Chinese company Xiaomi will present its long-awaited YU7 electric SUV on Thursday, as well as other products, such as the company's own Xring O1 mobile chip, in the development of which the company plans to invest at least 50 billion yuan (almost $7 billion) for at least 10 years, UNN reports with reference to Reuters.
Xiaomi's electric car is pushing Tesla back
Analysts are touting the YU7 as a competitor to Tesla's most popular Model Y in China. At the same time, Xiaomi disappointed fans last month by not presenting the car at the Shanghai Auto Show.
Xiaomi founder and CEO Lei Jun said on his Weibo account on Monday that the YU7 will be presented at the event along with other products such as the Xring O1 mobile chip and the new Xiaomi 15S Pro smartphone.
Xiaomi started producing electric vehicles last year with the launch of the SU7 sedan, after selling smartphones, home appliances and smart gadgets for most of its 15-year history. Since December, the SU7 sedan has been outselling Tesla's Model 3 every month.
Analysts say it is still outselling, but the company's orders for the SU7 sedan have fallen after a fatal accident involving the SU7 in March.
Competition in the smartphone market and plans for chips
In addition to competition in the electric vehicle market, the smartphone market in China has intensified, as competitors including Huawei and Apple are using their own custom-designed chips to create tightly integrated ecosystems and improve user experience.
In a separate Weibo post, Lei said Xiaomi has invested $1.87 billion in self-developing its advanced Xring O1 mobile chip. He also noted that the company plans to invest at least 50 billion yuan in chip development for at least 10 years.
A Xiaomi spokesman told Reuters that the 50 billion yuan investment schedule starts in 2025.
Xiaomi started developing chips in 2014 and released its first mobile processor, the 28nm Pengpai S1, in 2017, which debuted in the Xiaomi 5C smartphone.
The company later shifted its focus to less complex chips, including battery management and image processing chips, due to "various failures," Lei explained. However, in 2021, when the company decided to start producing cars, it also decided to start developing chips for mobile phones again.
"Xiaomi has always dreamed of chips, because in order to become a large hard technology company, chips are the top that needs to be conquered. We will definitely make every effort," he said.
Addition
In April, car sales in China grew for the third consecutive month, increasing by 14.8% compared to the previous year to 1.78 million units.
More than half (50.8%) of the cars sold in a month were electric cars and hybrids, known under the general name "NEV", the demand for which increased by 33.9% year-on-year.