Latest news with #ProjectTitan
Sydney Morning Herald
5 days ago
- Automotive
- Sydney Morning Herald
The Chinese giant that has succeeded where Apple has failed
Lei and Xiaomi's 'charisma, brand recognition and ecosystem cannot be underestimated,' Yale Zhang, the managing director of Shanghai-based consultancy Automotive Foresight, said. 'It's a big influence on young consumers who have filled their homes with Xiaomi products. When it comes time to buy an EV, they naturally think of Xiaomi.' But building cars is a far more complex, capital-intensive challenge than making phones or rice cookers. It requires mastering safety regulations, global logistics and production at scale, all while competing against legacy automakers with long histories and large model line-ups. Any international expansion will also require navigating complex geopolitical landscapes. As one of the first tech giants to actually manufacture a car, Xiaomi is in uncharted territory. Apple's failings Apple's car project, internally dubbed Project Titan, failed in large part because it wasn't just an EV – it was at one point an attempt to leapfrog the auto industry with a fully autonomous, Level 5 self-driving machine. Its goals were lofty and the direction constantly shifting, the result being over a decade of effort with nothing to show. Lei, 55, was comparatively stingy with time and resources and staked his personal reputation on the endeavour, claiming that making cars would be his 'last entrepreneurial project'. Xiaomi's public narrative is that Lei and his team learnt by visiting multiple Chinese automakers, including Zhejiang Geely and Great Wall Motor, and talked to more than 200 industry experts in some 80 meetings. The reality is also that he used Xiaomi's reputation as an innovative consumer behemoth to get close to China's large carmakers and pick off their top talent. Geely and its billionaire founder Li Shufu welcomed Lei to the automaker's research institute in Ningbo in the months leading up to Xiaomi's announcement that it would enter the car business, to discuss topics including potential collaboration. It's Geely lore that Lei added the WeChat contacts of many staff at the institute, including then-director Hu Zhengnan. Hu later joined Shunwei Capital Partners, the investment firm co-founded by Lei. Xiaomi headhunters also courted Geely staff intensely, according to people familiar with the matter. While it's common for talent to move between companies in the same industry, it was unusual to see this level of aggressiveness around recruitment, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing information that is private. Geely didn't respond to a request for comment. Hu, known for his love of the German luxury marque Porsche, was one of the team members credited as being instrumental to developing Xiaomi's EV business, Lei said at the SU7 launch in 2024. Lei added that Hu left his previous employer after his contract ended. Other executives who joined Xiaomi came from companies including BAIC Motor, BMW, SAIC-GM-Wuling Automobile Co – the General Motors joint venture with SAIC Motor Corp and Wuling Motors Holdings Ltd – and auto supplier Magna Steyr LLC. Besides assembling top Chinese automaking talent, Lei made a prescient bet on investing in a self-controlled supply chain – insulating Xiaomi's operation from manufacturing vagaries. This came from painful lessons learnt in Xiaomi's early smartphone-producing days, when external suppliers would cut off components unpredictably. In 2016, some members of Xiaomi's supply chain team displeased Samsung representatives and the South Korean firm threatened to halt supply of its industry-leading AMOLED screens. To mend the fractured relationship, Lei flew to Shenzhen to meet with Samsung's China head at the time. The pair drank five bottles of red wine during their dinner meeting, according to a Xiaomi company biography, and Lei also made multiple trips to Samsung's headquarters in South Korea to apologise and negotiate the resumption of supply. Representatives from Samsung declined to comment. After Xiaomi went into the car making business, it invested into almost all parts of the EV supply chain, from batteries and chips to air suspension and sensors. It pumped more than $US1.6 billion via Shunwei or other Xiaomi-led funds into over 100 supply chain companies between 2021 and 2024, according to data compiled by Chinese analytics firm Zhangtongshe and Bloomberg. Loading The components from some of the companies that Xiaomi invested in have ended up in its cars, such as lidars from Hesai Technology Co. and onboard chargers and voltage converters from Zhejiang EV-Tech Co. With the 10 billion yuan ($2.1 billion) it committed to the first phase of its EV venture, Xiaomi also built its own factory, rather than going down the contract manufacturing route that some Chinese makers, including Nio and Xpeng, did when they started out. 'Among tech companies that now build electric vehicles, those who previously had hardware products seem to be more successful than those who only had software products or information services,' said Paul Gong, UBS Group AG's head of China autos research. Copycat allegations Despite its early success, there are many who argue Xiaomi's one-hit car is copied from elsewhere – and that a sole successful vehicle does not a successful auto producer make. Lei's aggressive approach has also raised hackles in China's car industry. Yu Jingmin, vice president of SAIC's passenger car division, reportedly described Xiaomi's approach as 'shameless' in a critique of the SU7 resembling Porsche. The SU7 has been colloquially dubbed 'Porsche Mi' by netizens. SAIC didn't respond to questions about Yu's remarks. Xiaomi's design team, led by former BMW designer Li Tianyuan, has defended the SU7's aesthetics, emphasising that the choices were driven by aerodynamic efficiency and performance benchmarks. In late March, there was another setback after a fatal accident involving the SU7. The car had its advanced driver assistance technology turned on before the crash, which afterwards led to authorities reining in the promotion and deployment of the technology. The usually vocal Lei kept a low profile on social media for more than a month after the March accident. He returned to more active engagement in May with a missive that said this period of time was the most difficult in his career. Fortunately for Xiaomi, its consumer base is sticky. Known as 'Mi fans,' the loyal customers have played a pivotal role in the company's rise. Xiaomi cultivated this fandom early on by prioritising user feedback, and the grassroots allegiance has helped it build strong brand equity, especially in China. The SU7 has remained a top-selling model even after the accident in March. Dealers have reported that nearly 50 per cent of customers plump for the SU7 without comparing it to other brands. 'A significant number of older consumers are buying the SU7 for their children, indicating that the model has built trust among more conservative buyers thanks to its safety and quality,' said Rosalie Chen, a senior analyst from investment research firm Third Bridge. Small scale Xiaomi has set a delivery target of 350,000 units in 2025, up from its previous goal of 300,000, buoyed by demand for the newly launched YU7 and a ramp-up in production. The starting prices for the SU7 sedan, at 215,900 yuan ($46,427), and its SUV, at 253,500 yuan, make them competitive alternatives to models such as Tesla's Model 3 and Model Y. The EVs are also showing financial promise. Xiaomi posted record revenue for the first quarter this year, driven by car and smartphone sales. Its EV division is expected to turn profitable in the second half of 2025, Lei said in an investor meeting in June. But even if the popularity of Xiaomi's EVs can spring beyond the company's devoted base, production is still on a much more boutique scale. China's top car brand, BYD, sold around 4.3 million EVs and hybrids last year, many overseas, while Tesla moved about 1.78 million vehicles globally. Toyota, the world's No. 1 automaker, sold some 10.8 million vehicles and boasts a line-up of approximately 70 different models. Lei doesn't seem to be prioritising the mass market of below $US20,000 yet, which drives significant volume and is where BYD dominates, Automotive Foresight's Zhang said. Without a line-up in that segment, Xiaomi cars will remain niche purchases for middle to higher-income consumers and Xiaomi may face the same risks as Tesla, which is seeing its sales slump, exacerbated by a narrow consumer base and limited models. Nonetheless, Lei seems buoyed by Xiaomi's early wins and is now looking at global expansion. Xiaomi will consider selling cars outside China from 2027, he said earlier this month.
The Age
5 days ago
- Automotive
- The Age
The Chinese giant that has succeeded where Apple has failed
Lei and Xiaomi's 'charisma, brand recognition and ecosystem cannot be underestimated,' Yale Zhang, the managing director of Shanghai-based consultancy Automotive Foresight, said. 'It's a big influence on young consumers who have filled their homes with Xiaomi products. When it comes time to buy an EV, they naturally think of Xiaomi.' But building cars is a far more complex, capital-intensive challenge than making phones or rice cookers. It requires mastering safety regulations, global logistics and production at scale, all while competing against legacy automakers with long histories and large model line-ups. Any international expansion will also require navigating complex geopolitical landscapes. As one of the first tech giants to actually manufacture a car, Xiaomi is in uncharted territory. Apple's failings Apple's car project, internally dubbed Project Titan, failed in large part because it wasn't just an EV – it was at one point an attempt to leapfrog the auto industry with a fully autonomous, Level 5 self-driving machine. Its goals were lofty and the direction constantly shifting, the result being over a decade of effort with nothing to show. Lei, 55, was comparatively stingy with time and resources and staked his personal reputation on the endeavour, claiming that making cars would be his 'last entrepreneurial project'. Xiaomi's public narrative is that Lei and his team learnt by visiting multiple Chinese automakers, including Zhejiang Geely and Great Wall Motor, and talked to more than 200 industry experts in some 80 meetings. The reality is also that he used Xiaomi's reputation as an innovative consumer behemoth to get close to China's large carmakers and pick off their top talent. Geely and its billionaire founder Li Shufu welcomed Lei to the automaker's research institute in Ningbo in the months leading up to Xiaomi's announcement that it would enter the car business, to discuss topics including potential collaboration. It's Geely lore that Lei added the WeChat contacts of many staff at the institute, including then-director Hu Zhengnan. Hu later joined Shunwei Capital Partners, the investment firm co-founded by Lei. Xiaomi headhunters also courted Geely staff intensely, according to people familiar with the matter. While it's common for talent to move between companies in the same industry, it was unusual to see this level of aggressiveness around recruitment, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing information that is private. Geely didn't respond to a request for comment. Hu, known for his love of the German luxury marque Porsche, was one of the team members credited as being instrumental to developing Xiaomi's EV business, Lei said at the SU7 launch in 2024. Lei added that Hu left his previous employer after his contract ended. Other executives who joined Xiaomi came from companies including BAIC Motor, BMW, SAIC-GM-Wuling Automobile Co – the General Motors joint venture with SAIC Motor Corp and Wuling Motors Holdings Ltd – and auto supplier Magna Steyr LLC. Besides assembling top Chinese automaking talent, Lei made a prescient bet on investing in a self-controlled supply chain – insulating Xiaomi's operation from manufacturing vagaries. This came from painful lessons learnt in Xiaomi's early smartphone-producing days, when external suppliers would cut off components unpredictably. In 2016, some members of Xiaomi's supply chain team displeased Samsung representatives and the South Korean firm threatened to halt supply of its industry-leading AMOLED screens. To mend the fractured relationship, Lei flew to Shenzhen to meet with Samsung's China head at the time. The pair drank five bottles of red wine during their dinner meeting, according to a Xiaomi company biography, and Lei also made multiple trips to Samsung's headquarters in South Korea to apologise and negotiate the resumption of supply. Representatives from Samsung declined to comment. After Xiaomi went into the car making business, it invested into almost all parts of the EV supply chain, from batteries and chips to air suspension and sensors. It pumped more than $US1.6 billion via Shunwei or other Xiaomi-led funds into over 100 supply chain companies between 2021 and 2024, according to data compiled by Chinese analytics firm Zhangtongshe and Bloomberg. Loading The components from some of the companies that Xiaomi invested in have ended up in its cars, such as lidars from Hesai Technology Co. and onboard chargers and voltage converters from Zhejiang EV-Tech Co. With the 10 billion yuan ($2.1 billion) it committed to the first phase of its EV venture, Xiaomi also built its own factory, rather than going down the contract manufacturing route that some Chinese makers, including Nio and Xpeng, did when they started out. 'Among tech companies that now build electric vehicles, those who previously had hardware products seem to be more successful than those who only had software products or information services,' said Paul Gong, UBS Group AG's head of China autos research. Copycat allegations Despite its early success, there are many who argue Xiaomi's one-hit car is copied from elsewhere – and that a sole successful vehicle does not a successful auto producer make. Lei's aggressive approach has also raised hackles in China's car industry. Yu Jingmin, vice president of SAIC's passenger car division, reportedly described Xiaomi's approach as 'shameless' in a critique of the SU7 resembling Porsche. The SU7 has been colloquially dubbed 'Porsche Mi' by netizens. SAIC didn't respond to questions about Yu's remarks. Xiaomi's design team, led by former BMW designer Li Tianyuan, has defended the SU7's aesthetics, emphasising that the choices were driven by aerodynamic efficiency and performance benchmarks. In late March, there was another setback after a fatal accident involving the SU7. The car had its advanced driver assistance technology turned on before the crash, which afterwards led to authorities reining in the promotion and deployment of the technology. The usually vocal Lei kept a low profile on social media for more than a month after the March accident. He returned to more active engagement in May with a missive that said this period of time was the most difficult in his career. Fortunately for Xiaomi, its consumer base is sticky. Known as 'Mi fans,' the loyal customers have played a pivotal role in the company's rise. Xiaomi cultivated this fandom early on by prioritising user feedback, and the grassroots allegiance has helped it build strong brand equity, especially in China. The SU7 has remained a top-selling model even after the accident in March. Dealers have reported that nearly 50 per cent of customers plump for the SU7 without comparing it to other brands. 'A significant number of older consumers are buying the SU7 for their children, indicating that the model has built trust among more conservative buyers thanks to its safety and quality,' said Rosalie Chen, a senior analyst from investment research firm Third Bridge. Small scale Xiaomi has set a delivery target of 350,000 units in 2025, up from its previous goal of 300,000, buoyed by demand for the newly launched YU7 and a ramp-up in production. The starting prices for the SU7 sedan, at 215,900 yuan ($46,427), and its SUV, at 253,500 yuan, make them competitive alternatives to models such as Tesla's Model 3 and Model Y. The EVs are also showing financial promise. Xiaomi posted record revenue for the first quarter this year, driven by car and smartphone sales. Its EV division is expected to turn profitable in the second half of 2025, Lei said in an investor meeting in June. But even if the popularity of Xiaomi's EVs can spring beyond the company's devoted base, production is still on a much more boutique scale. China's top car brand, BYD, sold around 4.3 million EVs and hybrids last year, many overseas, while Tesla moved about 1.78 million vehicles globally. Toyota, the world's No. 1 automaker, sold some 10.8 million vehicles and boasts a line-up of approximately 70 different models. Lei doesn't seem to be prioritising the mass market of below $US20,000 yet, which drives significant volume and is where BYD dominates, Automotive Foresight's Zhang said. Without a line-up in that segment, Xiaomi cars will remain niche purchases for middle to higher-income consumers and Xiaomi may face the same risks as Tesla, which is seeing its sales slump, exacerbated by a narrow consumer base and limited models. Nonetheless, Lei seems buoyed by Xiaomi's early wins and is now looking at global expansion. Xiaomi will consider selling cars outside China from 2027, he said earlier this month.
Hindustan Times
14-07-2025
- Business
- Hindustan Times
Apple needs a new CEO? Analyst says Tim Cook not the right boss in AI age
There has been long-standing talk of a new Apple CEO taking the helm of the company. Many have discussed who might be next in line after Tim Cook. Now, with this talk already in place, analysts have said that Apple may, in fact, need a new CEO amid the fast-growing AI race. Apple CEO Tim Cook took the helm of the company in 2011.(Reuters) As reported by Bloomberg, analyst Walter Piecyk from LightShed Partners has voiced that a change could be for the better. The analysts made this statement just days after Apple announced that its Chief Financial Officer would be replaced to make way for Indian-origin executive Sabih Khan. This major shift seems to have sparked the debate all over again: does Apple need a new CEO? And where is Apple currently lacking? MOBILE FINDER: iPhone 16 LATEST Price Apple Needs A Product-Focused CEO, Analyst Says Walter Piecyk told Bloomberg in a video interview that while Tim Cook was an incredible CEO for the iPhone era for Apple, the company now needs someone who's 'product-focused.' 'This is to say nothing of Tim Cook being an incredible CEO for what they needed during this iPhone era with logistics. But now, you clearly need someone that can move forward on a lot of the product development,' Piecyk said. Apple Needs To Step Up With AI The analyst also didn't sugar-coat their words when it came to their interpretation of the state of AI at Apple. He said that Apple has missed product cycles, with the big one being AI. 'It's one thing to pull the string on things like Apple TV, which were predicted for years and never happened, or 'Project Titan' which was a much bigger one, which was an autonomous car.' 'Huge opportunity, I think missed, by stopping that program,' Walter Piecyk said. 'AI, in general, not only is a missed revenue opportunity, but if you're not a major player there, and you're one of these large companies like Apple, Google, or whoever, you know, that in itself can disrupt you, " he added. He added that Apple is clearly far behind in the AI race, and that the iPhone maker 'over promised' a year ago and that's being kind to call that over promising. The analyst also called Siri 'not a good service', and labelled it as a 'real risk to the company.' Tim Cook May Not Go Anywhere, Anytime Soon So, while analysts have voiced that Tim Cook needs to go in favour of a product-focused CEO, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has reported a contrasting view, saying that Tim Cook is not going anywhere, but an Apple shake-up certainly is in line. He says there are currently no signs to suggest that Apple CEO Tim Cook could leave the helm, and he says that the board is not asking him to either. This is despite the fact that Cook's COO, Jeff Williams, is going to retire from his position. The report also adds that most of Cook's direct reports are not that young, and are in their 60s. This is why Apple seems to be overhauling its leadership, with people like Sabih Khan coming into the picture. Having said that, considering many have said that Apple needs a product-focused CEO, people like John Ternus have been thrown into the limelight again to potentially succeed as Apple's next CEO.
Business Insider
10-07-2025
- Business
- Business Insider
Cathie Wood Presents Trillion-Dollar Insights on Tesla and Apple's Missed Opportunities
Ace hedge fund manager, Cathie Wood, shared her intriguing insights on two of her most-loved stocks: electric vehicle giant Tesla (TSLA) and iPhone maker Apple (AAPL). Tesla's stock remains under constant pressure from CEO Elon Musk 's political activities and his ongoing feud with President Donald Trump. Meanwhile, Apple is facing pressure from the White House to shift its iPhone manufacturing to the U.S. or risk stringent tariffs. Don't Miss TipRanks' Half-Year Sale Take advantage of TipRanks Premium at 50% off! Unlock powerful investing tools, advanced data, and expert analyst insights to help you invest with confidence. Make smarter investment decisions with TipRanks' Smart Investor Picks, delivered to your inbox every week. First, Let's Understand the Backdrop Musk announced on July 6 that he would form a new political party. The news sent TSLA stock spiraling downward on Monday, leading to a $68 billion loss in market cap for the company and wiping out a staggering $15 billion from Musk's net worth. On the other hand, rival Meta Platforms (META) has poached Apple's top artificial intelligence (AI) executive, Ruoming Pang. The news is a setback for Apple, which is already struggling with its AI ambitions and has delayed its Siri updates multiple times. Adding to Apple's woes, long-time COO Jeff Williams announced his retirement yesterday and is set to leave the company at the end of this year. Wood Says Musk Is 'Much Less Distracted Now' Commenting on Musk's America Party, Wood said that she has been dealing with one other controversy or another surrounding Musk since the time her ARK Invest first bought TSLA stock. Nonetheless, she said, 'We do trust the board and the board's instincts here and we stay out of politics.' The long-time Tesla bull instead focused on Musk's announcement that he will oversee sales in the U.S. and Europe. She expressed confidence in Musk's abilities, saying, 'When he puts his mind on something, he usually gets the job done. So, I think he's much less distracted now than he was, let's say, in the White House 24/7.' Notably, Tesla remains one of the largest positions in several ARK Invest ETFs (exchange-traded funds). Wood has also invested in Musk's private startups, including SpaceX, Neuralink, and xAI. Wood predicts that TSLA's stock price could reach $2,600 in the next five years if the robotaxi business takes off successfully. Wood Says, 'Burden of Proof' Lies on Apple Commenting on Apple's loss of AI head Pang, Wood noted that his exit puts the company in a precarious position. She believes that the ultimate mobile device is a self-driving car, and Apple should have ideally been a leader in this area. Autonomous vehicles (AVs) are one of the 'biggest AI projects in the world.' After canceling its AV project, Project Titan, last year, Apple said that it would shift focus to developing autonomous driving software and EV technology for potential future collaborations or products. However, Apple is far from making progress on these initiatives as the company has not announced any new products yet. Despite these headwinds, Wood said Apple has to prove it can still succeed. AAPL or TSLA: Which Is the Better Buy? We used TipRanks' Stock Comparison Tool to determine which stock is currently favored by analysts. Due to the ongoing challenges, analysts remain divided on AAPL's outlook, while most prefer to stay on the sidelines regarding TSLA. However, AAPL does earn a Smart Score of eight, implying the stock is highly likely to outperform market expectations. Investors should conduct thorough research before choosing to invest in either stock.
Time of India
07-07-2025
- Automotive
- Time of India
How Xiaomi succeeded where Apple failed
Academy Empower your mind, elevate your skills Lei Jun, founder and chairman of Xiaomi Corp., the only tech company to have successfully diversified into carmaking, couldn't at a triumphant launch event in Beijing late last month for Xiaomi's second electric vehicle, a long-anticipated SUV, Lei pointedly mentioned Apple Inc., 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 not-so-subtle dig was followed by a flex: Xiaomi then said it had received more than 289,000 orders for its new sport utility vehicle within an hour of its announcement, more than its first EV, a sedan launched in March succeeding where Apple failed has burnished Lei's reputation, made his company one of the most valuable in China and shaken up both the tech and automobile collapse of Apple's moonshot car program has only underscored the effectiveness of Xiaomi's grounded approach, which took inspiration from proven designs from Tesla Inc. and Porsche Automobil Holding SE while staying true to the affordable ethos that's made it a cult brand for Gen Z it also launched into the most fertile EV ecosystem in the world — China. With state subsidies, existing charging infrastructure and a ready-made supply chain, Xiaomi had a structural tailwind Apple declined to comment for this and Xiaomi's 'charisma, brand recognition and ecosystem cannot be underestimated,' Yale Zhang, the managing director of Shanghai-based consultancy Automotive Foresight, said. 'It's a big influence on young consumers who have filled their homes with Xiaomi products. When it comes time to buy an EV, they naturally think of Xiaomi.'But building cars is a far more complex, capital-intensive challenge than making phones or rice cookers. It requires mastering safety regulations, global logistics and production at scale, all while competing against legacy automakers with long histories and large model lineups. Any international expansion will also require navigating complex geopolitical landscapes. As one of the first tech giants to actually manufacture a car, Xiaomi is in uncharted car project, internally dubbed Project Titan , failed in large part because it wasn't just an EV — it was at one point an attempt to leapfrog the auto industry with a fully autonomous, Level 5 self-driving machine. Its goals were lofty and the direction constantly shifting, the result being over a decade of effort with nothing to 55, was comparatively stingy with time and resources and staked his personal reputation on the endeavour, claiming that making cars would be his 'last entrepreneurial project.'Xiaomi's public narrative is that Lei and his team learned by visiting multiple Chinese automakers, including Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co. and Great Wall Motor Co., and talked to more than 200 industry experts in some 80 reality is also that he used Xiaomi's reputation as an innovative consumer behemoth to get close to China's large carmakers and pick off their top talent. Geely and its billionaire founder Li Shufu welcomed Lei to the automaker's research institute in Ningbo in the months leading up to Xiaomi's announcement that it would enter the car business to discuss topics, including potential Geely lore that Lei added the WeChat contacts of many staff at the institute, including then-director Hu Zhengnan. Hu later joined Shunwei Capital Partners, the investment firm co-founded by headhunters also courted Geely staff intensely, according to people familiar with the matter. While it's common for talent to move between companies in the same industry, it was unusual to see this level of aggressiveness around recruitment, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing information that's private. Geely didn't respond to a request for known for his love of the German luxury marque Porsche, was one of the team members credited as being instrumental to developing Xiaomi's EV business, Lei said at the SU7 launch in 2024. Lei added that Hu left his previous employer after his contract executives who joined Xiaomi came from companies including BAIC Motor Corp., BMW AG, SAIC-GM-Wuling Automobile Co. — the General Motors Co. joint venture with SAIC Motor Corp. and Wuling Motors Holdings Ltd. — and auto supplier Magna Steyr assembling top Chinese automaking talent, Lei made a prescient bet on investing in a self-controlled supply chain — insulating Xiaomi's operation from manufacturing vagaries. This came from painful lessons learned in Xiaomi's early smartphone-producing days, when external suppliers would cut off components 2016, some members of Xiaomi's supply chain team displeased Samsung Electronics Co. representatives and the South Korean firm threatened to halt supply of its industry-leading AMOLED mend the fractured relationship, Lei flew to Shenzhen to meet with Samsung's China head at the time. The pair drank five bottles of red wine during their dinner meeting, according to a Xiaomi company biography, and Lei also made multiple trips to Samsung's headquarters in South Korea to apologise and negotiate the resumption of supply. Representatives from Samsung declined to Xiaomi went into the carmaking business, it invested into almost all parts of the EV supply chain, from batteries and chips to air suspension and sensors. It pumped more than $1.6 billion via Shunwei or other Xiaomi-led funds into over 100 supply chain companies between 2021 and 2024, according to data compiled by Chinese analytics firm Zhangtongshe and components from some of the companies that Xiaomi invested in have ended up in its cars, such as lidars from Hesai Technology Co. and onboard chargers and voltage converters from Zhejiang EV-Tech the 10 billion yuan ($1.4 billion) it committed to the first phase of its EV venture, Xiaomi also built its own factory, rather than going down the contract manufacturing route that some Chinese makers, including Nio Inc. and Xpeng Inc., did when they started out.'Among tech companies that now build electric vehicles, those who previously had hardware products seem to be more successful than those who only had software products or information services,' said Paul Gong, UBS Group AG's head of China autos its early success, there are many who argue Xiaomi's one-hit car is copied from elsewhere — and that a sole successful vehicle does not a successful auto producer make. Lei's aggressive approach has also raised hackles in China's car Jingmin, vice president of SAIC's passenger car division, reportedly described Xiaomi's approach as 'shameless' in a critique of the SU7 resembling Porsche. The SU7 has been colloquially dubbed 'Porsche Mi' by netizens. SAIC didn't respond to questions about Yu's design team, led by former BMW designer Li Tianyuan, has defended the SU7's aesthetics, emphasising that the choices were driven by aerodynamic efficiency and performance late March, there was another setback after a fatal accident involving the SU7. The car had its advanced driver assistance technology turned on before the crash, which afterwards led to authorities reining in the promotion and deployment of the usually vocal Lei kept a low profile on social media for more than a month post the March accident. He returned to more active engagement in May with a missive that said this period of time was the most difficult in his for Xiaomi, its consumer base is sticky. Known as 'Mi Fans,' the loyal customers have played a pivotal role in the company's rise. Xiaomi cultivated this fandom early on by prioritising user feedback, and the grassroots allegiance has helped it build strong brand equity, especially in China. The SU7 has remained a top-selling model even after the accident in dealers have reported that nearly 50% of customers plump for the SU7 without comparing it to other brands. 'A significant number of older consumers are buying the SU7 for their children, indicating that the model has built trust among more conservative buyers thanks to its safety and quality,' said Rosalie Chen, a senior analyst from investment research firm Third has set a delivery target of 350,000 units in 2025, up from its previous goal of 300,000, buoyed by demand for the newly launched YU7 and a ramp-up in production. The starting prices for the SU7 sedan, at 215,900 yuan ($30,100), and its SUV, at 253,500 yuan, make them competitive alternatives to models like Tesla's Model 3 and Model EVs are also showing financial promise. Xiaomi posted record revenue for the first quarter this year, driven by car and smartphone sales. Its EV division is expected to turn profitable in the second half of 2025, Lei said in an investor meeting in even if the popularity of Xiaomi's EVs can spring beyond the company's devoted base, production is still on a much more boutique scale. China's top car brand, BYD Co., sold around 4.3 million EVs and hybrids last year, many overseas, while Tesla moved about 1.78 million vehicles globally. Toyota Motor Corp., the world's No. 1 automaker, sold some 10.8 million vehicles and boasts a lineup of approximately 70 different doesn't seem to be prioritising the mass market of below $20,000 yet, which drives significant volume and is where BYD dominates, Automotive Foresight's Zhang a lineup in that segment, Xiaomi cars will remain niche purchases for middle to higher-income consumers and Xiaomi may face the same risks as Tesla, which is seeing its sales slump exacerbated by a narrow consumer base and limited Lei seems buoyed by Xiaomi's early wins and is now looking at global expansion. Xiaomi will consider selling cars outside China from 2027, he said last or otherwise, the European Union, the US and Turkey have all slapped tariffs on Chinese EVs, but Xiaomi wants to set up a R&D centre in Munich and may test sales starting in European markets such as Germany, Spain and France when the time is right, Chinese media 36Kr reported in April.'Xiaomi is a latecomer to the auto industry,' Lei admitted on Weibo in June. But, he said, in a market driven by technology and innovation and the rising global influence of China's EV culture, 'there are always opportunities for latecomers.'
