Little Rice Takes On Big Apple Inc. (AAPL)

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is increasingly being targeted by Xiaomi, especially now that the Chinese company has launched new devices like the Mi Note, Eunice Yoon says in a report for CNBC.

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According to Yoon, Xiaomi directly compared its Mi Note and Mi Note Pro to Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s iPhone 6 Plus when the devices were launched by the company on Thursday.

“Xiaomi means little rice but this Chinese company has big ambitions. The company launched the Xiaomi Note. This is going to be a direct competitor to the iPhone 6 Plus,” Yoon said.

According to the CNBC correspondent, the new phone comes in two colors – black and white – and will have a 4-megapixel front camera and a 13-megapixel main camera.

“The biggest selling point, the company says, is that this phone is thinner, lighter and a little bit shorter than the iPhone 6 Plus,” Yoon added.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) launched the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus in September, the first time the company launched two phones with decidedly big displays.

According to Yoon, the Mi Note is the first departure in Xiaomi’s low-cost smartphone strategy. The Mi Note standard, she said, will be sold for $376 off contract and the upgraded pro version of the phone will be sold for $540 off contract. It may be pricey for Xiaomi, she said, but it is still more affordable than the iPhone 6 Plus.

Aside from targeting Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), the company’s top executive said that he wants to be the biggest smartphone maker in the world in the next five to 10 years.

David Einhorn’s Greenlight Capital owned about 9.17 million Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares by the end of the third quarter of 2014.