Following the release of new domestic mobile phone head brands in March this year, only two months have passed. The new round of flagship models released by the head brand has come to an end.
Behind the frequent announcements of new machines, the domestic head phones represented by Huawei, Vivo, OPPO, and Xiaomi are displayed, and the momentum of the overall distribution of multiple product types between the Apple brand and the Apple brand, either at a cost-effective price, or with black technology and Innovative design, compete for market share in the post-mobile era.
According to data from China ICT, domestic mobile phone shipments ended declining in May this year. However, many reporters found that most industry players believe that current market demand mainly comes from cyclical demand for replacement support. This year, China’s overall mobile phone sales market It will be slightly weaker than last year.
Under the turbulent flow, the overall pattern of the mobile phone market will also change.
Industry insiders pointed out to 21st Century Business Herald reporter that in the past, the explosive strategy of taking the lead with OV began to lapse. Today, new head brand products are frequently released, which reveals the condensed play of machine tactics. At the same time, domestic brands are among the mid- to high-end markets. The game will become an important battlefield.
Moderately weaker changes in pattern
Recently, the China Institute of Information and Communications released a report stating that, in May 2018, the domestic mobile phone market shipments totaled 37.836 million units, an increase of 1.2% year-on-year, and that the monthly shipments for the 14 consecutive months ended declined; the year 2018 was 1 - In May, the domestic mobile phone market shipped 159 million units, down 19.0% year-on-year.
Despite the differences in shipments and actual sales, the overall downward trend is still present. Nuowei Consulting CEO Li Rui analyzed with 21st Century Business Herald reporter, 'We expect the market will pick up in the 3-4 quarter of this year, but all year round. Compared with last year's negative growth trend, it may not seem like a terrible drop, but it has a great impact on the overall internal structure.
Huang Yuyao, an analyst at Jibang Consulting and Research Institute of Industrial Development, told reporters that the development of smart phones tends to be mature, and it is difficult for brands to highlight differences through hardware. The Chinese market is a country with a high degree of mobile phone ownership, and the differences between old and new smartphones. In a modest situation, the market demand mainly comes from cyclical replacement demand support, so this year the overall market will show a slight decline compared with last year.
Under the background of no overall breakthrough in the overall situation, the breakthrough of the mobile phone brand is important and difficult. 'The head companies are madly swallowing the market, SMEs do not have enough strength to compete, and the market brand and consumer maturity of Chinese mobile phones Are moving closer to the developed countries. 'Li Rui concluded.
Frequent new machines compete for share
It is worth noting that the domestic headphone brand has made a new move in the past month and its frequency is very fast. This may be a signal.
In Li Rui's view, in the past, domestic mobile phone brands competed more with Apple's supply chain, which also made home-made machines relatively time-to-market. Therefore, there was a time difference with the time the Macs were listed. However, the frequent new machines are now released. It shows that the black technology or innovation of the Mac is no longer leading the market. The significance of competing with Apple in supply and innovation is no longer as usual. At the same time, the positive confrontation between domestic machines has become more prominent. The competition between Huawei, ov and Xiaomi, and the tactical level of competition and competition are more.
Sun Yanxi, dean of the first mobile phone industry research institute, also had similar views. He told 21st Century Business Herald reporter that from the current mobile phone product matrix of the head brand launched in the market, it showed that the "machine warfare" clue.
'The tactics of the mobile phone market in 2018 have undergone major changes', explains Sun Yanxi. 'This is brought by the new retail. Because the crowd is more subdivided, the big brands will not do separate market segments, such as making specialized games for mobile phones. Because that doesn't match their market positioning.
Therefore, in the past, the OV-based explosive + channel integrated tactics had once completely subverted the Chinese market. However, it is not feasible now. In the second half of 2017, the mobile phone market has become more and more influential. Together with the consumer group becoming the main force after 85, it became the combined cause of the high inventory in last year. '
Sun Yanzhao told reporters that the three mobile phone brands that Apple will release this year do not have too many innovative elements. Two of them can be understood as being aimed at the Chinese market, with upgrades being made in the dual-card dual-standby, and another. Cheap ipone X will use LCD LCD panel.
'The year 2018 will be the best year for Apple's sales, but it is also the last year. Apple's strategy this year is to advance the conference, grab sales cycles, cut prices, and hit the market with tactics.' He analyzed that Apple is currently The global market share is about 15%, and this year it is likely to soar to 20%. The growth point will come from the competition for domestic brands.
More than Apple, in Sun Yanxuan's view, the current domestic brands also looming clues to the sea tactics. According to the statistics of the first mobile phone research institute, vivo introduced a thousand yuan mobile phone products this year, 'it was not in the past, Millet and glory have thousands of machines, Lenovo, Meizu are playing the following models thousand dollars, that is, after competing for attention to the high cost-effective consumer groups after 85. '
The flagship model is not behind. Both the P20 released by Huawei and the vivo NEX, the smart flagship represented by AI, represent the frontier achievements of domestic brands at the technical iteration level. This attracts attention on the other side of the market to focus on differentiated consumption. group.
Sun Yanxi believes that the recent vivo X21 and NEX products have a price difference of 800-900 yuan, forming a mid-range flagship + high-end flagship game, which is not in vivo history; at the same time, OPPO released R15 and The Find series to be released at the end of the month also shows the idea of dual flagship play. 'OV started a dual flagship or multi flagship game, can be seen as a disguised machine tactics.'
Of course, there are also objective reasons for the accelerated pace of new machine release. Yanzhan Meng, director of research at counterpoint, told reporters that preparations for the Mac in the usual supply chain will affect the release time of domestic machines. This is also in line with the domestic head brand. The technology has been continuously improved and reached the mass production stage. For example, the highly-popular vivo NEX has no relevant support for Liu Hai's comprehensive screen design, OPPO and vivo's optimization and mass production in the camera, and the Xiaolong 845 chip's mass production and application.
Earlier, the director of vivo products Huang Hao also mentioned in an interview with the media, the reason for the acceleration of the new machine release, on the one hand is the mobile phone industry in the down phase, requires the company's innovative technology to stimulate the market to change the desire; the other is the new technology Outbreaks and applications take a long time to accumulate, such as vivo fingerprinting technology released by Vivo.
AI application 2.0 era
In May, China Mobile launched a new mobile phone for domestic head brands. In the early stage of publicity, the word “Subversive” and “Scary” were often used. In a comprehensive view, Yan Zhanyan believes that the brand mobile phone in the future will have the two most prominent performances in new technologies. Obviously, it can be landed and mass produced.
On the one hand, it is a higher proportion of screens, and on the other hand, it is the application of AI technology. 'Mobile phone manufacturers have left the position of hardware manufacturers and have begun to turn to 'software and hardware'.'
Specifically, Yan Zhanyan concluded that the AI application version 1.0 is mainly reflected in the optimization and recognition of photographs; version 2.0 began to be reflected in the tool level, and is currently in the stage, including smart reminder tools, search settings and other aspects. The 3.0 version will probably involve smart office, travel advice, and other recommended classes that actually interact with people.
Li Rui pointed out to reporters: 'I don't think AI can be an absolute technological killer, but it can soften hard technology, combine hardware and software, and make smart phones more tempting. For example, it is derived from subculture and IP level. Blending, this type of cultural business will be more effective, of course, technology should be solid enough.
Huang Yuyao, an analyst at Jibang Consulting's Tuobai Industrial Research Institute, also told 21st Century Business Herald reporter that the recent mobile phone manufacturers are more expected to use the 5G and AI applications. 'Currently, a single AI application is mainly used. Voice recognition, intelligent environment sensing and photographing, etc. Future AI development will be more towards facilitating life after analyzing individual behaviors, connecting wisdom families, simultaneous translation, etc.
Taken together, Huang Yuxi pointed out that, driven by the rapid increase in iPhone Face ID and mobile payment requirements, this year's brands are relying on biometrics (screen fingerprint identification, Face ID, etc.) to improve the safety of mobile phones. In the early stage of technology development, taking into account consumer habits, manufacturing costs and other factors, it is estimated that the overall application of the technology this year is still less than 15%.
Although many new domestic brands that have been released recently have attracted a lot of attention through the commercialization of cutting-edge technologies, Li Rui also mentioned to reporters that he does not think that there will be major technological innovations in the short term. The 'AI' soft part To operate well, you can escort brand influence and influence. '
He also mentioned that the current focus of the headphone brand should be more timely in adapting to changes and demands of consumers, as well as the right to speak in terms of traditional sales and agency channels. 'To attract more traditional and non-traditional channels to join, It's also a win half the world. '