They know that the greatest resistance they have to overcome is that of trust, which is why they are Chinese and want to enter a market like mobile with clear signs of maturity. Therefore, they place an emphasis on customer service and transparency policies. They therefore do not neglect the urge to innovate.

The brand that almost 30,000 Spanish users already have on their smartphones is weimei, the best-selling weimei force model, priced at €160. There are cheaper and more expensive ones, but always under the premise “the latest generation at a good price”.

It is a brand of Spanish origin promoted by two Chinese expatriates. Juan Yuan came to Spain at the age of 4, so he speaks Spanish so fluently that it’s hard to even follow him while taking notes. It was more difficult for his cousin Pablo, who only left the ship at the age of 14. In both cases, the parents decided to set up a small electronics business in which the children had to help at the weekends. “Walking into the store was almost like punishment, especially when you saw your classmates walking down the street, but it also gave me a chance to play around with all the gadgets. That’s how my passion for technology was born,” says Juan, current CEO of the company.

As a teenager, Juan Yuan went to the UK to study economics at Brunel University and later earned a master’s degree in economics China in a comparative perspective from the London School of Economics and Political Science. His cousin Pablo preferred to study computer engineering in Spain, but later went to Italy, where he set up a technical service for mobile phones. In 2015 both cousins ​​agree to combine their skills and return to Spain to start their own company Weimei. “We have been clear about the sector because not only do we like it, but we believe the industry has a long way to go. It’s a market with a lot of rotation, where new opportunities arise every 2 or 3 years.” The Madrid startup develops its activities in a market – that of unlocked mobile phones – that exceeds 7.6 million units per year in Spain and is emerging Brands hold a 10% market share.

Innovate or die

However, expectations do not eliminate the presence of key competitors. Higher towers have fallen and Juan cites the Nokia case as an example, from which they learn to flee from complacency and the need to constantly adapt to change. “If you don’t innovate, no matter how strong you are, you will fall behind and fall.” Since it’s still a small startup, they introduce innovations in small doses, such as: B. the double WhatsApp that their dual SIM phones have by default. The other battle is with prices where they try to be more competitive than average. As for the distribution that they started through their website, this is already the case in almost all the big stores.

In manufacturing, they benefit from the connection between China and Spain. Together with the Asian giant Gionee, Weimei phones are produced entirely there, which is the only way they can imagine lowering the prices without sacrificing quality. “If they talk to me about homemade phones, I don’t believe them because it’s not economically viable,” says Juan.

Where they refuse to delegate is in the marketing they currently have exclusively for Spain and Portugal, in corporate management and customer service. As a 100% Spanish company, they comply with the 2-year guarantee law and undertake, in the event of an incident, to collect the phone at home and return it with the problem solved within a maximum of 5 working days.

As for expansion plans, Juan and Pablo know they still have a lot of work to do in Spain and Portugal, especially if they don’t want to involve business angels or venture capital. “We finance ourselves in the traditional way through sales and bank loans. We are in no hurry to grow, we prefer to do it organically. So last year we put one foot in the water, this year we jumped in the pool and next year we have to learn to dive.”

What if the company is dominated by the commitment and entrepreneurial spirit of the Chinese? Well, they don’t even think about it: “I think there’s going to be something on both sides, but it’s these stereotypes.”

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