I'm Not Steve Jobs from China

Xiaomi founder Lei Jun has long been nicknamed the Steve Jobs of China. The nickname linking him to Apple’s founder originated from a range of similarities, from his attire style, leadership approach, business vision, to the product philosophy developed by Xiaomi. Although it sounds like praise, Lei Jun, who admires the legendary innovator, is actually uncomfortable with the comparison. He admitted feeling uneasy at being continually associated with Jobs. He expressed this in a lengthy post on Xiaomi’s official China blog in October 2013. In the post, Lei Jun explained many things, including his disappointment at how the media and netizens described Xiaomi and the man behind the company. He also responded to his frequent comparisons to Steve Jobs. ‘Jobs is a great man. He did brilliant things, changed the world, and was a major source of inspiration for Xiaomi. However, comparing me to him is not at all appropriate,’ said the man who is now around 56. Lei Jun also emphasised that Xiaomi and Apple are two companies with very different characters. Consequently, he was surprised when asked in interviews about his view on the nickname ‘Steve Jobs of China’. ‘I really cannot say anything,’ Jun said. At that time, exactly three years after Xiaomi was officially founded in 2010, he was often confronted with questions such as ‘How can Xiaomi be superior to Apple or Samsung?’ According to Jun, he could not answer these questions given that Xiaomi at that time was still a relatively new company. ‘Xiaomi had only been operating for three years; how could I compare it with global giants like Apple or Samsung,’ Jun explained. In the same post, Lei Jun also shared his concerns about how the media, particularly Chinese media, described Xiaomi. He highlighted the use of the term ‘baofahu’, a label used for people of lower class who suddenly become rich. According to him, the term is biased and could lead the public to misunderstand Xiaomi’s position. For example, he cited the Wall Street Journal which had labelled Xiaomi as ‘shanzhai’ or a company that produces counterfeit goods. However, after the outlet conducted a direct interview and delved deeper into Xiaomi’s business, that label was no longer used. ‘The Wall Street Journal has never again accused us of making cheap phones because they looked at our numbers (growth),’ Jun said.