Subversion, reconstruction, and interconnection are the most basic models of current business.
From "born for fever" to "high-end machine battle", Xiaomi took eleven years. For Lei Jun, this long eleven years is a "proof" battle, from the beginning of the Internet to the gradual being surpassed by "juniors", the "Silicon Valley Fire" in Lei Jun's heart has always been burning.
Ten years ago, Lei Jun wanted to be Jobs. Ten years later, Lei Jun wanted to challenge Jobs.
On December 28, 2021, at a press conference, Lei Jun said: "We have decided to officially benchmark Apple in terms of products and experiences, learn from Apple, and surpass Apple step by step in the next period of time." ”
Beyond is everywhere, but the threshold is always extremely high.
In terms of explaining the concept of transcendence, Lei Jun has his own understanding.
He believes that mobile phone sales are the first in the world for three years, which is not easy for Xiaomi, because competitors are very strong, but if you want to surpass these technology giants, surpassing in sales is the first step.
Obviously, Lei Jun's statement has not been recognized by the capital market. It seems that from the very beginning, Xiaomi has been controversial, and this controversy has hovered between the internet and manufacturing.
The identification of a concept produces a world of differences.
Perhaps Lei Jun did not figure out what the difference between Xiaomi and Apple was.
On January 3, Eastern Time, Apple's stock price once exceeded $182.8, and its market value exceeded $3 trillion. As the world's first company with a market capitalization of more than $3 trillion, Apple's strength can only be described as a rich country.
According to statistics, it took Apple two full years to break through from $1 trillion to $2 trillion, but it only took a year and five months to jump from $2 trillion to $3 trillion.
In 2021, Xiaomi's stock price fell by 43% overall, and it still fell by more than 1% after the beginning of the year. From nearly HK$1 trillion to HK$466 billion (US$59.9 billion), the difference between Xiaomi and Apple is about five Tencent, eight Ali, and forty-six Xiaomi.
Duan Yongping once said: "For a business that does not make money, how much turnover is useless." Just like the net worth of not making money is sometimes a burden, such as building a hotel in a deserted place, spending 100 million, losing 5 million yuan per year, replacement costs or 100 million, and now 50 million want to sell, who wants this? ”
Although this example is not appropriate to compare the current millet, the ability to generate net profits and the right to speak in the industrial chain are obviously more meaningful for a technology manufacturing company than the number of surpasses.
According to a set of data from Counterpoint Research two years ago, apple alone took 66% of the profits of the entire smartphone industry, and of the remaining 34% of the cake, Samsung took half (17%), and the remaining 17% of the profits were divided by other mobile phone manufacturers. For Xiaomi and Lei Jun, this is the reality.
Just as Apple overthrew Nokia in the past, I think that in the era of smartphones, it is not very likely to complete the transcendence of Apple. It doesn't matter if the opponent is Samsung, or Xiaomi.
So, is Apple really invincible? Xiaomi has no chance?
The answer, of course, is no.
Lei Jun once said: "I think that being a small flagship requires not only strength and investment, but also the determination and courage to challenge Apple." ”
In the case of a huge gap, courage is greater than reality. On the track of transcendence, the car is heavier than the phone.
In 2021, Lei Jun once sent a voice to the outside world with great emotion, he said: "Xiaomi Automobile will be the last major entrepreneurial project in my life, and I am willing to bet all the accumulated achievements and reputation in my life to fight for Xiaomi Automobile!" ”
Overtaking in corners is Xiaomi's only answer to surpassing Apple.
After announcing the car, Xiaomi also began to make various investments in the industrial chain, including participating in the 10.28 billion yuan B round of financing of power battery manufacturer "Hive Energy" in July last year, and acquiring the self-driving technology company Shendong Technology for $77.37 million in August.
Lei Jun also has his own considerations for car manufacturing, he said: "Xiaomi car manufacturing is not chasing the wind and catching up with the trend, but because intelligent electric vehicles have changed from the 'machinery industry' to the 'information industry', Xiaomi will be eliminated if it does not do it." ”
Fear of eliminating or surpassing Apple.
Capital needs stories, but capital is more about output.
In the first three quarters of last year, Apple's revenue reached $365.817 billion, an increase of 33.26% year-on-year, and the net profit attributable to the mother was $94.680 billion, an increase of 64.92% year-on-year. In contrast, Xiaomi's revenue was 242.734 billion yuan (about $38.2 billion) and its net profit attributable to the mother was 16.854 billion yuan (about $2.65 billion), and Xiaomi did not have any advantage in terms of performance growth.
In summary, the battle for mobile phones is not a battle of quantities. Even if the number exceeds Apple, the significance is not very large after all, because for a mature company, making money is always the most core criterion for the market to measure the value of the enterprise.