Xiaomi's Two-Front Gamble: Memory-Chip Inflation Meets an EV Delivery Puzzle
Published on 08/02/2026 at 08:02 | Redaktion boerse-global.de
The arithmetic is unforgiving, even when the headlines are kind. Xiaomi's automotive division has now topped 30,000 monthly deliveries for four consecutive months, a streak that speaks to a production line finally firing on all cylinders after a rocky ramp-up. Yet the company's own half-year scorecard tells a more sobering story: 185,055 vehicles delivered in the first six months of 2026, up 17.18 percent year-on-year, still leaves a yawning gap to the 550,000-unit annual target. To close it, monthly volumes in the second half would need to accelerate well beyond anything the current run-rate suggests.
The model mix is shifting beneath the surface. The YU7 SUV has emerged as the volume engine, with 104,559 units delivered in the first half, comfortably outpacing the SU7 sedan at 80,496. The SUV's ascent marks a strategic pivot for the car business, with the sedan that launched the brand's automotive chapter now playing second fiddle.
A Friday Pullback After a Stellar Month
The share price has been on a wild ride that mirrors the competing narratives swirling around the company. On July 27, the stock rallied sharply on reports of operational progress in the premium smartphone push and the successful market positioning of the new SUV. That momentum carried the 30-day gain to a hefty 30.69 percent. But Friday brought a rude awakening: the stock closed down 5.00 percent at EUR 3.23, a pullback that traders familiar with the stock's volatility would recognize as classic profit-taking after a sustained run.
Context matters here. Despite the recent bounce, the stock remains 13.27 percent below its 200-day moving average, and it is still a long way from the 52-week high of EUR 6.51 set on September 25, 2025. The short-term recovery has done little to alter the broader downward trajectory that has defined the year.
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The Memory-Chip Squeeze Hits the Price Tag
The operational backdrop is more complicated than the EV headlines suggest. Xiaomi's first-quarter 2026 results showed total revenue of 99.14 billion yuan, down 10.9 percent year-on-year, with adjusted net profit of 6.07 billion yuan. The company also unveiled plans to invest 60 billion yuan in artificial intelligence over the next three years — a hefty commitment at a time when the core business is shrinking.
The smartphone division is feeling the heat from a global memory-chip shortage that Xiaomi executive Lu Weibing has called the industry's worst crisis in a decade. Memory prices have quadrupled from their first-quarter 2025 levels, and Lu estimates that a configuration with 12GB of RAM and 512GB of storage now costs roughly 1,500 yuan more to build. Samsung has warned that the RAM squeeze could persist through 2027 and into 2028, and the pain is rippling across the industry — Apple, Nvidia, and Samsung itself have all adjusted prices.
Xiaomi has responded by raising prices across several smartphone lines in China. The Xiaomi 17 series, Redmi K90 lineup, and Turbo 5 models are now 300 to 500 yuan more expensive depending on the variant. The Xiaomi 17 jumps from 4,499 to 4,799 yuan, while the Pro Max climbs from 5,999 to 6,499 yuan. The entry-level Turbo 5 takes the hardest hit proportionally, with the increase representing roughly 13 percent of the original price, compared with about 7 percent for the higher-end K90 Pro Max. In India, Xiaomi followed suit in late July with hikes of 500 to 5,000 rupees across five models, and August is expected to bring further industry-wide increases from the likes of Samsung, OPPO, Realme, and Nothing.
A Contradictory Ambition
What makes the situation particularly intriguing is 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 following earlier declines, with a focus on entry-level and mid-range models in growth markets across Asia and Latin America. But the company has not officially confirmed the figure, and investors would be wise to treat it with caution. Raising volume ambitions while component costs are climbing appears contradictory on its face, and the margin implications will be scrutinized closely in the months ahead.
New SUVs and a Denied US Entry
On the automotive front, Xiaomi has opened pre-orders for two new range-extender SUVs built on the Kunlun platform: the Skynomad N70 Max, starting at 259,900 yuan, and the seven-seat N90 Max at 299,900 yuan. Both claim an electric range of around 500 kilometers, extending to a combined 1,705 kilometers with the gasoline generator. Deliveries are slated to begin in September, with a European launch penciled in for 2027. Analyst Chen Jing sees Xiaomi's integration with its smartphone and IoT ecosystem as a competitive edge against rivals like BYD, Li Auto, and Zeekr.
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CEO Lei Jun, meanwhile, has dismissed speculation about a US market entry — a YU7 Max spotted in Illinois is likely there for benchmarking purposes only — and the company has also denied rumors of a Ford joint venture.
The stock's recent swings capture the tension at the heart of Xiaomi's story: a booming EV division and ambitious growth plans colliding with a smartphone business squeezed by component costs and a heavy AI investment program. Whether the company can offset the memory-chip drag through price increases and automotive scale — without derailing its own targets — is the question that will define the coming quarters.
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