Xiaomi: Fully benchmark against the iPhone, offer more value without increasing the price and go head-to-head until the end.

Lei Jun's annual speech was staged again. This speech was still divided into two halves. The first half was the speech session, and the second half was the Xiaomi Autumn New Product Launch Event.

Although the session setup seems familiar, there are still some differences: ① The release time of Xiaomi's new phones was advanced by more than a month compared to last year; ② Last year, the release of Xiaomi 15 was mainly presented by Mr. Lu, while this time, Lei Jun introduced it personally.

The recorded video of Lei Jun's annual speech this time can be watched on the Changqiao App (add the assistant's WeChat, dolphinR124, to learn how to view it), which also covers the first half of the speech session. Dolphin Jun will mainly focus on the second half of the launch event content, such as the new Xiaomi phones.

I. Key Content of the Xiaomi Autumn Launch Event

Overall, this Xiaomi autumn launch event mainly revolved around three aspects: Xiaomi phones, IoT products, and the automotive business.

1.1 Xiaomi Phones: The Focus of This Launch Event

The Xiaomi digital series has always been representative of Xiaomi's high - end flagship models. With the weakening impact of national subsidies and the "cost - effectiveness" strategy of the basic version of iPhone 17, Lei Jun personally presented the release session of the Xiaomi 17 series this time.

From the launch event of the new Xiaomi 17 series, it can be seen that Xiaomi has set Apple as its main competitor and directly targeted its new products at Apple's. Xiaomi skipped the number 16 for its flagship phone and named the new series Xiaomi 17 (last year was Xiaomi 15). This "number change" was based on iPhone 17 and was more targeted.

On the one hand, Xiaomi advanced the phone launch time significantly, following the release time of new iPhones. It should be noted that the release times of Xiaomi 11 - 13 were all in December, and those of Xiaomi 14 - 15 were at the end of October. This time, the launch event was advanced to the end of September (close to the mid - to - early September release time of new iPhones).

On the other hand, the Xiaomi 17 series will also be divided into a basic version, a Pro version, and a Pro Max version. The names of these three versions are also completely in line with the iPhone 17 series. In addition, during the launch event, Xiaomi compared the performance of its phones with that of iPhones in various aspects (processor performance, charging speed, etc.).

Before this launch event, Lei Jun had already hyped on Weibo that "the Xiaomi 17 standard version has been significantly upgraded without a price increase; the positioning of the Xiaomi 17 Pro and Xiaomi 17 Pro Max will continue to move up". From the situation of this launch event, it conforms to such a description.

If we compare the Xiaomi 17 series, the Xiaomi 15 series, and the iPhone 17, we can find:

① The Xiaomi 17 basic version: It is truly "more features without a price increase". The product has been upgraded in terms of the processor, screen quality, imaging system, battery capacity, etc., but the starting price remains at 4,499 yuan.

② The Xiaomi 17 Pro version: The main change is the addition of a "Magic Sharing Rear Screen", which can serve as a second screen. In addition, the processor, imaging system, and battery have also been upgraded. Compared with the starting price of the 15 Pro series last year, the starting price has decreased by 300 yuan.

③ The Xiaomi 17 Pro Max version: A newly added model. The screen size has been increased to 6.9 inches, making it the top - of - the - line model in the 17 series, with the same screen size as the iPhone 17 Pro Max. The starting price is 5,999 yuan (the iPhone 17 Pro Max is 9,999 yuan), which is the same as the price of the iPhone 17 basic version.

The addition of the Pro Max model this time has raised the price range of the Xiaomi digital series from 4,499 - 5,299 yuan to 4,499 - 5,999 yuan.

1.2 IoT Products: New Additions to the "Family Bucket"

In addition to the focus on Xiaomi phones, this Xiaomi launch event also brought an IoT "family bucket", including the Xiaomi Pad 8 series, the Xiaomi TV S Pro Mini LED 2026, the Mijia Refrigerator Pro Micro - Fresh French 560L, the Mijia Three - Zone Washing Machine Pro, the Xiaomi Router BE10000 Pro, the Xiaomi Sound 2 Max, the Xiaomi Portable Bluetooth Speaker, etc.

Driven by national subsidy policies, Xiaomi's IoT business has witnessed rapid growth since the fourth quarter of last year. However, the recent tightening or reduction of national subsidies in some regions has affected the demand in the IoT market to a certain extent. The release of new IoT products is also expected to boost the high - growth of the IoT business again.

1.3 Automotive Business: Personalized Customization

Before and after the release of the YU7, Xiaomi had held several communication meetings. The focus of this autumn launch event was on new phone products. Regarding the automotive business, no new products were released this time. Instead, a Xiaomi customization service was launched.

Customized Colors: In addition to the 9 colors launched initially for the Xiaomi YU7, 5 new colors were added this time: Amethyst, Racing Red, Twilight Rose, Matte Flowing Gold Powder, and Bud Yellow. The company also partnered with two global top - tier paint suppliers, BASF and PPG, with the goal of designing 100 colors within 3 years.

Customized Interiors: The Xiaomi customization service will also bring two customized interiors, namely the two - color interiors of Gentian Blue + Black - Blue and Midnight Black + Fluorescent Yellow. There are also various customized details, such as customized stitching, customized welcome lights, customized colored seat belts, etc. And there are also process details, such as embroidered logos, exclusive nameplates on the door panels, etc.

Other Customizations: 21 - inch five - spoke double - layer forged wheels, calipers, ceramic car logos, etc.

The customization service will be in trial operation for one year, with a maximum of 40 customized cars per month, starting from the Xiaomi YU7 Max and Xiaomi SU7 Ultra.

II. Views on Xiaomi after the Launch Event

2.1 How is Xiaomi's current phone business performing?

Based on the content of this Xiaomi launch event, the focus of this event was on Xiaomi phones. From the release of the new Xiaomi 17 series, we can see:

a) Xiaomi faces pressure in the domestic market: Judging from the change in Xiaomi's phone market share, the market share has increased significantly since the second half of last year. Since the prices of Xiaomi phones basically fall within the national subsidy price range, the effect driven by national subsidy policies is obvious. However, as the effect of national subsidies weakens, Xiaomi's market share in the domestic market has declined again.

b) The "more features without a price increase" strategy of the iPhone 17 has achieved good results: The basic version of the iPhone 17 released this time has increased the storage to 256G while keeping the price at 5,999 yuan (last year, the release price of the iPhone 16 with 256G was 6,999 yuan, a direct reduction of 1,000 yuan). If combined with the national subsidy policy, the actual price of the iPhone 17 basic version will reach 5,499 yuan, which is close to the price range of mid - to - high - end Android phones.

Through the "profit - sharing" behavior of the new iPhone products, Apple hopes to attract relatively high - value customers from Android manufacturers such as Xiaomi, which has also promoted the earlier release of Xiaomi's new products to some extent.

c) Xiaomi's automotive business follows Tesla's successful experience: Tesla was once the dominant player in the new energy vehicle market. Xiaomi's SU7 was benchmarked against the Model 3, and the YU7 was benchmarked against the Model Y, both achieving success . Similarly, Apple's iPhone is also a leading brand in the smartphone market.

Learning from the successful experience of the automotive business, Xiaomi also released three products, the basic version, the Pro version, and the Pro Max version, to benchmark against the iPhone this time, and priced the top - of - the - line flagship Pro Max at the same level as the iPhone basic version. At the same price, the Xiaomi 17 Pro Max offers higher - end configurations to face the downward "competition" from the basic version of the Apple iPhone 17.

It is worth noting that the prices of the Xiaomi 17 series are all set within 6,000 yuan, which meet the requirements of the national subsidy policy.

d) Self - developed chips: Xiaomi once released the Xuanjie O1 chip, which was installed in the Xiaomi 15SP. Before the launch event, the market also expected Xiaomi to launch new chip products, but it didn't. This time, the entire Xiaomi 17 series is equipped with the fifth - generation Snapdragon 8 Extreme Edition, still using Qualcomm's processors, which indicates that there is still much room for growth in Xiaomi's self - developed chips.

Considering the situation of Xiaomi's new phone products, the release before Double Eleven will benefit from the promotion season to a certain extent. However, it is worth noting that there are not many highlights in the new Xiaomi 17 series products, and the "profit - sharing" in terms of price is not very obvious.

2.2 Progress of Xiaomi's automotive business and production capacity

Another major concern for Xiaomi is the automotive business. Although no new products were launched at this launch event, only a customization service was introduced. Judging from the recent monthly delivery volume, the production ramp - up of Xiaomi's second - phase automotive factory has been relatively smooth.

With the release of the YU7 and the mass production of the second - phase factory, the sales volume of the Xiaomi YU7 reached 16,500 units in August, gradually approaching the monthly sales volume of the SU7. The total monthly sales volume of the two has reached 36,400 units.

Based on the monthly sales ramp - up of the SU7 and the first - phase factory before, Dolphin Jun estimates that the monthly production capacity of Xiaomi's second - phase automotive factory reached more than 2,000 units in July and more than 8,000 units in August. The monthly ramp - up increment from July to August reached more than 5,000 units, which is quite a good ramp - up speed.

On the basis of the smooth ramp - up of the second - phase factory, Dolphin Jun expects that Xiaomi's automotive delivery volume in 2025 is expected to exceed 400,000 units, staying in short supply throughout the year. As for the subsequent operation of the third - phase factory, it mainly depends on the specific progress of the company's next car model.

This article is from the WeChat official account "Haitun Touyan" (ID: haituntouyan), author: Dolphin Jun. Republished by 36Kr with authorization.