“It’s not that Lei Jun isn’t excellent; it’s that Huawei is just too powerful. When comparing the Huawei Vision M9, we find deficits in the Xiaomi SU7 launch: the absence of a clear and powerful concept of differentiation. The M9’s concept of differentiation is very clear and extremely potent, which is: the king of tech vehicles. What, then, is the concept for the SU7? It’s unclear,” said Wang Bo, a national brand positioning expert and the founder of Dongji Positioning, during his talk.

On February 28th, Xiaomi’s automobile launch was a resounding success, firing up sales and sparking broad discussions in the corporate sector, leading many to learn marketing from Lei Jun. However, according to Dongji Positioning’s founder, Wang Bo, although Xiaomi’s launch was indeed a triumph, it had significant shortcomings, especially when compared to Huawei’s Vision M9 launch. We interviewed Mr. Wang on this topic.

Having worked at Trout & Partners for many years, Wang Bo has spent nearly two decades delving into Trout’s positioning theory and Oriental strategic thought. He emphasizes national confidence and the uniqueness of the Chinese market, continuously advocating for building national brands. His widely known slogan for Feihe milk powder, stating it’s specifically suited for Chinese babies’ constitutions, stands as one of his classic works.

Wang Bo points out that Xiaomi’s SU7 launch did not establish a clear and powerful concept of differentiation. Therefore, the focal points of consumer interest and market discussions were mainly around the SU7’s pricing. Priced at 215,900 Yuan, cheaper than Tesla’s Model 3, that was the primary takeaway from the launch.

By contrast, the Vision M9’s launch revealed that without a clear and potent concept of differentiation, consumers could only remember the SU7 for its low price. Conversely, the Vision M9 launch had a very clear concept of differentiation, with its high-tech features being particularly prominent. Yu Chengdong’s highlighting of various high-tech innovations successfully established the powerful concept of the “king of tech vehicles.”

Among many high-tech features, the Vision M9 focused on “intelligent driving” as a strategic high ground. “Huawei Vision, the king of tech vehicles, far ahead in intelligent driving,” was the strong and clear conceptual understanding consumers formed after the Vision M9’s launch, underscoring Huawei’s exemplary performance, as emphasized by Wang Bo.

Lei Jun is undoubtedly adept at marketing, but compared to Huawei, Xiaomi still needs to reinforce not just its technological research and development but also its promotional efforts and conceptual refinement. Huawei excels not only in research and development but also in creating a buzz.

To some extent, what the US fears most is not Huawei per se but the potential of China to replicate Huawei a thousand times over. Undoubtedly, Huawei has risen as a benchmark for Chinese enterprises, with Ren Zhengfei being heralded as a luminary in business leadership. Chinese companies have much to learn from Huawei, not just in terms of technological innovation but also in its capability to dominate the competitive landscape.

A single launch event for the Vision M9 has established Huawei’s immensely strong and industry-dominating competitive energy. “This is the real ‘deciding battle’,” Wang Bo emphasizes, marking Huawei’s comprehensive lead in the smart electric vehicle industry.

Although Xiaomi’s SU7 launch was also remarkably successful, creating a sales phenomenon, it still considerably falls short when compared to the Vision M9’s launch, failing to establish a clear and powerful concept of differentiation, and far from generating a dominating competitive force in the industry.

It’s not that Lei Jun isn’t outstanding, but rather that the competitors are too formidable. Huawei, BYD, Tesla, among others, are all top-level players on the world stage. The smart electric vehicle sector is destined to be one of the most fiercely competitive industries globally.

Wang Bo notes that after Huawei takes the lead in the 500,000 Yuan bracket, if it aggressively enters the 250,000 Yuan range to directly challenge the Model 3, who will consumers prefer? Can the SU7 earn the priority pick? This is the real strategic challenge Xiaomi faces. Beyond being affordable, where do the SU7’s competitive advantages lie against Tesla and Huawei?

In essence, it’s not only the Xiaomi SU7 facing this challenge but Xiaomi’s smartphones as well. Xiaomi phones indeed have great product strength, but compared to Huawei and Apple, apart from being affordable, they always lack a compelling reason to buy.

Trends indicate that the Vision M9 has essentially broken Mercedes, BMW, and Audi’s long-standing lead in the high-end market in one fell swoop. It’s not the most challenging for the Xiaomi SU7 to match or even surpass Tesla’s Model 3 in terms of product strength, given China’s formidable manufacturing capabilities. However, convincing the high-end demographic to choose a national brand over a century of luxury heritage from Mercedes or BMW is the trickiest part, highlighting Huawei’s greatness.

With China’s economic development, what Chinese enterprises lack is not product finishing ability but strong brand-building capability. Currently, what China lacks are not high-quality goods that can be sold worldwide, but world-class brands that global consumers aspire to own.

Lei Jun indeed leads significantly in marketing, yet creating a strong brand requires more than just impressive marketing skills and product experiences. It also necessitates breakthroughs in promotional efforts and core concepts to truly build a formidable competitive presence and secure a position in consumers’ minds.

Finally, Wang Bo emphasizes, it’s not that Lei Jun isn’t excellent but that Huawei is simply too powerful. In China’s high-tech industry, the most capable of challenging Huawei, known as Lei “Bucks,” is indeed Xiaomi’s Lei Jun. The media often compares Xiaomi to Huawei, holding Xiaomi to Huawei’s standards.

The pressure on Lei Jun is enormous, including the skepticism Xiaomi faces in public discourse because expectations for Xiaomi go beyond creating products users love. There’s anticipation for Xiaomi to achieve breakthroughs in core technology, to match or even surpass Apple and Tesla, and to become a world-class national brand like Huawei that China can be proud of.