Episodes reported on July 27 (Reporter Zhang Yiqun) After 21 months of 'chasing', Qualcomm did not get NXP as it wished. For both parties, refocusing on mainstream business and finding potential business opportunities is a top priority.
The impact of the termination of the largest acquisition in the history of the semiconductor industry is gradually emerging. At least on a short-term perspective, large-scale mergers and acquisitions in the semiconductor industry will become increasingly difficult.
Sino-US game Qualcomm failed to become a 'lucky'
4. At present, the technology industry is becoming a key battleground for trade struggles between the two major economies of China and the United States.
Although the Ministry of Commerce said on Thursday that Qualcomm's acquisition of NXP is an anti-monopoly law enforcement issue, it has nothing to do with Sino-US trade friction. However, when most American media reported on this matter, they all said that the transaction became a Sino-US trade war. Victims. 'The $44 billion semiconductor industry's largest monetary abortion is the most eye-catching victim of Sino-US trade disputes', 'The silence of Chinese regulators has become a deadly factor in the deal', revealing extreme disappointment .
At present, the State Administration of Markets in charge of the matter did not respond. In an interview with CNBC, US Treasury Secretary Steven Munuchin expressed disappointment that the transaction failed to obtain regulatory approval.
In the recent stage, Qualcomm twice became the protagonist between the Chinese and American games.
In the hostile takeover initiated by Broadcom at the end of last year, Qualcomm had no way to fight back. The chip giant who was established for 30 years was almost hit by Chen Fuyang with a big shot of capital.
In the end, the fear that Qualcomm's acquisition will weaken the US's voice in high-tech fields such as communications and semiconductors, the Trump administration issued a ban on national security as a reason to protect Qualcomm. This concern mainly comes from Chinese competitors. Strong rise.
In the Qualcomm acquisition of NXP, the US government did not 'assisted' Qualcomm again. Instead, it continued to 'plus' in the Sino-US trade war. After the tariff on the $34 billion Chinese product, it was announced earlier this month. China's 200 billion US dollars worth of goods to raise tariffs.
This is regarded as the main reason for the failure of the transaction. In the more than half a year since the collection of the micro-network tracked the trading time, the expectations of the approval results were relatively optimistic before the Sino-US trade war. In order to cooperate with the investigation of Chinese regulators, Qualcomm The materials were submitted several times, and the relief program was adjusted to meet the requirements of the anti-monopoly agency and the Chinese market. Foreign media reported that the transaction had cleared the regulatory barriers a month ago.
However, the escalating Sino-US trade tension did not finally give a green light to the transaction. Foreign media reported that despite the Sino-US trade consultation and the lifting of the ban, the release of the optimistic signal of the transaction approval, but ultimately failed The batch actually shows that the Chinese side does not want to see the success of this transaction.
China hopes to show a strong side in the Sino-US trade war. In addition to targeted counter-measures against tariffs in the United States, data from consulting firm Rhodium Group shows that since the first half of 2018, China’s direct investment in the United States has fallen by 90%. Since April, the central bank has caused the yuan to plunge 7% against the dollar, which actually offsets the impact of any trade tariffs on prices.
In response to the trade war provoked by the United States, China is making a strong counterattack. At this time, the transactions between Qualcomm and NXP are somewhat untimely.
The semiconductor industry's major M&A environment is difficult
The impact of the termination of the largest M&A case in the history of the semiconductor industry is gradually emerging.
In the capital market, investors can no longer look at it. After the announcement of the acquisition, Qualcomm shares rose more than 5% in the US stock market trading day, and NXP Semiconductors shares fell more than 6%, hitting Qualcomm in October 2016. The lowest level since the launch of the offer.
Reuters reports that many funds bought NXP at an average price of $115 a few months ago, well below the offer of $127.5 per share, but the escalation of Sino-US trade tensions has steadily declined. The report in the first financial report also pointed out that if the transaction fails, the global investment institutions will first usher in the first round of shockwaves.
Qualcomm plans to invest $30 billion to buy back shares, replacing the current $10 billion repurchase program, which is expected to be implemented by the end of fiscal year 2019. The move aims to achieve the goal of an increase of $1.50 per share in FY2019. This is a commitment made by Qualcomm in response to the malicious acquisition of Broadcom earlier this year.
Bloomberg's analysis pointed out that Qualcomm's investment grade status has not been threatened, but the company's repurchase program may expose it to the risk of rating downgrade.
At the industry level, the termination of the transaction will make large-scale mergers and acquisitions difficult in the short term.
Research firm Gartner expects global semiconductor revenues to reach $451 billion in 2018, up 7.5% from $419 billion in 2017. 'China's refusal to approve the deal has a major impact on any major acquisitions in the semiconductor industry in the short term' analysis Jeff Jeffbre said.
Yao Jiayang, an analyst at Jibang Tuoyu Industrial Research Institute, said that the market lacks confidence in Qualcomm's mergers and acquisitions. The failure of mergers and acquisitions will bring risks to Qualcomm's operations, which may delay the development of the semiconductor industry. The future growth of China's semiconductor industry will be brought Come positively.
The future of Qualcomm and NXP
In the recent stage, Qualcomm has encountered difficulties far beyond what it can control. However, in the face of the EU, South Korea and other anti-monopoly agencies, the lawsuits with Apple have become a challenge.
Qualcomm's latest third-quarter earnings report is also mixed.
Quarterly earnings far exceeded expectations, and fourth-quarter earnings expectations are also more optimistic. This result may help Qualcomm guide investors to focus on their main business.
Especially in the licensing business, quarterly revenue was $1.47 billion, more than analysts forecast of $976 million. This is related to a company paying $500 million in royalties. It is believed that the company is Huawei, two companies recently Negotiations have been ongoing for several months. In addition, it also includes lower-than-expected legal fees in legal disputes between Qualcomm and Apple.
Some analysts pointed out that the failure to acquire NXP also means that Qualcomm can free up its hands to deal with other problem areas in the company's business and set out to resolve a series of judicial conflicts related to chip patents.
'In terms of long-term operations, Qualcomm's abandonment of the acquisition of NXP is disappointing, but at least Qualcomm's corporate strategy will become more clear.' The analyst said.
At the same time, Qualcomm also revealed that Qualcomm's baseband products will not appear in this year's new generation of iPhone products, which means that with the escalation of conflict with Apple, Qualcomm may lose this most important customer.
Even if the acquisition of NXP fails, Qualcomm still has opportunities in the future. Qualcomm said that despite the failure of the transaction, the company's prospects are still promising. Its capabilities in core technologies such as 5G are emerging, while at the same time in mobile computing, the Internet of Things, automatic Strategic planning in areas such as driving is steadily advancing.
Qualcomm said that despite the failure of the transaction, the company's prospects are still optimistic. Qualcomm CEO Steve Morenkov firmly believes that Qualcomm's technological advantages and future clear strategic planning will help the company to succeed in the future.
After the termination of the transaction, NXP announced a $5 billion stock repurchase program. For NXP, despite the $2 billion 'break-up fee', the past 21 months also meant missing a lot of business. Opportunities, strategic routes, and market sentiment have all had a big impact.
Nowadays, the competition in the field of automotive semiconductors is intensifying. NXP is constantly facing the challenges of its competitors. At present, Intel and Samsung have entered the field through large-scale acquisitions. According to the collection of micro-networks, while waiting for the approval of the transaction, NXP’s Customers have encountered competitors' food rush.
According to NXP’s latest earnings report, NXP’s second-quarter revenue was $2.29 billion, up 4% from $2.202 billion in the same period last year. Three of the top four business areas grew by more than 7%, only in The 'security interface and infrastructure' business dropped by 9%, mainly because the ZTE lockout event stopped the ordering of RF chips.
Despite the termination of Qualcomm and NXP's M&A transactions, the Qualcomm's determination to enter the Internet of Things, automotive and other areas, as well as NXP's advantages, does not rule out the possibility of other forms of interaction between the two parties. NXP CEO Richard Kramer Said that there will still be opportunities for cooperation with Qualcomm in the future.
2.OPPO splits the new brand Realme: Replica plus mode, set up a new independent operating company
Episode micro-network reported on July 25
After adding a mobile phone, OPPO has recently started to operate a new independent brand 'Realme'. The brand is not a sub-brand of OPPO, but will be an independent company, operating independently with the OPPO brand.
According to the industrial and commercial information inquiry, the newly established company is called 'Shenzhen Ruierhao Mobile Communication Co., Ltd.', which was registered on June 1, 2018 with a registered capital of RMB 50 million. The legal representative is Li Bingzhong.
The equity information shows that the company is the actual controller of the OPPO parent company.
Earlier, the micro-network has learned from the supply chain that the original OPPO overseas head Li Bingzhong will set up a new company to operate the 'Realme' brand. According to the above information, 'Ruier Mobile' is probably the new company.
In fact, everyone has a little understanding of the 'Realme' brand. This year OPPO has launched a smartphone with the brand 'Realme' in India. Jiwei.com reported in May that Realme and OPPO share the production line, and all of its products will be used. Online sales. According to OPPO news, Realme's products are priced between 10,000-20,000 rupees (about RMB 952-1905).
The first product named Realme 1 was launched on the official website of Amazon.com on May 15th, local time. According to the notice, Realme1 will be placed in the rear camera. The fingerprint identification button is located on the front.
In terms of brand positioning, according to people familiar with the matter, the current position of 'Realme' in India is 'power meets style', which translates to the meaning of 'combination of strong performance and trend design'.
Earlier insiders revealed to Ji Wei. 'In addition to India, Realome will be launched in China in the future, but there is no clear brand positioning yet.'
In addition, OPPO also gave great support to 'Realme'. For example, when 'Realme' was established recently, it is said that the company can arbitrarily select employees in the original OPPO team. As long as the selected employees are willing, they can leave OPPO and join 'Realme'. New company.
As can be seen from the above information, 'Realme' is not a self-owned brand of OPPO, but a subsidiary, and its status is similar to that of a one-plus-one mobile phone.
At the end of 2013, Liu Zuo, deputy general manager of OPPO, announced his resignation. Since then, he said that the company has established a 'one plus' brand. From the disclosure information, the largest shareholder of the one plus brand is still OPPO. However, from the perspective of company and operation, one plus And OPPO are two companies that operate completely independently.
Let me talk about the legal representative of 'Realme' 'Li Bingzhong'. Although he was not as familiar as Liu Zuohu on the Internet, he has been an OPPO overseas trader in the past few years.
Photo: Li Bingzhong in the middle
Before May of this year, according to the OPPO management responsibilities, there are two traders responsible for domestic and foreign channels and marketing. Domestically, Wu Qiang, vice president, and Li Bingzhong, abroad. On May 28, when OPPO announced that Wu Qiang was fully responsible for overseas, Many people are wondering where Li Bingzhong is going. The answer is now announced. He has already determined the independent business operation 'Realme'.
3.vivo established AI Global Research Institute: surrounded by dean, hired chief scientist worldwide
Set micro-network news (text / Fufu), July 26, vivo announced to the outside world the establishment of the AI Global Research Institute, the Vice President of vivo personally served as the Dean of the Institute. It is reported that the vivo strategy conference as early as 2018 On the top, the vo executives have announced this decision internally and hired chief scientists around the world.
At the Boao Forum for Asia in April this year, the founder and CEO of vivo, Shen Wei, pointed out that the combination of artificial intelligence and 5G will be the development trend of mobile phones in the 5G era. Shen Wei believes that artificial intelligence will give smartphone learning ability and Thinking ability, the combination of 5G and AI will make the mobile phone evolve from 'smartphone' to 'smart phone', and the mobile phone will become a high-intelligence, user-friendly data center and service center.
Vice President of Vivo said in an interview that artificial intelligence will become the development direction of the mobile phone industry in the next 10 years. Vivo will also regard artificial intelligence as the strategic development focus of the future, increase the investment layout in the field of artificial intelligence, and introduce relevant 2. Hardware facilities, strengthening the research and development of artificial intelligence technology.
For the future development of artificial intelligence, Vivo has 3-5 years of strategic planning for medium and long-term development. The establishment of AI Global Research Institute is only the beginning, and future vivo will continue to hire excellent R&D talents worldwide. The research and development team in the field of artificial intelligence has gradually shifted its research and development focus to the direction of artificial intelligence technology research and development.
At present, vivo has rapidly expanded its artificial intelligence R&D team in the world, and has invested in the construction of AI Global Research Institute in Shenzhen, Beijing, Hangzhou, Nanjing and San Diego (USA). I will also personally serve as the president of vivo AI Global Research Institute. This important position, together with the researchers, promotes the transition of the VIVO mobile platform from 'smart' to 'smart', and strives to bring more powerful functions and a more intimate experience to users.
Internet companies such as Google, Microsoft, Facebook, Baidu, and Alibaba have been investing in artificial intelligence for the past few years. OPPO also announced the establishment of a research institute in April this year to strengthen AI and 5G research. The difference is that It is the first Chinese mobile phone company to set up a research institute specializing in artificial intelligence. Compared with friends, vivo can reflect the importance of artificial intelligence.
Major companies have begun to take shape in the field of artificial intelligence, such as home appliances such as smart speakers that have been on fire in recent years, and voice assistants developed by major brands of mobile phones. Most of them use AI voice interaction technology as the core, and then in the user's use process. By collecting data to learn, grow, and thus become more personalized, more in line with the habits of each user. In the X21 and vivo NEX models released by vivo, there are artificial intelligence that is very popular with users. Assistant Jovi, these two models are also equipped with integrated AI technology for photos and games.
According to the Strategy Analytics report of the communications industry and consumer technology market research institutes, in 2017, global consumers purchased more than 663 million smart home devices with sales of US$84 billion. Strategy Analytics even claims that smart home sales will surpass smartphones in the future. So Strategy Analytics can predict this because of the widespread use of artificial intelligence technology in home devices.
Vivo's current five AI research institutes will focus on each other, including knowledge maps, natural language and machine vision, as well as other forward-looking technology development directions and fields. Previously, vivo has been associated with many artificial intelligence technologies. Entrepreneurial companies establish deep strategic partnerships, in the hardware and algorithms, Vivo and these companies jointly research and development investment, and the results are specifically applied to the mobile phone products that vivo has launched. Vivo has also extensively inspected the world's major R & D Institutions, and establish excellent cooperative relations with excellent R&D institutions, and are fully prepared for the frontier research field of artificial intelligence.
It is revealed that the chief scientist candidate of the vivo AI Global Research Institute has confirmed that 'will be a representative Chinese in the field of artificial intelligence.' As the top five mobile phone manufacturers in the world, Vivo has a large active user base in the global mobile phone market. It has become its unique data resource advantage, and vivo's investment and attention to artificial intelligence is attracting these top researchers to join the vivo AI Global Research Institute.
R&D personnel in the field of artificial intelligence have always been concerned by Internet companies such as Google and Facebook. Therefore, these Internet companies have also hired some of the world's leading developers in the field of artificial intelligence. Vivo has been recruiting artificial intelligence globally a year ago. The developers in the field believe that we have achieved some results now. We will witness the development of artificial intelligence in the future products of vivo, such as a smarter and more thoughtful voice assistant - Jovi. (Proofreading / round and round)
4. ZTE: The US Congress will not change the termination order
According to the micro-network news, on the evening of July 26, ZTE announced that the “Report of the Coordinating Committee on the National Defense Authorization Act” (hereinafter referred to as the “Coordination Committee Report”) issued by the US Congress will not be changed in any way or Interfering with the order issued by the US Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security on July 13, 2018. The order of July 13, 2018, the US Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security (hereinafter referred to as 'BIS') was terminated on July 13, 2018. A refusal order for ZTE and ZTE Kangxun to activate on April 15, 2018. ZTE said that according to the "Alternative Settlement Agreement" between BIS and the Company and ZTE Kangxun, the order of July 13, 2018 has been The Company and ZTE Kangxun were removed from the List of Prohibited Exporters. According to the announcement, the report of the Coordination Committee will be submitted to the US House of Representatives for consideration. If approved, it will be submitted to the US President for signature or rejection.
5. Domestic Android 'savage growth' era will end Fragmentation is now unified dawn
When Google suffered a high-priced anti-monopoly penalties for Android monopoly, in the Chinese market where Google is not monopolized, many Android players are trying to stitch the Android ecosystem that has been dismembered into pieces.
The absence of Google has caused the domestic Android ecosystem to develop ups and downs, but during the 3G and 4G period, Chinese mobile phone manufacturers have rapidly emerged with the rapid development of the mobile communication market. At the same time, domestic mobile phone manufacturers developed their own operating systems based on Android, Huawei. EMUI, Xiaomi MIUI, OPPO's Color OS, vivo's Funtouch OS, and Meizu, Hammer, and other mobile phone manufacturers' operating systems have come out and gradually matured.
According to AppInChina data, by the end of 2017, China’s Android users are close to 600 million, and iOS users are about 145 million. However, more than a dozen independent Android operating systems, hundreds of mobile app stores, and massive application distribution channels make the domestic Android ecosystem Along the path of fragmentation, this phenomenon has caused many problems such as the loss of Android developers, payment, limited market of instant communication and so on.
Since 2014, domestic regulatory agencies have begun to introduce policies and regulations, and set up industry organizations to guide the healthy development of the Android ecosystem. However, the interests of Android players in the long-term barbaric growth environment, it is difficult to break.
Fragmented ecology
The first large-scale exposure was the 'pre-installed application cannot be deleted' problem for Android phones. After experiencing long-term consumer complaints, the Shanghai Consumer Protection Committee detected and exposed ten mobile phones in July 2015, among which the named OPPO mobile phone pre-installed 71 software, 47 models can not be uninstalled; Samsung mobile phone pre-installed software 44, all can not be uninstalled.
Mobile phone pre-installed applications are one of the main channels for domestic application distribution. Each mobile phone can profit from several yuan or even tens of dollars by pre-installing multiple applications. However, mobile phone pre-installation is accompanied by memory shrinkage, virus Trojan, traffic. The problem of smoking fees, stealing privacy and so on continued to break out. The Android ecosystem lacked supervision, and the issue of review began to be gradually exposed.
To this end, at the end of 2016, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued the “Interim Provisions on the Preset and Distribution Management of Mobile Terminal Application Software”, which stipulates that “the mobile intelligent terminal application software other than the basic function software can be uninstalled”, which was officially officially announced on July 1, 2017. Implementation.
In July 2015, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology began testing the 'bad mobile phone application' in the quarterly telecommunication service quality test. Each time, tens of thousands of applications in nearly 100 mobile application stores were sampled, and malicious charges, Trojan viruses, Forced to bundle other applications, applications that do not allow users to collect user privacy, etc., and notify the app store to remove them. This sampling continues to this day, and hundreds of applications are ordered to be removed every quarter. 2016 In June, the Office of the Internet Information Office also issued the “Regulations on the Management of Mobile Internet Application Information Services” to strengthen the standardized management of APP and application stores, and clarified the four management responsibilities of the application store.
However, the fragmented Android ecosystem severely dilutes the regulatory power, and the massive application distribution channels provide a living space for various 'rogue apps'. Forced bundling, stealing user privacy, malicious charges and so on are always difficult to stop.
On the pre-installed application issue, the "Temporary Provisions for Preset and Distribution Management of Mobile Terminal Applications" does not clearly define 'basic function software', while domestic mobile phone manufacturers generally put music, video, games, reading, browser, input. The application and other applications default to 'basic functions', pre-installed with the application developed by the manufacturer itself, and almost all can not be uninstalled, the policy of 'pre-installed application can be uninstalled' is discounted.
At the same time, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology conducted random checks every quarter, and the failure to remove the bad application of the application of the order is not mandatory. Take Tencent's application treasure as an example, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology No. 1 in the 2018 telecommunication service quality notice, in the application of treasure The app that has been on the shelves for more than 4 years, the most popular sports event in history, V1.2.5 version, was named because of the forced bundling of other applications, and ordered to be removed, but at present, this version of the application is still in the shelves.
End barbaric growth
'To solve the chaos of the domestic Android ecosystem, we must first establish a unified standard in the fragmented ecosystem.' A senior Android developer told reporters on the 26th, 'There are many unmanageable situations, because there is no uniform at first. Standard. '
'For example, the Android phone's Caton, power consumption problem, is because the country can not use Google's message push function. 'This person said that domestic mobile phone manufacturers, third-party organizations, giant Internet companies have built their own push channels, interface standards almost Completely different, 'domestic Android push and receive