HTC Mocks Apple Watch and Samsung, Says Xiaomi is Not a Competitor

The smartphone industry is without a doubt a very competitive industry. There are a whole bunch of smartphone makers out there, each with their own unique way of marketing their products, but how do they feel about each other? HTC’s newly appointed global CMO, Idris Mootee, has quite a few things to say about Samsung, Apple and even Xiaomi.

In an interview with Ad Age, Idris Mootee says that Samsung “doesn’t stand for anything except for profit”. The answer is in response to Ad Age’s question about where HTC fits in when compared with the two companies. He says that it is about creating an “emotive connection between the product and the individual”, something that Apple has been “super successful” in.

So what about Xiaomi, the world’s most valuable tech start up, and is believed to be one of the reasons why Samsung’s sales did pretty badly towards the end of 2014? Mootee doesn’t seem to care about them. He says that Xiaomi “is not really” a competitor for HTC, and that their “business model has a very short lifespan”.

Mootee seems pretty confident too that Xiaomi will never make it to the U.S. market, hence his nonchalance about the company. In fact, he also adds that HTC will not release low-end devices because it is “not the business we’re in” – despite the existence of HTC’s Desire series of low- to mid-range smartphones. Mootee says that the low-end smartphone market is “not sustainable and not profitable”, and he seems pretty confident that “people will continue to look for the best, and they don’t mind paying a little bit more”.

Meanwhile, how does HTC feel about the new Apple Watch now that the price and more details have been announced? HTC’s Senior Global Online Communications Manager, Jeff Gordon, doesn’t seem at all impressed. In fact, he is comparing it to a “DVD rewinder”, saying (on his Twitter), that that’s the only gadget he want “less than the Apple Watch”.

I can't think of any gadgets I want less than the Apple Watch.

Oh, wait, yes I can. pic.twitter.com/eMX78eqqRv

— Jeff Gordon (@urbanstrata) March 10, 2015