Xiaomi's Two-Front Offensive: SkyNomad SUVs and a Memory-Chip Squeeze

Xiaomi faces a 370,000-unit delivery shortfall by December, with hybrid SUVs arriving late and memory-chip price hikes pressuring margins.

The arithmetic is unforgiving. Xiaomi has just opened pre-orders for its first range-extender SUVs, yet the company still needs to deliver roughly 370,000 electric vehicles by December to hit its 2026 target. With first-half deliveries of 185,055 units — up 17.2 percent year on year — the second half demands a near-doubling of output, and the new SkyNomad models won't reach customers until September.

That timing leaves little margin for error, and investors showed their unease on Friday. The stock slid 5.00 percent to close at EUR 3.23, a pullback that snaps a remarkable run: over the past 30 trading sessions, the shares had climbed 30.69 percent.

A Hybrid Pivot With Hardware Credentials

The SkyNomad N70 and the seven-seat N90 Max, both built on the Kunlun platform, represent Xiaomi's strategic shift beyond pure battery-electric vehicles. The N70 starts at 259,900 yuan, while the range-topping N90 Max is priced at 299,900 yuan. Both claim roughly 500 kilometers of pure electric range, extending to a combined 1,705 kilometers with the petrol generator on board.

The technical spec sheet is designed to turn heads. The N90 Max packs Nvidia's Thor chip with 700 TOPS of compute power and LiDAR sensor technology — ammunition for Xiaomi's argument that it can outmaneuver rivals like BYD, Li Auto, and Huawei's Aito brand in the increasingly crowded SUV segment.

For analyst Chen Jing, the real edge lies elsewhere. Xiaomi's ability to integrate the vehicles with its smartphone and IoT ecosystem gives it a differentiation that pure-play automakers struggle to match.

The hybrid push also targets a specific buyer psychology. Many Chinese consumers remain wary of pure EVs due to range anxiety, and Xiaomi is betting the range-extender format converts that skepticism into orders.

The Margin Question Hangs Over Everything

The central tension: Can Xiaomi scale production fast enough to close the delivery gap without deepening losses in its EV division?

The first quarter offered a mixed picture. Gross margin in the EV segment stood at a respectable 20.1 percent, yet the division still posted an operating loss of 3.1 billion yuan. Meanwhile, research and development spending surged 33.4 percent to 9 billion yuan in the same period — a reminder that Xiaomi's ambitions carry a heavy price tag.

Revenue of 99.14 billion yuan in Q1 shows the top line is moving, but the market's patience will hinge on whether profitability follows.

A Second Front: Memory-Chip Inflation

While the EV story dominates headlines, Xiaomi is fighting a parallel battle in its core smartphone business. The global memory-chip shortage has forced the company to raise prices across several Chinese model lines, including the Xiaomi 17 series, the Redmi K90 family, and the Turbo 5 range. Increases range from 300 to 500 yuan depending on the variant — the Xiaomi 17 now costs 4,799 yuan versus 4,499 yuan previously, while the Pro Max model jumps from 5,999 to 6,499 yuan.

The impact is most acute at the budget end: the Turbo 5's increase represents roughly 13 percent of its original price, compared with about 7 percent for the pricier K90 Pro Max.

Xiaomi executive Lu Weibing has described the situation as the industry's worst crisis in a decade, noting that memory prices now stand at four times their level from Q1 2025. For a configuration with 12GB of RAM and 512GB of storage, that translates to roughly 1,500 yuan in additional costs. Samsung has warned that the RAM shortage could intensify through 2027 and persist into 2028, and the ripple effects are already visible — Apple, Nvidia, and Samsung itself have adjusted pricing, while Xiaomi raised prices on five models in India in late July by between 500 and 5,000 rupees. Further increases across the industry are expected in August, with Samsung, OPPO, Realme, and Nothing reportedly following suit.

Conflicting Signals on Smartphone Ambitions

Against this backdrop of rising component costs comes an unconfirmed report that Xiaomi wants to raise its 2026 smartphone delivery target from 90 million to 110 million units — a 22 percent jump. The rationale cited is a stabilization in memory-chip prices after earlier declines, with a focus on entry-level and mid-range devices in growth markets across Asia and Latin America.

The company has not officially confirmed the figure, and the logic appears contradictory on its face: raising volume ambitions while input costs climb would normally compress margins. Investors will be watching closely to see whether Xiaomi can offset the pressure through pricing power and scale effects.

The Chart Tells a Story of Distrust

Despite the recent 30-day rally, the stock remains 45.19 percent below its level from a year ago and sits more than 50 percent off its 52-week high of EUR 6.51. The 200-day moving average at EUR 3.73 — roughly 15 percent above Friday's close — represents the next technical hurdle. A decisive break above that level would signal a genuine trend shift; failure risks a slide back toward the 52-week low of EUR 2.34.

The 50-day average at EUR 2.92 offers near-term support. As long as the stock holds above that line, the short-term picture stays constructive.

September Becomes the Decisive Test

The coming weeks will be defined by two variables: pre-order numbers for the SkyNomad series and the company's ability to manage the memory-cost squeeze without sacrificing growth targets. A smooth September launch could validate the bull case and push the stock toward that 200-day resistance. Any delay in deliveries, however, would likely reignite concerns about the credibility of management's forecasts.

Xiaomi has also moved to quash speculation about a US entry — CEO Lei Jun denied such plans, suggesting a YU7 Max spotted in Illinois was likely for benchmarking purposes — and dismissed rumors of a joint venture with Ford. Europe remains the next frontier, with a launch slated for 2027.

For now, the market is weighing a company that is simultaneously fighting cost inflation in one division while betting big on production ramp-up in another. The September delivery start will be the first real verdict on whether that bet pays off.