The Xiaomi Mi 5S is not the right medicine for the right condition.

In recent times, Xiaomi has been plagued by negative news. Its sales in 2015 did not meet expectations, and its sales in 2016 were surpassed by OPPO, whose gross profit margin was much higher than its own. It was even squeezed out of the top five in the Chinese market.

Although Xiaomi has been working hard to diversify its business, with Xiaomi Mall selling everything, and Lei Jun also saying that Xiaomi wants to be China's Costco, at least at the current stage, smartphones are still Xiaomi's biggest source of revenue. The development of other areas has not yet been able to make up for the losses caused by the decline of smartphones.

Xiaomi held its autumn new product launch conference in Beijing a few days ago, launching two products, Xiaomi 5S and Xiaomi 5S Plus. This time, Xiaomi's design style has evolved from iPhone 4 to iPhone 6, and the design of the all-metal body with white belt is almost a copy of the iPhone.

In terms of configuration, Xiaomi still has two versions with large and small screens. The small screen is 5.15 inches and integrates the new IMX378 camera, high-brightness screen, ultrasonic fingerprint recognition and other cutting-edge technologies.

The large-screen Plus 5.7-inch uses dual 13-megapixel cameras and traditional rear fingerprint recognition, which is not very innovative.

Can Xiaomi, which has been in a precarious situation recently, turn the tide with the two new smartphones released at the autumn conference? Let's take a look.

1. Xiaomi 5S Plus is old wine in a new bottle, Xiaomi 5S is very sincere

The two products launched by Xiaomi this time are quite interesting. Although the Xiaomi 5S plus is expensive, from a technical point of view, it basically uses mainstream technology that has already been adopted by other manufacturers.

The dual 13-megapixel camera, color + black and white combination is Sunny Optical's solution, Qiku used it a year ago, and Huawei also used it. The rear fingerprint recognition is also a technology from 1 or 2 years ago, and the 6G memory OnePlus 3 has already used it. The only bright spot is that the Snapdragon 821 processor replaces the Snapdragon 820. This product looks like last year's product with a simple processor upgrade, which is a new bottle of old wine.

In contrast, the low-priced small-screen Xiaomi 5S is very sincere. In terms of camera, MX378 is Sony's high-end product. After a long detour, mobile phone cameras have found a balance between image quality and pixel count. The 1/2.3-inch 12-megapixel camera has a pixel pitch of 1.55mm, and the image quality and pixel count are well balanced. This product performs very well on HTC M10 and ranks first in the mobile phone category in the DXOmark test, surpassing various dual-camera solutions. As a 1,999 yuan product, Xiaomi 5S uses this camera with full sincerity.

Xiaomi 5S does not pursue gimmicks but focuses on picture quality. This selling point is worthy of praise.

In terms of fingerprint recognition, ultrasonic recognition, a relatively cutting-edge technology, is adopted, which is more convenient and more efficient than traditional fingerprint recognition.

In terms of workmanship, metal bodies are actually more convenient than ceramic bodies, but for users, ceramic bodies are expensive and complex to process, and have no advantages other than being more wear-resistant. They are not as reliable as metal bodies when dropped. It may seem like a downgrade from ceramic to metal, but it is actually an improvement in experience for consumers.

The thickness of Xiaomi 5S is 8.25mm, which is a bit thick by today's standards, but for a 5-inch phone, this thickness is just right. Xiaomi has equipped the 5S with a 3200mAH battery, which is good for battery life.

Overall, Xiaomi 5S uses a lot of new technologies, has good workmanship, and reasonable configuration. The price of the 64G version remains at 1,999 yuan. It gives you high configuration, new technology, and practicality, while maintaining a low price, which is full of sincerity.

2. The wrong medicine cannot save the situation

Since the Xiaomi Mi 5S looks good, can it help Xiaomi regain its glory?

To answer this question, we first have to look at why Xiaomi failed.

Xiaomi entered the smartphone market in late 2011, when Android was mature and Qualcomm began to provide integrated baseband solutions, making smartphone development simpler. At that time, smartphones had an overwhelming experience advantage over mainstream feature phones.

This stage is the replacement and popularization stage. The one who can offer the lowest price wins the market. Xiaomi rose rapidly, and its price center of gravity kept falling. It reached its peak when Redmi came. Coolpad Dasheng and Huawei Honor, which followed suit, all made a fortune. Meizu Blue, LeTV, and Qihoo also joined the market later.

This market closed at the end of 2014, when data showed that the smartphone penetration rate in first-tier cities reached 94%.

Later, hardware began to become oversupplied, and smartphones entered the replacement phase. Xiaomi's cost-effective configuration route encountered challenges. For ordinary users, there is no difference between the optimized low-end and high-end machines, and the experience is the same. It all depends on the brand, channel, and after-sales service, and Xiaomi has no advantages in these areas.

Xiaomi’s brand was positioned as cost-effective and low-end when it entered the market, and this brand cannot be regarded by consumers as a manufacturer of high-end products.

In fact, Xiaomi NOTE was already a first-class product when it was launched, but due to its weak brand, it could not be sold at a high price.

This time, Xiaomi 5S is a first-class product with a mid-range price and a high cost performance. However, for consumers, there is no difference between Xiaomi 5S and OPPO R9.

OPPO's advertisements are everywhere, and its channels are all over first-, second-, third-, fourth-, fifth- and sixth-tier cities and counties, with Li Yifeng as its spokesperson. Xiaomi has just found a spokesperson, and the spokesperson's image does not quite match Xiaomi's brand image. In terms of channels, the number of Xiaomi stores is pitifully small.

When it really comes to the market, people will still look for OPPO when they need to change their phones, and Xiaomi will still sell to fans who like cost-effectiveness.

Other manufacturers that follow the same path as OPPO include vivo, Huawei, Gionee, and even LeTV and Meizu are also building offline channels. Xiaomi has no advantage over them.

Xiaomi 5S is very thoughtful, well-configured and has an outstanding price/performance ratio. However, it cannot solve the brand problem in the replacement market, which is the wrong medicine for the disease.

3. Xiaomi needs to learn from Toyota

Xiaomi’s current problem is similar to the problem Toyota encountered in the United States. Toyota’s quality and technical strength are already good, but the impression of being a cheap car brand prevents Toyota from selling at a premium.

Toyota's response strategy was top-level products and second-class brand. The advertisement of LS400 running at 240 kilometers per hour on a test bench with a champagne tower on top shocked everyone.

Xiaomi also needs such a brand now. Xiaomi's high-end products should only be sold in the offline high-profit market, and should be separated from Xiaomi. Only use Xiaomi's R&D and supply chain resources, and have a clear distinction from Xiaomi in positioning, unique product design, excellence in quality, and high-end communication.

The 8848 mobile phone, which is now criticized a lot, is preparing to launch the second generation. In terms of R&D strength, manufacturers such as 8848 and e-ben cannot compare with Xiaomi. When it comes to products with similar positioning, Xiaomi can do better.

Xiaomi doesn’t need to sell for 1,000 yuan, as long as it breaks through 5,000 yuan, it can compete with Samsung and Apple. If a new brand wants to get rid of its low-end brand image, it cannot hold a press conference and cannot let Lei Jun go on stage to show a PPT of hardware running scores.

Find the right spokesperson and put up hard advertising at airports, high-speed trains, on TV shows and in magazines. Enter through high-end channels and provide quality services. If you persist for a few years, the high-end image of the new brand will naturally be established.

In the next round of phone replacement, users who upgrade to higher-end phones will naturally think of your high-end brand.

So, Xiaomi 5S is good, but it is not the right medicine for the disease. Learning from Toyota is the way out for Xiaomi.

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.