Xiaomi shipped 40.5 million units of smartphones globally in Q3 2022, down -8% YoY. It is the third consecutive quarter that the vendor posted annual decline, though the decline rate is slowing down.
Xiaomi continued its brand uplift efforts by launching new innovative products under Mi series. Mi 12s Ultra and Mix Fold 2 are the most eye-catching ones.
- Mi 12s Ultra was launched in July. It is the first flagship device co-branded by Xiaomi and Leica, after the two companies formed strategic partnership in Q2. The new model comes with bulky camera module, excellent hardware specifications, as well as high price tags. The retail price varies from RMB 5999 (~USD 825) to RMB 6999 (~USD 960), depending on the memory combinations.
- Mix Fold 2 was launched in August. It is a booklet folder like Samsung’s Z Fold 4. On top of industry-leading specifications, Mix Fold 2 stands out from the competition by its ultra-slimness: closed it’s 11.2mm and open just 5.4mm (excluding the camera bump though), it is much slimmer than Samsung’s Fold 4. Lack of flexible hinge and IP68 resistance are arguably the main shortage of the device. The retail price of Mix Fold 2 ranges from RMB 8999 (~USD 1235) to RMB 11999 (~USD 1650), depending on the memory variants.
We are impressed with the innovativeness of Mi 12s Ultra and Mix Fold 2 and view their pricing is valid when compared with Samsung and Apple. We however are concerned on Xiaomi’s brand image and channel presence in the price segment above USD 600 (wholesale). After all, the segment contributed to merely 1% of Xiaomi’s total shipments in 2021. In fact, neither Mi 12s Ultra nor Mix Fold 2 are volume-generating ones. Despite of Xiaomi’ s efforts, the volume share of Xiaomi’s premium-oriented Mi series continued to drop in Xiaomi’s total portfolio, while the share of mass-market-oriented Redmi series continued to rise.
Xiaomi is now facing headwinds in India and in China. The softened performance in its largest two single markets is casting shadow on Xiaomi’s outlook in the following quarters. Given the mounting headwinds and macroeconomic uncertainties, we believe Xiaomi would follow the downturn track in Q4 2022 and the first half of 2023.
Our latest report on Xiaomi Q3 ‘22: Xiaomi: Headwinds in China and India. WSS clients could access the report via this link.
Meanwhile, we have employed SA Lens to evaluate vendors and compare them with their peers. Below is the evaluation on Xiaomi’s performance in Q3 2022.
