Tyumen Tech Company Wants to Become the “Russian Xiaomi”

Modern technology giants like Samsung, Xiaomi and Apple have long ago switched the development and production of gadgets to contract rails: smartphones, Bluetooth headphones, smart watches, portable speakers and robot vacuum cleaners. Today, almost all consumer electronics of popular brands are assembled in the same Chinese factories using local (read – Chinese) components.

Micromanufactures implement their own developments based on ideas and under the logos of macro corporations (such as Xiaomi) and, in addition, receive access to the global market, powerful marketing and production control from the “big brothers”. The latter, in turn, remove the production operating system from themselves and conceptually conduct the process, concentrating on marketing, brand development and capturing the international market.

The production model called “umbrella brand” has become especially popular among tech giants. That is, under the “dome” of a large corporation, assembly factories develop individual product lines, essentially becoming vassals of an international tech brand.

Perhaps the most famous umbrella corporation today is the Chinese Xiaomi. The number of its product lines and sub-brands is in the dozens: from Redmi and Poco smartphones to Dreame and Roborock robot vacuum cleaners and MIJIA electric scooters. Naturally, the lion's share of these ideas are implemented by third-party manufacturing companies. The tech giant from the Celestial Empire concludes strict exclusive contracts with them, forcing them to work only for itself.

The best Western (American and European) brands operate according to the same scheme: the same Apple and Dyson manufacture their products with the help of Asian contract manufacturers. Moreover, they not only manufacture, but also develop! Few people think (although this is open information) that the same iPhone is designed in China by Foxconn Corporation. This is the largest company in Taiwan and the largest contract manufacturer of OEM electronics in the world. In addition to “apple” smartphones, Foxconn manufactures Xiaomi, OnePlus smartphones, PlayStation 4 consoles for Sony and Xbox 360 for Microsoft. And also motherboards for Intel.

In Russia, umbrella brands have existed for several decades. But for a long time, they did not have the best reputation. The term “umbrella brand” was usually associated with companies that purchased the most budget devices in China in bulk, without any common concept. Moreover, they bought budget devices without the slightest modification. With the expectation that these gadgets would be sold en masse, on entire shelves in retail chains. There were no serious investments in marketing, nor any serious service. All the bets were on the retail store shelf and the lowest possible price on it.

As a rule, the devices of such brands were of frankly low quality. The “work” of the brands on such gadgets consisted of the following:

• choose the cheapest devices from Chinese factories;
• ask the Chinese to put the logo of the Russian brand on a digital photo frame, smartphone, reader, etc.;
• bring the resulting product to Russia;
• sell with a solid markup (from 30 to 60%) through large retail chains.

Thus, the difference between a typical Russian umbrella brand and the same Xiaomi is huge. Xiaomi is a company that actively invests in developments, participates in the creation of its devices. Often participates at the ideological level, competently organizes contract production and controls quality at all stages (responsible for quality with its name).

A typical Russian umbrella brand is a buy-and-sell shop with the cheapest devices with basic functionality, sold through the shelves of large retail chains. And with one single advantage – the lowest possible price.

However, in “post-sanctions” Russia, completely different companies have appeared, operating exactly on the Xiaomi principle. The philosophy of the Chinese tech giant was projected onto Russian realities by the founder of the Tyumen brand CaseGuru, Vadim Bokov. On the Internet, he was nicknamed “Tyumen Elon Musk”. In 2019, he literally blew up the Russian market with his CGPods headphones (about 700 thousand pairs of such headphones were sold in the Russian Federation in 4 years).

In the past 2023, the Tyumen company made a real breakthrough: it launched contract production in China not only of a whole family of new models of TWS headphones, but also smart watches, hand-held and robotic vacuum cleaners, window washers, portable speakers and power banks. This is CaseGuru's peculiar response to the departure of Western brands from the Russian Federation and the growing demands of Russian consumers.

The added value of Tyumen products is formed through saturating gadgets with a certain ideological content, adjusting them to the requirements and standards of the brand. And, of course, to the specific requests and expectations of Russian consumers.

Ideas are generated and product ideology is formed in Tyumen. And the devices are implemented in metal and plastic in China under the supervision of Tyumen technologists and engineers. Tyumen residents also refine firmware, do Russian localization and voice acting. For example, Tyumen CGPods headphones are voiced by the same actress who voiced the voice assistant “Alice”. And this feature was put into their headphones by CaseGuru technologists.

The Tyumen company fits into the mid-price segment of electronics: “above” the cheapest Chinese Xiaomi devices with the most basic set of functions and “in front” of the super-expensive, sophisticated gadgets from Apple and Dyson (which essentially demand a huge markup from consumers for their brands).

For a relatively small overpayment above the price of the “Chinese”, buyers of CaseGuru equipment receive more powerful and functional devices than the same Apple and Dyson devices. At the same time, Tyumen gadgets are much cheaper than Western brands.

The basis of the Tyumen company's line is wireless TWS headphones CGPods. The models of the “Tyumen” are 4 times cheaper than Apple headphones, are almost as good as them in quality and have several bright non-standard features. CGPods have large 10-mm speakers – 30% larger than those of the same Apple and Xiaomi. And larger speakers provide more powerful sound.

Tyumen engineers found exactly the same headset as Apple's Bluetooth headphones at Chinese factories and installed it in their headphones. Specifically so that the sound transmission in the CGPods models would be as clear as in AirPods.

In addition, the Tyumen residents managed to truly surprise with original features and made a case for their headphones from super-strong aviation aluminum. Such a case can withstand up to 220 kg of load. None of the competitors have similar analogues. The same cases for Xiaomi and Apple headphones are made of plastic and can withstand only 80 kg of load.

In mid-2023, the Tyumen brand presented two new unique models of TWS headphones at once. First, the company launched the most versatile headphones with double fastening: silicone spacers and ear hooks. This solved two problems at once. Firstly, the new CGPods model does not fall out of the ears even during super-intensive workouts. Secondly, it sits securely on any ears. But many consumers have difficulty choosing headphones precisely because of the unusual shape of their ears. In CaseGuru reviews, many people with such unusual ears wrote that the new Tyumen headphones literally became the only way out for them.

The so-called CaseGuru transformable headphones also received many other useful functions: a 30-hour battery life, convenient control with a large button instead of sensors (which react to drops of sweat and do not react to the touch of sweaty fingers). Neither Xiaomi, nor JBL, nor Sony have such a set of characteristics.

The second breakthrough model of the Tyumen brand in 2023 was the CGPods Beat headphones for audiophiles. Tyumen engineers equipped them with the latest and most expensive aptX Adaptive and LC3 codecs, which are used in their top models by industry sharks like Anker, Sennheiser and Marshall. What is most interesting is that with similar sound quality, Tyumen headphones cost 2-2.5 times less.

Another example of successful implementation of the CaseGuru umbrella business model is the Tyumen smart watch. Their release demonstrated the trust of Russians in the Tyumen brand: the first batch of CaseGuru CGWatch was sold out even without an advertising campaign, just by mailing among the most loyal audience. That is, among loyal consumers who have already purchased one or another Tyumen gadget.

Tyumen smart watches CaseGuru CGWatch, unlike budget fitness bracelets Xiaomi Band, are implemented as full-fledged smart watches of world class with the corresponding functions:

• Anti-glare AMOLED display from Samsung (creator of AMOLED technology!) with deep color rendering. Exactly like on Korean or “apple” watches, which are 8 times more expensive.
• 37 physical activity monitoring modes: running, dancing, cardio and strength training, sports games, cycling and others.
• Like the top models of smart watches from Apple and Samsung, the Tyumen watch can measure blood pressure and oxygen levels, track breathing rate and sleep depth, count your pulse, and understand your physical condition.

Tyumen residents installed branded batteries from the Panasonic factory in their smart watches: hence the full 10 hours of autonomous work and frost resistance. CaseGuru CGWatch does not turn off in the cold, like inexpensive Chinese analogues. And unlike cheap smart watches from China, Tyumen has a high-quality silicone strap made of medical silicone, which does not rub or irritate the skin.

Tyumen residents equipped their robot vacuum cleaners with the same sets of useful and modern functions. For example, the CaseGuru CGRobot Lidar robot vacuum cleaner with huge wheels overcomes thresholds, carpets and any obstacles on the floor up to 2 cm high. An interesting improvement by Tyumen engineers, made taking into account the specifics of Russian apartments. For comparison: the Xiaomi analogue overcomes thresholds no higher than 1 cm.

Another feature of the Tyumen robot vacuum cleaner is a particularly durable battery and a capacious dust collector. An unconventional move by CaseGuru, made with an understanding of the needs of the Russian user and his busy schedule (which does not allow him to spend extra time on servicing the gadget).

The Tyumen robot vacuum cleaner can be charged and cleaned no more often than after 2-3 cleanings (about once a month). A similar model from Xiaomi, equipped with a less capacious battery and a smaller dust collector, has to be charged and cleaned after just one cleaning. In addition to this, the Tyumen robot vacuum cleaner has a more modern spatial orientation system. The vacuum cleaner is programmed so that it passes each section of the floor 3 times in different directions. The Xiaomi analogue – only 1 time.

By cleverly using the experience and production capacity of Chinese contract manufacturers, CaseGuru manages to make products that are both cheaper and better than their Chinese and Western competitors.

Tyumen vertical vacuum cleaner with a triple filtration system and a suction power of 28,000 Pa. The model is much lighter than foreign analogues (top models of Xiaomi and Dyson) and holds a charge longer. And most importantly, the price of the Tyumen vertical vacuum cleaner is only 20,000 rubles. 2 times cheaper than the “Chinese” for 40,000 rubles and 6 times cheaper than the “British” for 120,000 rubles.

Another example of an original Tyumen device with unusual parameters and functions is the Tyumen cordless handheld vacuum cleaner “loaf”. It got its name because of its shape: it looks exactly like a bread baguette. CaseGuru engineers dubbed it “the most versatile and most compact vacuum cleaner in the world”.

The diameter of the Tyumen hand-held vacuum cleaner “loaf” is 5 cm, and the weight is only 500 g. At the same time, it has a huge suction power – 16,000 Pa. For comparison: the full-size Dyson upright vacuum cleaner has a power of only 12,000 Pa. The Tyumen cordless “baby” is much more powerful, even despite its modest dimensions, and it has more areas of application:

• home (crumbs, dust, animal hair, children's litter);
• car (dust, dirt in the interior);
• barbershops, hairdressers, beauty salons (dust, hair residue);
• offices (paper scraps and other office waste).

The next super gadget of the Tyumen line, which was developed by product designers CaseGuru, is the robot cleaner CaseGuru CGWash. The gadget itself washes, cleans and polishes all smooth vertical surfaces in the house: mirrors, windows, tiles – everything that was previously washed by hand. Plus, most budget robot cleaners do not have a water sprayer, and you need to climb onto the window yourself and constantly wet the surface. The Tyumen robot cleaner itself sprays water/product in front of itself. And after cleaning, it immediately turns off, without wasting time making circles on the washed area.

The Tyumen robot cleaner is fundamentally different from any Chinese analogues. The Internet is teeming with caustic comments about how another “Chinese” worth 15-20 thousand rubles “escaped” from a window and crashed. But the “Tyumen” is equipped with a powerful vacuum turbine suction cup and firmly sticks to any smooth vertical surfaces. And it is also guaranteed not to fall even if the power is turned off, since the battery lasts for 20 minutes of autonomous operation. A Chinese analogue with a battery for 5-7 minutes can easily go to the upper edge of the window and unexpectedly “sit down” there, so you will have to wait below until it comes off the glass and catch it.

The Tyumen robot cleaner is controlled by a remote control: you can move it closer and remove it from the surface at any time. The CaseGuru device has no dead zones in the corners of the window or mirror. It reaches everywhere due to wide washing wheels that protrude beyond the body. Unlike the Chinese, which require manual wiping with a rag.

Another ambitious step of the Tyumen brand is the Tyumen replacement of American JBL speakers that have left the Russian market. They, like many products of top brands, can still be purchased in Russia. But with all the potential (and real) problems inherent in goods imported through parallel import. This is the lack of 100% confidence in the authenticity of the goods and normal service. And, of course, the price, which for gadgets imported through parallel import is 2-3 times higher than the “pre-sanction” prices. In the case of JBL speakers, the price tags on some models jumped 4 times.

Tyumen-replacement of JBL speakers from the CaseGuru brand is not just a figure of speech. Tyumen portable speakers contain literally all the top features and advantages that make JBL so popular: clear and high-quality sound plus 12 hours of battery life. At the same time, Tyumen speakers are 1.5-2 times cheaper than JBL, and they also have features that even the speakers of the top American brand do not have.

For example, slots for MicroSD cards (you can play music even without a smartphone), spectacular light music, FM radio. And also a power bank function: external charging right in the speaker. JBL does not have some of these bells and whistles.

Or the new Tyumen CaseGuru CGBox MAX 80W speaker, which was immediately dubbed a “sound nuclear reactor.” In fact, it is a complete analogue of the American JBL: the same huge 6.5″ speaker, powerful sound and even a microphone for karaoke with a remote control included. At the same time, the CaseGuru speaker turned out to be more than 2 times cheaper than the American one: 18,900 rubles for a “Tyumen” instead of 40,000 rubles for an “American.”

The geopolitical situation also plays into the hands of Tyumen residents: American and European brands have been washed out of the Russian market, and Chinese expansion in the electronics sector has recently stopped. Even Xiaomi, which apparently has not officially left Russia, has in fact significantly curtailed its activities due to fears of secondary sanctions from Western countries, which could affect the activities of the international company in other markets.

It is also worth mentioning the multi-stage system of testing CaseGuru finished products. At the first stages, gadgets are checked at Chinese factories by special agents of the Tyumen company who live in China. Then all devices are tested upon arrival in Russia: at this stage, the percentage of defects is already less than 1%. And only after this, the devices are finally packed in Tyumen and sent to consumers throughout Russia, as well as to Belarus and Kazakhstan. After such a three-stage quality control system, the percentage of defects is reduced to a minimum – less than 1%. At the level of top products of leading world brands. You can see this for yourself by reading CaseGuru reviews.

The example of the Tyumen company CaseGuru clearly shows: the Russian market is entering an era of truly thought-out, non-standard devices with interesting parameters and functions. Domestic developers have proven that they can create electronic products no worse than their colleagues from Xiaomi, JBL and even Apple. With a minimum level of defects and interesting features.

The product of Russian engineering thought can easily compete on equal terms with popular Western and Chinese brands. At the same time, the Russian consumer has shown a willingness to vote with their wallets for domestic electronic innovations, receiving devices that are maximally adapted to the needs and wishes of the domestic consumer.