Xiaomi Founder: I Am Not the "Steve Jobs of China"

KOMPAS.com - Xiaomi’s founder, Lei Jun, is often dubbed the Steve Jobs of China. This nickname linking Jun to Apple’s founder stems from various factors, including his style of dress, leadership approach, vision, and Xiaomi’s product strategy. Although it sounds like a compliment, Jun, who indeed admires the successful innovator, feels uncomfortable with the constant association with Jobs. Lei Jun expressed this in a lengthy post uploaded to Xiaomi China’s official blog in October 2013. Jun admitted that Jobs is an inspiration to him, but he finds it difficult to comment when compared to the iPhone’s creator. “Jobs was a great person. He did brilliant things, changed the world, and became a great inspiration for Xiaomi. However, comparing him to me is entirely inappropriate,” said the man, now around 56 years old. Jun also stressed that Xiaomi and Apple are two very different companies. Therefore, he is baffled when interviewed about his response to being called the Steve Jobs of China. “I really have nothing to say,” Jun stated. At that time, three years after Xiaomi was founded in 2010, Jun frequently received questions like “How can Xiaomi be better than Apple or Samsung?” According to Jun, he couldn’t answer such questions back then because Xiaomi was still too young. “Xiaomi has only been operating for three years; how could I compare it to global giants like Apple or Samsung,” explained Lei Jun. According to Lei Jun, the use of such terms carries bias, which can lead to misunderstandings. For example, when the Wall Street Journal outlet considered Xiaomi as “shanzhai,” meaning a company producing imitation products. However, after the media conducted a direct interview and delved into Xiaomi’s business development, they no longer used that term.