Reaching developing markets depends on understanding that consumers with a small budget are very different from consumers who aren’t interested in spending much
January 2015
Daily Update: What is Happening with Bitcoin?, Republicans and Net Neutrality, Uber Market > Taxi Market
Good morning, Thanks for the all the positive notes yesterday about the Daily Update’s recent Xiaomi coverage. This was certainly a special circumstance, and I’m glad you all enjoyed it. Hopefully there will be more in the future. I am working on an article that touches on Xiaomi, although the main points are much broader,Subscribe […]
Daily Update: An Interview with Xiaomi’s Hugo Barra (Part 2) on Accusations of Copying, Xiaomi’s Product Roots, and Where the Money Comes From
Good morning, It’s Martin Luther King Day in the US, so I know many of you may not be at work today, but I wanted to wrap up my interview with Hugo Barra, Vice President of International for Xiaomi. My original intent was to run the whole interview on Friday, but when the meeting afterSubscribe […]
Podcast: Exponent Episode 031 – Flabbergasted
On the newest episode of Exponent, the podcast I co-host with James Allworth: James thinks the idea of copyright is outdated and should be abolished. Ben is, well, see the title. Listen to the episode here Podcast Information: Feed | iTunes | SoundCloud | Twitter | Feedback
Daily Update: An Interview with Xiaomi’s Hugo Barra (Part 1) on Xiaomi’s Strategy, Target Customer, and Unexpected Success in India
Good morning, A special treat today (and Monday): I was able to spend some time with Hugo Barra, Vice President of International for Xiaomi. We had a wide-ranging conversation about Xiaomi’s strategy, their target customer, success in India, how they make money, and accusations that they copy Apple. In fact, it was so much thatSubscribe […]
Daily Update: Notes From the Xiaomi Event, Refining Xiaomi’s Ambition, Additional Notes
Good morning, Hello from Beijing! Today was Xiaomi’s latest announcement and I published a Storify of my live-tweets here. Today’s update is my initial reaction to what was presented. On to the update: Notes from the Xiaomi Event I arrived at the China National Convention Center a little over an hour before the Xiaomi eventSubscribe […]
Daily Update: Cloud First, Jet.com Taking on Amazon, A Teenager’s View on Social Media Follow-Up
Good morning, I’m writing this update on a plane headed to Beijing for tomorrow’s Xiaomi announcement. My plan is to write about the experience of the keynote for tomorrow’s Daily Update, and then hopefully I’ll have a special treat for Friday – stay tuned. In addition, please excuse any delays in response or on theSubscribe […]
Mobile First
Last Friday was the eight-year anniversary of the announcement of the iPhone, the event that began the mobile epoch. It was, though, an Apple rumor that to my mind illustrated just how much the world has changed. Mark Gurman is reporting at 9to5Mac that the next MacBook Air will have a radical redesign. The biggest […]
Daily Update: A Teenager’s View on Social Media and the Social Communications Map
Good morning, As I noted last week, I will be going to Beijing the Wednesday to Friday. As of now I plan on keeping the same posting schedule, but my apologies in advance if there are any delays. In addition, my schedule isn’t yet completely set, so I’m not sure if I will be ableSubscribe […]
Podcast: Exponent Episode 030 – Xiaomi
On the newest episode of Exponent, the podcast I co-host with James Allworth: We discuss Xiaomi’s ambition to own the home, why we’re frustrated with patents, why the West is unfair to the developing world, and what makes China unique. Links Jordan Lewis: Exponent Bingo – Twitter Ben Thompson: Xiaomi’s Ambition – Stratechery Ben Thompson: […]