Tuesday, September 11, 2018

Review: The Xiaomi Way: Customer Engagement Strategies That Built One of the Largest Smartphone Companies in the World

The Xiaomi Way: Customer Engagement Strategies That Built One of the Largest Smartphone Companies in the World The Xiaomi Way: Customer Engagement Strategies That Built One of the Largest Smartphone Companies in the World by Li Wanqiang
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I'm not sure I would call this a general history of the company. Usually, when people write about a company that is still in operation (or a living person), they emphasize the fact that they were unbiased/had access to all papers/didn't have to give final approval to the subject/etc.etc.
I recently read two books about Alibaba and Jack Ma, and both of them dedicated the entire preface/first chapter to emphasizing this point.
Anyway, this book doesn't pretend to have any of this. However, it is also probably the only place we can find a history of Xiaomi in English, so it is interesting nonetheless.

I don't have too much experience with this brand, but when I lived in China, in 2014, it was certainly pervasive. We used the Xiaomibox (小米盒子)and still do on occasion, and I also still use mi-fit, and I definitely saw the cell phone around a lot.
The last chapter was odd. Mostly about his love for art. I imagine as an explanation for their style (maybe to counteract the accusations of copying?). Still, it was pretty interesting and made me want to read more about Muji.
Also, it was written in 2014. Since the company started in 2010, this means it basically covers the 1st half of the company's existence. Curious about the second half.


Bad points:
They NEVER did anything wrong. This is odd, but they don't mention one mistake they've made. An example:
An employee wanted to leave, so whenever he mentioned this, the boss would take him drinking until 5am, and do so for several nights in a row, until the employee felt guilty about wanting to leave. This is an interesting anecdote, but I doubt it would work with all employees. Anyway, I very much doubt any company of that size got by without any missteps. Alibaba certainly had plenty.
The quote: "Motorola invented the smartphone, but Nokia popularized it"(p. 15). I'm guessing this was a typo and was supposed to say "mobile phone". But this is a book about a smartphone company, so it stuck out.
Illustrations were not translated. So some of them are diagrams all in Chinese (p. 131, many others).
Some illustrations were just weird. (Figure 5.1, 5.2, etc.). Not sure what they mean.
Some contradictions, including two on one page (p.92: "we wanted to reach a mass market through conventional media" and then "This ad was for Xiaomi employees, Mi Fans and our partners."). Not that bad, but still made it confusing.
I do wish they had addressed the whole "copying Apple" issue (Lei Jun, Xiaomi's CEO, being called a "counterfeit Steve Jobs"). They seem to sidestep it, and just mention other inspirations (user input, Art, Muji).


Good points:
Very interesting to have an inside look at Xiaomi. I liked the analogy of using "air, ground and naval forces" to "attack the market".
Very interesting to see how they opened R&D to users and proceeded with their input. This seems to be the opposite of Apple. This could also account for the flak they get for being accused of "copying" other companies. Maybe their users just want better versions of whatever's out there.
Interesting to see how they tested their e-commerce on their own employees first, to see their reactions.
Interesting to see how they styled their customer service after Haidilao hotpot, since I'm a big fan of that chain --> Make employees love their job, and this will show.
Like the idea of "Mi homes". Like Apple stores, but not for sales, just after-sale service. So they're located in offices inside buildings, but very welcoming.


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