Xiaomi’s Tough Year Tests Lei Jun’s Charm Offensive

In a year marred by product recalls and investor doubts, Xiaomi founder Lei Jun took the stage on Sept. 25 for his sixth annual speech, hoping to reset the narrative.

Under the banner “Change”

Lei cast the company as moving beyond its internet-era roots and into what he called a “hard-tech” future

-while also urging investors and consumers to rethink what Xiaomi stands for.

Lei sketched out three shifts he said would guide the company:

✅ recasting Xiaomi from an “internet company” to a “hard-core technology company”;

✅ redefining the notion of “value for money” as “high performance at the right price”;

✅ and laying the groundwork for a shift from one-off hardware sales to subscription-based services.

Rather than dwell on technical details, Lei leaned on personal stories.

He invoked veteran employee Zhu Dan to illustrate the firm’s chip ambitions,

and spotlighted Ren Zhoucan, a test driver who grew up in an auto repair shop, as an emblem of its car program.

The anecdotes were meant to humanize Xiaomi’s multibillion-dollar bets and make them relatable to consumers.

But investors and the public weren’t buying it.

The company’s flagship Xiaomi 17 smartphone line has been criticized for lackluster innovation and pared-back features,

while gimmicks like its rear-display “sharing screen” drew charges of creating demand for problems that don’t exist.

The company’s auto unit faced a more serious blow: a mass recall of its SU7 model over safety issues,

which sent resale prices tumbling and dented trust in Xiaomi’s most ambitious bet yet.

Lei’s reliance on emotional storytelling, once seen as a hallmark of his authenticity, showed signs of wear.

Critics panned his “sob-story” style as manipulative and his “fine print” marketing tactics—burying restrictions in small text—as corrosive to brand credibility.

The lack of a direct response to the recall left a gap between the empathy he tried to project and the accountability many expected.

The market’s verdict was swift. Xiaomi’s shares dropped 8.07% the day after the speech, erasing more than HK$100 billion in market value.

The slump stood in stark contrast to prior years, when Lei’s appearances often sent the stock higher.

For Lei, the reversal underscores the limits of storytelling in the face of operational missteps.

As one Yuan-dynasty playwright once observed, “Flowers do not stay red for a hundred days.”

The test now for Xiaomi’s founder is whether he can pair narrative with execution—convincing consumers and investors not with speeches, but with products that endure.

✍️ What are your thoughts about Xiaomi’s future?