It was 2021 and Xiaomi got the blanket to the head. He confirmed that he would manufacture electric cars and invest 10,000 million dollars in that project. Surely not many believed that I could do something in this market, but three years later the firm amazed the world with the spectacular Xiaomi Su7. Meanwhile Apple, with many more resources, canceled their Project Titan: where they failed, a Chinese mobile manufacturer had triumphed. Capital surprise.
Losing. A year after their presentation, the accounts at the moment do not come out in the electric car division. In the fourth quarter of the year 2024 they lost 700 million yuan (85 million euros) in that segment. This quarter have lost 500 million (almost 61 million euros), so things have been slightly better. Not good, but better.
But, but. In that result, Xiaomi’s strategy with the electric car is demonstrated. It is a copy of Amazon: losing money now to dominate later. It is what the company created by Jeff Bezos in Electronic Commerce did, and as Tesla would later do in automotive. Xiaomi plays in the long term, and the EV division already represents 16.7% of the income, something exceptional taking into account how little the firm carries the firm.
And the mobiles, what? They are still very important, of course. Together with its IoT devices – connected to all kinds – income grew by 8.9%, which is not bad. But that growth – now takes advantage of the commercial war and that recovered love for national devices – has been slowing down for years. The mobile is a product too mature, too much to walk at home, so the solution is clear: diversify. The electric car has been the absolute exponent of that decision.
There are many. Xiaomi is not the only one who has looked for plans B. A few days ago Honor, which was split from Huawei in 2020, announced that it was thrown into the segment of humanoid robots. It is in fact just what Huawei recently announced, and now his ex -devision – coincidence or not – will bet on this market.
In honor they see humanoid robots as part of the integral commitment to the AI they made last March. It was then that they pointed out that they would invest 10,000 million dollars, a colossal figure. China’s obsession with this type of robots comes from afar, although his promise – which in 2025 would reach an advanced level and would be produced in mass – was too optimistic.
Growing. Both in one and another, the striking thing is that both companies already had a solid business in the field of mobility. Especially Xiaomi, which according to IDC grew 2.4% in the first quarter of 2025 compared to the same period a year ago and is the third manufacturer of the world by volume. Honor is not part of the first five of that ranking, but it is still one of the protagonists.
Even in spite of this, both have wanted not to stagnate and launch into new business fields. The mobile remains the focus at the moment, but be careful, because if the electric cars segment is massified – growth is clear – and that of humanoid robots ends up curdling – here there are many more doubts for the moment – those bets can go out very well to these Chinese companies.
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