New Product Launch Held in Beijing
AI Glasses Enable Everything from Video Calls to Live Broadcasting
Introduction of Foldable Smartphone Mix Flip 2 and Tablet PCs
China's leading big tech company Xiaomi has officially launched its first electric sports utility vehicle (SUV), the YU7, as well as artificial intelligence (AI) glasses.
On June 26, at the new product launch event "Xiaomi Human-Car-Home Ecosystem" held in Beijing, Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun announced that the standard (base) model of the YU7 would be released at a price of 253,500 yuan (approximately 47.98 million KRW).
Lei Jun is giving a speech at the launch event of the electric vehicle Xiaomi YU7 held in Beijing, China. Photo by EPA Yonhap News.
The base model of the YU7 has a driving range of 835 km and is equipped with Xiaomi's Hyper Engine V6s Plus. The launch price for the YU7 Pro is 279,900 yuan (approximately 52.95 million KRW), and the top-tier YU7 Max is priced at 329,900 yuan (approximately 62.42 million KRW).
According to Xiaomi, the YU7, which is positioned as a premium SUV, features a spacious cargo capacity of 1,970 liters, a noise-minimized environment utilizing soundproof glass and more than 30 soundproofing materials, a high-end audio system with 25 speakers, and powerful ultraviolet protection.
Users can control the vehicle by voice even from outside the car, and can instantly locate the vehicle through voice recognition on their smartphone. In addition, CEO Lei emphasized that the YU7 is highly compatible with Apple's ecosystem, such as iPhone maps and Apple Music, apparently targeting the global market.
The high-performance electric sports sedan "SU7 Ultra," unveiled on the same day, is priced from 529,900 yuan (approximately 100.29 million KRW), while the "SU7 Ultra Nurburgring Limited Edition" starts at 814,900 yuan (approximately 154.28 million KRW). The SU7 Ultra set a new lap record of 6 minutes 22.91 seconds at the Nurburgring circuit in Germany, breaking its own previous record established when it surpassed the Porsche Taycan Turbo GT.
CEO Lei also unveiled Xiaomi's AI glasses for the first time. The AI glasses are equipped with a 12-megapixel high-definition camera, enabling photo and video recording, and feature video calls, live broadcasting, and real-time sharing. He also announced that the AI glasses can be used as "open-type earphones." The starting price is 1,999 yuan (approximately 378,000 KRW).
In addition to the YU7, Xiaomi also introduced the foldable smartphone "Mix Flip 2," a limited-edition color of the "Xiaomi 15 Ultra" in collaboration with Leica, the tablet PCs "Xiaomi 7S Pro" and "Redmi K Pad," the smartwatch "S4," and the wireless earphones "Pro."
Xiaomi CEO Lu Weibing is introducing the foldable smartphone Xiaomi Mix Flip 2. Photo by AFP Yonhap News.
Furthermore, Xiaomi simultaneously unveiled a variety of home appliances, including a hair dryer, robot vacuum cleaner, mop cleaner, and air conditioner. The new product launch event, which began at 7 p.m. (local time) and was broadcast live online, drew some complaints from netizens as the highly anticipated YU7's price was not revealed until two and a half hours into the event.
Prior to the new product launch, Xiaomi announced that its sales in the first quarter of this year grew by 47% year-on-year, reaching 111.3 billion yuan (approximately 21.08 trillion KRW), marking the highest quarterly performance in the company's history. Xiaomi added that it plans to invest 200 billion yuan (approximately 37.88 trillion KRW) in research and development over the next five years.
In March this year, Xiaomi's electric sedan model SU7 became embroiled in a safety controversy after a fatal accident in which all three occupants died when the vehicle crashed into a guardrail on a highway in Anhui Province, eastern China. The SU7 was also hit by allegations of exaggerated advertising following the accident, resulting in its order volume dropping to about half the previous level in April.
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