"My Dream, My Choice": Launch Presentation For Xiaomi Mix 4
Xiaomi CEO Jun Lei: "In three years, we will be #1 in the world!"
Something to know before reading
Lei Jun, is a Chinese billionaire entrepreneur who founded Xiaomi, one of the largest smartphone and consumer electronics companies in the world. (Source)
Xiaomi announced Mix 4 with under-display camera on August 10, 2021. (Source)
This is the speech given by Jun Lei in the launch presentation of Xiaomi Mix 4. The speech is called: "My Dream, My Choice", and is followed by the official product launch.
Let’s get started.
On YouTube
Transcript
Good evening everyone, and welcome to my speech.
Last year was the 10th anniversary of Xiaomi. We did a serious reflection, and with the determination to start a new business, we officially embarked on the journey of a new decade. This year is the first year of Xiaomi's new decade and also the 10th anniversary of the release of Xiaomi's mobile phone. You can obviously see that Xiaomi has undergone great changes. It has been growing up step by step.
A few days ago, Xiaomi was listed on the Fortune Global 500 list for the third time, ranking 338 globally, with an improvement of 84. There is also a good news that everyone may have already known: the IDC report of the international research company shows that in the second quarter of 2021, our mobile phone sales surpassed Apple, becoming the world's second place for the first time. The global market share reached 16.9%. In other words, for every six mobile phones sold in the world, there is one Xiaomi. Sales increased by 86.6% year-by-year, and Xiaomi is growing rapidly.
This is great news, and we are all very excited. Thanks to everyone in Xiaomi for their hard work, and even more thanks to all Xiaomi fans for their unyielding support over the past ten years!
At this happy moment, I recall a memorable scene seven years ago: it was in November 2014. At the first World Internet Conference in Wuzhen, the host asked me about the future development strategy of Xiaomi. At that time, Xiaomi won the first place in China and the third in the world only three years after the release of the Xiaomi mobile phone. At that time, I blurted out: in five to ten years, we will become number one in the world.
Apple was the number one in the world at the time. The host immediately asked Bruce Seville, senior vice president of Apple, what do you think. He said, It's easy to say, it's much more difficult to do. It was extremely embarrassing, and hundreds of audience members laughed...
I have never expected that today, 7 years later, we surpassed Apple and became the world's second place for the first time!
There is more good news. We are ranked the first place in 22 countries. In developed markets like Europe, our market share has reached an astonishing 25%. We reached the top in the European market and became the number one! This is the first time a Chinese company has ever made this achievement.
After winning the second place in the world, we were very happy and felt that the number one in the world was at our fingertips. Here, I still need to tell the truth: don't underestimate the strength of world-class giants. We are still a young company. We need to be very calm to see the gap and continue to steadily lay a solid foundation. The current task of Xiaomi is to truly stand steadily in the second place in the world.
Xiaomi's dream is to "let everyone in the world enjoy the beautiful life brought by technology". The road is destined to be long and bumpy. All Xiaomi employees and I will try our best to prove that Xiaomi's dream can definitely be realized! Last year I gave the first speech in my life, and this year I decided to give another one. The topic of the lecture is "My Dream, My Choice". I mainly want to talk about the difficulties we have overcome and the difficult choices we have made in the past few years in order to pursue our dreams.
01 Stock Market
1.1 Low Opening Price
At the beginning of 2018, after repeated discussions, we decided to go public. At that time, the capital market was very hot, and investment banks set the issue price of Xiaomi's IPO at HK$17 to HK$22. Almost every entrepreneur wanted to set the price to be higher, but I did not hesitate to choose the lowest price at HK$17.
We sincerely hoped that our stocks will be the same as our products, with "good prices". Our wish was very beautiful and simple, but the reality might not be so beautiful.
On July 9, 2018, the much-expected Xiaomi IPO finally came. The atmosphere at the scene was very warm. This was the first Hong Kong company with the same shares and different rights to go public and the third largest IPO of technology stocks in the world. Everyone expected that Xiaomi's share price will skyrocket after the market opens.
No one thought that as soon as the market opened, it tanked! At that time, everyone was dumbfounded. If the stock price is lower than the issue price, all IPO investors will lose money. For an IPO, this is a very embarrassing thing.
After the ceremony, there were still a lot of media blocked at the door, and no one wanted to face such an embarrassing moment. The few of us hid in an utility room of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. A colleague saw us and photographed this embarrassing scene.
In the evening, we held an internal thank-you meeting as planned. Everyone came to congratulate me, but my heart was heavy all the time. In my speech at the dinner, I couldn't help but say: "we will work hard, and we must make IPO investors at least double their profit!"
That night, I drank a lot. I only remembered that I told my colleagues repeatedly that we must work hard and not lose other people's money.
The next morning, I bought a pair of ripped jeans. This was the first time in my life that I wore ripped jeans. There was only one thought in my mind, I must remember the IPO day! I also posted a special Weibo to remind myself: although Xiaomi has IPO-ed, the Revolution has not yet succeeded. Comrades, we must carry on!.1
1.2 Stock Repurchase
Happiness came so easy, our stock price rose back to the issue price the next day, and then all the way up to HK$24.
While we were excited, the US-China trade war escalated, and Xiaomi's stock began to fall all the way. This time, it fell for more than a year, and in September 2019, it fell all the way to HK$8.28. Everyone’s confidence almost collapsed, and some even thought it would fall to HK$4.
During that time, my mood was very low, and I was particularly reluctant to meet investors. Once an investor must see me. As soon as we met, she said rudely, "Xiaomi made me lose so much money. I really don't know how you did it?" Then, from strategy to product to management, she talked about an hour as if we were elementary school students. My shirt was all wet.
After the meeting, I stayed alone in the conference room for a long time. At that moment, I was in despair. During that period of time, I asked myself countless times: "We are working so hard, and Xiaomi’s revenue and market share are growing. Why does the capital market not recognize Xiaomi?" I really can’t figure it out: "If I were Investor, will I buy Xiaomi stock myself?"
We were facing a big choice: when the stock price drops and everyone is in despair, do we ourselves dare to buy our own stocks with our own money? This was a torture. I always believed in our Xiaomi business. At the same time, I was also a confident person. I firmly believed that "the best investment is to invest in yourself" and I started to muster up the courage to persuade everyone to buy back our stock.
After the board of directors agreed, we paid out 3.6 billion Hong Kong dollars in real money, with an average price of HK$9.35 and bought a lot of Xiaomi stocks. Looking back today, I really made the right move! But at the time, this decision required great courage. What if it was halfway through Xiaomi’s stock price fall?
After painstaking efforts, Xiaomi's stock price begun to slowly rise. On July 10, 2020, the second day of the second anniversary of listing, Xiaomi's stock price finally rose back to HK$17, which was the IPO issue price.
I was relieved. After two years, I can finally raise my head and stand up again! Then, Xiaomi's stock price continued to rise, and on January 4, 2021, the closing price was HK$34. We have finally realized what we said at the beginning: let IPO investors double their profits! On that day, I told my colleagues very seriously that Futu, Tiger, Straight Flush, Snowball, Big Wisdom, and all other stock apps can all be uninstalled. I didn't need to care about stock prices anymore!
Starting tomorrow, I will be a happy person, feed a horse, split logs, and travel the world.2
02 The Road to high-end
How did we get out of the stock price trough? In recent years, the more the stock price is down, the more we invest in research and development. If Xiaomi wants to become a great company and realize its dream, it must break through the high-end market.
In fact, when Xiaomi mobile phones first started, we started from high-end. The first generation of Xiaomi mobile phones was the most high-end smartphone at the time. Later, we made Redmi products for the mass user group, which was very successful and promoted the popularization of smart phones and the development of mobile Internet on a global scale. But no one thought that this success would greatly dilute the Xiaomi brand. Coupled with our own lack of strength, Xiaomi has been misunderstood by many people as an only mid-to-low-end brand.
A breakthrough to the high-end is imminent.
2.1 Xiaomi 10
Xiaomi’s road to a high-end brand started with Xiaomi 10. In order to do a good job of a high-end product, we didn't hesitate to improve user experience at all costs, and carefully polished all the details. After the R&D was completed, everyone was shocked by the cost. After 4G is upgraded to 5G, the cost of raw materials has soared sharply, plus huge research and development expenses, if we didn’t want to lose money, we must meet two conditions at the same time: the price must exceed 4,000 yuan, and the sales must exceed 2 million units.
The price of the digital series of Xiaomi mobile phones has never been more than 3,000 RMB. This time if I set a price of 4,000 RMB, which is 1,000 RMB more expensive, will this be acceptable to Xiaomi fans? Can we sell 2 million units of such an expensive mobile phone?
Our team was under great pressure, meeting all night long, discussing various complicated issues like how to break the circle, how to affect the business crowd, or even whether to find a sports car brand to do co-branding and so on. After a period of dumbfounded time, I realized that there was only one choice: believe in Xiaomi fans and rely on Xiaomi fans.
2 million units sound like a large number, but more than 100 million people in China were using Xiaomi phones. Will 2% of users believe in us and be willing to give us a chance? I think that as long as the product is good, there will be. What we have to do is to do everything we can to make a high-end product that Xiaomi fans truly recognize.
Once we understood this, everyone's psychological burden was immediately gone. In the days to come, we concentrated our efforts on the products and continued to polish the details. After the product was completed, we were anxiously waiting for the press conference and waiting for user feedback after the product was released.
However, no one have expected that at the beginning of 2020, a sudden new epidemic disrupted everything. It felt like the whole world was shut down...what about the Mi 10 that we have worked so hard on? Should it be postponed or cancelled? All of us were lost. At the beginning of February, we finally made a difficult and bold decision: proceed as originally planned. On February 13, we overcame many difficulties, and the press conference was held as scheduled. This was a purely online live conference, and there was no one in the venue except for the staff. When I put on my mask and walked to the stage, I was still very worried about my status and the effect of the live conference.
But at the moment the light was lit, it was like millions of Xiaomi fans were right in front of me, as if I heard their cheers one after another.
This press conference was an unprecedented success and received enthusiastic support from Xiaomi fans. On the second day, Xiaomi Mi 10 made its debut, surpassing 200 million sales in one minute, selling crazy. This was the first press conference after the epidemic, which paved a way for the entire industry to resume production and work at that time.
In this way, after numerous ups and downs, Xiaomi's first battle to hit the high-end market won a big victory! As of today, the cumulative sales of the Mi 10 series have reached 5.77 million units, and the Mi 10S is still in hot sales.
2.2 XiaoMi 11 Ultra
The Xiaomi Mi 10 series was doing well, and the morale of the team was high. We need to chase after the victory.
Imaging technology is the biggest technological challenge in the mobile phone industry. Zhu Dan, the person in charge of the camera department in Xiaomi, believed that in terms of hardware, we must take risks. Can the camera sensor be implemented on the mobile phone and lead the opponent by a big score, allowing Xiaomi to reach the pinnacle of global imaging? Zhu Yin, the head of the design, said this was a crazy idea immediately: if this is the case, the phone may be too thick for users.
After repeated arguments, everyone finally reached an agreement: we will make a phone for picture-taking enthusiasts. This is the Mi 11 Ultra. Ultra means extreme.
On the road to breaking through into a high-end brand, we chose this path: we must pursue the peak experience at all costs, even if it is not perfect! It took 18 months for the camera department to customize the GN2 sensor with a huge amount of money. The bottom is scary and the size is nearly an inch. After the mobile phone was designed, the camera effect was very amazing: it was comparable to the Sony black card, but the bulge and Deco of the camera were also very exaggerated. This wass really a bold design. The designers were still not satisfied and made repeated improvements, and later came up with a more elegant design: adding a small screen to the camera Deco to make it look much more comfortable. After the improved product prototype came out, our internal colleagues gave a good review, which made me feel more relieved.
After the press conference, Xiaomi fans responded very strongly. I think the main reason was that Ultra was too strong! It won the first place in DXOMARK's global total score by huge advantage, and dominated the list for 122 days. I have been worried about the design issues, but Xiaomi fans liked it very much. They felt that they were unique and recognizable. After the launch, Ultra caused a huge sensation worldwide. Many international technology bloggers have given a very high review.
Xiaomi's high-end road is actually just beginning now. We will continue to invest at all costs. I believe that Xiaomi's high-end road will be successful!
03 Unexpected Disaster
In the past year, Xiaomi has grown steadily. No one would have thought that there would be catastrophic disasters at the beginning of this year.
On the morning of January 15, the US Department of Defense put us on the DoD list. After market open, Xiaomi's share price fell sharply, with a drop of more than 30%. After that, it still fell sharply, as low as HK$21, and the market value of Xiaomi dropped by 300 billion Hong Kong dollars.
The DoD list is the "list of Chinese companies owned or controlled by the Chinese military" recognized by the US Department of Defense. After being included in this list, the U.S. government banned U.S. investors from investing, which has made a huge blow to the stock prices of companies that were listed overseas. It was a long-term obstacle to Xiaomi's global business development.
We didn't understand how Xiaomi became a "military-related enterprise"? There were a lot of jokes on the Internet, and some netizens said: is it because the founder is called Lei Jun3? The first time we encountered such a thing, we were a little panicked. I thought we should stand up immediately to clarify. The management quickly reached an agreement and issued an announcement: We are not a military-related enterprise and firmly oppose the unreasonable sanctions imposed by the US Department of Defense. At the same time, we contacted the US Department of Defense for information. But the trouble was, the U.S. Department of Defense said that this was a military secret.
There were only two ways ahead: either admit it or sue the US government. Usually if a Chinese company sued the U.S. government, the odds of winning are not good. Also there was no successful prosecution at that time for a company in DoD list. A bigger concern was whether we would anger the US government and cause a greater blow. We consulted many lawyers and experts in international relations, and the opinions were very different. However, Xiaomi was a public company listed in Hong Kong and our information was highly transparent. We still had certain confidence in litigation. At the end we made a difficult decision: directly sue the US government and defend our legitimate rights and interests in the most dignified way!
After the prosecution, the US Department of Defense had to announce the reasons: in 2019, Lei Jun, the founder of Xiaomi, won the title of "Excellent Constructor of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics" by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology is the promotion department of China's military-civilian integration. Therefore, Xiaomi is "involved in the military". It both upset me and made me laugh. In court, our lawyer asked: there are as many as 500 people on the list of winners. Among them are the bosses of the Septwolves and the bosses of LaoGanMa. Is it possible that clothing and chili sauce are also involved in the army? Finally, after several rounds of confrontation, on May 25th, we won!
This was an unprecedented victory! Encouraged by Xiaomi's victory, several Chinese companies have successfully sued! This victory has a profound impact on Xiaomi's future development.
04 Priceless Relationship
The choices mentioned above are all about the company's choice, next I will talk about my personal choices.
In the past ten years, everyone has equated me and Xiaomi. In fact, I have another identity, that is, the chairman of Kingsoft. How did I become the chairman of Kingsoft? This came from an "irrational" decision. From 22 years old to 38 years old, I participated in all the entrepreneurial process of Kingsoft, Kingsoft is all my youth.
In 2011, Kingsoft encountered a huge crisis, Qiu Bojun and Zhang Xuanlong, two elder brothers often came to lobby me, hoping that I could return to Kingsoft. But I have already started a business, this was impossible. They said that part-time work was fine as long as I can take it! At that time, the release of the Xiaomi mobile phone was at the most critical moment. My ration told me: Xiaomi has just started, don't use emotions, and I absolutely can't be distracted! But what about Kingsoft? But how can I bear the love of the two eldest brothers for more than 20 years and the future of four or five thousand brothers! I was very painful and struggled for months. The founders of Xiaomi couldn't stand it anymore and persuaded me, "Rather than being so painful, it's better to take it. Let us all do it together!"
They were the founders of Xiaomi, and they definitely hoped that I will focus on Xiaomi's business. But they understood my character and my feelings for Kingsoft, and they gave me such unreserved support. At that time, I was very moved. In this way, with the support of the co-founders of Xiaomi, on July 7, 2011, I officially took over as chairman of Kingsoft.
As soon as I took over, I was a little rushed. Thanks to the efforts of the Kingsoft brothers, it gradually got out of the predicament and regained its vitality. This year marks the 33rd anniversary of Kingsoft’s founding, and it is also the 10th year that I took over as chairman. Kingsoft has undergone radical changes. Its revenue has grown from less than 1 billion to 12 billion in income, an increase of more than 11 times! Ten years have passed, and I am very pleased that with the help of my friends, I have not failed Kingsoft, and fortunately, it has not affected Xiaomi. Today, it seems that the irrational choice back then affected me silently was because of the priceless relationship. For ten years, we have always been like this for users, employees, and partners.
05 We Are Together
In a few days, it will be August 16, the 10th birthday of the Xiaomi mobile phone. Thank you Xiaomi fans and friends for walking along the way with us, and thank you all for witnessing Xiaomi's ten-year growth. From Xiaomi 1 to Xiaomi 11 plus, from MIX1 to MIX3, these 13 mobile phones are connected together. A Xiaomi fan told me that he had collected all 13 mobile phones, which surprised me very much. I believe that very few people inside Xiaomi can collect all the models. I went through my collection, found all 13 mobile phones, and took a photo.
I’m sincerely grateful to all the Xiaomi fans and partners who have helped us. Along the way, we walk together, we believe that we can all go to the other side of our dreams. In the past ten years, I have been too busy, and I have hardly taken a vacation. Last June, I finally took a few days off to go hiking in Yunnan. I was wearing sunglasses and a hat. I guess no one would recognize me.
In a national forest park near Shangri-La, I ran into a young man and we walked and talked together. His name was Yao Cong, 27 years old, a wind power engineer of Huaneng Group. He worked in the mountains, working 20 days a month, and rest for 10 days. Occasionally, I felt that work in the mountains was boring, but I felt that the wind power business was still very meaningful. While chatting, I suddenly discovered that he was using the Mi 8 Explorer Edition. I guessed he didn't recognize me, so I pretended not to see it. We walked about 10 kilometers together. When it was about to end, he suddenly said, Mr. Lei, can we take a photo together? I froze for a moment.
He said, I recognized you from the beginning, but I didn't want to disturb you, so I didn't say anything. He told me that he likes Xiaomi very much. Every time Xiaomi launched a new product, he always called the local agent and told him to reserve one for him, so that he can pick it up when he went down the mountain. He said that he can afford any brand of mobile phone, and he had used other brands, but in the end he always firmly chose Xiaomi. "Because Xiaomi is different, Xiaomi's philosophy is not to make more money. Xiaomi chose a harder but more meaningful road." He looked at me and said seriously, "I am also a person with pursuit, so, I like Xiaomi better.” These words made a huge wave in my heart. I know that there were thousands of Xiaomi fans like Yao Cong all over the world, who have been silently supporting us and trusting us for ten years. It is precisely because of these trusts that we have overcome all difficulties and reached today's top 500 in the world, and now we are now the second largest in the world.
Because of these trusts, I have the courage to stand here and tell everyone aloud that our next goal: to win the world's number one in three years!
In the 11 years since Xiaomi started its business, I have worried about failure, whether my ability can keep up with the company's development, and also worried about physical strength and energy, but whenever I encounter huge crises and challenges, I never hesitate to come forward. I am not a genius, nor a model worker, nor a god of war. I am just an ordinary engineer, pursuing dreams and doing what I love.
Let's stop here for the speech on dreams and choices. Next, we will enter the new product release part.
Reference
The Chinese transcript has been posted by Jun Lei’s account in: https://www.zhihu.com/question/478635150
This is a quote from Chinese poet Haizi, who was one of the most famous poets in Mainland China after the Cultural Revolution. (Source)
"Jun” means “military” in Chinese.