"Are You Being Scammed?"... Xiaomi Faces Ridicule Over 300 Million Won New Logo

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-ju] Lei Jun, the founder and CEO of Xiaomi, unveiled a new logo at an event announcing the company's entry into the electric vehicle market on the 30th of last month.

Xiaomi kept the 'mi' as is, but changed the existing square border to a circular shape.

CEO Lei revealed that he had been pushing for a logo change since 2017 and finally created the new design with the help of renowned Japanese designer Kenya Hara.

SCMP reported, "Xiaomi did not disclose the cost of the logo redesign, but Chinese netizens discovered it to be 2 million yuan (approximately 340 million KRW)."

Chinese netizens mocked the logo design, which is similar to the previous one, with comments such as "Call the police," "I can do it for 2,000 yuan," and "I feel scammed."

CEO Lei seemed to have anticipated these reactions and introduced the changed logo by asking, "Are you disappointed that we only made the original logo round?"

He added, "The changed logo symbolizes our company's internal spirit and improvement in quality."

Some analysts suggest that the controversy and attention surrounding Xiaomi's new logo have already offset the cost of the logo design.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.