Which of these two do consumers prefer: Huawei or Xiaomi?

Recently, Huawei and Xiaomi have been sharing the headlines. That’s because Xiaomi’s slowdown in smartphone sales has been Huawei’s gain, with the latter looking to exceed sales targets while the former struggles to meet them this year. But does this switch-up reflect a change in Chinese consumer perceptions about these companies? One online poll certainly suggests so. A Sina Tech online poll that asks readers which company they prefer in the smartphone sales battle has come to an overwhelming and perhaps somewhat surprising conclusion: people prefer Huawei. Now, of course, this is just an unscientific internet poll. Given that it’s posted on Sina Tech, respondents probably skew young, male, and many of them are likely in the tech industry. Of course, we can’t rule out the possibility of some sort of vote tampering either. But even if the numbers aren’t ironclad proof of anything, they certainly suggest a wind change in the mood of China’s techies when it comes to Xiaomi and Huawei.