Lei Jun once again stated that he wanted to benchmark Apple.
On December 28, at Xiaomi's new product launch, Lei Jun, founder, chairman and general manager of Xiaomi, released the annual flagship mobile phones Xiaomi 12, Xiaomi 12 Pro, and a quasi-flagship Xiaomi 12X. At the press conference, he reiterated that Xiaomi will officially benchmark Apple and surpass Apple step by step in the future.
Previously, on December 21, Lei Jun announced on Weibo that Xiaomi's high-end mobile phones had officially begun to benchmark Apple, "learning from Apple" in terms of product quality and specifications.
"The last time I proposed to benchmark Apple, I immediately went on Weibo's hot search, and I was also sneered at." Lei Jun said. "I think domestic mobile phones should have such courage, why not compare it?" In comparison, you may find that the strength of domestic mobile phones is much stronger than everyone imagines. ”
The Xiaomi Mi 12 series launched this time adopts a two-size dual-flagship product strategy, which is two versions, one large and one small, respectively, against the iPhone13 and iPhone13 Pro Max. It is worth noting that although it is mentioned to surpass Apple "step by step", Lei Jun did not give a specific plan for surpassing.
Lei Jun: Xiaomi Mi 12 series has multiple parameters beyond Apple
Lei Jun introduced that the Xiaomi Mi 12 series released this time surpasses the iPhone 13 series in multiple parameters. Take the Xiaomi Mi 12 Pro, for example, which has a width of 74.6 mm and a weight of 205 grams, while the iPhone 13 Pro Max has a width of 78.1 mm and a weight of 238 grams, compared to the Narrower Width and Lighter Weight.
"We feel a lot better than the iPhone, and while maintaining the feel, the mi 12 series screen is also 8% larger than the iPhone 13 series." What's more, our mobile phone signal is far ahead, and for business people, using the Xiaomi Mi 12 series will be more convenient than using the iPhone. Lei Jun said.
Can Lei Jun confidently shout out the slogan of "benchmarking Apple", what are the technical highlights of the Xiaomi 12 series released this time? The surging news reporter learned that the Xiaomi Mi 12 series is equipped with snapdragon 8 Gen1 chip, using a 69.9mm grip size, to achieve the industry's largest 4500mAh large battery under the same size, equipped with a flagship fast charging combination of 67W wired + 50W wireless + 10W wireless reverse charging.
In order to pursue the feel of the small size flagship, Xiaomi Mi 12 specially made the circuit board into a "sandwich" structure, increasing the cost by 25%; developed the thinnest VC heating board. The cost increased by 22%; at the same time, in order to increase the battery capacity, the new generation of lithium cobalt oxide batteries increased the cost by 14%.
The Xiaomi Mi 12 Pro, which Lei Jun called "how to come from the high-end, how expensive and how to come", uses the self-developed "surging P1" charging management chip, becoming the first mobile phone manufacturer in the industry to have a self-developed 100-watt fast charging chip. At the same time, it also adopts the self-developed intelligent dynamic refresh rate technology, which can dynamically switch between 1Hz and 120Hz instantaneously for different scenarios and different sliding speeds.
"Looking at the Android camp, there is no good enough small size phone for everyone to choose. Xiaomi Mi 12 is to make a small size high-end flagship comparable to the iPhone in the Android system, giving users a better choice. Talking about the original intention of entering the small-size flagship, Lei Jun said.
From the price point of view, the xiaomi 12 released this time has three capacity versions, 8GB +128GB version 3699 yuan, 8GB +256GB version 3999 yuan, 12GB + 256GB version 4399 yuan; the price of Xiaomi 12Pro is 8GB +128GB version is priced at 4699 yuan, 8GB+256GB version is priced at 4999 yuan, and the 12GB+256GB version is priced at 5399 yuan, which is more affordable than the price of iPhone 13.
It is not difficult to benchmark apples
From the perspective of market performance, it is difficult for Xiaomi to surpass Apple and even step by step in the future.
According to Strategy Analytics' newly released third-quarter mobile phone sales, Apple ranked first and Xiaomi ranked second. Analysts said that Xiaomi achieved a substantial increase in mobile phone shipments in the second quarter of this year, but in the third quarter growth stagnated, and the latest quarter of shipment growth was flat.
"Samsung's recovery weakened Xiaomi's growth capacity in Europe in the third quarter, while OPPO's growth momentum in China was strong. Faced with a double whammy from Samsung and OPPO, Xiaomi's 5G smartphone sales growth in the third quarter slowed significantly. Analysts said.
According to Canalys data, Xiaomi ranked third in the third quarter with a global market share of 13.5%, after ranking second in the second quarter at 16.7%. In a conference call after the release of the third quarter earnings report, Xiaomi executives said that Xiaomi's market share in the third quarter has declined, mainly related to the strong performance of the iPhone 13 after the release of the new product.
According to Sainuo data, from January to August this year, the share of high-end smart machines in the Chinese market of more than 5,000 yuan reached 67%. In October, Apple sold 6.5 million iPhones, up 155% year-on-year, and Xiaomi sold 2.8 million units, down 25.8%.
In February last year, Xiaomi released the Xiaomi Mi 10 series flagship machine, announcing that it officially impacted the high-end mobile phone market. Since the beginning of this year, Xiaomi has released high-end smartphones such as Xiaomi 11 Pro, Xiaomi 11 Ultra, and Xiaomi MIX. According to Xiaomi's third-quarter financial report, in the third quarter of 2021, the gross profit of Xiaomi's smartphone business was 6.12 billion yuan, an increase of 53.3% year-on-year; the gross profit margin of the smartphone business was 12.8%, an increase of 4.4% year-on-year.
According to apple's third-quarter financial report, Apple's overall gross profit margin was 42.2%. Among them, the gross profit margin of various hardware products such as iPhone, iPad, and Mac was 34.3%. In contrast, there is still a gap in Xiaomi's gross profit margin.
R&D investment will increase to more than 100 billion
At the press conference, Lei Jun summed up the key words of Xiaomi in 2021 as magnificent, with joys and worries. "The good news is that the mobile phone business ranked second in the world for the first time in the second quarter, and the automotive business was officially launched; the worry is that this year may be the year that has been criticized the most by users."
Recalling this experience, Lei Jun said that it was "very painful." But he also mentioned that Xiaomi's growth relies on various criticisms and opinions of "rice noodles". "Every era has the hopes and expectations of an era, and there are also the anxieties and uneasiness of this era, but no matter what era, people with dreams have a fire in their hearts, as long as they get together, the fire will become more and more prosperous and never extinguished."
On the same day, Lei Jun also announced a new science and technology investment plan: in the next five years, Xiaomi's research and development investment will increase to more than 100 billion, double the original plan. Data show that this year's millet research and development investment of about 13 billion yuan, an annual growth rate of more than 30%. At the beginning of 2020, Xiaomi announced a research and development plan to invest 50 billion yuan in five years.
As of the close of trading on December 28, Xiaomi Group (01810. HK) was trading at HK$18.78, up 0.75%.
(The Paper)