Expanding Wings Amid Huawei Ban: Xiaomi Becomes World’s Second Top-Selling Brand

Xiaomi Corp is a Chinese multinational electronics company. Even though the company is not as big as its rival Huawei in terms of market share, it has outdone the former as its revenue surged in the second quarter (June)— a record 64 percent from a year earlier, beating analyst expectations.

Xiaomi’s global smartphone market grew by leaps and bounds, while its Internet-of-Things product segment showed considerable growth.

Clearly, the US government’s sanctions against Huawei have allowed Xiaomi to grow its market share. Other players including Oppo and Vivo have also benefitted from the Huawei ban. The Donald Trump-led government sanctioned Huawei that effectively crippled the company’s smartphone division.

On top of that, Huawei’s CFO, Meng Wanzhou, was arrested in Canada in December 2018. The United States had issued an arrest warrant; as a result, she was detained at Vancouver International Airport. She allegedly misled HSBC about her company’s dealings in Iran. As of now, she remains in the custody.

As mentioned above, Xiaomi’s global smartphone market share hit a record high of 83 percent year on year, in the June quarter. The numbers were released by a research firm called Canalys. Xiaomi is well ahead of Apple in terms of the number of phones sold. Overall, the smartphone maker secured second position selling 52.8 phones worldwide. Samsung tops the list of smartphone makers with the most number of units sold.

 

2 Trillion Dollar Bill: Afghan War Burdens Every US Citizen with $20K Debt

The United States has spent over two trillion dollars in the Afghanistan war, combating the Taliban. But to no avail. Things have gone haywire, clearly. After two decades of confronting the Taliban, the US army along with NATO forces has decided to leave the country. Needless to say, the amount spent in Afghanistan is going to pinch every American. The mammoth interest rates will continue to climb given how the modern debt structure functions.

The two trillion dollar bill includes the direct funding cost of $800 billion and $83 billion to train the Afghan army. The rest of the amount was spent on development projects, such as building bases, roads, etc.

America spent more than the combined net worth of Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, and the 30 other American richest billionaires.

According to the estimates of the Costs of War Project at Brown University, the interest rate will climb up to $6.5 trillion by 2050, which translates to $20,000 for each and every US citizen. These numbers are frightening, clearly.

Besides, the US army lost its 2448 service members, according to the university report. As many as 4000 civilian contractors lost their lives. Around 66,000 Afghan army personnel were killed. The number of civilians killed is 47,245. The Taliban fighters killed stand at 51,191.

In addition to what was spent in the war, the United States invested in infra sectors too including healthcare. 

There’s no denying that the protective umbrella of the US presence played a vital role in favor of its allies, but the country ended up troubling its own citizens. It’s estimated that every US citizen is burdened with $20K war debt.