If you are a Xiaomi fan or a consumer of Xiaomi or in general a fan of technology then I have some good news for you. But before talking about that let's take a look at a thing that Xiaomi has done that is wrong on so many levels and cringe worthy at the same time.
You see, Microsoft founder and former CEO Bill Gates announced last week that he and his wife, Melinda Gates, would end their marriage. It has become one of the most talked-about events on social media.
A genius at Xiaomi thought that this is a great opportunity to sell their products. So what did they do? They tweeted about Bill and Melinda Gates’ divorce for promoting the Mi 11 fast-charging capabilities. The tweet read, “While breaking up with your billionaire partner might not be the smartest of choices our Mi 11 fully charges in 45 mins using 55W wired turbocharging meaning you are always ready to leave.”
Not only is the implication insulting but the accompanying graphic features a smartphone with the message “We need to talk” sent to a recipient called “Melinda”. To be frank, this is totally in bad taste, No one should make a mockery about a private and sensitive matter of a couple let alone a multi-billion dollar company like Xiaomi.
Whoever handles Xiaomi's UK account should be ashamed of themselves for thinking that it's a good idea to use a very sensitive issue like someone's divorce to sell their product. Of course, the tweet was deleted shortly thereafter when people started complaining in the comments. And this is not the first time the company has been caught out tripping over itself in one way or another.
In such a similar incident a while ago, Xiaomi Malaysia had suggested a cheating man should have used a Mi 9 SE to keep infidelity secret from his partner. But this doesn't end here. If this whole thing was not enough, Xiaomi made the tweet using an iPhone denting the damage even further.
Anyway, recently Xiaomi was blacklisted when former US President Donald Trump designated Xiaomi as a “Communist Chinese military company”, barring American citizens and companies from investing or dealing with the maker.
To be clear, Xiaomi didn't get banned or barred from the market in the way that Huawei did. Instead, the company was placed on a blacklist, preventing U.S-based businesses from investing in it. But it was a big deal since this is the exact way Huawei was banned. They were first put on a blacklist and then on the entity list thus destroying the existence of the company. So it was thought that Xiaomi would end up the same route as Huawei but thankfully that didn't happen. Xiaomi has been officially removed from the US blacklist. According to Bloomberg, both the US Government and Xiaomi agreed “upon a path forward that would resolve this litigation without the need for a contested briefing”, meaning the US Defense Department backed down from de-listing the manufacturer from global benchmark indexes.
By the way, now that the Biden administration is walking back one of Trump's anti-China decisions, it doesn't mean the US government is now sweet on China. Biden has tightened restrictions on Huawei's suppliers, which further disrupted some of the few trade deals it was able to secure. So don't expect Huawei is getting back into business anytime soon.
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