Another major bank believes Xiaomi is a potential winner in AI, with key events expected in the coming months

On March 3rd, Barclays analysts Jiong Shao, Lian Xiu, and others released a report stating that Xiaomi, with its strong foundation in smartphones, the Internet of Things (IoT), and robust performance in the electric vehicle market, is rapidly emerging as a significant player in China's AI sector.

The demand for the Xiaomi SU7 electric vehicle is strong, with serious order backlogs. The launch of new models and new factories will further drive growth. At the same time, the Chinese government's subsidy policies for home appliances and electronic products have also provided significant growth momentum for Xiaomi's home appliance and electronic product businesses.

In the future, Xiaomi plans to open large flagship stores in overseas markets to showcase its smart home products with strong cost-performance ratios and innovative features, and it plans to start exporting electric vehicles in 2027, potentially combining this with its global flagship stores to form a brand ecosystem.

Barclays has raised its performance expectations for Xiaomi for the fourth quarter of 2024, as well as for 2025 and 2026, believing that it is likely to become one of China's top AI companies in the coming years.

Xiaomi's Electric Vehicle Demand is Strong, Plans to Go Overseas in 2027

Barclays stated that the Xiaomi SU7 has performed well since its launch, with monthly deliveries exceeding 20,000 units in the fourth quarter of 2024. Additionally, Xiaomi launched the luxury model SU7 Ultra on February 27th, with a starting price of approximately $73,000. Within just 2 hours, the order volume surpassed 10,000 units, and within 24 hours, it exceeded 15,000 units.

Moreover, Xiaomi is expected to launch its second electric vehicle SUV, the YU7, between June and July of this year.

However, currently, the strong demand for Xiaomi's electric vehicles is limited by production capacity.

The design capacity of Xiaomi's first factory is approximately 20,000 units per month, and within less than a year of the SU7's launch, the company has fully utilized its production capacity. Therefore, according to Barclays, consumers currently face a waiting time of over 7 months after placing an order, which fully reflects the strong demand for the Xiaomi SU7 model.

However, the construction of Xiaomi's second electric vehicle factory is expected to be completed and put into production by the third quarter of 2025, with a design capacity of approximately 20,000 units per month as well.

In the long term, Xiaomi plans to export its best-selling electric vehicles overseas. The company's management previously stated that the goal is to produce 300,000 units in 2025 and 500,000 units in 2026, with plans to start export operations in 2027.

However, Barclays also cautioned that Xiaomi has not yet been able to meet the demand in the domestic market, so exports may not become a priority in the short term.

Government Subsidies for Home Appliances and Electronic Products Boost IoT and Lifestyle Business Performance Beyond Expectations

The Chinese government launched a subsidy program for replacing old home appliances and electronic products in the fourth quarter of 2024 and expanded the subsidy scope at the beginning of 2025.

As a result, Barclays expects that the revenue growth of Xiaomi's business segment in the fourth quarter will reach 45% year-on-year (previously estimated at 30%), and this strong growth trend is expected to continue into 2025.

Additionally, the new smartphone subsidies introduced by the Chinese government in January 2025 may further drive Xiaomi's performance growth—according to the policy, smartphones with retail prices below RMB 6,000 can enjoy a subsidy of up to RMB 500 (approximately 15%) According to reports, after the subsidy took effect, Xiaomi's smartphone sales rapidly increased.

From a global market perspective, thanks to Xiaomi's high-end strategy and international expansion plans, Barclays believes that Xiaomi will continue to increase its market share in the future. Currently, except for the United States, Xiaomi's smartphone market share in major global markets is approximately between 15% and 20%