Xiaomi’s Twin Bets on Premium Smartphones and 990?HP EVs Face a Market That Wants Proof

Xiaomi's record EV deliveries and premium smartphone push fail to reverse a 24.9% YTD stock decline. Aggressive share buybacks of HK$7.4B have limited effect.

The numbers coming out of Xiaomi’s product lines are hard to ignore. The smartphone division is pushing prices toward true premium territory, while the electric?vehicle unit is unleashing a 990?horsepower SUV. Yet the stock keeps sliding. Shares traded at €3.37 on Friday, down 3.48% on the day, leaving Xiaomi with a year?to?date loss of 24.91%.

Operationally, the disconnect is stark. Xiaomi’s EV arm delivered nearly 37,000 vehicles in April — a month?on?month jump of more than 70%, driven mainly by the SU7 sedan. Management now targets over half a million deliveries for the current year. For 2026, the goal is 550,000 units, representing a roughly 34% increase from 2025’s projected base.

That ramp?up is being fueled by an aggressive product cadence. Days before the YU7 GT’s planned market launch at the end of May, Xiaomi released official images of the high?performance SUV. The technical specs are a direct challenge to the electric Porsche Macan Turbo: dual motors producing 990 PS, a range of about 700 kilometres, and a chassis tuned on the Nürburgring Nordschleife. CEO Lei Jun positions the car as a Gran Turismo, balancing extreme acceleration with long?distance comfort.

On the smartphone side, Xiaomi is accelerating its premium push. The 17T and 17T Pro are expected to launch globally on May 28 — unusually early for the T?series, which historically debuted in September. The Pro model is tipped to carry a price tag of around €999 in Europe for the large?storage variant, a steep climb from the predecessor’s €749 starting price. Xiaomi must now convince buyers that the T?line, long seen as a value flagship, deserves premium status. The 17 Max, with a large AMOLED display, a very large battery, and a top?tier chip, is also reportedly under consideration for international release, including markets such as India.

Xiaomi is betting that richer product mixes — in both cars and phones — will improve margins. But the expansion comes at a cost that the market is watching closely. The company is investing tens of billions of yuan into R&D and artificial intelligence. The EV unit has already laid the groundwork for Europe: a research and design centre in Munich, led by a former BMW manager, is adapting vehicles to local standards, while a former Tesla executive oversees production. The official European market entry is scheduled for the second half of 2027, with right?hand?drive markets to follow in the first half of 2028. Yu Liguo has been appointed to lead a newly formed Overseas Business Preparation Group, reporting directly to Lei Jun and William Lu.

To counter the stock’s weakness, Xiaomi has been buying back its own shares aggressively. By April 24, the company had repurchased shares worth HK$7.4 billion — already surpassing the full?year total for 2024. The pace signals management’s frustration with the valuation, but the effect on the share price has so far been limited.

All eyes are now on May 26, when the board is scheduled to approve first?quarter results. After the steep decline, investors will focus on hard metrics: margins in the EV business, the pace of cash burn, and free cash flow. The dual growth story — premium smartphones and high?performance EVs — will need to start showing up in the numbers for the stock to regain its footing.