Xiaomi directly confronts Apple, skipping the 16 series to promote the 17 series, Lei Jun: fully benchmarking against iPhone!

After the recent release of the iPhone 17, Xiaomi Corporation directly declared war, stating that it will skip the 16 series and launch the Xiaomi 17 series of smartphones. Behind this rare product naming strategy is Xiaomi's upgraded strategy to fully benchmark the iPhone five years after its high-end transformation.

On September 15, Xiaomi Corporation President Lu Weibing announced that the Xiaomi 17 series will be released this month, one month ahead of the previous generation. This series includes the Xiaomi 17, Xiaomi 17 Pro, and Xiaomi 17 Pro Max, which will globally debut the fifth-generation Snapdragon 8 Supreme mobile platform.

Xiaomi founder Lei Jun immediately reposted his statement: “The Xiaomi 17 series features a cross-generation upgrade in product strength, fully benchmarking the iPhone, and facing it head-on!” This marks a further aggressive shift in Xiaomi's competitive strategy in the high-end market.

Lu Weibing emphasized that Xiaomi has invested over 100 billion yuan in research and development, and will increase this to 200 billion yuan over the next five years. This technological accumulation will be fully presented in the Xiaomi 17 series, aiming to compete with Apple's iPhone 17 series at the same generation and level.

Cross-Generation Naming Aimed at High-End Market?

Xiaomi's decision to skip the 16 series and directly launch the 17 series aligns with Apple's iPhone product line naming. Lu Weibing stated that this will be "the most significant leap in the history of Xiaomi's digital series of smartphones."

The positioning of the three products is clear: the Xiaomi 17 is positioned as "the strongest standard flagship ever, with comprehensive upgrades and more features at no extra cost"; the Xiaomi 17 Pro is "the most exquisite small-sized technology imaging flagship"; and the Xiaomi 17 Pro Max is "the most powerful peak technology imaging flagship."

It is worth mentioning that this series will globally debut the fifth-generation Snapdragon 8 Supreme mobile platform, with the release of the Xiaomi 17 series being one month earlier than the previous generation.

Lu Weibing revealed that Xiaomi initiated its high-end strategy five years ago, "learning from the greatest competitors and firmly benchmarking the iPhone." He acknowledged that "Apple is still outstanding, and everyone has seen the success of the iPhone 17 series," but stated that Xiaomi "is very confident to face the iPhone at the same generation and level."

This confidence stems from Xiaomi's shift in product philosophy: "High-end without shortcomings, from parameter leadership to experience priority, with deep integration of software and hardware." Lu Weibing stated that under this understanding, Xiaomi's high-end transformation has achieved "significant progress that is evident to all."

Netizens: Since they dare to go straight to 17, the upgrade must also be "17" enough

Netizens have mixed comments on this.

Some netizens commented that skipping 16 and going straight to 17 is acceptable, as long as the product upgrade is also a generational upgrade.

Other netizens said, let's wait for the configuration of the launch event, since they dare to go straight to 17, the upgrade must also be "17" enough.

Some netizens also said they want to see how strong 17 really is, capable of directly killing 16 in the cradle.

Last week, the ranking of smartphone shipments in China was released. In terms of brands, Huawei's market share is 18%, vivo's market share is also 18%, OPPO ranks third with a share of 16%. Xiaomi ranks fourth, with a share of 16% as well.

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