Apology from Xiaomi for Error at Redmi Event
During the launch event of the new Redmi Turbo 3 by Xiaomi’s brand Redmi on the evening of April 10th, there was a comparison with rival products, during which incorrect specifications were attributed to the Honor 100 Pro by relevant individuals. In response, Wang Teng, the general manager and spokesperson of the Redmi brand, corrected the mistake and apologized on the spot.
Subsequently, the product manager of the Honor GT series posted a response, stating that several friends had privately messaged saying “let the competitors apologize three times,” but “three apologies are unnecessary.” “I also want to clarify here that the third model indicated in the image, the Honor 100 Pro, uses the second-generation Snapdragon 8 flagship chip; the fifth model is the Honor X50GT, which features turbo performance with Snapdragon 8+ chip, turbo quality with ten-sided anti-drop, and turbo endurance with a 5800mAh ultra-large battery. This is indeed the flagship model targeted by competitors.” Following this, the topic #HonorRespondsToXiaomiApology briefly trended on social media.
Jiang Hairong, the CMO of Honor Terminal Co., Ltd. in China, later also posted, stating that many fake notices urging competitors to apologize had appeared online. “They are all photoshopped. This minor issue doesn’t require a sincere apology. This also serves as a reminder for the Honor GT team to persist in doing well and promote the healthy development of the Chinese mobile phone industry through fair competition.”
It is noteworthy that this was Wang Teng’s debut at a Redmi smartphone launch event. In February of this year, Lei Jun publicly announced that he would devote more energy to the automotive business, with Lu Weibing concurrently serving as the general manager of the Xiaomi brand. After Lu Weibing took office, Wang Teng succeeded him as the general manager of the Redmi brand. During the April 10th launch event, Lei Jun and Lu Weibing were also seated in the audience.
The joking phrase “make Xiaomi apologize three times” originated from a recent incident at an automotive launch event. On April 8th, during the launch event of the Zhiji L6, Zhiji acknowledged an error in some data related to Xiaomi’s car. In response, Xiaomi’s car division issued demands for an apology from Zhiji cars three times in a row.
On the same evening, Zhiji Cars’ co-CEO Liu Tao posted an apology to Xiaomi Cars, stating, “Due to inaccurate research results of product information, there was an error in one piece of information at the launch event. The Xiaomi SU7, like the Zhiji L6, both use SIC silicon carbide modules for the front and rear motors.” Liu Tao also stated that Xiaomi SU7 is a competitor that Zhiji highly respects. However, Xiaomi stated that they “do not accept individual informal apologies that are casual and dismissive.”
In the early hours of April 9th, Zhiji Cars publicly apologized on their official Weibo, stating that due to oversight in content review by the team, an error was made in a critical parameter. In the afternoon of the same day, Zhiji once again posted an apology to Xiaomi, stating that there was no deliberate intention to smear Xiaomi in this incident. “We want to emphasize again that we really had no deliberate intention to smear, and we are neither willing nor capable of challenging the overwhelming influence of Xiaomi Cars.”
It is noteworthy that after three apologies, on April 10th, Zhiji Cars posted on their official Weibo that there was a concentrated occurrence of various harassment behaviors in the official live broadcast rooms of Zhiji Cars, official account comment sections, and dealer live broadcast rooms, including insults, defamation, and personal attacks. On April 11th, Zhiji Cars reported this matter to relevant authorities. The attention on the related events is still ongoing.
Written by: Yan Zhaoxin, Nandu Bay Financial and Social Reporter