Intensive withdrawal from a number of Xiaomi-affiliated companies, Is Lei always going to indulge in car building?

The recent frequent movements of Lei Jun, the founder of Xiaomi Group, have attracted attention from the outside world.

According to Tianyan, in the week since December 6, Lei Jun has successively withdrawn from the positions of legal representative, executive director or chairman of a number of Xiaomi affiliated companies, including Guangdong Xiaomi Technology Co., Ltd., Guangzhou Xiaomi Communication Technology Co., Ltd., Guangzhou Xiaomi Information Service Co., Ltd., and Zhuhai Xiaomi Communication Technology Co., Ltd. Shareholder information shows that Guangzhou Xiaomi Information Service Co., Ltd. is wholly owned by Beijing Xiaomi Mobile Software Co., Ltd., and the other three companies are wholly owned by Xiaomi Communication Technology Co., Ltd.

It is worth mentioning that not long ago, Lei Jun withdrew from the legal representative, executive director and general manager of Xiaomi Technology (Wuhan) Co., Ltd., which is also wholly owned by Xiaomi Communication Technology Co., Ltd.

In fact, Lei Jun's withdrawal from Xiaomi-affiliated companies is not a rare thing, whether this is to avoid the corresponding policy risks or changes in the high-level structure, which has also triggered various speculations in the market.

Lei Jun's withdrawal from these enterprises also shows that Lei Jun and the millet he leads have to some extent moved towards a relatively benign management cycle. In addition, for Lei Jun, car manufacturing is a huge test and pressure, because Xiaomi entered the market late, car competition has also entered the Red Sea, lei Jun needs to invest in car building.

However, there are also relevant people who analyze that "almost all the first-line Internet bigwigs are at least dozens or hundreds of companies of legal persons, and they withdraw or add at least many companies' legal persons every year, so this change is difficult to explain what the problem is, more depends on what the business is to do." ”

Tianyan check shows that Lei Jun is still working in 92 companies and is still the chairman and CEO of Xiaomi. On September 3 this year, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange disclosed that Lei Jun's personal shareholding in Xiaomi fell from 10.63% to 9.12%, and the number of shares held decreased by 308 million shares. Xiaomi said at the time that this stemmed from lei jun's no longer controlling the lei jun foundation according to local regulations in Hong Kong, resulting in a decrease in the share of the countable, not a reduction in holdings. According to Xiaomi's announcement in July this year, Lei Jun donated 308 million shares of the company's Class B shares to the Xiaomi Foundation and the Lei Jun Foundation for public welfare purposes.

In this regard, in response to a series of frequent actions in the recent past, Xiaomi responded that it is a normal change. However, insiders revealed that the baton is taken over by Xiaomi's core executives. This move may be seen as a signal for Lei Jun to focus on car building.

Traditional businesses have their own difficulties, and it makes sense that new growth stories will appear. It is also logical for the big guy to bet on the treasure.

Looking at new energy vehicles, whether it is Hong Kong stocks, US stocks or A shares, they can be described as booming and hot. In addition to Tesla, the king of market capitalization, BYD and Ningde are also constantly rising.

On the other hand, affected by the epidemic, lack of core, new technology development and other factors, pure mobile phone manufacturers have encountered development difficulties, the boundaries of smart phones are becoming more and more blurred, and the intelligent, networked, electrified and shared transformation of automobiles has allowed them to see more hope. At the same time, automobiles are typical technology capital-intensive products, which can bring higher added value, are more vulnerable to capital attention, and have higher financing and fault tolerance rates. This may be the reason why Xiaomi, Apple, Huawei, etc. are piling up to build cars.

Under the boom of cross-border car manufacturing, in March this year, Xiaomi announced that it would enter the field of intelligent electric vehicles, planning to invest 10 billion US dollars in 10 years, and the first batch of 10 billion yuan. In September, Xiaomi Automobile Entity Company was officially established, headquartered in Beijing, and the factory was also scheduled in Yizhuang. Lei Jun also shouted out, "I am willing to bet on all the accumulated achievements and reputations in my life to fight for xiaomi cars." ”

The reporter noted that at present, the Xiaomi automobile team has expanded rapidly, with more than 500 people at present, and the research and development centers are distributed in Beijing, Shanghai and Wuhan. Xiaomi Auto's vehicle research and development focus is in Shanghai, and the Beijing team is more focused on autonomous driving, cockpit and supply chain. Lei Jun said that the progress of Xiaomi's car manufacturing and team work has far exceeded his expectations, and it is expected that Xiaomi automobile will be officially mass-produced in the first half of 2024.

In recent years, many of the first generation of internet and digital circles have retreated to the second line, but many have not completely given up their real power. Lei Jun also said that Xiaomi car manufacturing will be the last major entrepreneurial project in his life, I had a huge interest in the electric vehicle industry as early as 2013, and in the past seven or eight years, I have invested in nearly ten companies in the field of intelligent electric vehicles.

Yesterday, there was news that Zhimi Technology, the ecological chain company of Xiaomi Holdings, has joined the car-making army, and the direction of car manufacturing is passenger cars, and the first model will launch SUVs. Ma Yongdong, former head of GM Pan Asia's electric vehicle project, joined the company and was responsible for Zhimi's vehicle business, and many BAIC's electrical and electronic architecture personnel joined Zhimi.

The news also revealed that the car-making business of Zhimi Technology is currently independent of Xiaomi Automobile. An automotive design company has approached Zhimi to dock the vehicle design work. In this regard, at present, Zhimi Technology has not publicly responded, but many people in the industry believe that Xiaomi may open a two-line car-making strategy. The participation of enterprises in the same ecological chain can also help Xiaomi expand its territory in the automotive field.

Tianyan check shows that Zhimi Technology is a company focusing on the research and development and production of intelligent environmental appliances, and its products mainly include air purifiers, fresh air systems, humidifiers, electric heaters, etc.; Xiaomi co-founder Liu De is a suspected actual controller of Zhimi Technology, with a shareholding ratio of 95%.

In recent years, with the continuous expansion of brand products such as Weilai, Xiaopeng and Ideal, and the launch of new energy sub-brands by established car companies, the competition in the domestic new energy vehicle market can be said to have entered a white-hot stage.

According to the Data of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, the production and sales of new energy vehicles in China reached 457,000 and 450,000 units respectively in November, an increase of 1.3 times and 1.2 times year-on-year, respectively, and continued to set new records. From the perspective of subdivision models, the production and sales of pure electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid vehicles have also set new records. The market penetration rate of new energy vehicles was 17.8% in November, which was higher than that of the previous month.

Among them, in the field of new energy passenger cars in China, the number of automobile companies with sales exceeding 10,000 units in November reached 12. BYD Automobile ranked first with 90,142 units sold, up 247.8% year-on-year. In addition, SAIC-GM-Wuling and Tesla China also sold more than 30,000 new energy passenger cars in November.

In terms of new car-making forces, Xiaopeng Automobile and Ideal Automobile entered the top 10 in November in sales. Among them, Xiaopeng Automobile sold 15,613 units in November, an increase of 269.6% year-on-year; Ideal Automobile sold 13,485 units in November, an increase of 190.2% year-on-year. In addition, the sales of Nezha Automobile and Weilai Automobile in November also exceeded 10,000 units.

"Xiaomi's car manufacturing is not chasing the wind and catching up with the trend, but because smart electric vehicles have changed from the 'machinery industry' to the 'information industry'." As Lei Jun said, smart electric vehicles are already a place where soldiers must fight, and Xiaomi has to fight.

In this context, although Xiaomi has accelerated to join the new energy car-making track, it is not yet known what the market will be in three years, and how to better break through in the future is still a problem that Xiaomi needs to think about.

Xiaomi's car is both an outlet and a risk. However, chasing dreams into the attack, relying on what to fight? Behind Lei Jun's bet, is it also a gamble?

Disclaimer: The views of any article of ESheng Securities are for learning and exchange, and are not investment advice.