Following the big success of the MiPhone M1 (3.52 Million sales volumes reported by Xiaomi), Xiaomi have just announced two new models - M2 and M1s. As a brand focusing on young consumers and enthusiasts, Xiaomi chose a very appropriate place, the 798 Factory in Beijing, which is the most famous art zone in China, to announce and introduce the new models. The choice could help Xiaomi to give consumers the association that MiPhone is artistic and design centric.

Xiaomi M2

Most famous for the outstanding user interface ‘MIUI’ and the best value for money in China, Xiaomi’s new models appear to maintain and consolidate these advantages. Compared to the M1, the new M1s comes with higher specs but at a lower price (1,499RMB), while the M2 comes with a new and fresh physical appearance, latest Jelly Bean based MIUI operating system and high specs while maintaining the same price (1,999RMB) of the original M1.

With the value for money reputation that has been built by M1 and the superior user experience brought by MIUI (see Smartphone Platform Benchmark: Meeting the Needs of Advanced Smartphone Users in China), Xiao has already gained a lot of consumers who aspired to buy a MiPhone. Xiaomi appears to have improved the product value of M2 by providing the latest operating system along with a quad core processor. The biggest pain points of the M1 were mostly reported as ‘lack of front camera’, ‘bad rear camera’, and ‘bad display’.  With its new models, Xiaomi has improved these features with a better camera lens and better display, which could persuade consumers who have concerns over these issues to consider the phone. Additionally, the M2 provides a larger battery capacity (2000mAh), and the option to choose an even larger battery capacity (3000mAh with 3mm thicker), which provides the opportunity for consumers to choose the trade-off between battery life and thickness themselves.

Many Chinese consumers complained about the hardware quality of the original MiPhone, and the changes that Xiaomi made for M2 and M1s should give users the feeling that they were actually heard – Xiaomi listened to their advice and made improvements accordingly. With the MIUI forum and the easy way to provide advice directly from the phone, current users will be pleased as they will feel they were involved in the development of the phone.

Strategy Analytics’ user research in China is available to Wireless Device Lab clients or for purchase here. Strategy Analytics’ China Handset Market Share report for Wireless Smartphone Strategies clients can be found here.

- Alvin Wu