Vivo senior vice president Ni Xudong
Mentioned vivo, if Your impression is still that of marketing and advertising bombardment. At least for China's third-largest smartphone maker, it is unfair.
On the evening of June 12th, Vivo released its new flagship series NEX to launch its own comprehensive screen concept: Zero boundary full screen. Through the design of elevating front camera, it achieved no fringe, and the screen share reached 91.24%. Under the trend of mobile phone iPhone X Liu Haiping, it is unique.
Using lifting camera, no bangs NEX
In fact, NEX's release can be said to be a key node in vivo's attempt to move from a marketing school to a technical school in recent years. In addition to a lifting front camera, Vivo also showed a full-screen sound, hidden sensors, third Fingerprint on behalf of the screen, AI assistant Jovi and other technologies. However, the significance of NEX to vivo is not limited to a technology label. Under the general downward trend of the smart phone industry, there is still a reorganization of product lines, brand upgrading, and adjustment of corporate strategy. And many other considerations.
Tear off the marketing tag
The rise of Vivo was widely noted by the outside world beginning in late 2015 and early 2016.
According to IDC, in the fourth quarter of 2015, Vivo achieved shipments of 11 million units with a year-on-year increase of 33.8%, which accounted for 9.4% of China's smartphone market, and ranked fifth. In the first quarter of 2016, Vivo The year-on-year growth of shipments in China reached 121.7%, and the first three months after entering the Chinese market. In this quarter, Vivo's growth rate in the global market reached 123.8%, and it entered the top five in the global market.
In the cities of the third and fourth tiers and on the streets of towns and villages, there are offline stores, advertisement bombings and celebrity endorsements on variety shows. These two most intuitive labels were affixed to vivo and became the secret of vivo's rise.
However, vivo's management clearly does not agree with this label.
Ni Xudong, a senior vice president who has always been marketing vivo marketing, responded by saying, 'We are less likely to do marketing'. 'We are a company focused on product services. Marketing is really an amplifier in this process. Good, or outdoor advertising, or TV commercials. Actually these are all amplifiers. Your products, services, if not done particularly well, rely solely on marketing, the worse the product, the bigger the marketing, the more the company die. It's faster. ' Ni Xudong said.
Three years ago, launched an internal investigation in vivo target population redefined. After carding, vivo will be young, trendy crowd as the target groups want to touch up. Therefore, Ni Xudong view, the significance of marketing in the interior vivo, More lies in dialogues that represent consumers and technology and convey to consumers the products and technologies of vivo.
Towards technology
2016 is the high growth period of vivo in the Chinese market and global market.
IDC data show that in 2016 China's smart phone market, shipments of 467.3 million units, an increase of 8.7% which vivo Chinese shipments of 69.2 million units, up 96.8%;. In terms of the global market, in 2016 the global smart phone shipments It increased by 2% to 1.706 billion units. Of these, vivo shipped 77.3 million units worldwide, an increase of 103.2% year-on-year.
However, by 2017, the growth rate of the Chinese smart phone market has slowed down significantly. In the first quarter, it was 0.8% year-on-year, down 0.4% year-on-year in the second quarter, down about 1% year-on-year in the third quarter, and down 15.7% year-on-year in the fourth quarter. In the whole year, it dropped by 4.9%.
Under the environment, Vivo is also adjusting its thinking.
In April 2017, Vivo convened a large number of mobile phone industry suppliers to headquarter in Dongguan, and conveyed a signal to these industrial chain buddies: Vivo's cooperation methods and cooperation rhythm should be adjusted. In simple terms, Vivo said to change before Technology follow-up strategy, plus coding technology innovation, advance layout in key areas involving mobile phone innovation, 'to advance technology tracking, cooperation cycle to 18 months, or even 36 months.'
This adjustment was also reflected in vivo's subsequent products. At the CES show at the beginning of the year, Vivo released the world's first mass-market fingerprint sensor phone; at the end of February, MWC, Vivo exhibited AEPX full screen. Concept mobile phone, using lifting front camera, screen ratio of 98%. More than three months later, Vivo mass production of AEPX concept machine was released yesterday and officially named NEX.
The full-screen related technology is only one of the force points of vivo. In the domestic manufacturers talk about AI, 5G, Vivo has also accelerated the layout.
In March this year, Vivo launched a new AI voice assistant Jovi. Yesterday's NEX conference, Vivian product manager Li Xiang also introduced three months later Jovi's new progress, Jovi has covered the system features and high-frequency third party Application, launched 600 voice manipulation functions in 20 scenarios. Vivo also established AI joint labs with NetEase, Gold, Baidu, XF, Ant Financial, etc., and conducted in-depth cooperation on AI algorithms and data.
Huang Wei, Product Director of Vivo, stated that AI will be a core technological development direction in the future, and Jovi’s positioning will be the bridge between vivo users and the digital world. All the digital world-related companies will be handed over to Jovi. Vivo’s senior vice president. Ni Xudong also revealed at the press conference that in 2019 vivo will launch a 5G mass-produced mobile phone combining AI and 5G.
Can it break in the oligopoly market
After the winter of 2017, the Chinese smart phone market did not show signs of turning in the first quarter of 2018. According to data released by the China Institute of Information and Communications under the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, China's smartphone shipments in the first quarter of this year were 81.87 million. Ministry, a year-on-year decrease of 27%.
Specifically, some mobile phone manufacturers have also begun to bear the pressure of the market environment. According to the Chinese smartphone data released in the first quarter of this year by IDC, the market share is getting more and more advanced. Huawei, OPPO, Vivo, Xiaomi and Apple concentrate on the top five vendors. The market share of the top five manufacturers has exceeded 85%. Among them, OPPO shipments fell 12.6% year-on-year, while Huawei and Apple maintained a small increase.
As for vivo, despite a 4% year-on-year decline in shipments, it is good that the market share has maintained a growth rate of more than 2%. However, in the situation where the oligarch trend is becoming more and more obvious, Vivo should not take it lightly.
In fact, as early as September 2015, Vivo founder, president and CEO Shen Wei talked about the way vivo was walking in the event of the 20th anniversary of vivo, using 16 characters. Turning, living out, flourishing, of which 12 characters are related to the survival of the crisis.
From the newly launched NEX, you can also see vivo's transformation in the smart phone industry under the ceiling.
A big direction is the upgrading of brands and the impact of high-end. Vivo had originally left to the outside world more of the impression of audio and video entertainment, specializes in offline channels and stereotypes on marketing more serious; at the same time due to the long-term rooted three or four line market , Mainly in the mid-market X series, the external positioning of its brand is naturally a mid-range brand, and the main sense of the technology of the NEX series can enhance its brand image has no small help.
Huang Wei, director of Vivo products, said that one of Vivo's entire product strategy in 2018 is to gain a firm foothold above 3,000 yuan. He quoted a report saying that in the 3000-3500 price segment, X21 has occupied 55% of the market share ranked first , In the 3000-4000 yuan price segment also reached 42%. The next step, Vivo hopes to make a big sales volume in the 3500-4000 yuan price segment. He disclosed that NEX has done a sales plan for the next 3 months, is expected to single month Will achieve more than 500,000 sales levels.
In addition to the high-end, Vivo did not give up sales in the low-end market and the terminal market. In addition to the original Y-series, X-series, Vivo has also recently launched the Z series of the main Internet channels, which can also ensure that vivo While impacting the high-end, maintain sales growth.
Vivo's senior vice president also disclosed the change in vivo's overall corporate strategic direction. In the context of hardware incremental peaks, mobile phone manufacturers increasingly focus on higher margin software and services, Vivitt is no exception. Ni Xudong said , Vivo will move from a pure hardware vendor to an innovative technology company driven by technologies such as AI and hardware + software + services. And NEX is undoubtedly an important step for Vivo to achieve this ambition.