TMTPOST -- Xiaomi Corporation refreshed its top line record and maintained double-digit growth as its new business electric vehicle (EV) delivered much stronger growth for the third quarter.
XIaomi posted revenue of RMB92.5 billion (US$12.77 billion) for the quarter ended September, beating Wall Street projection of RMB90.28 billion. The new revenue record represented a 30.5% year-over-year (YoY) increase, just shy of a 32% rise three months ago, the fastest pace since 2021. The new record was 4% more than the previous one Xiaomi set for the second quarter.
Operating profit for the September quarter soared 21% YoY to RMB60.4 billion, compared with expectation of RMB5.13 billion by analysts. Adjusted net profit that quarter was RMB6.25 billion, up 4.4%, whereas analysts estimated RMB5.91 billion.
The July to September period is Xiaomi’s second quarter to report sales of its EV business since the company launched its first EV model SU7 in March and began delivery a month later. Revenue from smart EV and other new initiative stood at RMB9.7 billion, including RMB9.5 billion from EV. That suggested EV revenue surged 53.2% from a quarter earlier. The gross margin of the segment logged 15.4%, 1.7 points up quarter-over-quarter (QoQ) and still less than Xiaomi’s overall margin of 17.2%. The segment booked an adjusted net loss of RMB1.5 billion, narrowing 16.7% QoQ.
Xiaomi said it has received significant market interest in and strong demand for the Xiaomi SU7 Series. Deliveries for the third quarter totaled 39,790 vehicles, 12,483 units, or 45.7% up from deliveries for the previous quarter. The average sales price (ASP) of SU7 series was RMB238,650 per unit, gaining 4.4%, or RMB10,000, from the second quarter. As of November 13, XIaomi has met its EV output goal of 100,000 units for the year 2024. Xiaomi’s monthly delivery first exceeded 20,000 units in October. Xiaomi has delivered more than SU7 vehicles, meeting its delivery target for this year earlier, the founder and CEO Lei Jun said in a post on Chinese social media Weibo at weekend. Lei said the company now aims to deliver 130,000 EVs for the entire year, raising its forecast for the third time.
Xiaomi’s core business hauled RMB35.0 billion for the third quarter. The business growth accelerated to 32.9% from a 27.1% YoY increase three months earlier. The gross margin of smartphone business was 11.7%, decreasing from 16.6% a year earlier, mainly due to the increased competition and the increased price of key components. Xiaomi’s smartphone shipments increased 3.1% YoY to 41.8 million units in the September quarter, primarily due to the increased shipments in mainland China with its market share in the market increasing 1.2 percentage points YoY to 14.7%, according to Canalys. The ASP of Xiaomi smartphones popped 10.6% YoY to RMB997.0 per unit in the third quarter, primarily driven by the higher contribution from its premium smartphone shipments.
IoT and lifestyle products, the largest division second to smartphone, generated RMB20.7 billion, a YoY increase of 26.3%, and gross margin dropped 4.9 points YoY to 16.6%. Xiaomi said the decline in margin was mainly due to higher revenue contribution and the increased gross profit margin of certain products with higher gross profit margin, such as wearables and smart large home appliances. Excluding smartphones, tablets and laptops, the number of connected IoT devices on Xiaomi AIoT platform reached 861.4 million by the end of September, up 23.2% YoY, and the number of users with five or more devices connected to Xiaomi AIoT platform grew 24.9% YoY to 17.1 million. The monthly active user (MAU) of Mi Home App grew to 100.1 million in September, up 19.2% YoY. The MAU of AI Assistant grew to 134.9 million, up 8.5% YoY.