Lei Jun, one of the founders and current CEO of Xiaomi, has been caught wearing a iPhone when posting on social networks, instead of a phone of its own brand, which has also initiated a price escalation to position some models in the premium segment.
The CEO (executive director) of Xiaomi published a photo of some books that he recommended to his Weibo followers It is a Chinese social network Similar to Twitter in many ways, including posts indicating "Sent from iPhone" when using Apple's phone.
It is strange that he did not use a Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro, its flagship model, and that it competes with the iPhone due to its high price, which starts at 999 euros in Spain.
Lei Jun's post was deleted soon after, so it is understood that it was wrong. The Xiaomi CEO did not clarify the situation, but another brand executive did. Pan Jiutang said it is normal for him to use an iPhone to learn about his competitors, as all brands look at their rivals' models.
Xiaomi places a lot of emphasis on the community, the so-called Mi Fans, so these kinds of incidents are not good for its image.
Save the distances, in Spain recently occurred a case with certain parallels. Xiaomi commissioned the actor and director Paco León to record a short with the Mi 10 Pro, about the confinement in the coronavirus quarantine, despite the fact that the artist almost always post to social media with an iPhone
Although it is difficult to know if this is the case of Lei Jun or another specific user, in general the iPhone is seen as a sign of social statusbecause of its high price. In fact, we've seen market research suggesting that the we althy tend to buy an iPhone, especially in the US.
Lei Jun's motivation could also revolve around privacy, as Xiaomi has been accused of spying on users' browsing history. Apple takes great care of this aspect, which is even more important in China, where surveillance of the population is tight.
Apple obtains a very high profitability with the iPhone, since it sells it well above its manufacturing price thanks to its prestige. Competitors such as Xiaomi, Huawei, Samsung or OnePlus have followed in their footsteps and launched smartphones with prices of 1,000 euros or more.
Of course, the CEO of Xiaomi has left his company in a bad position He might just be testing an iPhone to improve his products, but posting with it on social media could also mean that he prefers to use an Apple phone in his personal life rather than his own.
