Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi will first roll out a premium electric vehicle (EV) and is upbeat that it has a niche customer base in this segment but will this premium launch strategy work for the budget smartphone maker?
“In this fiercely-competitive market, we think it’s a good starting point for us in the premium segment. This is because we already have 20 million premium users in China based on the smartphone,” Xiaomi Group President Weibing Lu said.
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| Xiaomi had unveiled the SU7 but kept mum on its pricing -- Photo: Hardwarezone.com. |
Lu said this prior to revealing the car at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, which starts from February 26.
According to him, the initial purchases will overlap with the smartphone buys.
Xiaomi is looking at numerous price points for EV
He had earlier said Xiaomi is looking at numerous price points — from entry level to luxury — for its first car. The investment for developing the electric car would be to the tune of $10 billion.
Xiaomi unveiled SU7 electric car
Xiaomi had unveiled the SU7 electric car in China in December but was mum on the price.
Lu had said a formal release was on the cards soon and vowed that deliveries would begin from the second quarter of 2024.
The Chinese firm is among the top brands in the smartphone industry, and was placed third in global shipments after Apple and Samsung, said Canalys, a market analyst firm.
Xiaomi home appliances and televisions
In the recent past, the company also ventured into the home appliances and television markets and all of these products bear a sleek and smart look and can be controlled via a smartphone.
Xiaomi products affordable
Xiaomi has been associated with affordable products like its smartphones. But there were doubts whether it can sell an electric car — which was to rival Porsche — in a highly-competitive market where giants like BYD are cutting prices to stay afloat.
Huawei smartphone and EV
In the smartphone market, rival Huawei saw shipments in the mainland grow by about 50 per cent year-on-year (YoY) during the fourth quarter, ahead of Xiaomi, as per Canalys.
Building on its tech capabilities as a smartphone maker, Huawei has also quickly transformed into an electric car maker in China.
It rolled out the Aito vehicle brand in 2021 and sells the HarmonyOS operating system and other types of software to a slew of auto manufacturers.
Huawei has a promotion strategy for some of its cars that includes the premium Aito M9 SUV and showcases them at its smartphone stores.
Xiaomi’s new operating system HyperOS can integrate EVs
Xiaomi recently rolled out a new operating system called HyperOS. This OS comes with an artificial intelligence component that can study user behaviour and automatically adjust connected devices, like home lighting, accordingly.
“In the future, the device can understand and meet your needs proactively,” Lu said.
Initially, HyperOS will be available on Xiaomi’s 14 phones. But in the coming months, it will be integrated with the appliances as well as the company’s EV, added Lu.
Xiaomi is spending billions on the ecosystem and the electric car in a bid to stay competitive in the industry.
After the first car is rolled out, Xiaomi will come up with its own factories and make key components in-house, Lu revealed.
E-Vroooom’s views
Will Xiaomi’s strategy to first roll out a premium vehicle work in the highly-competitive EV market that is likely to be dominated by five-six companies in the next five years, just like today’s smartphone market, where the top-five players have captured over 70 per cent of the market?
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