Xiaomi will soon sell products in the US, but phones and tablets won't be offered.

Xiaomi continues its rise to the top, particularly in the Asian world. OnePlus is finally starting to become easier to buy. Oppo, Meizu, Huawei and several other similar OEMs continue to globally expand.

All these brands are making headway due to a combination of aggressive pricing, aggressive marketing, and the introduction of unique features (like rotating cams, CM out of the box, etc). That said, all these players are still relatively small potatoes in the western world — particularly in the United States.

For this week’s Friday Debate we discuss which up-and-coming Chinese (and/or any Asian-based) OEM has the best chance for success on a truly global scale. Can any of these OEMs join the ranks of big-names like Samsung, LG and Apple? As is our recent custom, we start out the Friday Debate by hearing from members of our community, followed by members of Team AA and finally we’ll give our readers the opportunity to voice their opinion in the comments section. You can read all community responses in the forums, though this week we are showcasing a response from Shawny.

Wow, that’s a tough question considering how many minor OEM’s there are and what they’re capable of. They just lack the experience to unleash their full potential like Samsung, HTC, LG, Motorola, Nexus, Sony etc. Nonetheless, there are a few OEM’s that seem to be rising from the ashes and rising to a position where they might eventually be able to compete on a global scale.

Xiaomi:

Up until this year, I had no clue who Xiaomi were and what to even expect from them. I just knew that they were a Chinese manufacturer and that’s basically it. It was when they sold thousands of phones in a couple if seconds (in China or India, I forgett), that the company caught my attention and not surprisingly, a lot of News feeds including AA. They kept breaking records and even managed to somehow top Samsung in China in less than the 2 years they were running, that’s impressive.

It shouldn’t take a rocket scientist or a microbiologist to realize that Xiaomi will be amongst the likes as LG, HTC and others. If Xiaomi keep this up, they will no doubt surpass some of the big OEM’s, I’m confident.

OnePlus:

“Premium for cheap.” That was the message I was getting upon those rumors by OnePlus and quite frankly, it was what they delivered. A company that barely existed last year and now is up there with Xiaomi, Huawei and others. They were the OEM to save people with an average budget from their misery, dubbed the “Flagship Killer”.

They didn’t start off well to be honest, I think we can all remember when people entered that weird smash your phone competition (The funniest was that one person who smashed their HTC One M7 without reading reading the term’s and conditions, haha :D) My point is that it was a poor decision by OP and it didn’t get any better when people received their phone with so many missing tools. I don’t think there was a time when OP had some kind of happy moment during their phone sales, I’ve heard losses and that the company was not in it for the profit but to please consumers.

I have to give OP credit for their work and pleasing consumers, but I don’t believe they will last long with their current problems. Maybe I’m being harsh, but that’s how I see it. Some advice though, purchasing a phone without an invite would be nice, just saying…

Huawei:

I’ve known Huawei for a long time but they’re like… a quiet smart kid in class, passing well but silently and no one bothers to pay attention to them, but recently they seem to be gaining in momentum and they make really nice smartphones. It’s strange how I think that their smartphones are better than Xiaomi, but I’m not the market so it’s obvious what consumers think. There’s really not much to say, I do see growth either way and they aren’t only producing phones so they have something to fall onto. Also, as an Gunner, I know that they have a partnership with Arsenal fc and are even producing the Ascend P7 Arsenal edition phone, so they could be attracting a lot of Gunners in the Asian market. At this rate, I’d say give them 3-4 years more and you’ll see them up there with the best.

Yota:

Never heard of this OEM until the YotoPhone 2 was released. Very impressive and unique phone I must say. I saw the review for the phone and I’d have to get it a :thumbsup: mainly because it’s awesome (Ugh, I’m thinking of that Lego song now from the Lego Movie) there’s a lot of credit that should be given for this company’s latest release and I must say, without further babbling, that this company has a brighter future now with their current status, but we have to give them time and see how that phone does and how it influences the market. I’m in between on this one, a success or failure will depend in the coming year or two.

Oppo:

This is also a company with unique ambitions like Yota. I like Oppo, they may not have the coolest name but they certainly have one of the coolest features on their phones, that rotating Camera is one of them and the phone’s back gesture feature is amazing too. They seem to be another rising OEM and we can’t throw them out of the picture since they create such epic phones that I must get one day. There is obvious potential growth here and I do hope it will join the likes of Samsung, Sony, Motorola etc. They deserve such a status, keep it up Oppo!

Overall, I’m aware that there are other OEM’s like Sharp, Vivo, Meizu, etc. but they aren’t much of a big deal in many countries and that is why I didn’t include them. Bare in mind, this is just my perspective so yeah…

What Team AA has to say

Now that you’ve had a look at what community member Shawny had to say, it’s time for Team AA to weigh in:

Jonathan Feist