Globalisation and especially the move to manufacture everything in Asia makes it pretty hard to find anything that is truly free of cruelty to humans.
Of course it is pretty hard, because people prefer to not care as long as the product is cheap and they don't see the suffering at their doorstep. So unfortunately it is not always possible to make an ethical choice, because companies willing to maximise profits at all cost have embedded themselves in those supply chains.
Since I became conscious about the issue I do research every product I buy, which opened my eyes further as it is now so difficult to find countries of origin, because companies found themselves pants down and are simply too afraid of bad PR, so they hide that information.
That being said, I type from a computer I built myself from parts from all over the world and if I had a choice between part made in country X and Y, I'd choose the least evil option.
I am in the market for a phone since 2020 and can't really find anything that wouldn't make me feel bad using. I am looking forward for the reviews of the upcoming Xperia 5 III, I read Sony no longer manufactures phones in China.
Am I supposed to believe that there were 5000 engineers lying around waiting to be hired ?
Okay, it's China, but even in China I would think that an engineer is not exactly the kind of person that waits for a job.
So that would mean that he hired 5000 newly-minted engineers from China's universities ?
Hmm. So they'll be getting their experience on the job, then. Good for them, maybe not so good for Xiaomi.
To a certain degree in China (and India) those engineers are being churned out of the universities at a sufficient rate. But more importantly, this isn't a new development and thus there is already a market of skilled and experienced engineers as demonstrated by the rising wages in China.
So far they have been great.
I don't need a flagship phone that costs 4x as much as a laptop
I need >2Gb RAM, an SD card, the same Qualcom chippery everyone else has, a couple of day battery life and a regularly updated unlocked Android.
If I can pay $100 for that because it's aimed at the Asian market rather than instagram influencers that's fine by me
Totally agree, except I don't need an SD card.
I don't need the newest chips or the biggest storage or the best screen. I don't buy a phone as a fashion statement or to impress my friends. I buy it to use it.
I buy replacement phones when the battery life becomes problematic.
What I do want is OS and security updates and this is what worries me about Xiaomi. Android 11 is just now rolling out while Android 12 is already in the developer's channel for a fall release. I also wonder about the frequency and timeliness of security patches. Hopefully the 5,000 engineers can improve this.
Security update are more important than version updates, though that shouldn't be as onerous for manufacturers as it used to be. But, perhaps even more important, the Xiaomi phones seem to be well supported by LineageOS making you even less dependent on the whims of the manufacturer, especially once they've decided they no longer need you.
My Mi 9 Lite is currently on 11RKQ1.200826.002
Security update 2021-05-01
Didn't need 5000 engineers for that, did they? 'Just rolling out'? Xiaomi roll out updates faster than any other manufacturer I've bought a phone from.
I don't mean to be contradictory. Well, I guess I do but not aggressively.
I can't fault them and their speedy rollout of updates is one specific reason that I like them.
I've just bought a Redmi Note 10 Pro.
Pretty good so far - some niggles - the antenna is nowhere near as good as my old Zenfone 4, and proximity sensor seems a bit hit and miss, and for some reason it often thinks I want settings when honestly I don't.
I can't see me paying Samsung prices for a comparable phone though.
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