Following the conclusion of Lei Jun’s 2025 annual speech event， Lei Jun， Chairman and CEO of Xiaomi Group， engaged in a media group interview.
Lei Jun remarked that Xiaomi’s initial positioning was as a geek brand， tailored for network enthusiasts. He expressed that no one anticipated Xiaomi’s growth to exceed expectations so rapidly， transforming it into a mainstream brand.
He elaborated， “Around five to six years ago， we faced considerable challenges stemming from our rapid growth. Many people lacked understanding of our brand， and there were numerous prevalent biases. Concurrently， due to our accelerated expansion， there were aspects where we ourselves did not perform optimally. Consequently， after a period of half a year of reflection， we decided to prioritize premiumization， aiming to gain the recognition of high-end users and female users.”
Lei Jun highlighted the significant shift in Xiaomi’s user base， noting that approximately half of the users for Xiaomi’s electric vehicles are currently women. This represents a dramatic transformation in the user demographic， a direct outcome of the premiumization efforts initiated five years ago.
During this five-year exploration， Xiaomi has progressively developed a methodology for premiumization， centered on three key pillars: technological leadership， cognitive leadership， and aesthetic leadership.
To effectively achieve premiumization， continuous improvement is necessary across these three dimensions. Therefore， Lei Jun stated， “We organize discussions every quarter to assess our achievements in the premiumization process， identify the difficulties encountered， or the pitfalls we’ve fallen into.”
