Xiaomi Made Only $56 Million in Profit in 2013
Valued by private investors at more than $10 billion, Xiaomi recorded revenue of 26.6 billion yuan and an operating margin of just 1.8 percent.
A Xiaomi spokeswoman confirmed the accuracy of the filing, but said it did not cover the entirety of Xiaomi’s business.
“They’re growing so fast and so lean, I wouldn’t be surprised even if they were losing money,” said Forrester Research analyst Bryan Wang. “The current market is so competitive that I don’t think it’s sustainable without consolidation.”
Xiaomi has recently been Amazon-like, investing in other companies (Amazon usually buys such companies outright). Their latest move, the one that prompted this revelation, was a large investment in home appliance maker Midea.
People tend to forget that Xiaomi began with MIUI. Phones came later.
Ironically, that makes me think of the Walt Disney quote — he died on this date in 1966:
I only hope that we don’t lose sight of one thing – that it was all started by a mouse.
