Samsung and Xiaomi are fierce competitors in the smartphone market but that doesn't mean they can't find ways to work together in other markets. A significant meeting has taken place between Samsung Electronics Chairman Jay Y. Lee and Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun in Beijing amid reports of a potential collaboration between the two companies on electric cars.
The two business leaders have met officially for the first time in seven years. It's a momentous occasion and it would signify that the finer details of a potential collaboration between the companies has likely been worked out.
Samsung can provide a lot of components for EVs
Lee and Lei Jun met at Xiaomi's EV manufacturing plant in Beijing, further underscoring the partnership that may be on the cards. Xiaomi is pushing hard in the EV sector and Samsung makes a lot of components, such as batteries, displays, AI chips, and more, that can help.
Xiaomi and Samsung already have a good working relationship. The Chinese giant is an important customer of Samsung's memory products, NAND flash storage, and OLED displays. This existing relationship can be leveraged by the two sides for closer cooperation in the EV segment as well.
Xiaomi has seen considerable success with the launch of its first electric vehicle, the Xiaomi SU7, last year. It sold nearly 137,000 units in the first year alone, with earnings from the EV business topping $4.5 billion last year. Xiaomi is now aiming to deliver 350,000 EV units in 2025 and expand to global markets by 2027.
So it's going to need a lot of components that many of Samsung's affiliate companies like Samsung Display, Electro-Mechanics, Samsung SDI, and Harman International can provide. With Samsung facing headwinds in other areas of its business, any new deal may help ease some of the balance sheet pressure it has been facing, while it focuses on recovering in other areas of the business.
The post Samsung’s Lee meets Xiaomi CEO to possibly work together on electric cars appeared first on SamMobile.
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