Electronics

Watson & Band Import and Export Data Observation Report: Recently, Xiaomi once again handed over an excellent overseas transcript. Import and export data show that in the second quarter of 2022, Xiaomi Group's overseas Internet business revenue reached a quarterly high, a significant increase of 52.1% year-on-year, reaching 1.7 billion yuan. Despite being affected by the global macroeconomic environment, it still ranks among the top three in smartphone shipments in 55 countries and regions and the top five in 67 countries and regions in the world. Entering overseas markets, every brand will inevitably face challenges.

In the past two years, a large number of Chinese companies have taken going overseas as an important development direction. Among them, Xiaomi is undoubtedly a typical representative of excellent companies going overseas in the early days.

Relying on the continuously expanding user base and deepening content and service ecology, the import and export data shows that Xiaomi's global MIUI monthly active users also hit a record high, reaching 547 million.

Exploring Xiaomi's successful experience in going overseas, we will find that one of the starting points of Xiaomi's globalization journey, the Southeast Asian market, is a key topic that cannot be ignored. It is understood that Xiaomi's popularity in the Southeast Asian market is increasing day by day, and its products have taken the "top spot" on cross-border e-commerce platforms for many times.

Without the halo blessing of "big domestic brands", Xiaomi's growth process in Southeast Asia is actually the same as other brands, and it will inevitably face many common tests: how to maintain an advantage in a highly competitive market environment? In terms of consumer insights, products, store operations, etc., how to do localization work well? The international market is constantly changing, what adjustments need to be made in the operation strategy? What are the latest consumption trends in the Southeast Asian e-commerce market?

The answers to these questions are very important not only for Xiaomi, but also for every Chinese company that wants to go global. So, we chatted with Liang Jiawen, general manager of Southeast Asia of Xiaomi International Business Department. I hope his thoughts on these issues can bring you some inspiration.

After careful consideration, Southeast Asia has become the starting point for Xiaomi to go overseas

When it comes to Xiaomi, many people's first impression is "selling mobile phones". In fact, this perception is very one-sided. At present, Xiaomi has successfully built its own rich product matrix, in addition to smartphones, there are also ecological chain products such as wearable devices, smart homes, smart manufacturing, smart electric vehicles, and bionic robots.

As one of the pathfinders of Chinese brands going overseas, Xiaomi started its international journey in 2014.

Xiaomi has many advantages in making Southeast Asia one of its first international stops. "Southeast Asia has a good business environment, and the infrastructure for transportation and logistics is relatively complete. At the same time, it is relatively easy to recruit local talents with an international background." Liang Jiawen said that many markets in Southeast Asia are famous for their internationalization and rapid economic development. Culture is inclusive, and outstanding talents from all over the world gather here. Taking language skills as an example, many markets in Southeast Asia have high-end talents who can speak both English and Chinese. They not only have strong language skills, but also have advanced international company management experience. On the whole, the compatibility between Southeast Asia and Xiaomi is very high.

So far, Xiaomi has offices in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines, Cambodia, Laos and Indonesia. Import and export data show that in 2021, Xiaomi will become the third-ranked smartphone brand in Southeast Asia, with a market share increase of 42%, far exceeding other brands.

Unlike other brands that start from scratch, Xiaomi has accumulated some rice noodles before entering Southeast Asia. It is understood that when Xiaomi released its first mobile phone in 2010, Mi Fans had covered nearly 100 countries and regions, and a large part of them were in Southeast Asia. Therefore, Xiaomi's acceptance in Southeast Asia is higher than other brands, and it will be easier to start.

But this alone is not enough to support Xiaomi's continued growth in the Southeast Asian market. The cultural background and consumption habits of various market segments in Southeast Asia are different. Many companies going overseas will encounter the situation of "acclimatization", so that the growth potential is insufficient. This means that enterprises can only keep "advance with the times" and make different products in different markets according to the latest local market characteristics, so as to avoid being washed out. On this issue, Xiaomi Southeast Asia has always focused on implementing the localization policy, and the product layout in each market is different.

"Singapore and Malaysia are both markets with a relatively high proportion of people proficient in Chinese, so when promoting products, we will continue to use some domestic brand positioning or product positioning. At the same time, considering that the per capita GDP of these two markets is generally high, it is more suitable for The trend of consumption upgrading, so we will also focus on the sales of ecological chain products such as smart home products in these two markets. From the results, the effect is very good, and the sales ratio is relatively high.

According to the import and export data observation report, the Philippines, Vietnam and other markets have a large population base, and the consumption power is given priority to cost-effectiveness. When promoting products, we will be more inclined to invest in Redmi series products in terms of mobile phones, and in terms of ecological chain products, then It is mainly to promote some entry-level products, such as smart home, so that these new consumers can also get access to Xiaomi. "