[WATCH] Why market for Chinese smartphones should expand in the US?
Only a couple of years back, the 'Made in China' tag on smartphones ended up being deterrent for lots of users, as those cheaper Chinese Android phones meant poor quality.
But now, as the Moore's Law and changing economics suggest, the cheap handsets made in China that you get are actually quite good.
Until recently, very few Americans would have held a Chinese smartphone, let alone own one. "Chinese electronics" have suffered from the perception of low-quality, cheap products.
But the perception has changed remarkably as new Chinese branded phones come out every few months with reality outpacing opinion.
These Chinese brands have now emerged to be expanding their horizon in the US market in the near future.
There are plenty of great quality electronics that originate in China, and you're only missing out if you don't take them seriously.
Chinese brands compete on price, along with on par specifications if not better, which gives them an edge over the bigger brands in the market, reports China Daily.
Smartphone users can no longer justify spending more on handsets manufactured by Samsung, LG, or similar big companies when they can get a Lenovo, Xiaomi, or Oppo instead, which are all Chinese brands.
Moreover, when users buy smartphones from a carrier in the US, they are likely to end up with lengthy contracts and would be kept captive through 'locked' phones, according to the norm.
To those carriers, there is hardly any incentive to offer more affordable options with Chinese branded smartphones which mean smaller profits.
However, these 'unlocked' Chinese smartphones are more budget friendly in the long run, and also allow for a greater choice of networks and phones.
Thus, users in the US are now opting for phones with no strings attached, which is evident from the fact that the total shipments of Chinese unlocked phones to the US rose from 6.1 million in 2014 to a staggering 14.6 million in 2015!
US based Google searches for 'unlocked' smartphones and top Chinese brands are also rising, converging just before Christmas every year.
After all these, why shouldn't Americans be ready to pay less for a cellphone?
Besides, Chinese companies are also cutting edge in mobile phone technology.
For example, the Oppo N1, which launched in 2013, featured the world's first rotating camera on a smartphone, an engineering feat designed for the selfie-lovers. The new Gionee Marathon M5 can hold two batteries into a single phone to ensure an incredible battery life without making it too bulky.
Smartphone brands Ulefone and Leagoo's marketing strategy revolves around producing phones which can sustain more abuse than any other in the market. Ulefone Metal retails for about US $120, whereas Leagoo's M5 LTE, a phone made using ballistics-grade glass, will retail for about US $71. Those who are really looking for heavy duty protection, it is time to swap your smartphone for a hardened model.
China also leads from the front with innovations in manufacturing smartphone accessories, such as screen protectors, reports Tech China.
Products such as Gobukee Carapace self healing screen protectors or NanoFixit Titanium liquid screen protectors are cost effective, and would ensure more effective protection to your smartphones than the current tempered glass screens.
For those who have a habit of keeping phone in pocket with a lot of keys and spare change, Gobukee's self healing carapace, which comes at about US $1, may be the solution as it recovers from minor scratches in seconds, and is pretty resilient against scratches from metal objects, such as coins.
The liquid based screen protector, NanoFixit, has a 3-step application process with the Titanium compound that improves scratch resistance and scratch strength, and is likely to be the choice for those who want a bit more upscale.
Another product, Topjet ultra thin curved glass screen protector, is scratch and reasonably shatter proof, and can sustain a 110 gramme metal ball dropped from a height of 0.7 metres, despite being only 0.2 millimetres thick. Most tempered glass designs, on the other hand, max out at 0.3 to 0.5 metres.
If these levels of protection aren't good enough, China may have even more in its bag to offer!
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