Xiaomi rides high with record Q1 and new electric SUV to rival Tesla

China's Xiaomi on Tuesday reported record first-quarter revenue and profit, as the company said its ongoing shift towards higher-end products from smartphones to home appliances was already paying off.

Revenue for the quarter ended March 31 was 111.3-billion yuan (R276.60bn), up 47% year-on-year and beating the 107.6-billion yuan (R266.87bn) average of 17 analyst estimates compiled by LSEG.

Adjusted net profit rose above 10-billion yuan (R24.80bn) for the first time, jumping 65% year-on-year to 10.7-billion yuan (R26.54bn), ahead of the average estimate of 8.96-billion yuan (R22.22bn), according to LSEG data.

Xiaomi president Lu Weibing told a conference call with reporters that Xiaomi's strategy to focus on high-end products had yielded positive results.

The world's third-largest smartphone maker, whose product lines also extend to cars, announced its latest electric SUV, the YU7, last week, which it will start selling in July. Lu said feedback on the YU7 indicated it could have a broader target market than its previous model, the SU7.

The company did not disclose the price of the YU7 but suggested its better configurations should make the car 60,000-70,000 yuan (R148,790-R173,597) more expensive than Tesla's best-selling Model Y, which is expected to be its strongest competitor and is priced from 263,500 yuan (R653,445).

Xiaomi's EV business generated 18.1-billion yuan (R44.90bn) in revenue during the first quarter, delivering 75,869 SU7 sedans. It posted an adjusted net loss related to its EV and other new initiatives of 500-million yuan (R1.24bn).

Its new EV orders have fallen since a fatal highway crash at the end of March involving an SU7 in driving-assistance mode, analysts have said.

Its problems have been compounded by customer complaints of false advertising. Xiaomi apologised earlier this month for “not clear enough” marketing.

Still, the company's shares have rebounded since April, giving it a market value of about $170bn (R3.04-trillion), higher than the roughly $161bn (R2.88-trillion) commanded by BYD, China's biggest EV maker, LSEG data shows.

Xiaomi's first-quarter global smartphone shipments rose 3% from a year earlier to 41.8-million handsets, ranking it third globally, with a market share of 14.1%, according to its latest financial report citing data from researcher Canalys.