Contrary to common belief, Xiaomi began not as a hardware company but by building a custom operating system on top of Android in 2010. They only decided to manufacture their own smartphone a year later, applying their software-first approach to hardware. This highlights their roots in user experience and ecosystem control from day one.
Xiaomi's AI strategy diverges from building general-purpose chatbots. Instead, they focus on 'physical AI' by embedding intelligence into their ecosystem of over a billion connected devices, including phones, appliances, and cars. The goal is to interconnect these devices to enhance user productivity and efficiency in the real world.
Xiaomi's CFO Alain Lam believes traditional European OEMs are falling behind by focusing too heavily on the 'electric' aspect of EVs, while neglecting the 'smart' features. He argues that customers, especially Xiaomi's, desire seamless integration with their broader ecosystem of phones and home devices, which is a key competitive weakness for incumbents.
Xiaomi developed and launched its first electric vehicle in under three years, including building a factory. Their CFO, Alain Lam, attributes this speed to leveraging China's mature EV supply chain and concentrating a massive investment (10x) and all their efforts on perfecting a single car model rather than diversifying.