Dialogue with Lei Jun: Xiaomi Abandoned the Idea of Quick Victory Long Ago

“There are often intense and heated debates within Xiaomi, even over a single issue for a whole year. But this way, the boss is less likely to make mistakes.” On the evening of September 25th, Lei Jun, the chairman of Xiaomi, said in an interview with media such as China Entrepreneur.

At 7 p.m. on September 25th, Lei Jun, the CEO of Xiaomi, delivered his sixth annual speech with the theme of Change. Before the press conference, Lei Jun posted a photo on Weibo of himself wearing a T-shirt with the words “It's the age to take risks”. Lei Jun took time during the speech to say that the inspiration for this slogan came from Chen Nian, the CEO of Vancl, who is a 28-year friend of his and is embarking on a second entrepreneurial journey and transitioning to live - streaming e - commerce. When Lei Jun mentioned this, Chen Nian, who was live - streaming on Douyin at the time, couldn't help but cover his face and cry.

Source: Respondent

In this year's speech, Lei Jun shared the stories behind Xiaomi's Xuanjie chip and its foray into the automotive industry. Since his first speech in 2020, Lei Jun's annual speeches have not only been a sharing of his personal thoughts but also a window to observe the challenges and transformation strategies that Xiaomi faces at specific stages of development.

Last year, with the theme of Courage, Lei Jun told an inspiring and heroic story about Xiaomi's entry into the automotive industry. However, this year, there have been many critical voices about Xiaomi scrolling in the live - streaming comments on various platforms.

For both Xiaomi and Lei Jun, 2025 is a year filled with both achievements and challenges.

In terms of numbers, Xiaomi has set various records: its financial reports and market value have been impressive. The sales of its first SUV, the Xiaomi YU7, have been strong since its launch: over 200,000 pre - orders were placed in just 3 minutes, and the locked orders exceeded 240,000 within 18 hours. In May this year, Xiaomi released its first self - developed 3nm mobile SoC chip, the “Xuanjie O1”, becoming the fourth company in the world with such capability.

However, Xiaomi's brand image has also been shaken due to unexpected events. In March this year, a traffic accident involving a Xiaomi SU7 in Anhui resulted in the tragic deaths of three passengers, which led to widespread industry concern about the safety of assisted driving systems. Subsequently, owners of the Xiaomi SU7 Ultra launched a rights protection campaign on various social platforms regarding the front hood with a punched hole.

Recently, Xiaomi recalled 117,000 units of the Xiaomi SU7. The Product Recall Technology Center of the State Administration for Market Regulation stated that in some cases when the L2 high - speed navigation assisted driving function is activated for some vehicles within the scope of this recall, the recognition, warning, or handling of extremely special scenarios may be insufficient. If the driver does not intervene in time, it may increase the risk of collision, posing a safety hazard.

Although Lei Jun did not give a clear response to this, his review in the speech of Xiaomi's development over the past five years, where he candidly shared his experiences of facing anxiety and difficult times and eventually “turning things around”, undoubtedly demonstrates his belief that Xiaomi can gain public trust through technological growth and transformation.

Photography: Zhao Dongshan

In an interview after the event, Lei Jun said: Xiaomi is determined to transform from an internet company to a new battlefield of intelligent manufacturing and become a hardcore technology company. “A hardcore technology company is different from an internet company. The internet is driven by opportunities, while a technology company is driven by a mission.”

For this reason, in 2020, Xiaomi set a plan to invest 100 billion yuan in technology over five years. Standing at the crossroads of 2025, Xiaomi plans to invest 200 billion yuan in R & D in the next five years.

Lei Jun has also mentioned many times that there are still many misunderstandings and stereotypes about Xiaomi among the public.

Not long ago, Xiaomi skipped the “16” naming and directly targeted the iPhone 17 in terms of the generation, which sparked a heated online discussion. “Today, everyone needs to re - evaluate Xiaomi phones. Compared with the entire iPhone 17 series, Xiaomi phones have surpassed them in many aspects,” Lei Jun said in the interview.

Currently, achieving high - end positioning, benchmarking against, and even surpassing Apple remains a crucial battle for Xiaomi's survival.

China Entrepreneur statistics show that in his 2021 speech, Lei Jun mentioned the word “high - end” 31 times, 22 times in 2022, and as many as 46 times in 2023. He also mentioned the iPhone and Apple 22 times.

During the process of exploring high - end positioning in the past five years, Lei Jun said that Xiaomi has gradually developed a methodology for high - end development. “We have three leading factors: technological leadership, cognitive leadership, and aesthetic leadership. We organize discussions every quarter to evaluate our achievements, difficulties, and mistakes in the process of high - end development.”

However, surpassing Apple is still a “long and painful” marathon.

“We still need to learn from Apple wholeheartedly and do every detail well step by step. Apple is perfect in every aspect and has put a lot of effort into every field. Currently, we may first find 10 areas to make breakthroughs, then 20 areas, and gradually cover more aspects,” Lei Jun said.

In terms of the most concerned topic of car manufacturing, Lei Jun revealed that over 40,000 units of the Xiaomi YU7 have been delivered. He also emphasized again Xiaomi's original intention of benchmarking against Tesla and Porsche to build the world's strongest pure - electric performance car.

However, production capacity remains the biggest pain point for Xiaomi's car manufacturing. The increasing negative comments about Xiaomi on the internet recently also mean that as time goes by, Xiaomi has bid farewell to the novice protection period.

Lei Jun said: Xiaomi still has a long way to go to meet people's needs and expectations. “I told my colleagues that high standards and strict requirements are good. We shouldn't always think of ourselves as newbies in the automotive industry. We are rapidly improving our production efficiency.”

The following is the transcript of the interview with Lei Jun by media such as China Entrepreneur:

On the competition with Apple: Benchmarking against Apple and surpassing it

Question: Xiaomi skipped from 16 to 17, which sparked a lot of discussion. You said that Xiaomi wants to comprehensively benchmark against the iPhone. How do you interpret this statement and this renaming?

Lei Jun: I was quite surprised by the public opinion caused by changing the name from Xiaomi 16 to Xiaomi 17. After 15 years of making phones, there are still many people with some stereotyped impressions of Xiaomi, and their views are quite stubborn. Today, everyone needs to re - evaluate Xiaomi phones. I think the product strength of this generation of Xiaomi phones has achieved a generational upgrade. Compared with the entire iPhone 17 series, Xiaomi phones have surpassed them in many aspects.

Five years ago, when we proposed to benchmark against Apple, the first thing was to have the courage to aim at the world's number one. Only by benchmarking can you gradually get closer and eventually lead. In terms of battery technology, screen technology, including heat dissipation, we started using VC vapor chambers five years ago. Today, our sensors, periscope lenses, and many calculations, including spatial stacking, all have a lot of innovations.

Source: Respondent

I hope that through this renaming, people can re - evaluate Xiaomi phones and see our determination to challenge the world's number one.

Question: In the long run, how do you think the competition between Xiaomi, domestic phone manufacturers, and the iPhone will develop?

Lei Jun: Apple is a very great company that every company should learn from. I think the iPhone 17 series has sold very well this time, and people on the internet say that “Apple has really stepped up its game”. They have made great progress compared to previous models. However, to be honest, Xiaomi 17 leads in many technological fields, which is why we have the confidence to comprehensively benchmark against Apple.

The competition between us and Apple may still be a long and painful process. We still need to learn from Apple wholeheartedly and do every detail well step by step. Apple is perfect in every aspect and has put a lot of effort into every field.

Currently, we may first find 10 areas to make breakthroughs, then 20 areas, and gradually cover more aspects. When we talk about comprehensive benchmarking, it's not just about benchmarking the main configurations and parameters. We also need to benchmark and even surpass Apple in terms of technological leadership and user experience.

On improving car production capacity

Question: What are Xiaomi's plans for improving car production capacity? To what extent can the orders in the fourth quarter of this year be fulfilled?

Lei Jun: The automation rate of Xiaomi's car factory has always been very high. At the same time, we are constantly upgrading the technology, improving efficiency, and adjusting work schedules. In two months and 20 days, we have delivered over 40,000 units of the YU7. Of course, there is still a huge gap compared to the needs of potential car owners, but we will continue to work hard to improve.

As of now, Xiaomi has been in the automotive industry for less than a year and a half. We delivered our first car on April 3rd last year. I think we've done a good job, but there is still a long way to go to meet people's needs and expectations.

I told my colleagues that high standards and strict requirements are good. We shouldn't always think of ourselves as newbies in the automotive industry. Here, I'd like to explain and clarify that we are rapidly improving our production efficiency.

Question: After the release of Xiaomi cars, the market and users have given very enthusiastic feedback, but there have also been some doubts. How do you view this?

Lei Jun: After the release of Xiaomi cars, it has become one of the most badly slandered brands on the internet. We fully support the joint action of six ministries to crack down on online trolls and negative public relations. We believe that the entire automotive industry needs a clean and healthy environment to develop sustainably.

On high - end development: It still takes time to learn step by step

Question: Xiaomi has changed a lot in the past five years. What's the biggest change in you?

Lei Jun: When Xiaomi was founded 15 years ago, our mission was to insist on making high - quality products that are touching and affordable, enabling everyone in the world to enjoy a better life brought by technology. 15 years ago, when I entered the manufacturing industry, I wanted to use internet technology and methods to promote the popularization of technology.

Five years ago, we found that smartphones had become popular, and the era of scarcity was over. We entered a stage of overcapacity and a desire for further upgrades. So, after reflection, we firmly proposed a high - end development strategy and comprehensively benchmarked against Apple, hoping to better meet users' needs.

In fact, in the past five years, we have put a lot of effort into the high - end development of our phones and gained a lot of experience through trial and error.

When making cars, we firmly decided to focus on high - end models. From the second - quarter financial report we released this year, you can see that the average tax - included price of Xiaomi cars is 289,000 yuan, which is similar to that of BBA cars.

So, now Xiaomi cars have entered the high - end market. The Xiaomi SU7 Ultra, which costs five or six hundred thousand yuan, has sold very well. I am becoming more and more convinced that as long as we invest in technology research and development, we have the opportunity to fully achieve high - end development. After gaining experience in phones and cars, we are now promoting high - end development across all product categories.

Question: What's the biggest challenge Xiaomi faced during the high - end development process?

Lei Jun: Looking back on the past five or six years, the biggest pressure Xiaomi faced in high - end development was in 2022. Affected by the global economic environment and geopolitics, our performance declined by 15%, and it declined by another 3% in 2023. For a company as large as ours, the pressure was huge.

We were also very nervous when we first started high - end development. We didn't expect that in the first year, we would exceed expectations. People thought high - end development was easy, but then we ran into problems and gradually made our way to where we are today. So, it's a tortuous process.

Question: During the high - end development process, the core target group of Xiaomi has also changed. What efforts has Xiaomi made for this?

Lei Jun: Five or six years ago, Xiaomi was a brand more popular among men. But now, nearly half of the users of Xiaomi cars are women, and the user structure has changed.

During the process of exploring high - end development in the past five years, we have gradually developed a methodology for high - end development. We have three leading factors: technological leadership, cognitive leadership, and aesthetic leadership. We organize discussions every quarter to evaluate our achievements, difficulties, and mistakes in the process of high - end development. This high - end development process is a step - by - step journey.

On the automotive industry: Many car manufacturers are learning from Li Auto

Question: You once said that Chinese cars are leading in the high - end automotive market. What role does Xiaomi play in it?

Lei Jun: First, in terms of chassis technology, driving control, and performance, Xiaomi learns from traditional luxury cars and competes with Porsche. For over a hundred years, all high - end cars have been tested on the Nürburgring track. Xiaomi is the first company to treat the Nürburgring as its home ground and seriously improve the chassis and driving control of its cars.

Xiaomi YU7. Source: Respondent

Many people ask why the car needs to be so fast. This is the basic skill of making a car. Only under such high - speed and extreme conditions can a car be well - made. For a hundred years, all car manufacturers have done it this way. Chinese car manufacturers have just started doing this, so I believe that under Xiaomi's leadership, more and more cars will pay attention to driving control, chassis, and the mechanical quality of the car.

Second, the full ecosystem of people, cars, and homes, including open cooperation in ecological interconnection, is also something new that Xiaomi brings to the market. In addition, we attach great importance to design. Xiaomi has now developed dozens of car paints and plans to develop 100 more in three years. Why do