(Yicai) March 19 -- Xiaomi’s shares advanced today after the Chinese tech giant reported its “strongest annual report ever,” founder and Chief Executive Officer Lei Jun said after it released its latest financial statement.

Xiaomi [HKG: 1810] was trading up 2.6 percent st HKD59.15 (USD7.61) as of 10.55 a.m. in Hong Kong today. The stock has more than quadrupled in value in the past year.

Net profit totaled CNY23.6 billion (USD3.3 billion) in the 12 months ended Dec. 31, up 35 percent from the previous year, with adjusted net profit soaring 41 percent to record CNY27.2 billion, the Beijing-based company said yesterday. Revenue climbed 35 percent to record CNY365.9 billion (USD50.6 billion).

Xiaomi’s smartphone business logged CNY191.8 billion in revenue last year, up 22 percent from 2023, with a gross profit margin of 12.6 percent. Global smartphone shipments jumped nearly 16 percent to 168.5 million units.

According to data from market research firm Canalys, Xiaomi remained among the top three global smartphone vendors by shipments for the 18th consecutive year in 2024, with a market share of 13.8 percent, up from 12.8 percent the year before.

Xiaomi raised its smartphone shipment target for this year to 180 million units, a step closer to the 200 million milestone, President Lu Weibing said during the earnings conference call yesterday. He predicted that China's smartphone market will polarize in the next three to five years, with Xiaomi aiming to increase its market share by one percentage point per year.

Revenue from the internet of things and lifestyle products business rose 30 percent to CNY104.1 billion last year from the previous one, exceeding the CNY100 billion mark for the first time. Its gross profit margin increased to 20.3 percent from 16.4 percent. Smart large home appliances maintained robust growth, as air conditioner, refrigerator, and washing machine shipments reached new records.

Also the revenue and gross profit margin of the internet services business soared to new records in 2024. The former soared 13 percent to CNY34.1 billion, and the latter expanded to 76.6 percent from 74.1 percent.

The smart electric vehicle and other new initiatives segment generated revenue of CNY32.8 billion, 98 percent of which came from the smart EV business. The segment logged a gross profit margin of 18.5 percent, with adjusted net loss narrowing 7 percent to CNY6.2 billion (USD857.2 million).

Xiaomi delivered 136,854 SU7 electric cars in its first year as of Dec. 31, with the average selling price reaching CNY234,479 (USD32,420) per unit. The company set its annual sales target for this year at 350,000 units.

Xiaomi’s research and development expenses surged 26 percent to CNY24.1 billion last year from the year before. As of Dec. 31, the firm had obtained over 42,000 patents worldwide, including more than 1,000 in EV-related technologies.

Regarding artificial intelligence investment, Lu said that Xiaomi will continue to invest in AI-related technologies, including language large models, vision large models, and multimodal large models. Smart driving and smart cabins could become important AI application scenarios in the future, he noted.

In the fourth quarter of last year, Xiaomi’s revenue climbed 50 percent to CNY109 billion and net profit widened over 90 percent to CNY9 billion from a year earlier. Adjusted net profit soared 69 percent to CNY8.3 billion in the period.

Editor: Futura Costaglione