Comparative advertising: Apple is taking place in India against Xiaomi

Apple had the Chinese electronics manufacturer Xiaomi in India delivered an injunction. It is about “certain advertisements” in which the company compared its model 15 Ultra with Apple’s current flagship iPhone 16 Pro Max. Samsung is also said to have sent a similar cease and desist declaration to Xiaomi, reports the Economic Times published in Mumbai, citing informed people. The accusation: Xiaomi is said to have drawn “derogatory comparisons” between their own cell phones and those of the competition with his marketing. This is not allowed in India under certain circumstances.

Camera against camera

In one of the ads that are apparently affected, the camera module of the iPhone 16 Pro Max is referred to as “cute” (“Cute”), while the 15 Ultra shows four cameras from Leica – with 14, 23, 70 and 100 mm. “That. Is. It,” writes Xiaomi. In another advertisement on April 1st it was said that it was probably an April joke if you mean that the cameras of the iPhone 16 Pro Max were as good as that of the 15 Ultra. In another advertising for an Xiaomi tablet, the manufacturer asked to “think differently” at the iPad Pro-and took up Apple’s old “Think Different” saying.

While against Apple was advertised with full-page ads, Xiaomi acted against Samsung smartphones, especially on social media, the report. However, the Chinese company also campaigned here in newspapers: however, it was not about smartphones, but about advertising for QLED TV devices, which in turn were compared to Samsung’s LED TVs. However, Xiaomi in India is much more successful in this segment than with premium smartphones, where the market share should be one percent. In addition to Samsung and LG on TVs in India, the company is in the top 3, So the Economic Times. Whether Samsung was also doing the advertising for TV sets or only against the Xiaomi smartphones for Xiaomi, was initially unclear.

India as a market and producer

It was initially unclear whether the injunction (“ceas and desist”) also complains. These are always a first step before a actual legal dispute. Neither Apple nor Samsung or Xiaomi commented on the report.

For Apple, India, the most populous country on earth, is increasingly important. The group builds both its sales network and its production facilities, which have already become China for the second largest iPhone production worldwide.