Unexpected popularity due to misunderstanding: Xiaomi YU7 doesn't represent technological equality, but aesthetic equality.

Some people only need three minutes to fall from grace and then regain their glory. Their existence serves as the most direct window for others to understand the disparities in the world. Lei Jun is such a chosen one.

On the day of the Xiaomi press conference, one can imagine the crazy atmosphere at the Beijing Xiaomi Automobile headquarters. The continuously soaring order data made all the efforts of competitors seem insignificant. The moment the data was reported to Lei Jun, his expression froze at the intersection of joy and worry.

200,000 large deposits in 3 minutes and 289,000 orders in 1 hour - the sales data of the YU7 created a miracle in the global automotive industry history. At this moment, the public opinion storm caused by the Xiaomi automobile accident two months ago officially dissipated. The voices that once said Lei Jun had fallen from grace have now turned into exclamations and praises.

Despite the ecstasy, as the man who "owes the most cars" on the planet, Lei Jun may still be troubled. At the Xiaomi factory 40 kilometers away, the 9,100 - ton integrated die - casting machine is running day and night, but it still can't hide a cold reality: some users have to wait until the end of 2026 to pick up their cars.

The Delivery Dilemma Behind the Popularity

For Xiaomi Automobile, the delivery dilemma has a long - standing history. After the release of the previous model, the SU7, "owing cars" has become the norm. Despite the continuous voices of doubt and challenges, the SU7, with its advantages in appearance and in - car system, made many consumers willing to place orders for the "future product". In the secondary market, the performance of this model was even comparable to that of traditional luxury cars.

Many interpretations attribute the popularity of Xiaomi's two car models to the parameters and the concept of "technological equality". Judging from the side - by - side comparison with Tesla at the press conference, this statement seems reasonable. For example, the YU7 is priced at 253,500 yuan. It is a mid - to - large - sized pure - electric SUV. The whole series is standard - equipped with an 800V high - voltage platform and a lidar. The rear - wheel - drive version has a CLTC range of 835 kilometers, and the four - wheel - drive version can accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in only 3.23 seconds. When compared with the updated version of the Tesla Model Y in the same price range, which is priced at 263,500 yuan, the advantages of the YU7 are obvious, and it's clear how the market will choose.

However, upon closer consideration, this logic is hard to hold up. There are many models on the market with high - end configurations and low prices, but only Xiaomi can trigger a wave of orders. The real reason is probably something that even car owners are reluctant to mention. At present, the real overwhelming advantage of Xiaomi cars lies in their exterior design.

The first model looks similar to a million - level Porsche, and the second model has similarities with multi - million - level Ferraris and Aston Martins. Such outstanding appearances have driven many consumers who have a dream of owning a luxury car but have limited budgets into a frenzy. It's more like "aesthetic equality" than "technological equality".

On Weibo, a Xiaomi car owner retorted to the skeptical voices: "You can question Xiaomi's technology and space, but it's hard to find fault with its appearance. That's enough for me." This is probably the voice of hundreds of thousands of Xiaomi car owners.

The quarrels related to Xiaomi on social media have always been highly popular. Some netizens sarcastically said: "The Ferrari SUV has a long front because it needs to install a V12 engine, while Xiaomi lengthened the front of the YU7 because that's how Ferrari designed it."

Xiaomi fans believe that in addition to aesthetic considerations, the long front provides a longer crumple zone for collisions and a larger front trunk, which is a good design. Then, some netizens questioned that this design takes up the interior space and the trunk space. The fierce debate about Xiaomi goes on and on, and it's hard to tell who will win. But this is part of Xiaomi's huge traffic and topics, and the market and orders are on Xiaomi's side.

The capital market quickly responded to this feast: Xiaomi's US ADR rose by more than 10% in a single day, and its market value increased by HK$50 billion. In sharp contrast, the stock prices of competitors tumbled, and tens of billions of market value evaporated instantly.

There are still undercurrents behind the market frenzy. The data shown in the Xiaomi Automobile App is worrying: the delivery cycle of the standard version of the YU7 is as long as 53 - 56 weeks, and even the top - of - the - line Max version has to wait for 33 - 36 weeks. More seriously, the backlog of more than 100,000 orders for the SU7 has not been cleared, and the YU7 has added nearly 290,000 new orders. The cumulative number of orders to be delivered is close to 500,000.

Judging from the relevant documents in Beijing Yizhuang, Xiaomi has been very aggressive in building factories and expanding production capacity, but it's still far from enough. The monthly production capacity limit of the first - phase factory is only 25,000 - 30,000 units, and it is currently operating at full capacity. After the second - phase factory is put into operation, the initial monthly production capacity is insufficient, and it can only catch up with the first - phase factory with all - out efforts later. The third - phase factory is still in the planning stage, and it may not be put into production until 2026 at the earliest.

Calculated based on the current production capacity, it will take a year and a half to clear the existing orders. The resilience of the supply chain is another more worrying point - any problem with any of the dozens of core suppliers will affect the release of production capacity.

"Owing cars" has become a label for Xiaomi. On social media, jokes like "Lei Jun owes a lot of cars" and "YU7 means overdue" have made it onto the hot - search list. Xiaomi fans joked helplessly: "There are too many rich people, and Mr. Lei can't pay off the car debts." Scalpers smelled the business opportunity, and the resale fee on second - hand platforms has been hyped up to 2,000 - 10,000 yuan. Even so, one still has to wait for more than half a year.

On the bright side, the large number of large deposits for Xiaomi cars has an obvious effect of occupying the market. It has locked in a large number of consumers in this price range. In the high - value and low - frequency consumption field, pre - occupying a large enough user base is equivalent to cutting off the food supply of competitors. This is probably an important reason why competitors keep challenging Xiaomi. On the negative side, the "order backlog" is a real debt, and consumers' patience is much less than their enthusiasm.

The Feuds and the New Ecological Situation

After the powerful debut of the Xiaomi Yu7, in addition to Tesla, Xiaomi's old rival, Huawei, is probably feeling the most pressure. After a decade of competition in the mobile phone market, Huawei entered the automotive circle before Xiaomi and achieved remarkable results. Now, in the face of Xiaomi's orders, the achievements of Huawei's Hongmeng Zhixing seem insignificant.

Before the Yu7 press conference, Yu Chengdong pointed out that the quality of some cars cannot match their sales volume. Although he didn't name names, many people speculated that he was referring to Xiaomi. Such verbal battles were nothing new in the mobile phone circle in the past decade, but now the battlefield has shifted to the automotive circle.

In 2014, when Xiaomi was at its peak, Lei Jun and Yu Chengdong had continuous debates about user attributes, sales volume, etc. In the following years, the focus of competition shifted to the patent battlefield, and both sides took turns attacking and defending. It's unknown whether the competition in the automotive circle in the future will repeat the script of that year.

At present, Xiaomi seems to have an obvious advantage in the automotive circle. In the pure - electric field that Huawei has always struggled to break into, Xiaomi has not only established a foothold but also achieved great popularity in two rounds. In the future, as environmental protection requirements become stricter and the trend of traffic restrictions becomes more obvious, there may not be much time left for manufacturers mainly focusing on range - extended vehicles. However, the once - famous Ask Me M7 will be redesigned, which may be the deciding factor in this round of the competition between Huawei and Xiaomi.

When it comes to other competitors, Xiaomi seems to be much more calm. Based on years of experience in the mobile phone ecosystem, Xiaomi has obvious advantages.

Facing the delivery dilemma, Xiaomi has shown its moat - the "All - in - One Ecosystem of People, Cars, and Homes" strategy. When the user says "Home Mode", the YU7 will automatically plan the route, turn off the office air - conditioner, and start the home sweeping robot. This in - depth interconnection ability that integrates more than 200 Mi Home devices has a crushing effect on other manufacturers.

In the construction of the charging network, Xiaomi has deployed liquid - cooled super - charging stations and plans to achieve "full coverage of county - level cities" by the end of 2026. Although it's not the first in the market, it shows Xiaomi's ambition.

Another huge hidden worry for Xiaomi cars is the large number of users and the relatively single product. From a probabilistic perspective, even with a low accident rate, the absolute number of accidents may be large due to the high number of vehicles in use. Once an accident or negative public opinion occurs, it is likely to be magnified and become the target of public criticism.

The Industry Shuffle and the Reconstruction of the New Order

Anyway, the emergence of Xiaomi has completely changed the thinking mode in the automotive circle. When Xiaomi was popular for the first time, the public may have thought it was a fluke, but the second - time popularity proves that Xiaomi's methodology is very effective.

The shockwave caused by the YU7 is creating crazy anxiety for car manufacturers. On social media, the controversial remarks of traditional car - company executives reflect the collective anxiety of traditional car manufacturers. A more profound impact is that the debate about whether technology or aesthetics should be the top priority is coming to an end. For a long time in the past, the consensus among car manufacturers was that technology determines everything. However, the market's reaction to the YU7 tells them that appearance determines everything.

This is not a major discovery but a re - confirmation of the business past. More than 30 years ago, when Steve Jobs was being interviewed, he admitted that in business success or failure, taste is the decisive factor. Some people now think that Lei Jun has transformed from "Lei Bus" to "Lei Musk", but from this point of view, Lei Jun is more like a follower of Steve Jobs.

At this moment, in the sales control background of Xiaomi Automobile in Beijing, the number of YU7 orders is still rising. It's hard to imagine that the miracle in the mobile phone industry a decade ago is being repeated in the automotive field. Xiaomi, the leader, is advancing rapidly amidst the controversy. The speed beyond imagination also means that the process of many car manufacturers collapsing and exiting the market will be greatly accelerated.

In the past decade, Lei Jun has witnessed the rise and fall of industry peers, from being accused of "hunger marketing" to being joked about the production - capacity gap. Now, Xiaomi Automobile's ecological ambition and business feuds are like the double helix of Chinese technology companies: learning in confrontation and evolving in competition.

The die - casting machine at the Beijing Yizhuang factory is still roaring, but outside the wall of the third - phase factory, on the construction site with exposed yellow soil, the rhythm of the pile driver determines whether Xiaomi can turn this order frenzy into a lasting victory. The delivery queue has extended to the end of 2026, and the capital market's expectation of a trillion - dollar valuation for Xiaomi won't wait for long.

As for the originality of the appearance, Lei Jun probably doesn't need to worry too much. A well - known investor commented on the Internet: "The ancient Indians invented the world - wide - used numbers, and now they are called Arabic numbers. If the product sells well enough, the so - called Porsche aesthetics and French aesthetics will eventually evolve into Lei - style aesthetics. No one remembers the Xerox Laboratory; they only remember Steve Jobs and Bill Gates. This is the cruelty and absurdity of the world."

This article is from the WeChat official account "Internet Review". Author: Internet Review Team. Republished by 36Kr with permission.