In China's booming smartphone market, which is set this year to overtake the United States as the world's largest, a host of little-known local firms are primed with cheap phones to squeeze market share from U.S. giant Apple Inc's iPhone.
In the latest local challenge to the iPhone, Xiaomi Technology on Thursday launched the successor to its popular MiOne (MI) smartphone. The MI2 has specifications that exceed those of the iPhone 4S and sells for less than half the price.