Ever since, Dongming Zhu, Chairman of Gree Electric Appliances, had a billion yuan in gambling about millet.
On August 10th, Jimmy Technology, Xiaomi's intelligent hardware eco-chain company, released a fully DC inverter air conditioner with a price of 4,399 yuan, but the brand was not Xiaomi but Zhimo.
At the same time, Xiaomi told Xinhua News that at present, millet’s own product brand “millet†and Xiaomi’s ecological chain product brand “Maijia†did not release air-conditioning plans.
It is understood that Xiaomi will invest in some companies to make it an ecological chain company for millet. Xiaomi does not necessarily hold shares but is one of the many investors. Therefore, in addition to cooperation with Xiaomi, eco-chain companies also have the development needs of free brands.
In April 2015, Lei Jun’s Shunwei Capital led the Zhimi A round of financing, which was valued at US$250 million. In 2016, Zhimi was awarded a US$50 million Series B financing led by GIC (Singapore Government Investment Corporation) with a valuation of US$1 billion and ranks among the unicorn companies.
It should be pointed out that Zhimi’s sales of this air conditioner will still be counted in Xiaomi’s income.
Zhimi conference mentioned that this air-conditioner will be launched in Xiaomi's boutique e-commerce Mijiayoupin platform. Xiaomi said that sales through the Xiaomi channel accounted for Xiaomi’s income, but sales in other channels did not count.
In fact, as early as two years ago, Xiaomi had once held hands with air-conditioning giant Midea, testing the air conditioning field and jointly launched "i Youth Smart Air Conditioning." However, this is not a true sense of millet air conditioning. In simple terms, the air conditioner is manufactured by Midea and accesses Xiaomi's smart home network, allowing the air conditioner to achieve "one-step connection," "one-click operation," and "one-hand control," and many other functions. It can also be used with the millet bracelet. It is 3099 yuan. However, currently the US and Xiaomi official stores cannot retrieve the product information.
IT commentator Jiang Boying believes that Xiaomi is unlikely to be involved in the air-conditioning industry in the short term. The "light asset" model is unlikely to build a factory on its own, and its patent, manufacturing and technical capabilities in the air-conditioning sector are in short supply and unlikely to be filled in the short term.
This Zhimi and Sichuan Changhong cooperation, air-conditioning manufactured by the latter. As to whether Zhimi’s air-conditioner will be included in the millet family, it is still unknown.
For each Xiaomi ecological chain enterprise, the halo of Xiaomi’s ecological chain can certainly obtain Xiaomi’s brand endorsement and channel resources. However, how to make its own brand is also a question that has been considered by the investment company.
At the end of 2013, Liu Jun, the then co-founder of Xiaomi and vice president of Xiaomi, found Su Jun, director of industrial design at North China University of Technology. At that time, it was at the embryonic stage of Xiaomi's ecological chain plan. Liu De hoped that Su Jun would participate in the project. Set up a startup company. This company is Zhimi, and this company's first product is an air purifier.
In 2016, millet/meter home air purifiers sold 2 million units a year, of which double 11 was shipped 200,000 units a day.
Zhimi said at the press conference that at the time of its establishment in June 2014, it has also released five environmental home appliances. This summer, Zhimi DC inverter floor fan sold more than 160,000 units. There are also products such as sterilization humidifiers.
Zhimi disclosed that the company employs 120 people and created annual revenue of more than 1.5 billion yuan.
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