Xiaomi TV’s internal and external difficulties: Why is it not selling well?

The success of Xiaomi mobile phones is reflected in the failure of Xiaomi TV.

On May 12, Lei Jun forwarded a Weibo post about TV sales, which read, "According to the TV brand ranking data in the past 30 days, Xiaomi TV has surpassed all domestic and foreign brands and become the number one smart TV brand in terms of shipments."

The accompanying picture shows that the data comes from Taobao. Xiaomi's sales volume of 21,852 TVs surpassed LeTV, Hisense and other TV manufacturers. When forwarding the Weibo, Lei Jun said, "I looked carefully, this is Taobao data. Xiaomi TV shipments are much larger than this."

However, it is an indisputable fact that Xiaomi TV is far from being as glamorous as reflected in this data. Xiaomi TV is in a very embarrassing position both in the market and within Xiaomi.

Xiaomi's data game

Whether Xiaomi's TV data is true is worth our study, because before this, unlike the frequent exposure of sales of mobile phones, Xiaomi's sales related to TV were exposed only twice, last year's Double 11 and this year's Mi Fan Festival.

At that time, Xiaomi explained to the outside world in a grand manner that Xiaomi TV had won three firsts: "No. 1 in sales volume of single product in the large home appliance category, No. 1 in sales revenue of single product in the large home appliance category, and the fastest sales volume of single product in the large home appliance category exceeding 10,000."

But based on this data, we find that Xiaomi was very "smart" in playing a little trick, because the overall sales of Xiaomi TV was only 143 million yuan, while Hisense's sales on that day were 100,000 units, far exceeding Xiaomi, and LeTV's sales also exceeded Xiaomi by 158 million yuan.

Xiaomi's "cleverness" is reflected in its concept of "single product". Unlike LeTV, Hisense and other companies whose product lines cover multiple dimensions, Xiaomi only has one TV, the Xiaomi TV 2.

Let’s talk about the data this time. The data shows that the sales volume of Xiaomi TV 2 on Taobao reached 21,852 units in these 30 days, winning the championship, but does this make sense?

Online TV data from iiMedia Research show that in weeks 15, 16, 17 and 18 of 2015, Xiaomi TV sales accounted for 2.3%, 1.7%, 2.8% and 2.1% respectively.

Data disclosed by Hisense officially shows that in the past 30 days, Hisense smart TV sales were 468,399 units and total TV sales were 739,754 units.

For Xiaomi, such a numbers game is actually meaningless. You know, Xiaomi's business model is not about being the first in a single category, nor is it about becoming the sales champion on Taobao. Instead, it is about selling as many TVs as possible and sinking the channels. This is the most important thing.

Judging from the current situation, Xiaomi should pay more attention to the sales of only 300,000 TV sets in 2014 rather than these firsts.

External-Heavy Surrounding

300,000 units sold, this is the sales volume of Xiaomi TV last year as shown by various data. This result is directly compared with LeTV's 1.5 million units, Hisense's 8 million units, TCL's 6.5 million units, and the overall market of more than 40 million units last year.

Obviously, compared with the success of its mobile phones and its ranking first, Xiaomi has encountered a cold snap in the TV market. By analyzing the reasons, it is not difficult to find the following points.

First: From disruptor to follower

The reason why Xiaomi mobile phone has successfully reached the top in just a few years is inseparable from Xiaomi's quality, marketing and other aspects, but the most important thing may be that Xiaomi is the first manufacturer in the entire mobile phone market, the Chinese mobile phone market, to launch the "Internet phone".

However, when it comes to television, Xiaomi is not like that. Like many traditional TV manufacturers, Xiaomi plays the role of a follower. Xiaomi has lost its first-mover advantage in mobile phones and the most important concept of cost-effectiveness.

Second: Fan economy is not a panacea

Xiaomi mobile phones have quickly captured the market by relying on the fan economy model, but when analyzing Xiaomi's user groups, we will find that Xiaomi's users tend to be young, mainly students. This group of users has low spending power and is prone to impulse buying. They are also Internet natives and frequently use social media.

Thanks to this, Xiaomi mobile phones have been successful, but the model of the TV market is not like this. The mainstream consumers of TVs are financially stronger and more rational consumers. The biggest purchasing motivation comes from upgrades or new home decoration. For this group of consumers, for the TV market, fan economy does not work.

Third: Content

Xiaomi invited Chen Tong from Sina, claiming to have invested $1 billion to create content for TV, invested tens of millions of dollars in Youku, invested 1.8 billion yuan in iQiyi, and invested in Huace, and then developed TV games with Kingsoft, etc. These are all Xiaomi's efforts based on the content dimension.

However, this approach can only be a quick-fix model, as it cannot guarantee the exclusivity of the content. Skyworth and Alibaba's Coocaa, and iQiyi and TCL's TV are all cooperative models.

Moreover, it is very important to note that it is no longer possible to bypass the broadcast control platform and enter the television in an integrated way, so there have emerged collaborations such as Hisense and Wasu, and Future TV.

Fourth: Channel

If online shopping has been completely opened up in first- and second-tier cities, then at least in third- and fourth-tier cities, it still needs time to penetrate. How big is this part of the market?

Data shows that China has 333 prefecture-level cities, 2,856 county towns, and 40,906 townships. This is why companies including Alibaba and JD.com are promoting rural strategies.

In these places, the main purchasing scenarios for large appliances such as televisions are still offline.

The annual report from Aowei shows that last year, although the proportion of online purchases was increasing, it only accounted for 18% of the market share.

Xiaomi does not have any advantages in this part of the market, and its channels do not extend to this area at all. Traditional TV manufacturers have been immersed in this area for many years. This moat cannot be driven by the omnipotent Internet and takes a long time to build.

Isn’t the same true for the accelerated expansion of Xiaomi Home?

This is the dilemma Xiaomi is currently facing in the TV market, and this is the biggest reason for its annual sales of 300,000 units. Compared with LeTV, it has lost its first-mover advantage and is not competitive in terms of content; compared with Hisense and TCL, it is also at a disadvantage in terms of channels and purchasing scenarios.

Internal-The greater the expectation, the greater the disappointment

During last year's Double 11, Xiaomi TV sold 39,000 units with sales of 143 million yuan. During this year's Mi Fan Festival, Xiaomi TV sold 38,600 units. Behind this achievement are the sales of 1.16 million mobile phones and total sales of 1.56 billion yuan during Double 11, as well as 2.11 million mobile phones and sales of 2.08 billion yuan during the Mi Fan Festival.

From this data, we can learn that, to a large extent, the only achievement of Xiaomi TV is also due to the support brought by the strong brand of Xiaomi mobile phone and the sales brought by Xiaomi mobile phone.

For example, it's like I went to the supermarket and wanted to buy a pack of instant noodles, but when I saw a drink, I thought to myself that the instant noodles might be too spicy and I needed a drink.

Xiaomi TV is actually no different from Xiaomi's headphones, mobile power banks and other mobile phone accessories, which is a huge difference from Xiaomi's internal expectations for Xiaomi TV.

Once upon a time, Lei Jun's positioning of TV was like this: "The mobile phone is the remote control of the TV, and the TV is the display of the mobile phone."

In Xiaomi's strategic layout, television is the same as mobile phones. Together with mobile phones and routers, it will become the three main entrances to Xiaomi's future fully intelligent era. It is an important link that connects the Xiaomi ecosystem.

Moreover, Lei Jun also vowed that "we will become the market leader in this business sooner or later", poached Chen Tong, and invested heavily in content.

Xiaomi’s expectations for TVs are very high, but the current achievements are indeed not up to par with such expectations.

When expectations repeatedly turn into disappointment, and when Lei Jun needs to use a result like No. 1 on Taobao to increase the presence of Xiaomi TV, I don't know what the view of the TV department is within Xiaomi.

On the one hand, mobile phones have been fighting bravely for Xiaomi's ecosystem, conquering cities and seizing strongholds, and establishing an unbreakable advantage in local battlefields. But on the other hand, televisions have been struggling to make any progress, and even require support from the mobile phone line. The lag of televisions has directly led to slow progress in the overall battle.

Even the wisest person would lose his mind when faced with such a situation.

It's like a pair of twins. While the older brother is extremely outstanding, the younger brother is extremely naughty. Lei Jun, as a parent, may be able to treat them equally, but as Xiaomi employees who are like relatives, his perspective will inevitably change.

This is the current situation faced by Xiaomi TV. It is surrounded from outside with little hope of breaking through, while it faces positioning problems internally.

Regarding Xiaomi TV, we can only say one thing: I wish you all the best.

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.