Huawei is not the Android of the automotive world, and NIO wants to be the real Apple.

On May 27th, what's interesting in the Chinese automotive industry isn't the launch of two new cars.

It's the presentation of two completely different answers to car - building.

At 14:30 in the afternoon, Huawei launched the new - generation AITO M9. It starts at 479,800 yuan, with the highest price reaching 649,800 yuan. The extended - version directly enters the 650,000 - yuan class.

Yu Chengdong reported a series of figures on stage: The cumulative delivery of HarmonyOS Smart Mobility has reached 1.39 million units, and the cumulative delivery of AITO M9 is 285,000 units, remaining the sales champion in the 500,000 - yuan class for 21 consecutive months.

At 19:30 in the evening, NIO launched the ES9. It starts at 498,000 yuan, and with the BaaS plan, it starts at 390,000 yuan. The special Horizon Edition costs 628,000 yuan. Li Bin, the founder of NIO, said on stage:

I've staked all of NIO's resources accumulated over eleven years.

The price ranges of the two cars almost completely overlap.

But after watching both press conferences, my biggest takeaway isn't that there's a new pair of competitors in the high - end market.

It's only then that I realized that the Chinese automotive industry is answering a deeper question for the first time:

In the AI era, what should an automaker look like?

1. One car has Huawei, the other doesn't

Let's first see what's inside the AITO M9.

The ADS 5.0 intelligent driving system is developed by Huawei. The HarmonyOS cockpit is also developed by Huawei.

The Ascend computing power platform uses Huawei's chips. The HUAWEI XMOTION vehicle control system is Huawei's electric drive system. The SOUND audio system is from Huawei.

The six lidars and the entire set of perception algorithms are also from Huawei.

What does SERES do?

It is responsible for the factory, assembly, manufacturing, and delivery.

Now, let's look at the NIO ES9.

The Shenji NX9031 intelligent driving chip is a self - developed 5nm automotive - grade chip by NIO.

The SkyOS TianShu operating system is self - developed by NIO.

The Tianying Constellation perception system is self - developed by NIO. The algorithms behind the three lidars are also self - developed by NIO.

What else does NIO do?

It builds battery swap stations, NIO Houses, user communities, and service systems. It even handles insurance on its own.

When the two cars are put side by side, the most obvious difference isn't actually on the spec sheet.

It lies in one question:

Whose "soul" does this car carry?

The soul of the AITO M9 belongs to Huawei. The soul of the NIO ES9 belongs to NIO.

This isn't just a figure of speech; it represents two completely different businesses.

2. What Huawei wants to do is more than just cars

In the automotive industry, many people initially used the Android vs. Apple analogy to describe Huawei and NIO.

But in fact, this analogy is extremely inaccurate.

The biggest feature of Android is that Google, as the system provider, rarely steps into the spotlight.

Samsung, Xiaomi, and OPPO each define their own brand sovereignty, and consumers remember the phone brands, not the underlying Android system.

But Huawei is different.

Throughout the AITO M9 press conference, from product definition, sales release to the capture of user mindset, everything was led by Huawei.

Yu Chengdong blurted out on stage: Two years ahead, the strongest in the world, the best under 10 million yuan.

The stores, sales, user operations, and channel systems of HarmonyOS Smart Mobility are all in Huawei's hands.

Where is SERES? It's almost invisible.

What Huawei is doing today is definitely not just like Android. It's more like a super middleman that integrates the system layer, brand layer, and channel layer. It not only develops the system but also directly competes in the market to capture consumers' first impressions.

Consumers remember Huawei's cars, not SERES' cars.

What Huawei wants isn't the meager profits from components in the traditional supplier matrix. It wants the most core asset in the automotive industry:

Brand sovereignty.

Under this new model, automakers are showing a tendency to degenerate into high - end contract manufacturers.

From a business model perspective, in the revenue sharing and component procurement of the selected car model, a significant proportion of the real value from each high - end AITO sold flows into Huawei's accounts.

These funds cover intelligent driving, cockpits, electric drives, software licensing, lidars, and cloud services.

A set of figures in SERES' prospectus is very eye - catching.

From 2022 to the first quarter of 2025, SERES' cumulative procurement expenses paid to Huawei are nearly 75 billion yuan.

Some media have calculated that for each AITO sold, about 140,000 yuan from SERES goes to Huawei.

What about SERES itself?

It is responsible for manufacturing.

This is a production relationship that has never appeared in the past century of the automotive industry.

It's no longer the traditional supplier model but a dangerous misalignment: Automakers bear the depreciation of heavy assets, while Huawei takes the high - value - added premium. The person who truly defines the product's soul has become the system provider.

This is why more and more consumers are now saying: I want to buy a car with Huawei's intelligent driving system. Instead of saying: I want to buy a car from a certain brand.

And this is exactly what traditional automakers are afraid of.

As more and more automakers connect to the same HarmonyOS cockpit, the same ADS, and the same user entrance, the industry may face another harsh outcome: Automakers will end up with only a hardware shell without bargaining power.

Today, AITO, Zhijie, Xiangjie, Zunjie, and Shangjie are all connecting to the same Huawei system. As of now, Huawei Qiankun has cooperated with 25 brands and more than 50 models, and all eight major state - owned automakers have joined.

An even more subtle signal is that the absolute sales proportion of AITO in HarmonyOS Smart Mobility is being diluted by other "Jie" models. This means that in Huawei's ecosystem, no single automaker is irreplaceable.

The more automakers need Huawei, the less Huawei needs a specific automaker.

Once the system completely replaces the brand and becomes the only totem that consumers truly remember, the brand sovereignty logic of the automotive industry in the past century will be completely overturned.

3. NIO is taking the opposite path

When Li Bin decided to develop self - made chips in 2021, the outside world almost unanimously didn't understand.

The NVIDIA Orin was already mature, and the Qualcomm 8295 was also good enough.

Why burn tens of billions on self - development?

Why develop a 5nm automotive - grade chip?

What Li Bin really fears today isn't losing money. What he really fears is that one day NIO will be reduced to a sub - brand in Huawei's super ecosystem.

All of NIO's heavy - asset actions that investors don't understand today are all pointing to the same thing: Keep the sovereignty of the car in the home base.

The Shenji NX9031 chip, self - developed SkyOS, self - developed perception system, self - built battery swap stations, and self - built service systems are all heavy - asset projects that consume cash flow in the short term.

But NIO has a very clear plan: The car business is ultimately a high - unit - price brand business. Consumers recognize the brand of the car they drive, not the system it uses.

So, services, experiences, communities, and brand purity must be in its own hands. This is a typical Apple - style approach.

Steve Jobs once said:

Only by having both hardware and software can you create truly great products.

What NIO is doing today is essentially the same thing.

This is where the real industry split in the Chinese automotive industry begins.

If we have to summarize these two paths: What NIO wants to be is the authentic Apple; what Huawei is doing is much more profound than Android back then.

Huawei develops the system, builds the brand, and manages the channels. It even directly faces consumers. It's not a shadow regime behind the automaker but more like a super - parent in front of the automaker.

Automakers are responsible for the factory, and Huawei is responsible for the users. This is a new power structure that has never appeared in the past automotive industry.

4. Cars are starting to transform from mechanical industry to information industry

What has been the real core ability in the automotive industry in the past century? Engines, chassis, transmissions, and mechanical tuning. This is the iron throne of the European - dominated automotive industry.

Mercedes - Benz and BMW have established a complete set of discourse systems in the mechanical industry era: Handling, driving pleasure, and engineering aesthetics.

But today, when consumers buy a 500,000 - yuan car, what they care about most has changed: Is the intelligent driving system easy to use? Is the in - car system smooth? Is the AI smart enough? How fast is the OTA update?

The value anchor of the automotive industry is shifting from traditional mechanical engineering capabilities to the scheduling capabilities of the information industry. Everyone has noticed this change.

But the real difference lies in how far this change has evolved.

Huawei bets that the system era has arrived. Huawei believes that cars are accelerating towards becoming intelligent terminals on wheels. The system layer will capture the largest share of industry profits, and hardware will inevitably become homogenized.

Ultimately, it doesn't matter who builds the car. What matters is who controls the system, who controls the user entrance, and who captures the consumers' mindset.

So, Huawei doesn't need to build its own factory or bear inventory. It only needs to become the central operating system that can't be bypassed in the ecosystem.

NIO bets that the brand era isn't over yet. NIO believes that users will never completely abandon their sense of belonging to luxury brands just because of a good - looking system. Luxury cars are ultimately a business of overall brand premium.

So, chips, OS, battery swapping, and service systems must be fully controlled by the brand itself. Because once these core capabilities are outsourced, the brand will eventually lose its independent sovereignty.

All of Li Bin's heavy investments today are essentially exchanging for an extremely expensive chip: Independence.

In the short term, Huawei's light - asset model shows extremely high throughput. HarmonyOS Smart Mobility and AITO M9 have achieved amazing efficiency in terms of sales and scale.

But this isn't a short - term race that can be decided in one or two years.

There have been many similar route disputes in history. Those who use ready - made solutions can often outperform in the short term with light assets and scale efficiency. But those who insist on building their own underlying systems and closed - loop ecosystems often build an insurmountable moat in the long run.

What's really interesting on May 27th isn't whose product is stronger.

It's that for the first time in the Chinese automotive industry, there's a head - on collision between two ultimate underlying power routes:

One is the platformization of the system, and the other is the integrity of the brand.

[Beyond the Page] Words:

In the past century, the highest power in the automotive industry has always belonged to those who build cars. Whoever has a factory, an engine, and a supply chain has the right to speak in the entire industry.

But after the AI era arrived, the baton of power is shifting: The real core premium is starting to flow from the car itself to the system layer.

What Huawei wants to be is the digital federal system of the new era; what NIO wants to defend is the complete dignity of a pure - blood brand.

What the two are competing for isn't just monthly sales. The core lies in who will hold the highest power in the future automotive industry, the car - builders or the system - definers.

At 14:30 in the afternoon and 19:30 in the evening on May 27th.

Yu Chengdong and Li Bin gave two completely different answers on the same day.

This article is from the WeChat official account "Beyond the Page", author: Huahua. Republished with permission from 36Kr.