Xiaomi trebles profits in fourth quarter, but 2023 sales slip

Adjusted profits at Chinese tech giant Xiaomi more than trebled in its fourth quarter to beat analysts' forecasts, though full-year revenues were down on 2022 as a result of a drop in smartphone sales.

Adjusted net profit, which includes things like share-based compensation, rose 236% year-on-year in the fourth quarter to 4.91bn renminbi (£537m), while revenues were up 11% at RMB 73.24bn (£8.0bn).

Smartphone sales, which were up 21% in the fourth quarter, accounted for more than 60% of group revenues at RMB 44.23bn, as the company took a 13% share of the global market.

In the premium RMB 4,600 to 6,000 price bracket in Mainland China specifically, the company reached a market share of 28.2% in the fourth quarter.

However, for 2023 as a whole, revenues were down 3.2% at RMB 270.97bn, due to a 3.3% decline in shipments and a 2.7% fall in average selling prices.

Revenues for the IoT and lifestyle products division – which include tablets, TVs laptops and smart home appliances, rose 0.4% to RMB 80.1bn in 2023.

Meanwhile, adjusted net profit gained 126.3% to RMB 19.27bn for the year as the gross profit margin rose 4.2 percentage points to 21.2%.