Lei Jun, founder and chairman of Xiaomi, the only tech company to have successfully diversified into carmaking, couldn¡¯t resist.

Speaking at a triumphant launch event in Beijing late last month for Xiaomi¡¯s second electric vehicle, a long-anticipated SUV, Lei pointedly mentioned Apple, which spent a decade and $10 billion trying to make a car before giving up last year.

¡°Since Apple stopped developing its car, we¡¯ve given special care to Apple users,¡± he said, noting that owners of the American giant¡¯s iPhones would be able to seamlessly sync their devices to Xiaomi¡¯s vehicles.