Xiaomi 2019 financial report reveals a lot of successes and one big shortcoming

Xiaomi had its fair share of ups and downs in 2019. The company just released its 2019 financial report, revealing that its total yearly revenue came in at CNY 205.8 billion (~$29 billion). This is the first time the company pulled in more than CNY 200 billion.

On the other hand, though Xiaomi’s total revenue reached a new high point, the company’s net profit still took a hit. According to TechCrunch and MarketWatch, Xiaomi’s 2019 profits dropped to CNY 10.04 billion (~$1.4 billion) compared to CNY 13.55 billion (~$2 billion) in 2018. That’s is a substantial 26% YoY decrease.

Thankfully, Xiaomi ended the year with a bang. Q4 YoY revenue jumped by an impressive 27.1%, pulling in CNY 56.5 billion (~$8 billion) compared to CNY 44.42 billion (~$6.3 billion) the year before. This led to a net profit of CNY 2.3 billion (~$320 million), up 26.5% YoY.

Read also: Xiaomi Mi 10, Mi 10 Pro announced: All you need to know

The 2019 financial report also reveals that Xiaomi saw a jump in smartphone sales in Q4. Xiaomi claims fourth-quarter smartphone shipments saw the highest YoY growth among the top five smartphone companies with 326 million units shipped and CNY 30.8 billion (~$4.3 billion) in total revenue — a 22.8% YoY increase from Q4 2018. Overall, the company’s smartphone segment earned it CNY 122.1 billion (~$17 billion) in 2019, which is a 7.3% YoY increase from 2018.

This is even more impressive considering that the company’s handsets are only getting more expensive. The average selling price of a Xiaomi smartphone increased by 2.2% YoY in 2019. We already knew the company has been trying to shed its “cheap” image by developing more premium handsets, and this report reveals it wants to strengthen its premium segment even more. The company will continue focusing on 5G development, and we can expect handset prices to rise even further going into 2020 and beyond.

Interestingly, Xiaomi’s 2019 financial report wasn’t just about last year’s performance. The company clarified its status amid the current coronavirus pandemic. As was the case for most OEMs, the outbreak temporarily disrupted Xiaomi’s production in February and March, but it has already recovered to 80%-90% of its former strength. Both mainland China and overseas sales saw dips during this time, but Xiaomi remains optimistic regarding its performance moving forward.

You can read Xiaomi’s 2019 financial report here.