Xiaomi is becoming more like Samsung than Apple

Xiaomi unveiled a phone today for only US$140 that has a fingerprint sensor: so you can unlock it just like the owner of a fancy iPhone. Yet Xiaomi’s most expensive phone, which starts at US$280 and goes all the way up to US$485, doesn’t have a fingerprint sensor. How does that make any sense? Xiaomi started out with one model of phone – called Mi – that it updated after one year (to, well, Mi 2). It was a minimal line-up that partially explains how the Chinese startup got branded the “Apple of China.” But a few years on, Xiaomi sells multiple versions of about half a dozen separate phone models. On top of that it has five sizes of smart TVs, four router models, several battery packs, two wearables, lots of different earphones, teddy bears, T-shirts, and more recently a suitcase. Yes, a suitcase. Oh, I forgot the Xiaomi fanny pack. Xiaomi’s line-up is not quite at a Samsung level of clutter, which resembles the neighborhood hoarder who lives with 27 dogs amid a ton of rotting newspapers, but it’s getting there. Adding to today’s confusion over the fingerprint sensor, the launch of the Redmi Note 3 comes just three months after the Redmi Note 2. People who recently bought the Redmi Note 2, reasonably expecting a 12-month product cycle, might not be too pleased to see that their phone has been replaced so quickly with so many new features for the same price.