At 9:00 AM on July 26th, OFweek Smart Home Network News reported that Tang Mu, General Manager of Xiaomi's Exploration Lab and head of the Smart Product Division, posted a microblog saying, "There's one more thing coming out today, guess it right and I'll pump one." Most of the area's "smart voice speakers" were rumored, and Tang Muqing replied, "Right or not right?"
In the end, Xiaomi released the Mi AI speaker priced at 299 yuan. The audience seemed to understand something was amiss. What exactly was the issue?
Latecomer Mi AI Speaker
Who will become the Chinese version of Echo? This question was posed by Lei Feng Network to several smart speaker industry professionals. In their responses, "Mi" was mentioned far more frequently than other companies.
The reasons are simple enough: Mi has a strong combination of hardware and software capabilities, extensive distribution channels, and deep pockets.
Actually, apart from Lei Jun's statement earlier this year during the Two Sessions that "Xiaomi set up an exploration lab last year, and there will soon be major artificial intelligence products released," the "Mi smart speaker" has been "unnecessarily" anticipated for some time.
Even so, everyone believed that Xiaomi would release a similar product eventually.
Echo's tens of millions of shipments have validated this logic. Google followed suit, Microsoft followed, and even Apple, known for its caution, decided to follow. Since none of these major players have yet to enter China, Xiaomi seemingly had no reason to let this virgin territory go unclaimed.
So when will it be released? How much will it cost? These questions lingered in the minds of competitors. Recently, the CEO of a smart speaker manufacturer candidly told Lei Feng Wang that what he feared most was Xiaomi releasing a 399-yuan smart speaker to disrupt the market.
I never expected such a revelation now.
The Illusion of Smart Homes
According to Lei Feng Network (WeChat ID: Lei Feng Network), the hardware for Xiaomi's AI speaker was actually completed six months ago. The main reason for the delay was unresolved issues, which might explain Tang Mu's slip-up when he said "wrong place." After the event, he told Lei Feng Network: "(Mi AI speakers) aren't the main speakers, but they're part of the smart home."
This sounds somewhat confusing. For both users and practitioners, the initial fantasy of smart speakers placed greater emphasis on control than content. Demo videos from Amazon Echo and Google Home also highlight "smart" rather than "speakers."
This proves to be an illusion.
According to research by Experian and Creative Strategies, the most commonly used features of Echo are music playback, lighting control, and alarm settings. Among features that users have tried at least once, the top three are the alarm clock (85%), music playback (82%), and news broadcasts (66%). However, the "car rental" service, which has been heavily promoted, has only 6% experience.
In other words: Although voice is a more efficient interaction method, in complex real-world scenarios, the interactive experience of smart speakers still falls short of traditional interaction methods. Again, it’s not as straightforward as it seems.
Therefore, it is foreseeable that, even if the prospects are bright, the role of the "smart home center" played by the Xiaomi AI speaker won’t survive among early adopters. Clearly, this cannot meet Xiaomi’s ambitions.
Complicated and Unclear Game
A month ago, Tang Mu returned to Tencent to address the music content on smart speakers, jokingly saying he needed to "brush his face."
Before joining Xiaomi, Tang Mu founded Tencent CDC. In 2003, he joined Tencent with employee number 291. During the heyday of CDC, he would meet with Pony Ma every month to present every product CDC was designing.
As we all know, in China's music copyright market, Tencent is the sole dominant player, with QQ Music, KuGou Music, and Kuwo Music accounting for 90% of the copyright music market. Thus, for Tang Mu, filling the "music" attribute of the Mi AI speaker with resources from his former domain was a natural move.
However, the game turned out to be more challenging than expected. When Lei Feng Network asked about the progress, Tang Mu said, "The story is complicated. The copyright holders, music platforms, device vendors, and solution providers are involved in a complex game, and it’s unclear to me too. But there’s still time for beta testing, and it will definitely be possible (to secure copyrights)."
One thing that could confirm Xiaomi's expectations for this product is that informed sources say Xiaomi's internal discussions regarding the 399-yuan speaker debated between 399 and finally settled at 299. In reality, they aimed to penetrate the internet speaker market. Of course, this also meant reaching a larger shipment volume to break even.
During this year's CCF-GAIR conference, Chen Zhiliang, CEO of VoiceChip Technologies, told Lei Feng Network, "If the smart speaker has both sound quality and content, and it's priced similarly to a Bluetooth speaker, then the Bluetooth speaker won't survive. Of course, at that time, you might find that the 'smart speaker' positioning is a bit low, but its volume is guaranteed."
In other words, smart speakers are marketed on the premise of replacing Bluetooth speakers. As a Bluetooth speaker or a replacement for Bluetooth speakers, the focus is only on the content, which is precisely where Tang Mu's "mistake" lies.
Latecomer Mi AI Speaker
Who will become the Chinese version of Echo? This question was posed by Lei Feng Network to several smart speaker industry professionals. In their responses, "Mi" was mentioned far more frequently than other companies.
The reasons are simple enough: Mi has a strong combination of hardware and software capabilities, extensive distribution channels, and deep pockets.
Actually, apart from Lei Jun's statement earlier this year during the Two Sessions that "Xiaomi set up an exploration lab last year, and there will soon be major artificial intelligence products released," the "Mi smart speaker" has been "unnecessarily" anticipated for some time.
Even so, everyone believed that Xiaomi would release a similar product eventually.
Echo's tens of millions of shipments have validated this logic. Google followed suit, Microsoft followed, and even Apple, known for its caution, decided to follow. Since none of these major players have yet to enter China, Xiaomi seemingly had no reason to let this virgin territory go unclaimed.
So when will it be released? How much will it cost? These questions lingered in the minds of competitors. Recently, the CEO of a smart speaker manufacturer candidly told Lei Feng Wang that what he feared most was Xiaomi releasing a 399-yuan smart speaker to disrupt the market.
I never expected such a revelation now.
The Illusion of Smart Homes
According to Lei Feng Network (WeChat ID: Lei Feng Network), the hardware for Xiaomi's AI speaker was actually completed six months ago. The main reason for the delay was unresolved issues, which might explain Tang Mu's slip-up when he said "wrong place." After the event, he told Lei Feng Network: "(Mi AI speakers) aren't the main speakers, but they're part of the smart home."
This sounds somewhat confusing. For both users and practitioners, the initial fantasy of smart speakers placed greater emphasis on control than content. Demo videos from Amazon Echo and Google Home also highlight "smart" rather than "speakers."
This proves to be an illusion.
According to research by Experian and Creative Strategies, the most commonly used features of Echo are music playback, lighting control, and alarm settings. Among features that users have tried at least once, the top three are the alarm clock (85%), music playback (82%), and news broadcasts (66%). However, the "car rental" service, which has been heavily promoted, has only 6% experience.
In other words: Although voice is a more efficient interaction method, in complex real-world scenarios, the interactive experience of smart speakers still falls short of traditional interaction methods. Again, it’s not as straightforward as it seems.
Therefore, it is foreseeable that, even if the prospects are bright, the role of the "smart home center" played by the Xiaomi AI speaker won’t survive among early adopters. Clearly, this cannot meet Xiaomi’s ambitions.
Complicated and Unclear Game
A month ago, Tang Mu returned to Tencent to address the music content on smart speakers, jokingly saying he needed to "brush his face."
Before joining Xiaomi, Tang Mu founded Tencent CDC. In 2003, he joined Tencent with employee number 291. During the heyday of CDC, he would meet with Pony Ma every month to present every product CDC was designing.
As we all know, in China's music copyright market, Tencent is the sole dominant player, with QQ Music, KuGou Music, and Kuwo Music accounting for 90% of the copyright music market. Thus, for Tang Mu, filling the "music" attribute of the Mi AI speaker with resources from his former domain was a natural move.
However, the game turned out to be more challenging than expected. When Lei Feng Network asked about the progress, Tang Mu said, "The story is complicated. The copyright holders, music platforms, device vendors, and solution providers are involved in a complex game, and it’s unclear to me too. But there’s still time for beta testing, and it will definitely be possible (to secure copyrights)."
One thing that could confirm Xiaomi's expectations for this product is that informed sources say Xiaomi's internal discussions regarding the 399-yuan speaker debated between 399 and finally settled at 299. In reality, they aimed to penetrate the internet speaker market. Of course, this also meant reaching a larger shipment volume to break even.
During this year's CCF-GAIR conference, Chen Zhiliang, CEO of VoiceChip Technologies, told Lei Feng Network, "If the smart speaker has both sound quality and content, and it's priced similarly to a Bluetooth speaker, then the Bluetooth speaker won't survive. Of course, at that time, you might find that the 'smart speaker' positioning is a bit low, but its volume is guaranteed."
In other words, smart speakers are marketed on the premise of replacing Bluetooth speakers. As a Bluetooth speaker or a replacement for Bluetooth speakers, the focus is only on the content, which is precisely where Tang Mu's "mistake" lies.DongGuan BoFan Technology Co.,Ltd. , https://www.ufriendcc.com