Lei Jun shows Xiaomi 9.
"This is the last flagship model of Xiaomi brand below 3,000 yuan. In the future, Xiaomi brand will focus on the mid-to high-end market."
On February 20th, Lei Jun, founder, chairman and CEO of Xiaomi Group (01810.HK), unveiled Xiaomi 9, the annual flagship mobile phone, at the Beijing press conference.
Although Lei Jun has spoiled the new machine a week in advance, so that netizens are psychologically prepared for the price of the new machine, Lei Jun said that he is still worried that the pace is too big, fearing that rice noodles can’t be accepted. "I discussed with several other executives for two days and finally set the price at 2999 yuan." However, according to the reporter’s understanding, this price is still more expensive than Xiaomi 8, 300 yuan, and it is 50% more expensive than the iconic 1999 yuan pricing of this series earlier.
In an interview with The Paper and other media after the meeting, Lei Jun said that Xiaomi’s pursuit of cost performance is not equal to cheap pricing. "Cost performance is the same performance, the cheapest price and the strongest performance, not the absolute price."
"When the average price of domestic mobile phones was only six or seven hundred yuan, Xiaomi’s mobile phone came up to 1999 yuan, which was absolutely high-end in that era. Later, many rice noodles asked us to be a Redmi brand, but when we achieved the price of seven or eight hundred, we were smeared by some water army and friends, labeling us and saying that we sold cheaply. " Lei Jun said.
During the interview, Lei Jun also responded to the recent Xiaomi focus issues such as ending flat management, Qualcomm’s true and false starting, double folding screen technology, and the establishment of China District.
Responding to the price becoming more expensive: "The price/performance ratio has made great contributions to Xiaomi, but now it is bound."
Regarding the price issue, Lei Jun said, "This is the most tangled. The cost-effective advantage has made great contributions to the rise of Xiaomi brand, but now it has become a constraint."
According to reports, the cost of Xiaomi 9 has been greatly improved: on the one hand, the price of components has generally increased; On the one hand, more advanced technologies and processes have been introduced. For example, the world’s first Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 is 20% more expensive than Snapdragon 845, Sony camera module is 30% more expensive, and the screen fingerprint is twice as expensive as the rear fingerprint; On the one hand, Xiaomi’s R&D investment is also increasing. In the first three quarters of 2018, R&D investment exceeded 4 billion yuan.
"Now the pile of mobile phones is too embarrassing. I remember that the earliest Xiaomi 1 had only one camera, and there was no front camera. Up to now, the front camera has three lenses on the back and a macro camera with a screen fingerprint of 5um. In fact, there are five cameras on the whole mobile phone. These five cameras not only cost money, but also occupy an area. The upper and lower areas account for more and more, and there are more and more functions. So now the cost of mobile phones is because the performance of mobile phones is getting stronger and stronger, and the cost of mobile phones is getting higher and higher. " Lei Jun said.
In 2018, the overall smartphone market declined and the competition became increasingly fierce. At the end of last year, Xiaomi Group split the Redmi (Redmi) brand, forming two brands with different positioning: Redmi and Xiaomi. Redmi is obsessed with cost performance, while Xiaomi pursues the ultimate experience on the basis of cost performance.
"Make the Redmi brand independent, let the Redmi brand adhere to high quality and extreme cost performance, and let others dare not compete with Redmi in terms of cost performance. The Xiaomi brand is not prepared to compete with Redmi. On the Xiaomi brand mobile phone, the function of the mobile phone will become stronger and stronger. Sometimes we don’t even consider whether there is the ultimate cost performance. We only ask if there is an ultimate experience, so its priority is different. " Lei Jun said.
However, Lei Jun stressed that Xiaomi Group will not pursue high premium and high gross profit, and Xiaomi will still sell it at a good price, and the high premium millet on the hardware will not earn it. He reiterated that the comprehensive profit rate of Xiaomi hardware will never exceed 5%.
Shenwan Hongyuan Electronic Team believes that in the fourth quarter of 2018, the shipment of Xiaomi series mobile phones is about half of that of Redmi series mobile phones, while the shipments of the two series are equal. In 2019, it is expected that emerging mobile phones will continue to grow, while mature markets will face consumption upgrading. The key to China’s flagship mobile phone is to increase the sales of models above $300 (about RMB 2020). The separate operation of Xiaomi and Redmi brands will help break through the market of more than $300.
The market believes that behind the price increase of mobile phone manufacturers such as Apple, Huawei and Xiaomi, in addition to the increase in raw material costs and R&D costs, the sales volume has declined, and it is necessary to increase the selling price to make up for it.
Lei Jun released Xiaomi 9 and announced Roy, a member of TFBOYS, as the image spokesperson.
Denying that there is no flat management: "Some people say that Lei Jun has changed, but I have not changed."
A few days ago, Caijing magazine reported that Xiaomi bid farewell to the once proud flat management. Today, Xiaomi’s internal titles are roughly divided into Commissioner-Manager-Director and Vice President and above, with 10 levels, from 13 to 22. The level of the Commissioner is about 13, the manager is about 16 to 17, the director is about 19 to 20, and the vice president is about 22.
In the past, Xiaomi had only three levels: co-founder-department head-employee, and pursued the policy of no punching and no KPI. Caijing magazine quoted an employee of Xiaomi as saying that Xiaomi has to punch in at work at present, and attendance is particularly strict after the Spring Festival this year, and the department also has KPI.
"I was a little embarrassed to see that title, saying that Xiaomi has changed and Lei Jun has changed. In fact, I have not changed." Lei Jun responded that all Xiaomi’s senior partners are in the front line and still adhere to ultra-flat management. "Including the Weibo conference in the past week, I wrote it myself. The workload in the past week far exceeded everyone’s expectations."
Lei Jun said that at present, Xiaomi has 23,000 employees, and the human resources system is setting the talent level to facilitate further talent sorting and training and upgrading in the future. "If these management upgrades are not made, it will be difficult for Xiaomi to evolve into a team that manages more than 100,000 people in the future."
"This year, Xiaomi will invest heavily in the training plan of the cadre team, and talent sorting can also better adopt different levels of training methods for different levels of cadres. There are also engineers and experts who should provide what kind of benefits and incentives to sort out these things. I think it is a very important part of Xiaomi’s overall management upgrade. " Lei Jun revealed.
Establish AIoT strategy committee: "If you don’t increase AIoT investment, it is very likely that your opponent will catch up."
At the beginning of this year, Xiaomi launched the dual-engine strategy of "mobile phone +AIoT", which listed AI (artificial intelligence) and IoT (Internet of Things) as the strategic direction to go hand in hand with mobile phones, and proposed to invest 10 billion yuan in the AI+IoT field in the next five years.
"In the eight years of early entrepreneurship, Xiaomi’s core strategy was to connect all devices with mobile phones as the center. However, with the rise of a series of products such as AI technology and small love speakers, as well as our rise in various fields of TV and home appliances, we have unconsciously become the world’s number one in the field of AIoT. " Lei Jun said.
"Opponents are catching up. If we don’t increase our investment in AIoT, it is very likely that we will be caught up by our opponents. Moreover, AIoT is also the most important trend in the future development. Therefore, after repeated discussions, Xiaomi’s senior management felt that we should increase the investment in AIoT. " Lei Jun revealed that at present, Xiaomi has set up a strategic committee of AIoT, increased special investment, and continuously maintained investment to ensure our advantages in this field.
Lei Jun also revealed on the same day that the dual-engine strategy is specifically "1+4+X": mobile phone+(small love speakers, routers, televisions, notebooks)+ecological chain products. Among them, Xiaomi AI smart speaker "Little Love Speaker" has become a strategic hub product of AIoT.
On the same day, Xiaoai touch screen speaker was released, and the public beta was opened on February 28. However, because IoT is still in the early stage of the market, there are still many immature places. Lei Jun also called on all rice noodles to be more patient.
After the conference, users experience Xiaomi 9.
What is a "real starter": "Qualcomm risks offending friends and businessmen to forward our Weibo"
At the press conference, Lei Jun said that Xiaomi 9 won the world premiere of Qualcomm Snapdragon 855, and called it a "real premiere", which was the first time that Xiaomi replaced Samsung to win the world premiere of Qualcomm’s flagship chip.
Lei Jun told reporters after the meeting that it is very difficult to launch a flagship processor. In fact, mobile phone manufacturers need to cooperate with Qualcomm in research and development. "Almost two years ago, we set up an R&D center in San Diego, USA. From the establishment of the Snapdragon 855 project, we discussed it with Qualcomm. We reviewed and tracked every stage in the middle, and followed up every generation after getting the engineering samples. By January, we were ready for mass production."
It is reported that Snapdragon 855 is the biggest upgrade of Xiaolong 800 series processor in recent years, adopting 7nm process, brand-new Kyro 485 architecture, the highest frequency is 2.84GHz, the single-core performance is improved by 45% compared with the previous generation, the GPU is improved by 20%, and the fourth-generation AI engine has three times the performance of the previous generation.
"Why write a real starter? Some friends make some samples and make several prototypes (just say it’s the first launch), but I had this prototype four or five months ago. Making a demo prototype is different from making millions or tens of millions. What we are talking about today is mass production, which is also approved by Qualcomm, not for gimmicks. Why did Qualcomm risk offending friends and businessmen to forward our Weibo twice? Because they really recognize our efforts in the high-end flagship. " Lei Jun said.
Establishing China District: "If you want to compete with friends in China market, the difficulty lies in improving efficiency."
In December 2018, Xiaomi announced that it would strengthen its investment in the China market, reorganize its sales and service department into China District, and appoint Wang Chuan, senior vice president of the Group, as the president of China District, reporting to Lei Jun.. In the previous adjustment in September, Wang Chuan was appointed as the chief of staff of the newly established Group Staff, assisting Lei Jun in formulating the development strategy of the Group and supervising the strategic implementation of various business departments. Previously, Wang Chuan was in charge of Xiaomi TV business.
Lei Jun said that if Xiaomi wants to compete with friends in the China market, the difficulty is that it can’t sell at such an expensive price, and it has to work hard to improve efficiency. "I hope Mr. Chuan (referring to Wang Chuan) will lead the team to develop a product called New Retail with the spirit of making products and doing research and development. How to do high-end, how to do experience, how to cooperate with offline retail and online e-commerce, and promote product efficiency, demonstration efficiency, sales efficiency and overall feeling. "
Wang Chuan told reporters that after two months in charge of China District, he saw two trends. First, mobile phone manufacturers are doing globalization and multi-channel, and Xiaomi will maintain its advantage in e-commerce. Second, it will further penetrate offline and let more users buy good products. This year, it will increase investment in this area.
"Wang Chuan led China District for two months, which has made me see the great changes in China District. He is not doing simple sales, especially with the Xiaomi series of mobile phones to promote product transformation in China. " Lei Jun said, for example, the release of Xiaomi 9 this time has made great innovations in store layout. Wang Chuan has designed many scenes, such as being able to experience dark light shooting in a small darkroom.
Xiaomi and Redmi are independent brands.
Redmi Redmi independence: "Cheap should be based on high quality, and friends should not make trouble in a cost-effective coat."
In January this year, Xiaomi announced the opening of the dual-brand era, and announced that Redmi Redmi was upgraded to an independent brand. As an e-commerce brand, Redmi Redmi will set up an independent company to operate. In the future, Redmi Redmi and Xiaomi are both brother brands under the same group and competitors in the same market.
"In the fourth quarter of last year, Xiaomi (brand sales) accounted for the vast majority in China. Relatively speaking, we ignored Redmi, so we decided to change the name of Redmi to Redmi at the end of last year, which was led by General Manager Lu (former second-in-command of Jinli). The whole company will increase its investment in Xiaomi, but we can’t ignore the great significance of Redmi in popularizing smart phones." Lei Jun said.
"Why does Redmi put high quality first? Because cheap is the original sin, cheap can also be based on high quality. You sell 999 yuan, and people will not trust you as soon as you come up. If you don’t do a good job in quality, just do it cheaply, and everyone will think you are low as soon as you come up. Last time I said, friends have nothing to do with cost performance. Don’t always make trouble with us in a cost-effective coat. "
Respond to the double folding screen mobile phone: "After two years of tossing, there is no mass production, and each has its own technology."
On January 23, Lin Bin, president of Xiaomi, first exposed Xiaomi’s double folding mobile phone on Sina Weibo, and was bombarded by Fan Jun, vice president of Rouyu Technology who specializes in folding technology: "A mobile phone assembly company with no screen core technology patent and production line, buying someone else’s concept flexible screen and concept that has not been mass-produced, does it mean that it has conquered the flexible folding screen technology?"
"This is definitely ignorance of the mobile phone industry." Mr. Lei responded that the folding screen was not made by Xiaomi, but if the folding screen is made into a product, the workload inside is unprecedented. The double folding screen is definitely the first of Xiaomi.
"We made the folding screen from the flexible screen, and it has been tossed for two years, so that everyone can see that the folding screen can be doubled. I keep telling them, do you have to be an engine to make a car? Is there no technology in the whole factory without making engines? Isn’t this ridiculous? Can’t you make an airplane if you don’t make an engine? As we all know, the engines on Boeing aircraft are all GE’s. Everyone innovates in different fields, component manufacturers innovate in component technology, and whole machine manufacturers innovate in system integration, each with its own difficulties. " Lei Jun said that this is his own indignation.
"Head companies have invested a lot of money in research and development, and they are all pre-researching various projects. Since last year, I don’t know who took the lead, that is, all the pre-research technologies began to be released, which drove us crazy, but none of these pre-research projects can be mass-produced. In these two days, the TOF (a scheme TOF(3D deep camera shooting) that quarreled with each other was also done on Xiaomi MIX3. Today, the competition in mobile phone technology is fierce, and we have been investing a lot of money in pre-research. " Lei Jun said.