On February 26, in the article “What if Xiaomi Makes Cars, will they be Amazing?”, we mentioned the recruitment actions in car making, most companies are ahead of Xiaomi, and the loss of time cost is not the only thing that Xiaomi has suffered from.
According to Sina Technology’s report on March 26, supply chain and Xiaomi partners said that Xiaomi’s car making is a confirmed thing. At present, Xiaomi is looking for cooperative resources in the supply chain. In addition, many engineers in vehicle software have recently joined Xiaomi, and recruitment is still ongoing.
Today, Xiaomi announced in the Hong Kong stock market voluntary technology announcement that “the company’s board of directors has officially approved the establishment of an intelligent electric vehicle project and established a wholly-owned subsidiary responsible for intelligent electric vehicle business, with an initial investment of 10 billion RMB and an expected investment of 10 billion USD in the next 10 years. Lei Jun will also serve as the CEO of the Intelligent Electric Vehicle Business.”
After experiencing several “smoke bombs”, at Xiaomi’s second spring new product launch, with Lei Jun’s slightly hoarse voice, the rumor of Xiaomi making cars has finally come to an end.
What Was Said During the Launch?
Unexpectedly, the launch started with a change in the logo, based on the “Alive” concept, stating “the more technology evolves, the closer it is to the form of life.” Renowned designer, Kenya Hara, redesigned Xiaomi’s brand logo, and mentioned that the new logo will be used for brand image display, and the new design of the Xiaomi English letters will be used for more intelligent product displays.
Then Xiaomi’s reserved program, “ALOT Ecological Model House,” was introduced. Although the dishwasher is really in high demand, and the air conditioner is also intelligent, when I thought the sweeping and mopping robot could only ease family conflicts, the host mentioned that the sweeping and mopping robot can achieve intelligent scene recognition, and can recognize different floors, suggesting that Xiaomi has low-speed autonomous driving capabilities in reserve?
After listening to Lei Jun’s introduction of the latest Xiaomi MIX FOLD phone, including the self-developed ISP, algorithm and chip, high-density information followed one another, and various configurations almost blinded my eyes. Just when I was about to pick up my phone to place an order, Lei Jun said that in addition to impacting the high-end of the smartphone industry, they will also make an impact in other industries. Excited, I put down my phone, ready to welcome “the first car for young people,” but on the screen, a “high-end laptop” was displayed!
It has to be said that this time, Xiaomi’s marketing department won thoroughly, you are the best.
After watching all the new product launches, the highly anticipated Xiaomi car making segment still hasn’t arrived. Just when I thought I could finish work early and go home, a “never-ending” documentary suggested that the “progress bar” of this launch event has not reached its end.
Then Lei Jun began to talk about several transformations in his growth process, from a programmer to CEO, then to an angel investor, and finally leading Xiaomi’s mobile phone department back to third place in the world. Each transformation has brought significant changes and innovations in his cognitive structure and life experience.
For the past two and a half months, he has been in great pain because he is about to enter his fourth transformation. Then, he showed his photo with Elon Musk.
Finally, the press conference came to what I wanted to see.
Lei Jun mentioned that when the Xiaomi board of directors initially suggested that they research the future of electric cars, he was resistant at first.
Because they had just spent five years making their mobile phone business the third largest in the world, and the battle in the mobile phone market was not over yet. He thought that making a car would result in distractions.
But faced with the electric car industry, which is a trend of the times, what should Xiaomi do?
So on January 15, 2021, Lei Jun began to seriously research making cars.
I think Lei Jun mentioned a very important point. More than 10,000 people participated in the survey on Xiaomi Weibo, and nearly 90% of them supported Xiaomi making cars and said that they would buy Xiaomi’s car. “Why do so many people hope they can make cars and why do people think they can win?”
Is it because Xiaomi has invested in nearly 10 electric car industry companies in the past 7-8 years?
Or is it because Xiaomi has applied for many invention patents in the automotive direction, such as automatic cruise control, energy replenishment, vehicle control, navigation, assisted driving, and driving safety?
Lei Jun slowly gave the answer, he believed that the first reason was that Xiaomi has had too many successful products in the past, and people also believe that Xiaomi can make a good car that surprises everyone. The second reason, the high viscosity “rice powder” accumulated in Xiaomi’s past products.
In addition, they have a complete intelligent ecosystem, the third largest global mobile phone business, and most importantly, they now have a cash reserve of 108 billion yuan, and they can afford to lose.
Here, combined with what Lei Jun said before, “I am not a person who is good at surviving in adversity. I will first think deeply about something, so as not to fall into a dilemma.”
If you have prepared for the worst, what else can you not dare to take a chance on?
This sentence also confirms Lei Jun’s final words. He knows deeply what this decision means for him. He is willing to give his all, live up to expectations, and risk all the accumulated wealth and honor.
Therefore, Xiaomi has decided to officially enter the smart electric vehicle industry today.
What other challenges are there
Xiaomi’s automobile manufacturing has finally been confirmed. Even I know that “moving people’s hearts” is not just an empty talk within Xiaomi, but a true reflection of action.
But it must be said that since entering 2021, traditional automakers have also accelerated their transformation towards electrification. Volkswagen even plans to change its name from “Volkswagen” to “Voltswagen” to demonstrate its determination to bid farewell to the fuel era.
It can be said that the process of electrification of automobiles has exceeded many people’s expectations and seems to have erupted overnight.
For Xiaomi, the benefit of entering the electric car market at this time is that the electric car supply chain has already been integrated by other players, and a mature supply chain system has made manufacturing costs lower. In addition, the automotive OEM model is also being recognized by the industry.
However, the challenges facing Xiaomi are also obvious. For example, how to solve the long R&D cycle of vehicles, how to ensure product quality and quality control, and whether to build an energy supplement system in the later stage are all problems facing Xiaomi.
Moreover, in the short term, the subsidy dividend of the electric vehicle market will continue, but the window period of this dividend will become shorter than imagined due to the influx of many players in the next two years.
For a company that has not integrated the automobile supply chain, has no reserve of autonomous driving technology, and even has no marketing experience in the automobile industry,
that is, a company that has not been educated by the automobile market, the shortening of the “dividend window period” not only means that time costs become more valuable, but also means that more “trial and error costs” need to be reserved during development.
Regarding this, Lei Jun also stated that he is well aware of the investment and potential risks of the automotive industry, which can easily capsize if not done well.
But he believes that the most important thing is whether they have the courage and determination to challenge other mobile phone giants when they founded Xiaomi 10 years ago.
Moreover, today they are not as “penniless” as they were 10 years ago.
In conclusion,“`
Once I woke up from sleep, I thought I wanted to start a great company and do something great. But when I turned 40, I felt like I had achieved nothing. However, this is not understandable for ordinary people who think I’m pretending and they scolded me harshly. Whether it’s pretending or not, it depends on your pursuit. If your goals have been high since you were young but you don’t consider them to be great at the age of 40, the sense of frustration is strong.
Lei Jun, who was laid off and reemployed at the age of 40, founded Xiaomi and achieved third place in the world in 10 years.
At the age of 50, Lei Jun decided to make cars. He mentioned that this is the last major entrepreneurial project in his life, and he will invest in it fully. He choked up when he left with a broken voice.
I am reminded of Li Xiang from Ideal Vehicle who once said, “What could be more exciting than me making another Toyota in my lifetime?”
Finally, I want to say that people are great because of their dreams and successful because of their actions.
“`
This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.