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Xiaomi Raises EV Sales Target, Plans New Overseas Stores as Q4 Revenue Jumps

A man walks past a logo of Xiaomi, a Chinese manufacturer of consumer electronics, outside a shop in Mumbai, India, May 11, 2022. (Reuters)
A man walks past a logo of Xiaomi, a Chinese manufacturer of consumer electronics, outside a shop in Mumbai, India, May 11, 2022. (Reuters)
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Xiaomi Raises EV Sales Target, Plans New Overseas Stores as Q4 Revenue Jumps

A man walks past a logo of Xiaomi, a Chinese manufacturer of consumer electronics, outside a shop in Mumbai, India, May 11, 2022. (Reuters)
A man walks past a logo of Xiaomi, a Chinese manufacturer of consumer electronics, outside a shop in Mumbai, India, May 11, 2022. (Reuters)

China's Xiaomi on Tuesday reported an almost 50% jump in fourth-quarter revenue, beating analyst estimates, and raised its target for electric vehicle deliveries this year to 350,000 from 300,000.

The world's third-largest smartphone maker, whose product lines extend to home appliances and cars, also said it planned to expand its store network across China this year and open 10,000 new Mi Home stores overseas in the next five years.

The company reported a 48.8% rise in fourth-quarter revenue to 109 billion yuan ($15.1 billion), beating the 103.94 billion yuan average of 17 analyst estimates compiled by LSEG. Adjusted net profit jumped 69.4% year-on-year to 8.32 billion yuan, ahead of the average estimate of 6.399 billion yuan, Reuters reported.

Xiaomi president Lu Weibing said on an earnings call that he saw great potential for the company's products - from phones and tablets to cars - in overseas markets, though he added the complexity of expanding abroad was "quite high". Lu said the company aimed to start shipping cars overseas in 2027. Xiaomi's Hong Kong-listed shares closed up 3.3% before the earnings release. The stock has surged 284% over the past 12 months amid investor enthusiasm for its EV plans.

Xiaomi began manufacturing EVs last year with the launch of the SU7 sedan after selling smartphones, household appliances and smart gadgets for most of its 15-year history.

It reported 32.1 billion yuan in revenue for its EV business in 2024, delivering more than 135,000 SU7 sedans. The adjusted net loss related to its EV and other new initiatives reached 6.2 billion yuan.

Xiaomi's fourth-quarter global smartphone shipments rose 5% from a year earlier to 42.7 million handsets, ranking it third globally, with a market share of 13%, data from researcher Canalys showed.

In China, its largest market, shipments surged 29% to 12.2 million handsets over the same period, ranking it fourth, with a market share of 16%, according to the Canalys data.

Lu said Xiaomi aimed to ship 180 million smartphones this year, versus

in 2024, adding the company would invest up to 8 billion yuan, about a quarter of its total research and development budget this year, in AI-related initiatives.

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Technology

EU Bows to Pressure on Loosening AI, Privacy Rules

Brussels denies pressure from the US administration influenced its push to 'simplify' the bloc's digital rules. INA FASSBENDER / AFP/File
Brussels denies pressure from the US administration influenced its push to 'simplify' the bloc's digital rules. INA FASSBENDER / AFP/File
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EU Bows to Pressure on Loosening AI, Privacy Rules

Brussels denies pressure from the US administration influenced its push to 'simplify' the bloc's digital rules. INA FASSBENDER / AFP/File
Brussels denies pressure from the US administration influenced its push to 'simplify' the bloc's digital rules. INA FASSBENDER / AFP/File

The European Union is set next week to kickstart a rollback of landmark rules on artificial intelligence and data protection that face powerful pushback on both sides of the Atlantic.

Part of a bid to slash red tape for European businesses struggling against US and Chinese rivals, the move is drawing accusations that Brussels is putting competitiveness ahead of citizens' privacy and protection, AFP said.

Brussels denies that pressure from the US administration influenced its push to "simplify" the bloc's digital rules, which have drawn the wrath of President Donald Trump and American tech giants.

But the European Commission says it has heard the concerns of EU firms and wants to make it easier for them to access users' data for AI development -- a move critics attack as a threat to privacy.

One planned change could unite many Europeans in relief however: the EU wants to get rid of those pesky cookie banners seeking users' consent for tracking on websites.

According to EU officials and draft documents seen by AFP, which could change before the November 19 announcement, the European Commission will propose:

-- a one-year pause in the implementation of parts of its AI law

-- overhauling its flagship data protection rules, which privacy defenders say will make it easier for US Big Tech to "suck up Europeans' personal data".

The bloc's cornerstone General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) enshrined users' privacy from 2018 and influenced standards around the world.

The EU says it is only proposing technical changes to streamline the rules, but rights activists and EU lawmakers paint a different picture.

The EU executive proposes to narrow the definition of personal data, and allow companies to process such data to train AI models "for purposes of a legitimate interest", a draft document shows.

Reaction to the leaks has been swift -- and strong.

"Unless the European Commission changes course, this would be the biggest rollback of digital fundamental rights in EU history," 127 groups, including civil society organizations and trade unions, wrote in a letter on Thursday.

Online privacy activist Max Schrems warned the proposals "would be a massive downgrading of Europeans' privacy" if they stay the same.

An EU official told AFP that Brussels is also expected to propose a one-year delay on implementing many provisions on high-risk AI, for example, models that can pose dangers to safety, health or citizens' fundamental rights.

Instead of taking effect next year, they would apply from 2027.

This move comes after heavy pressure from European businesses and US Big Tech.

Dozens of Europe's biggest companies, including France's Airbus and Germany's Lufthansa and Mercedes-Benz, called for a pause in July on the AI law which they warn risks stifling innovation.

Commission president Ursula von der Leyen faces a battle ahead as the changes will need the approval of both the EU parliament and member states.

Her conservative camp's main coalition allies have raised the alarm, with the socialists saying they oppose any delay to the AI law, and the centrists warning they would stand firm against any changes that undermine privacy.

Noyb, a campaign group founded by Schrems, published a scathing takedown of the EU's plans for the GDPR and what they entail.

The EU has pushed back against claims that Brussels will reduce privacy.

"I can confirm 100 percent that the objective... is not to lower the high privacy standards we have for our citizens," EU spokesman for digital affairs, Thomas Regnier, said.

But there are fears that more changes to digital rules are on the way.

The proposals are part of the EU executive's so-called simplification packages to remove what they describe as administrative burdens.

Brussels rejects any influence from Trump -- despite sustained pressure since the first weeks of the new US administration, when Vice President JD Vance railed against the "excessive regulation" of AI.

This "started before the mandate of the president of the US", chief commission spokeswoman Paula Pinho said this week.

Calls for changes to AI and data rules have been growing louder in Europe.

A major report last year by Italian ex-premier Mario Draghi also warned that data rules could hamper European businesses' AI innovation.

Technology

Nvidia, Bitcoin and Other Superstars on Wall Street Keep Falling

FILE PHOTO: Representation of Bitcoin cryptocurrency is seen in this illustration taken September 10, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Representation of Bitcoin cryptocurrency is seen in this illustration taken September 10, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
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Nvidia, Bitcoin and Other Superstars on Wall Street Keep Falling

FILE PHOTO: Representation of Bitcoin cryptocurrency is seen in this illustration taken September 10, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Representation of Bitcoin cryptocurrency is seen in this illustration taken September 10, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

Nvidia, bitcoin and others among Wall Street’s highest flyers are falling more toward Earth on Friday, and the US stock market is heading for a second straight sharp loss.

The S&P 500 sank 1.2%, coming off one of its worst days since its springtime sell-off and a global wipeout for stocks. Critics had been warning that such drops could be possible because of how high stock prices had shot since April, leaving them looking too expensive. They pointed in particular to stocks swept up in the mania around artificial-intelligence technology.

But even with its recent drops, and the S&P 500 on track for a second straight weekly loss, the index that dictates the movements for many 401(k) accounts is still within 3.3% of its record set late last month, Reuters reported.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 582 points, or 1.2%, and was pulling further from its own all-time high set on Wednesday, while the Nasdaq composite was down 1.5%, as of 9:35 a.m. Eastern time.

AI stocks once again were at the center of the action. Nvidia, which has become the poster child of the AI frenzy, fell 2.2%.

To be sure, it’s still up 36.1% for the year so far. That would count as a stellar year for most any stock, but Nvidia’s price has more than doubled in four of the last five years.

Bitcoin, meanwhile, fell below $96,000 and is back to where it was in May. It had been near $125,000 only in October.

That helped drag down stocks of companies throughout the crypto industry. Strategy, the company that’s built a hoard of bitcoin and used to be known as MicroStrategy, fell 4%. Coinbase Global sank 3.1%, and Robinhood Markets dropped 3.6%.

Outside of tech and crypto, Walmart sank 2.4% after saying its CEO, Doug McMillon, will retire in January in a surprise move. He had helped the nation’s largest retailer embrace technology more.

One way companies can tamp down criticism about too-high stock prices is to deliver solid growth in profits. That’s raising the stakes for Nvidia’s upcoming profit report coming on Wednesday, when it will say how much it earned during the summer.

If it falls short of analysts’ lofty expectations, even more drops could be on the way. That would have a huge effect on the market because Nvidia has grown to become Wall Street’s largest stock by value, briefly topping $5 trillion.

That means Nvidia’s stock movements have a bigger effect on the S&P 500 than any other’s, and it can almost single-handedly steer the index up or down on any given day.

Another way for stock prices broadly to look less expensive is if interest rates fall. That’s because when bonds are paying less in interest, investors are often willing to stomach higher prices for stocks and other kinds of investments.

Treasury yields had been falling for most of this year on expectations that the Federal Reserve would cut its main interest rate several times this year. And the Fed has indeed cut twice already in hopes of shoring up the slowing job market.

But questions are rising now about whether a third cut, which traders had earlier seen as very likely, will actually happen at the Fed’s next meeting in December. The downside of lower interest rates is that they can make inflation worse, and it’s already still above the Fed’s 2% target.

Fed officials have pointed to the US government’s shutdown, which just ended. It delayed the release of many updates on the job market and other signals about the economy. With less information and less certainty about how the economy is doing, some Fed officials have said it may be better to just wait in December to get more clarity.

In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury ticked down to 4.09% from 4.11% late Thursday.

In stock markets abroad, indexes tumbled across Europe and Asia. South Korea’s Kospi fell 3.8%, and Germany’s DAX lost 1.8% for two of the larger drops.

Technology

UNESCO Delegation Visits ICAIRE in Riyadh to Review Global AI Ethics Efforts

The UNESCO delegation also learned about the center's scientific efforts to enhance knowledge exchange with specialized global centers - SPA
The UNESCO delegation also learned about the center's scientific efforts to enhance knowledge exchange with specialized global centers - SPA
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UNESCO Delegation Visits ICAIRE in Riyadh to Review Global AI Ethics Efforts

The UNESCO delegation also learned about the center's scientific efforts to enhance knowledge exchange with specialized global centers - SPA
The UNESCO delegation also learned about the center's scientific efforts to enhance knowledge exchange with specialized global centers - SPA

A UNESCO delegation visited the International Center for AI Research and Ethics (ICAIRE) in Riyadh to review the center's international research and knowledge initiatives focusing on AI ethics, underscoring ICAIRE's role as a global platform leading these ethical efforts under UNESCO's auspices.

Key projects and programs reviewed during the visit included international initiatives supporting the responsible use of AI, research related to safe AI applications, and a capacity-building program aimed at empowering local and global expertise, SPA reported.

The UNESCO delegation also learned about the center's scientific efforts to enhance knowledge exchange with specialized global centers, highlighting ICAIRE's commitment to advancing global ethical standards in AI.