Even if you have not used Xiaomi mobile phones, basically have heard of the Xiaomi brand, as a mainland domestic mobile phone brand, Xiaomi's share in the international market is second only to Apple. The rapid development speed makes the Chinese people full of expectations for Xiaomi mobile phones. And Xiaomi represents not only a mobile phone brand, but also shows the powerful power of "made in China" to people around the world.
Just when the Chinese people thought that Xiaomi would continue to deepen its cultivation in the field of mobile phones, lei Jun, one of the founders of Xiaomi, made a decision that shocked the world: to withdraw from the mobile phone field and announce the official entry of new energy vehicles in a high-profile manner.
Everyone knows that for a new energy vehicle, the chip is a soul-like existence. With Xiaomi's recent investment in a smart car chip company, we can see Xiaomi's determination in car manufacturing. So where has Xiaomi's car-making "core" road gone? Let's take a look.
First, Xiaomi car?
Even Lei Jun, one of the founders of Xiaomi, himself did not expect that Xiaomi mobile phones could be as successful as they are today. Remember when the Xiaomi brand was first established in 2010, including Lei Jun, there were only 13 employees. After 12 years of struggle, Xiaomi mobile phone has not only become the "light of domestic products" after Apple's mobile phone in market share, excellent performance and high cost performance, but also loved by people around the world.
Seeing this, I believe everyone has such a question: Why can Xiaomi be so successful? The main reasons are several:
First, in 2010, other domestic smart phone brands have not really risen, the domestic market is still in a blank period, and the market development potential is huge. Xiaomi mobile phones "turned out" at this time, and naturally have a high degree of attention.
Second, Xiaomi's fans have a strong sense of economy. When Xiaomi mobile phones were first established, in order to improve the stickiness of users, xiaomi brands have set up a special fan management department. Xiaomi's fans, named "Rice Noodles", successfully managed "Rice Noodles" and increased the brand awareness of Xiaomi mobile phones through word of mouth.
Third, thanks to the core technology of Xiaomi mobile phone continuous innovation. Although sales have gradually increased, Xiaomi mobile phones have not stopped at the success achieved in front of them. The annual investment in technology research and development is as high as hundreds of millions of yuan, and it is still moving forward with the concept of "superior performance + high cost performance".
Based on the above three reasons, it is not surprising that the Xiaomi mobile phone brand can be so successful. And just when the development of Xiaomi mobile phones is in full swing, both performance and market share are showing an upward trend, Lei Jun, one of the founders of Xiaomi, actually made a decision that surprised everyone.
Lei Jun decided to build a car, which is still a new energy vehicle. The opportunity for Lei Jun to decide to build a car is that he believes that the domestic mobile phone market has reached a bottleneck period and the development space is limited. In addition, new energy is today's outlet, "at this time do not enter the game, but when to stay."
Second, into the intelligent vehicle chip company
Shortly after Lei Jun withdrew from Xiaomi's mobile phone, Lei Jun founded "Xiaomi Car". In order to quickly understand the current situation of new energy vehicles, Lei Jun also "consulted" his friend He Xiaopeng for many years. He Xiaopeng was the founder of UC Browser, and after being acquired by Jack Ma's Alibaba, He Xiaopeng became a subordinate of Jack Ma. Xiaopeng, who is not willing to be behind others, cashed out 30 billion yuan to create Xiaopeng Automobile.
After many exchanges with He Xiaopeng, Lei Jun understood a truth, the "only shortcut" to make Xiaomi cars grow rapidly is to "buy cores". What does this mean? In a new energy vehicle, the most important component is the chip in addition to the battery, and the two are indispensable. And new energy vehicles are like human bodies, and chips exist like "hearts".
You can imagine how important the chip, which is the central part of the soul, is. Since Xiaomi does not yet have the technology to independently develop new energy vehicle chips, the only choice is to invest in or invest in other powerful car chip companies.
After Xiaomi Automobile invested in 9 smart chip companies, Xiaomi Auto recently decided to invest in a smart car chip company, which is called "Smart Integration" and the founder is named Liu Wenjun. He studied in the United States, worked for Philips for six years, was successful in his first venture in Silicon Valley, joined Huawei's Chip Lab as the chief multimedia scientist, and founded Kangzhi Integration after returning to China.
Lei Jun chose to invest in Kangzhi Integration Company, not only because of the company's founder Liu Wenjun's eye-catching resume, but also because of the recognition of the strength of the company's main smart in-vehicle chip business sector. At the same time as entering the shares, Lei Jun hopes that Kangzhi Integration can help Xiaomi Automobile seize the market share of new energy vehicles as soon as possible.
Third, what step does the car "core" go to
In addition to the 9 companies previously invested by Xiaomi Auto mentioned above, and the recently invested in Kangzhi Integrated Intelligent Automotive Chip Company, Xiaomi Auto has successfully invested in a total of 10 companies related to new energy vehicle chips.
In addition to reflecting the "core" of Xiaomi Automobile and the determination of Xiaomi Automobile to do a big cause in the field of new energy vehicles, this data also shows that Xiaomi Automobile has many difficulties on the road of building "cores".
You can imagine, if these companies invested in Xiaomi Auto, the intelligent in-vehicle chips developed and produced by them can meet the standards of Xiaomi cars, will Xiaomi cars still have such frequent investment moves as today? It is precisely because the smart in-vehicle chip chips of these companies have not met the expectations of Xiaomi Automobile, Xiaomi Automobile will choose to continue to invest/invest in other new companies.
In fact, not only new energy vehicles lack "core", global auto brand owners have different degrees of lack of "core" situation. A "core" is difficult to find has become a major problem that the entire international automobile market needs to face.
That is to say, not only Xiaomi Cars, all car brands are waiting for the rise of smart in-vehicle chip companies, and they are also looking forward to the fact that these companies can one day develop chips with better performance than other companies. The difference is that in the process of waiting, xiaomi cars with strong funds choose to "cast a wide net and invest more", and maybe a company that has once invested in the stock will become a winner!
epilogue
Unexpectedly, the lack of "core" in 2021 will continue to 2022, especially in today's new energy vehicle development, the lack of "core" is more serious. Look at Xiaomi Automobile, announcing that it has only been in the field of new energy vehicles for a few short years, and has already invested in a number of chip technology companies, and recently invested in the development momentum of Kangzhi Integrated Intelligent Vehicle Chip Company.
Although we have no way of knowing which step of Xiaomi's car-making "core" road is carried out, one thing we can be sure of is that Xiaomi's new road is full of difficulties. Do you think it's right?