How Xiaomi Went From Dead Company to 50,000 Cars Sold in 27 Minutes!

Описание: In March 2024, Lei Jun unveiled the Xiaomi SU7 electric car and sold 50,000 units in 27 minutes, with customers lining up until 3 AM just to get test drives. The entire global auto industry went into shock.
But eight years earlier, this same company was declared dead. Shipments crashed from 70 million to 41 million phones while market share collapsed, and the press invented a word for it: "unicorpse," the fallen unicorn.
Companies don't come back from that. Sony Ericsson didn't. Motorola didn't. HTC didn't. So how did Xiaomi?
This is the story of the greatest comeback in tech history. It's not just about a car, but about escaping corporate death, building an ecosystem, and why this specific miracle could only happen in one place on Earth.

Topics Covered:
The rise: How Lei Jun built 78 million users with free software
The fall: Why online-only sales killed momentum
The pivot: The genius of the Mi Home ecosystem strategy
Why China's supply chain made this possible
How Huawei's ban created Xiaomi's opening
The SU7 launch and what it means for the future

Timestamps:
00:00 The Launch That Shocked the Auto Industry
03:12 The Rise: Building an Empire on Free Software
06:41 The Fall: From $45B to "Unicorpse"
08:24 The Impossible Pivot: Retail Strategy That Broke the Rules
15:06 The Vacancy: When Huawei's Ban Created Opportunity
16:26 The Final Bet: Why the SU7 Changes Everything

Drop a comment: What company drama should we investigate next?

Hosted by Howard Yu, LEGO Professor of Management and Innovation at IMD Business School in Switzerland.
For research links, charts, and source references, visit the Substack (link in pinned comment).

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