Dong Mingzhu still doesn’t understand Lei Jun, Xiaomi air conditioner sales exceed Gree

On the evening of June 2, CCTV Financial Channel exposed the industry behind the second-hand air conditioner renovation fraud.

In this news program, CCTV gave a rare thumbs up to Xiaomi Air Conditioning. The content of the news was about Beijing issuing subsidies for the trade-in of smart consumer goods. The report said that Xiaomi became the object of everyone’s praise. The report also mentioned that the service of Xiaomi Air Conditioning is very good. When you buy Xiaomi Air Conditioning, when the new machine is delivered, the installer will remove the original old machine and directly install the new machine to complete the trade-in in one stop.

After the CCTV coverage, Lei Jun first reprinted the news to his Weibo. After the CCTV report, Xiaomi air conditioner caused a heated discussion on the Internet.

According to the data, millet air conditioner has quietly become a market giant, 2024Q1 overall shipments reached 690,000 units, an increase of 63%. The industry forecasts that the shipment of millet air conditioner will reach 7 million units in 2024.

Xiaomi air conditioner has led Gree

In the hot season, the air-conditioning market also ushered in the annual sales feast. When the bell of 618 rang, a contest between air-conditioning and technology began quietly, and the result of this battle shocked the entire industry – 618 air-conditioning sales ranking: Xiaomi No. 1, Gree No. 5, a new era seems to be coming quietly.

The Xiaomi brand was originally closely linked to smartphones, but in just six years, it has run a remarkable trajectory as a new horse in the air-conditioning industry. In the summer of 2018, Xiaomi ventured into the air-conditioning field for the first time. For this challenging market, Xiaomi is like a passionate explorer, with a unique understanding of intelligent life, stepping into this territory that seems to have been divided by giants.

Its star product, Xiaomi’s giant power-saving air conditioner, is the secret weapon in this counterattack war. With its ultra-high energy efficiency ratio and intelligent experience, Xiaomi air conditioner quickly captured the hearts of young consumers. On the hot-selling list of JD.com 618, this air conditioner is based on the trust of more than 1 million users. It sold 20,000 units only three days before the event, topped the chart continuously, and wrote a legend from nobody to king.

Xiaomi’s success is not just the accumulation of numbers, but also the result of profound insight into market demand. Behind every air conditioner sold is a family’s desire to improve the quality of smart life and trust in Xiaomi’s brand concept. Through the characteristics of intelligent interconnection, energy conservation and environmental protection, Xiaomi air conditioners have attracted modern families’ yearning for green and healthy life, and have successfully found their place at the intersection of traditional and emerging consumer concepts.

On the other hand, Gree, once known as the air conditioner kingdom, is a little powerless in the face of a rising star like Xiaomi. Although Gree Yunjia series air conditioners attack with a new level of energy efficiency and affordable prices, and even reduce the price to 2699 yuan over the years, in the fierce competition of 618, only more than 10,000 units are sold. The halo of the former hegemon, under the impact of new forces, appears to be a little dim.

Recalling the "clash" between Dong Mingzhu and Lei Jun in public many years ago, Dong Mingzhu bluntly said that Xiaomi was an "OEM" and questioned Lei Jun’s business model. However, today, the market has given a different answer. Xiaomi has not only established a foothold in the field of smartphones, but also broke through in the air-conditioning market. Sales surpassed Gree and approached the throne of traditional giants, which is undoubtedly a powerful response to the remarks of that year.

The rise of Xiaomi air conditioners is not only a victory of technology and innovation, but also a manifestation of consumer choice. The ebb and flow of Xiaomi and Gree may be a microcosm of the overture of the old and new in the home appliance industry, indicating that the future air conditioner market will pay more attention to the integration of innovation, energy conservation and intelligence, and all of this will be determined by the remote control in the hands of consumers.

Building air conditioners with the idea of making mobile phones

The beginning of the story of Xiaomi’s air conditioner can be traced back to 2018, an era when the concept of smart home was surging. Xiaomi, the company known as the "king of cost performance", has built a huge smart ecological empire through smartphones, TVs, bracelets and other products. However, Lei Jun and his team did not stop there. They were keenly aware that in the field of smart home, there is still a blue ocean waiting to be conquered – the home air conditioner market.

At that time, the traditional air-conditioning industry was already a red sea, with fierce competition and serious homogeneity. But Xiaomi saw the difference, and they believed that with their deep accumulation of smart hardware and Internet of Things technology, they could bring disruptive changes to this traditional industry. So a bold idea quietly sprouted within Xiaomi: to create a true smart air conditioner, so that the cool wind of technology can blow into thousands of households.

In July 2018, the first product of Xiaomi Air Conditioning – "Mijia Internet Air Conditioning" was officially launched. This is not only an air conditioner, but also an important part of Xiaomi’s smart home ecosystem. It is equipped with Xiaomi’s own intelligence system, and users can realize remote control, intelligent adjustment, voice control and other functions only through the mobile APP, completely breaking the operating barriers of traditional air conditioners.

But behind this is the countless technical research and market surveys of the Xiaomi team. From the optimization of cooling and heating efficiency, to the innovation of appearance design, to the seamless connection of intelligent Internet technology, every step is full of challenges. Especially in ensuring product performance, how to maintain Xiaomi’s consistent high cost performance has become a major problem for the team. In the end, through the deep integration of the supply chain and the fine management of cost control, Xiaomi air conditioners made a stunning appearance at a very competitive price and quickly attracted the attention of the market.

The success of Xiaomi Air Conditioning has not stopped Xiaomi. Lei Jun’s ambitions are greater than imagined, and the excellence of a single product cannot represent the whole. The real competitiveness lies in building a complete smart home ecosystem. Therefore, Xiaomi Air Conditioning has begun to deeply link with other Xiaomi ecological chain products, such as cooperating with the Xiaomi Mi Band to automatically adjust the temperature according to the user’s sleep state; combining with Xiao Ai’s smart speaker to achieve voice control throughout the house, making smart life within reach.

This series of layout makes Xiaomi air conditioner no longer just a cold home appliance, but a warm and convenient intelligent life assistant in every family. Sales of Xiaomi air conditioners have also been rising. According to public data, since its launch in 2018, Xiaomi air conditioner business has maintained an average annual growth of more than 30%. By the end of 2021, the cumulative sales volume has exceeded the 5 million unit mark, successfully occupying a place in the highly competitive air conditioner market.

In the future, with the further integration of 5G, Internet of Things, artificial intelligence and other technologies, Xiaomi’s air conditioning business may go further.

What did Gree Xiaomi do right?

In just a few years, Xiaomi Air Conditioning has risen from the edge of the industry to the bright focus of the mainstream stage. So, what is Xiaomi Air Conditioning doing right by surpassing Gree?

When you sit in the office and whisper to your phone: "Xiao Ai, turn the air conditioner at home to 25 degrees." The Xiaomi air conditioner at home seems to have a heart-to-heart connection and starts slowly. When you return home, you will be greeted by a cool room. This is the first type of Xiaomi air conditioner to take the lead in the rivers and lakes – the intelligent design concept.

The Xiaomi air conditioner is not just a heating and cooling regulator, it is the guardian of the smart home of the Xiaomi ecological chain, seamlessly integrated into the Mijia ecosystem, making remote control and voice commands a reality. Imagine, whether it is a hot afternoon in the sun or a cold winter night, you only need to touch your fingertips or voice call to make the temperature of your home just right. This sense of control at will is the unique charm that Xiaomi air conditioner gives users.

What’s more impressive is its intelligent scene mode, which is like a caring life assistant, learning your living habits and automatically adjusting to the most comfortable temperature, which is both energy-saving and environmentally friendly.

If intelligence is the wing of Xiaomi Air Conditioning, then the price of being close to the people is its solid feet, which allows it to firmly establish itself in the market. Xiaomi Air Conditioning is well versed in cost performance and interprets the brand philosophy of "good but not expensive" with practical actions. In the air conditioning industry, high-end models that cost thousands of yuan at every turn are everywhere, but Xiaomi is like a clear stream. With its highly competitive price and excellent functions and quality, it quickly won the favor of consumers.

Lei Jun’s game of chess was far-reaching and accurate. He may have foreseen that in today’s consumption upgrade, consumers are not only pursuing the basic functions of products, but also seeking the satisfaction of "value for money". The appearance of Xiaomi air conditioners is like a timely rain in summer, allowing consumers to enjoy the comfort and convenience brought by cutting-edge technology at a lower cost, thus standing out among many brands and building a sky of their own.

In the face of the rise of Xiaomi air conditioners, Dong Mingzhu, the head of Gree, may have been confused. In her opinion, the core of home appliances lies in quality, and excellent quality is the passport of the market. However, times are changing, and consumer demand is also quietly changing. Under the wave of intelligent technology, simple "hard core" is no longer enough to sum up the whole market. People yearn for a smarter and more convenient lifestyle.

The success of Xiaomi Air Conditioning is the best interpretation of this trend. It tells us that the future competition is not only the competition of the product itself, but also the accurate grasp of consumer psychology and future trends. In the blue ocean of smart home, only by constantly innovating and embracing change can we ride the wind and waves.

Therefore, whether it is for Xiaomi air conditioners or the entire home appliance industry, continuous exploration of the boundaries of intelligence, continuous optimization of user experience, while maintaining the price of the people’s line, will be the key to future development. On this road, Xiaomi air conditioners have gone out of their own pace, proving that in the era of smart home, intelligence and cost-effectiveness are the king of winning the market.

The story is not over, and the chapter of smart home is slowly unfolding. The contest between Xiaomi air conditioner and Gree is just a scene in this game of change. On the stage of the future, who can say who will lead the trend next? But what is certain is that it will be the brand that understands users best and is closest to the pulse of the times.

Author | T800