BEIJING, November 21 (TMTPost)— China’s leading smartphone maker Xiaomi Corporation defied the Wall Street and surprisingly snapped its quarterly sales decline streak for almost two years. 

Credit：Visual China

Xiaomi posted revenue of RMB70.89 billion in the quarter ended September 30, beating the analysts’ estimated RMB70.46 billion. The revenue represented a year-over-year (YoY) increase of 0.6%, the first positive growth since the fourth quarter of 2021. The net income of RMB4.87 billion that quarter also topped forecast of RMB4.33 billion, reversing the quarterly loss of RMB1.474 billion a year earlier. On non-IFRS basis, the adjusted net income surged 182.9% YoY to RMB5.99 billion, the highest in almost two years, versus the analysts’ projection of RMB4.65 billion.

Xiaomi highlighted its 2023 key operating strategy of dual emphasis on scale and profitability as it steadily developed each of business segments while consistently optimized its operating efficiency in the third quarter. "While we did not encounter many positive external factors, the achievements we were still able to make demonstrate an improvement in our overall capabilities," Xiaomi President Lu Weibing said at an earnings call.

Xiaomi said it sustained solid profitability in the September quarter. The stronger-than-expected profit mainly resulted from the higher margin of smartphone business, even though the technology market research firm Canalys estimated the overall global shipments that quarter decreased 1.1% YoY. Sales of  smartphone, Xiaomi’s mainstay segment, rose 4.0% YoY to RMB41.6 billion, with a quarter-over-quarter (QoQ) of 27.0%. The gross profit margin of smartphone increased from 8.9% the same period of last year to 16.6%, primarily due to the improved product mix, the decreased inventory impairment provisions overseas, and the lowered priced of key components. According to Canalys, Xiaomi maintained the third place by global shipment with a 14.1% market share, with a 0.5% YoY growth and three consecutive quarters of QoQ improvement. Xiaomi’s global shipments amounted to 41.8 million units, up 4% YoY and 27% QoQ.

The smooth destock is a major highlight for the third quarter as the total inventory dropped 3.05% YoY to RMB36.8 billion, hitting its lowest in the past eleven quarters. Xiaomi’s overall gross margin reached 22.7% in the September quarter, refreshing record again. The margin was driven by the continued execution of its smartphone premiumization strategy as smartphone margin increased 7.7 percentage points YoY to 16.6%. Xiaomi’s smartphone average selling price (ASP) fell 5.8% YoY to RMB997.0 in the third quarter. The decrease in ASP mainly came from the strong growth of shipments in emerging markets such as Latin America, Africa and the Middle East, which carry lower ASP, partially offset by an increase in ASP in mainland China.

Xiaomi President Lu Weibing remained optimistic outlook on the smartphone market in the fourth quarter and the year 2024. He expected global smartphone shipments will increase 5% next year. As to Huawei’s comeback with 5G smartphone Mate 16 series, Lu said the market is has enough space for every market player’s competition. 

Xiaomi suggested its smartphone premiumization strategy will further pay out as it continued to forge ahead with the strategy. The Beijing-based company said its new flagship Xiaomi 14 series gained widespread user acclaim upon its release, earning positive ratings of over 99% on major e-commerce marketplace JD.com. It said late October that initial sales of Xiaomi 14 series in just five minutes since purchase is available jumped six-fold compared with its predecessor, and the device broke the previous year's record of first day of sale at four major Chinese online retailer marketplaces.  Sales of Xiaomi 14 series have exceeded 1 million units in a week and the phones are still in severe short supply, Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun revealed earlier this month. Xiaomi 14 series also served as a strong driving force for the Singles’ Day, propelling the company’s cumulative gross merchandise value (GMV) amounted to over RMB22.4 billion, setting a new record during the online shopping festival.

Xiaomi’s other businesses also achieved positive growth. Revenue from IoT and lifestyle products grew 8.5% YoY to RMB20.7 billion, and gross margin up 4.3 points YoY to another record of 17.8%. While the retail volume of air conditioners across all channels in mainland China decreased 15.8% YoY, according to AVC, Xiaomi’s air conditioner business outperformed and the shipments from January to September already exceeded the full year level in 2022.

Revenue from internet service segment gained 9.7% YoY to RMB7.8 billion, shattering another quarterly record, and the gross margin climbed 2.3 points to 74.4%. Xiaomi’s global internet user base maintained robust momentum. The monthly active user (MAU) of MIUI both globally and in mainland China hit record highs in the September quarter. The global MAU of MIUI reached 623.1 million with a 10.5% YoY increase, and the that in mainland China increased 7.4% YoY to 151.9 million.

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