Xiaomi Is More Like Facebook Than Apple
by Volker Weber
Tim Culpan for Bloomberg:
Here’s how it works: Xiaomi sells a smartphone at near-cost, including its MIUI mobile interface. Through that, Xiaomi tracks your usage and learns what you might be interested in. It then starts suggesting apps, some of which will be Xiaomi-developed. Once installed, the company then has an ad-serving platform right in front of your eyes.
When people ask me if I am not afraid of Alexa spying on me, I like to point at their smartphone. I would be really interested to find out what Huawei is doing with their Android add-ons. There probably is some hidden dirt behind the effort to keep Huawei out of the US.