Xiaomi Corporation, one of the world’s leading technology companies more popularly known for their smartphones and IoT appliances has officially entered the smart electric vehicle industry. On September 1, 2021, Xiaomi announced that it has completed the business registration of Xiaomi EV, Inc. – the company that will be dedicated to the development and production of smart electric vehicles. With a registered capital of RMB10 billion, Xiaomi Founder, Chairman, and CEO Lei Jun is the legal representative and is heading the entire initiative.
It was towards the end of March 2021, when the Xiaomi founder announced in a speech that the company was committing to invest an estimated USD 10 billion in total in an EV business over the course of the next 10 years, with an initial investment of RMB 10 billion. Lei Jun was quoted to say that he himself would lead the team and stake his entire reputation on fighting for the EV business of Xiaomi.
In late July of this year, Xiaomi sent out a call to recruit talents for its Autonomous Department and it now has a pool of 300 employees
During the 5 months from the announcement of the Xiaomi EV initiative to the official registration of the EV company, the Xiaomi EV team was busy doing user research and industry chain inspections, with more than 2,000 interview surveys and visits to over 10 industry peers and partners, while pressing ahead with the EV product definition and team formation. It was also during this period that Xiaomi acquired the autonomous driving technology company Deepmotion Tech. There are currently 16,000 engineers at Xiaomi and its R&D expenses reached almost RMB 10 billion in 2020. This demonstrates Xiaomi’s capability and confidence in having a rich talent pool and technologies. Xiaomi’s technological advantages in artificial intelligence, new materials, and other fields will form a strong support for the automotive business.
In 2021, Xiaomi Corporation reported record revenue and profit growth in the company’s Q2 earnings results. In the second quarter of 2021, Xiaomi’s total revenue amounted to RMB87.8 billion, representing an increase of 64.0% year-over-year; adjusted net profit for the period was RMB6.3 billion, an increase of 87.4% year-over-year. The total revenue and the adjusted net profit both reached record highs in the quarter.