'If there is no accident, Apple who has lost its soul will madly copy us. ' As the founder of Hammer Technology, Luo Yonghao is always confident about the newly launched products.
On May 15th, at the time of releasing the flagship mobile phone nuts R1 at the National Stadium, Hammer Technology launched a nut TNT workstation (monitor) (hereafter referred to as 'TNT') that 'redefined the next decade's personal computer'. The appraisal of this product is mixed. In the case of the mobile phone's main business 'fateful', TNT was even regarded by some people in the industry as a new 'adventure' for hammer technology.
Hammer Technology admitted to the “China Business” reporter: “Our company has been insisting on doing difficult moves since its founding. We believe that doing so is worthy of respect. It is also engraved in the company’s genes. We hope to make some efforts to give this. The world brings about some changes. '
However, the hammer technology COO Wu Dezhou revealed, 'The current main force is still on the phone.' Luo Yonghao also said that hammer technology will also create humidifiers, new fans, travel bags, smart speakers and other hardware ecology.
'Second Battlefield'
Compared to previous conferences, the focus of Hammer Technology's May 15 conference was not on mobile phones. In a two-hour or three-hour press conference, the new nuts R1 phone was only half an hour long. The focus of the conference was In the 'revolutionary' product: TNT. This is seen in the industry as a manifestation of Hammer Technology's opening up of a new 'battlefield'.
It is reported that this TNT product needs to be used with the nut R1, adopts the 'global gesture + voice combination input' interactive mode, and improves the efficiency of some scenes by changing the underlying touch logic (TNT) (Touch and Talk). Luo Yonghao is also in the press conference. Said on the want to redefine the personal computer, Office office suite, search information and instant messaging tools through this TNT workstation.
However, Hammer Technology's 'redefined' attempt seems to be more like a 'micro-innovation' in the industry. The digital hammer powder tells the reporter that apart from TNT's Surface Hub color, its uniqueness is not enough. Besides the high premium, the existence value of TNT itself is also the point of confusion.
'Under the background of the downturn in the PC's boom, the emergence of TNT is undoubtedly a contrarian trend. ' Consumer electronics observers have said to you, 'Although TNT's interaction logic has a certain representation, but its external emphasis on voice control PC highlights Will directly bring the limitations of the use of the scene, constitute part of the user's established habits of deconstruction and confrontation. '
For people in the industry who believe that 'adventure' is an exploration, Hammer Technology does not take it for granted. 'Voice control will lead to improvement of work efficiency and suit the user's customary habit of using voice to convert text messages; on the other hand, Nut TNT Workstation also supports Mouse and keyboard. '
How does Hammer Technology look at the relationship between TNT and mobile phone business? Wu Dezhou frankly stated, 'Whether nuts TNT or mobile phone operating systems are designed to make work more efficient, PCs are one direction, and future breakthroughs will be made, but the current main forces Still on the phone. '
The main business of 'fatefulness'
At the conference, Luo Yonghao announced that the Chinese brand 'nuts' will be used in the core products of all mobile phones and other computing devices produced by Hammer Technology.
This unity of the brand's will has been recognized by many people in the industry. In contrast, Hammer Technology's exploration of the mobile phone business over the past six years has caused many differences and topics.
In May 2014, Hammer Technology released the first mobile phone, and the Smartisan T1 versions were priced from 3,000 yuan to 3,650 yuan. Despite its sophisticated design, T1 became the first smartphone in mainland China to receive the iF International Design Gold Award. Smartisan T1 suffered production line inconsistency in production, unstable material supply, inconsistent quality control standards, insufficient brand premium capacity, etc., which not only caused mass production problems, but also caused price reductions less than half a year after the release of the market. 1000 RMB.
The Hammer Technology, which suffered a setback in the first battle, did not stop. It aimed its sights on 'young people'. In August 2015, it launched a brand-new sub-brand 'nuts' for young people's smartphones, and the price was within RMB 1,000. Although mobile phones are popular with some young people, sales are still not ideal.
Subsequently, in December 2015 Hammer Technology introduced Smartisan T2. T2 improved quality control and some industrial designs compared to T1, but T2 phones do not support fingerprint recognition, nor do they have a USB Tpye-C interface, leaving some consumers unhappy In addition, before the release of T2, it was reported that the foundry Shenzhen Zhongtianxin Electronics Co., Ltd. had closed down. Although it did not affect the product release, it also made the production of mobile phones full of twists and turns.
In October 2016, the hammer released the Smartisan M1/M1L. It is also at this time that Hammer Technology introduced the big Bang (Big Bang), one-step (One Steo) and other interactive ways to improve the system. Many respondents Tell the "China Business" reporter that these small 'humanized' designs are the main reason for choosing hammer technology products.
In fact, from 2015 to 2016, Hammer Technology encountered many difficulties, and even twice failed to pay. At the most difficult time, it was almost acquired. Losses, bankruptcy, borrowing money, selling and other words once plagued Luo Yonghao. The Nibiru Technology Co., Ltd. prospectus disclosed that Hammer Technology had a loss of 192 million yuan in the first half of 2016, a loss of 462 million yuan in 2015, and an asset-liability ratio of 99%.
This endangered company, in 2017, ushered in a turnaround. In 2017, Hammer Technology successively launched Nut Pro, Nut Pro2. It is reported that in the past five years, Hammer Technology has sold about 2 million mobile phones. Among them, Nut Pro released 6 Within a month, it sold 1 million units and became a masterpiece of hammer technology.
However, the gap between Hammer Technologies and other handset makers is still significant. According to IDC data, global smart phone shipments showed negative growth for the first time in 2017, while manufacturers outside of five vendors saw overall shipments shrink by 11.7%. Remarkably, Counterpoint data showed that China's smart phone shipments slowed down in the first quarter of 2018, down 8% year-on-year and down 21% year-on-year. Sun Yanjun, Dean of the First Mobile Phone Academy, bluntly stated that the industry has entered the down channel The significant head effect is superimposed, which also means that the development environment facing such niche mobile phone brands as Hammer Technology is deteriorating.
But this does not mean that Hammer Technology will not have the opportunity to base or even expand its main business. Prior to the industry insiders told this reporter that the current homogenization of mobile phone products in a serious stage of development, differentiate niche brands if the product Quality control, supply chain integration, brand marketing, etc. 'no error', supplemented by design and other aspects of improvement, can still be based in the industry.
Funding risks behind 'cross-border'
The launch of TNT is not the first time that Hammer Technology has 'crossed the border'.
In August 2017, shortly after Hammer Technology obtained nearly RMB 1 billion in financing, 'Cross-border' entered the field of air purifiers and launched the 'Chang Brea' air purifier.
Comprehensive Ao Wei, Zhong Yi Kang data, 'Chang Brea' has not been among the top ten air purifier products. Lu Jianguo, deputy director of the Institute of Detection of China Household Electrical Appliances Research Institute, said, 'The air purifier belongs to the development prospects are good. Subdividing household electrical appliances and categories, the prospects for distribution can be reached. However, due to factors such as abundant technology reserves and strong brand appeal, the market is dominated by strong household appliance groups such as Dyson and Philips. There is no shortage of domestic millennials that are able to take advantage of cost-effective advantages. Dark horse'. 'It's nickname, hammer technology layout does not have a comparative advantage in this area, it is difficult to seize the high ground in the industry.
It is reported that behind the release of the Nut TNT Workstation is the technical support provided by HKUST News, Triangle, and Yongzhong Software, and the technology of 'black technology' of Hammer Technology itself is not significant.
In fact, the Nut TNT Workstation needs to use the R1 mobile phone as the host computer, and use R1's computing power to process various kinds of information. At the same time, it also uses R1's flash memory for storage. Prior to this, there were also some technology companies that were trying to connect mobile phones and monitors to computers. For example, HP's Mobile Extender products, ASUS's PadFone products and other PC teams have all launched similar products. Motorola, Samsung and other mobile phone companies have also tried the combination of 'mobile phone + display'.
Compared to hammer technology's 'frequent cross-border', these tech companies are more likely to choose to explore mobile phones when they are more mature. This also makes the outside world question the pace of hammer technology too much, and some quick success.
If you want to 'cross-border', you will inevitably need financial support. Choosing to do continuous additions will result in financial pressure on Hammer Technology and even jeopardize the development of the mobile phone industry. To be honest, this is also the time when Hammer Technology laid out TNT. Another heavy risk to consider.
Compared with the last-funded 'cross-border' air purifier market, this hammer technology seems to be more relaxed in entering the PC industry. Recently, Luo Yonghao was the founder of Langang Interactive, the founder of Mars Finance Wang Feng's 'Wang Feng's Ten Questions'. The dialogue stated: 'Now it's okay (Hammer Technology's current funding status), it is no loss, we can go without financing. But for R&D investment and trying to do something different, our funds are still tight. . '