With "Xiao Ai", you don't need to find a girlfriend? The reasons for the success of the most popular smart speaker may be due to these points

Although there are no less than five smart speakers of different brands and shapes in the office of (official account:), if you ask which product is most popular among colleagues, it must be "Xiao Ai Tongxue", that is, the Xiaomi AI speaker.

Objectively speaking, the Xiaomi AI Speaker, which looks like a smaller version of the Xiaomi air purifier, is not the most creative smart speaker in terms of appearance. It is also not like the MIUI mobile phone system, which has cultivated the usage habits of a large number of users early on.

However, as "Xiao Ai" is hard to come by in the market, I believe many people have chosen Xiaomi AI speaker as their first choice to try smart speakers. What are the reasons behind this that helped "Xiao Ai" become a star?

Catchy wake-up words

Before Amazon Echo, Google Home, or Apple HomePod officially entered the Chinese market, to be honest, the functions of smart speakers from various domestic manufacturers were similar and not much different for the vast majority of ordinary users.

If we have to say what differences in product ideas between different smart speakers will influence consumers' choices, the wake-up word setting is definitely a key factor that cannot be ignored.

Saying two words related to the product twice in a row is the preferred solution for smart speaker manufacturers to set wake-up words. However, it seems more like a common practice used by programmers from the perspective of voice accuracy.

For example, you would verbally call someone "Xiao Zhang", "Xiao Li", "Doctor Xiao Wang" or "Security Guard Xiao Xu", but would you call others "Xiao Zhang Xiao Zhang" or "Xiao Li Xiao Li"?

In comparison, the Xiaomi AI speaker will greet you with just "Xiao Ai". This wake-up word setting that conforms to normal communication habits can be regarded as a smarter approach. At least it makes you feel that you are not talking to a cold machine.

Taking off on the shoulders of Xiaomi's ecological chain

It is obvious that today's Xiaomi has the ability to continuously create popular products.

Just like the previous products in many different fields such as air purifiers, rice cookers, balance bikes and even laser TVs, although Xiaomi was not the first manufacturer to enter the market, once Xiaomi made a move and Monkey King took action, the industry naturally became much more lively.

This also means that the Xiaomi AI speaker, which has become a member of Xiaomi Grocery Store, will naturally become a hit in the field of smart speakers by leveraging the massive number of users accumulated from Xiaomi mobile phones to Xiaomi ecological chain products.

In addition, Xiaomi's fan group has been brainwashed by the so-called "born for enthusiasts" concept and has a stronger desire to try new technological products than fans of other brands. Now, just like Siri, which has been equipped on Apple phones for many years, many users do not think that smart speakers are really useful. This is exactly what these "enthusiasts" need.

Not only are there people willing to fight, but there are also many people willing to be beaten, so "Xiao Ai Tongxue" is naturally in short supply.

Accurate understanding of users’ real needs

It can be said that as long as you still regard "Iron Man" as a science fiction film, then the vision of using smart speakers to mobilize various home devices and step into smart life with just your mouth is really just a vision. The blueprint for future life drawn by smart speaker manufacturers for you is mostly just better in PPT.

However, whether ordinary users really have an urgent need for the dream of intelligent life is still an unknown. But what is certain is that just as people’s discussions about sex robots have been in full swing, most people’s demands for technology are nothing more than finding a playmate for themselves with the help of a machine.

The brilliance of Xiaomi AI speaker lies in that, based on the hardware itself, it strives to create a virtual "Xiao Ai" in front of the user that "sounds like it really exists". Xiaomi even officially gave very specific character settings, such as a red short-haired mecha girl, an appearance of about 17 years old, and a height of 1.60 meters.

This is like the extremely popular AI virtual idol "Ai-chan" developed by the Japanese at this stage. Just listening to this non-existent "artificial mentally retarded" girl wearing two-dimensional clothing and constantly making "Hua Q, Hua Q" sounds through the screen is enough to make many otaku blush.

What is more certain is that a large part of the Mi Fan group are adolescent men who have no house, no car, no savings, no girlfriend, but are full of hormones. So, isn’t “Xiao Ai” just helping them find a “fake girlfriend” who can chat with them?

Xiaomi-style pricing

Nothing can attract potential consumers' attention to a product and pry their wallets open more than a price that is lower than the industry average.

When the Xiaomi mobile phone came out, the pricing strategy of 1,999 yuan can be said to have made it difficult for Android mobile phone manufacturers, including Xiaomi itself, especially Internet mobile phone manufacturers, to gain a foothold in the high-priced mobile phone market until today.

Today, the Xiaomi AI speaker, which is officially priced at 299 yuan, has also definitely dispelled the idea of ​​many smart speaker manufacturers who wanted to make a fortune through hardware profits.

We can’t say for sure whether Xiaomi’s practice of “buying at the bottom price” every time it comes on the market is a good thing for the development of the industry, but the price of “Xiao Ai” is less than half of the 599 yuan Redmi phone, which really gives many people no reason to consider similar products that sell for hundreds or thousands of yuan.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.