Why Xiaomi was able to do the Pocophone F1 a hit wonder

With the rule of business for disruptor brands like OnePlus, it was able to literally disrupt the business by providing flagship specifications for almost half the price of flagship phones from Samsung, Huawei, HTC and more.

One Plus was able to do this by doing the following

• Using tried and tested features – No innovative features, just downright available now for better prices in the marker
• Processors that are fast and accepted – Processors used by OnePlus are the ones that are already out in the market and widely known to consumers for better mind-share
• Negotiated parts by bulk to keep everything at the lower price

But, Xiaomi was able to push this business model further with their newly announced POCOPHONE F1, it was a Snapdragon S845 phone for just Php17,990. That is a farcry from the next one at Php28,000 which is One Plus.

But how did Xiaomi was able to develop Pocophone? Why is it so downright cheap and currently making buzz among tech fanatics as it’s truly another level of disruption? Imagine a mid-range price for true flagship specs and experience.

Here are the reasons how

1. Everything is at basic to keep the cost at a minimum 
   • The POCOPHONE focuses on two major factors for a smartphone, these are photography and gaming, both increasing focus on smartphone usage. Everything else on the smartphone is bare basic in what you expect for a flagship phone.
   • What is missing on the Pocophone F1?
     • Not the latest Gorilla Glass Protection
     • Curved glass finish
     • IP water resistance certification
     • NFC
2. Nothing Fancy, just downright fast
   • No fancy glass back fixture here, just a polycarbonate body that is designed to be more practical, durable and more acceptable to many as the glass is a selective material for a smartphone.
3. Minimal Marketing Fund
   • Pocophone will heavily depend on Xiaomi’s community army to promote the phone. At its disruptive price point, it will be an open book conversation to combat midrange smartphones such as the Huawei Nova 3, OPPO F9, Vivo V11, ASUS ZenFone 5 and more.
4. Parts are nothing new
   • All features and specifications we saw in the Pocophone F1 are already good, no complaints and good for mass production. It’s best for Xiaomi for this route as they can have a good supply of parts for mass production at the lowest price, even assembly time as it’s not complex enough to manufacture.
5. Minimal Margin
   • Yes, Xiaomi has said before that their profit margin a is at minimum and it still applies for the Pocophone F1. While this is a whole new level of cheap, it will be interesting if Xiaomi will be able to keep up with this trend.

All this trend ignite the senses of a regular smartphone consumer, no jibrish marketing techniques as all focus specifications of Pocophone are the ones people are clamouring for better smartphone usage.

While it might sound lucrative that Xiaomi is killing their own flagship smartphones with the Pocophone, it is actually a bright idea to separate their branding of a “Cheap” alternative to iPhone to another brand as Xiaomi is gearing more towards a Cloud and lifestyle brand.

At Php17,990 for the 6GB/64GB version incoming and a 6GB/128GB for Php19,990. The Pocophone is truly a price disruptor that will challenge Huawei, OPPO, Vivo, ASUS and even others like Nokia, Motorola in showing the definition of “Value”.

While Gradient phones are becoming a trend, it is a selective trend per country as here in the Philippines, we still prefer a simple colored phone such as black, red and gold.

The Pocophone F1 will be available in the Philippines by September 1st week, it will be an interesting point to see what the Filipino consumers will think of this new smartphone. While Xiaomi / Poco still lacks channel reach, we wonder how the word of mouth will affect other regions like Cebu, Davao, Etc.

Stay tuned as we try to have a review unit ourselves of this smartphone and see how it fairs with its flagship competitors or even midrange competitors.