How Xiaomi Enters Users' Homes from the Details of the Conference

On July 22, Xiaomi held its 2014 annual press conference as scheduled. For the entire afternoon, my WeChat Moments were flooded with comments about Xiaomi's new products. But one comment was particularly plain: a friend outside the industry wrote, "In the future, young people's families will be dominated by Xiaomi." I asked him why he said this, and he only replied, "Because Xiaomi's products have really changed a lot over the years."

"Xiaomi has changed over the years." For an ordinary user, he may not have the opportunity to attend Xiaomi's "emotional marketing" press conference, nor the opportunity to hear Lei Jun's passionate new product introduction. Their perception of Xiaomi all comes from years of using Xiaomi products. Four years later, Xiaomi is indeed no longer the emerging mobile phone company that shouted "Born for fever" and "Run a score if you don't agree." Today, Xiaomi has begun to subtly influence users' daily lives with diversified products and become a part of users' families.

Detail 1: MIUI makes life full of wisdom

At the press conference, Lei Jun first announced that MIUI users have exceeded 65 million. Through the on-site demonstration, it is easy to feel that MIUI is being upgraded to an Internet service platform, providing users with ultra-short-path mobile Internet life services through products such as Xiaomi Yellow Pages. Many times, Lei Jun expressed it like this, "I think it is very inconvenient, can our team make it more convenient?" This kind of speech shows that the entire MIUI team is looking for the source of technological innovation in every bit of life.

Being both a creator and a user, MIUI has become closer to the lives of users. After four years of development, it has transformed from "good-looking" to "easy to use". In 2010, MIUI was released, and the focus was first on improving functions and optimizing the interactive interface; in 2012, it began to build a content platform and build the Xiaomi ecosystem; in 2013, Xiaomi began to work on building a mobile Internet service platform. Today, Xiaomi mobile phone users can now access the "Yellow Pages" page through the "Dial" APP, and can recharge phone bills, check express deliveries, buy train tickets, call a designated driver, register, etc.

In the future, MIUI will not only live in users' mobile phones, but also in their homes. If all Xiaomi products, such as Xiaomi mobile phones, Xiaomi tablets, Xiaomi TVs, Xiaomi routers, and Xiaomi bracelets, are implanted with the MIUI system, the prototype of a smart home will emerge.

Hong Feng, the head of MIUI, once said, "MIUI is not just the system for Xiaomi phones. We have dedicated teams and software for tablets, TVs, and Xiaomi routers. There are already a lot of traditional home appliance industries communicating with us, and everyone wants to do smart home. We hope to use the router as the center and also make a lot of important devices around it. In this scenario, when these devices are interconnected, what is the most reasonable and efficient internal software protocol? Through these forms, when there is hardware equipment capability, entrepreneurs can better integrate their smart devices with our network."

The outward extension of MIUI may push the number of 65 million users to the next level. Perhaps in the future, home appliance manufacturers can establish closer ties with users by cooperating with Xiaomi's MIUI system. When MIUI makes cold devices smart, the homes of future users will become unimaginable.

Detail 2: Xiaomi 4 is not just about craftsmanship

When Lei Jun kept repeating these information on the stage: how the steel frame of Xiaomi 4 was made from a 309-gram steel plate to a 19-gram exquisitely crafted frame; how luxurious the pattern on the back of Xiaomi 4 is; how the ultra-narrow bezel is as narrow as an outrageous 67.5mm; how the holographic screen is darker than Apple; how the touch is as smooth as baby skin. All these craftsman-level craftsmanship make Xiaomi 4 look so low-key and luxurious, but there is one piece of information that sounds so intriguing.

Lei Jun briefly mentioned the functions of the "Xiaomi Remote Control", but it can still be found that it is marked with control of TV, cable TV set-top box, air conditioner, network set-top box, DVD player, air purifier, fan, light bulb, stereo and other home appliances, indicating that this phone can be used to directly control these devices, without the need to use the remote control of these products separately. In the TV options, in addition to Xiaomi TV, you can also see common TV brands such as Samsung, LG, Sony, Sharp, Panasonic, Changhong, Konka, etc. are also listed.

Lei Jun joked, "The first thing we support is Gree air conditioners." I wonder if the elder sister who made a bet with Lei Jun back then would be shocked. If Xiaomi really supports and controls various home appliances with both hardware and software, and serves as a prototype for Xiaomi's future smart home platform, then the bet between Lei Jun and the elder sister will soon be won or lost.

Detail 3: Xiaomi Mi Band is just a prototype

There have been rumors about the release of the Xiaomi bracelet for a long time, but when the price of 79 yuan was displayed on the big screen, many people gasped. People said that Lei Jun wanted to reduce the profit of smart wearable devices to single digits.

In addition to the basic functions of smart bracelets such as checking exercise volume, monitoring sleep quality, smart alarm wake-up, ultra-long standby, and waterproof, Lei Jun also demonstrated another special function of the Xiaomi bracelet, which allows the Xiaomi bracelet to serve as the user's identity ID and support password-free unlocking of the phone.

Lei Jun revealed that based on MIUI cloud service, more functions of Xiaomi wristband will be realized in the future. He envisioned that in the future, when users return home, various smart appliances in the house will recognize the identity ID of Xiaomi wristband as soon as they enter the door, and then start to provide humanized services for the user. Without any operation, the lights will automatically turn on and the air conditioner will be adjusted to the most suitable temperature.

Therefore, the Xiaomi smart bracelet we saw at the press conference is just a simple prototype. If this small device wants to achieve the kind of wearable device that Lei Jun described as a must-have for users, it will be given more functions and become the user's identity ID, allowing them to easily and conveniently control smart devices at home.

By observing a series of Xiaomi products, it is better to say that it is quietly entering users' homes rather than changing. Xiaomi started its layout from non-traditional industry terminals, developing operating systems and routers. There is a view from the outside that the smart home market should start with refrigerators and washing machines, but Internet companies have started reverse thinking, using terminals, platforms, and networks to connect with refrigerators, washing machines, and air conditioners, thereby occupying the core of the user's smart home ecosystem. This has also become an advantage for Internet companies and traditional hardware manufacturers to compete for user homes.

At the press conference, Lei Jun first expressed his Xiaomi dream: "Let everyone enjoy the fun of technology." With the development of science and technology, technology has been applied to all aspects of daily life, but few companies have considered how to let users actively operate to have fun, how to bring users closer to technology, and how to make technology warm. In fact, the simplest way is to let technology live in the user's home like a family member, just like Xiaomi did.

Lei Jun is interpreting his Xiaomi dream with one technological detail after another.

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.