On November 6, 2021, Xiaomi Group partner and Redmi general manager Lu Weibing said 2022 would be the first year of Xiaomi’s three-year effort to become the world’s leading smartphone vendor. The clearest operating goal was an internal plan to build a network of 30,000 stores in mainland China within two to three years, expanding access in county- and township-level markets. It was a strategic announcement—not a detailed phone-launch calendar or a guaranteed market-share result.
Who announced Xiaomi’s 2022 strategy?
The comments came from Lu Weibing, who was Xiaomi Group partner and general manager of the Redmi brand at the time. He was a senior Xiaomi executive, but not Xiaomi Group’s chief executive.
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Lu’s remarks, reported on November 6, 2021, described the company’s direction for 2022. They should not be read as a formal board-approved annual operating plan or a complete product roadmap. The core account is reported by Gizchina.
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A three-year bid for global smartphone leadership
Lu characterized 2022 as the opening year of a three-year campaign to become the world’s number-one smartphone company. That ambition originated with founder, chairman and CEO Lei Jun, who announced the broader goal in his 2021 annual speech, recorded on Xiaomi’s investor-relations site.
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In this context, “number one” means leadership in the global smartphone-vendor ranking—not necessarily the largest technology company by revenue, profit or brand value. Lu said Xiaomi would step up its competitive effort while maintaining a steady approach.
A much larger mainland-China retail network
The specific operating target was an internal goal of reaching 30,000 stores in China within two to three years. The reported objective appears to concern mainland China, not a worldwide store count, and the statement does not establish that every location would be company-owned.
Xiaomi said in November 2021 that its mainland-China retail network had already surpassed 10,000 stores and that it wanted deeper coverage in lower-tier markets. Comparing those figures suggests a potentially large expansion, but it does not prove a formal commitment to open exactly 20,000 additional stores: the figures were reported at different times and may use different definitions of “store.” See Xiaomi’s announcement at mi.com.
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Why offline stores mattered
Online sales were central to Xiaomi’s rise, but physical outlets could address gaps that e-commerce alone cannot. A broader network could help the company:
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- Reach consumers in counties and townships who do not primarily shop online.
- Let customers handle premium phones, televisions, notebooks and other ecosystem products before buying.
- Make local service and after-sales support more visible.
- Compete with smartphone brands that already had extensive physical distribution.
Those are strategic implications of the retail push rather than additional targets explicitly set out in Lu’s statement. Expansion also carries costs, including rent, staffing, inventory, service operations and the risk that new locations generate weak sales or conflict with online promotions.
How the plan fit Xiaomi’s wider strategy
Premiumization and the Xiaomi–Redmi split
Xiaomi was trying to move beyond a purely value-focused image. The Xiaomi brand was moving upward toward higher-end buyers, while Redmi continued to focus on mass-market value. That dual-brand structure allowed the group to cover more price bands without requiring one brand to serve every customer.
Xiaomi reported that shipments of smartphones priced at or above RMB3,000 in mainland China and EUR300 (or equivalent) overseas exceeded 24 million units in 2021, up from about 10 million in 2020. The company’s 2021 results also reported RMB328.3 billion in revenue and RMB22.0 billion in adjusted net profit. These figures and the premiumization strategy are detailed in Xiaomi’s 2021 results announcement.
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The store target was China-specific, while the number-one ambition was global. Xiaomi was expanding across Europe, Latin America, Africa, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific, using smartphones as an entry point to connected televisions, appliances, wearables and other AIoT products.
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In 2021, Xiaomi said it shipped 190.3 million smartphones, held a 14.1% global shipment share and ranked third worldwide according to Canalys data cited by the company. It also reported a 22.5% share and second-place position in Europe. Those rankings show why the goal appeared plausible, but they did not mean Xiaomi had already become the global leader. Its temporary move ahead of Apple in second-quarter 2021 was followed by third-quarter data placing Samsung, Apple and Xiaomi in the top three.
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| Question | What was established |
|---|---|
| 2022 phone launches | No complete launch calendar was provided. |
| Sales, revenue or profit targets | No specific 2022 financial target was disclosed in the report. |
| Global store target | The 30,000-store objective appears to concern mainland China. |
| Ownership of stores | It was not stated that all locations would be Xiaomi-owned. |
| Timing of global leadership | The goal covered a three-year effort; there was no promise of first place during 2022. |
The distinction matters: the retail figure was an internal goal reported by a news outlet, not a legally binding commitment or a guarantee that Xiaomi would overtake Samsung or Apple.
What happened in 2022?
Xiaomi’s own 2022 results provide a useful check on progress. The company reported 150.5 million smartphone shipments and said it remained the world’s number-three vendor. Its phones ranked among the top three in 54 countries and regions and among the top five in 69. Xiaomi also reported 589 million connected AIoT devices at year-end and RMB16.0 billion in research and development spending. The figures are in its 2022 results announcement.
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Bottom line
Lu Weibing’s 2022 message was primarily about distribution and competitive positioning. Xiaomi was beginning a three-year attempt at global smartphone leadership, while pursuing a far more ambitious mainland-China offline network aimed at smaller cities and towns. The announcement offered a strategic direction, not a detailed product schedule, financial forecast or guaranteed ranking.
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