Retail box for the 5G-enabled global Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro has a special message for Huawei fans

Xiaomi is one of the top phone manufacturers in the world. Counterpoint Research has the Chinese company ranked number four globally for calendar year 2019 after delivering 124.5 million handsets, up 4.6% from the 119 million shipped the previous year. Samsung (296.5 million units shipped last year), Huawei (238.5 million) and Apple (196.2 million) were ahead of Xiaomi with Oppo (119.8 million) close behind.

Chinese smartphone manufacturers see an opportunity this year to go after Huawei. The latter surprised everyone with a 16% gain in phone shipments last year. That's because the company, considered a national security threat in the U.S. due to its ties with the communist Chinese government, was placed on the Commerce Department's entity list last May. This prevents Huawei from accessing its U.S. supply chain. While for now it has managed to source enough components, losing the ability to license Google Mobile Services was a big blow to the company. That's because Huawei's phones can no longer include Google's core Android apps such as the Google Play Store, Google Search, Google Maps, Gmail, Google Drive and more. This doesn't matter inside China where most of Google's apps are banned anyway but does affect Huawei's customers outside of China.

Yet, Huawei was able to top Apple last year and grow its phone shipments by a decent percentage. It was able to do this because of a surge in patriotism in China where Huawei was considered a victim of U.S. bullying. Take last year's third quarter for example. From July through September, the firm shipped 41.5 million units inside China alone for a stunning 66% year-over-year gain. During that quarter, Huawei's market share domestically was 42.4%.

At the end of last month, Xiaomi introduced its premium Mi 10 Pro handset. Equipped with a 6.7-inch AMOLED display with a 90Hz refresh rate and a resolution of 1080 x 2340 (FHD+), the phone features an aspect ratio of 19.5:9. Qualcomm's 2020 flagship chipset, the Snapdragon 865 Mobile Platform, is under the hood along with 8GB of memory (the latest LPDDR5 version of RAM) and 256GB of storage. The quad-camera setup on the back includes a Samsung built 108MP sensor, a 12MP telephoto camera with 2x optical zoom, a 20MP ultra-wide camera, and a second telephoto camera (8MP). 8K video is supported and the 20MP front-facing selfie snapper will record in slow-motion. The 4500mAh battery charges quickly thanks to the 65W fast charger included in the box.

Speaking of boxes, Xiaomi decided to use the Mi 10 Pro's global retail box to get a message to consumers outside China who might purchase a Huawei phone. According to GizmoChina, this box has an inscription that says, "with easy access to the Google apps you use most." It is easy to figure out what the message means.

For years, there have been rumors about Xiaomi coming to the U.S. The most recent speculation had the company invading America in early 2019, but that was pushed back to 2020. Now it appears that it might be several more years before Xiaomi's phones are available to Americans, if ever. The company does sell some items in the U.S. from its website including a smart plug that allows Google Assistant users to remotely control devices plugged into the cord. Users can also set a schedule allowing these devices to be turned on and off at select times.

Also available for those in the U.S. to purchase is Xiaomi's 10000mAh Mi Power Bank Pro. The latter uses USB Type-C to charge phones at 18W while it also charges itself at that speed. While Xiaomi lists the accessory on its U.S. website, the purchase must be made through Amazon which sells the power bank for $29.99.