On the eve of 5G, mobile phone companies should not panic

Not long ago, a video about 5G experience by "Mr. He" titled "How Fast? The Real Experience of 5G in Daily Use" helped him gain nearly one million followers on Weibo and Bilibili in three days. The high-speed download and transmission of 5G in the video also made countless users look forward to the arrival of 5G.

However, despite the expectations, for ordinary users, they may have to wait for a while if they want to truly enjoy 5G.

Similarly, on the eve of 5G, it is also the most difficult time for a number of smartphone manufacturers. The user replacement cycle is constantly extending, and 5G core communication technology is still to be popularized. In addition to continuous efforts at the marketing level, major manufacturers are either constantly pursuing new breakthroughs in product form or frequently launching big moves in marketing methods to stimulate users' interest in purchasing new models.

In such a situation, time is particularly important, and companies hope to be the first to come up with innovative technologies as soon as possible, even if these technologies have not yet reached mass production requirements. Demonstrating technical strength and showing off strength in advance in front of other friendly companies is indeed a manifestation of a marketing model.

However, the pursuit of time is also accompanied by increased risks, and in the face of time, reliability is obviously a more important element.

Multi-brand strategy and high-end technology are competing to appear

5G will definitely bring about a major reshuffle. Looking back at the past generations of communication technology innovation, they will bring about a shock and change in the industry, which will not only bring about technological innovation, but also bring about the ups and downs of many companies. On the eve of 5G, all smartphone manufacturers are making every effort to expand their market share and increase their future chips while ensuring that their core technologies are not left behind.

Data shows that in 2018, global smartphone sales fell by 1% to 3%, which was the first annual decline in the history of the smartphone market. After entering 2019, the downward trend of the market has not eased. According to the 2019 Q1 Global Smartphone Sales Report released by market research firm Gartner, global smartphone sales in the first quarter were 373 million units, a year-on-year decrease of 2.7%.

In this situation, there are only two ways for companies to stimulate sales and increase their market presence: one is marketing, and the other is research and development. Lei Jun, chairman of Xiaomi, once said: "At present, the entire market competition is very fierce, because consumer demand has dropped sharply, everyone is waiting for 5G mobile phones, but 5G has not started yet. Technology is the best way to break through."

First, in terms of marketing, we can see that the multi-brand strategy has almost become a consensus among domestic mobile phone giants. Xiaomi, OPPO, and vivo have successively launched new product series and independent sub-brands to capture more user groups, achieve full price segment coverage, and impact a larger market space.

Secondly, in terms of technological innovation, unlike the highly confidential research and development phase a few years ago, some technologies that are not yet ready for large-scale commercial use or mass production have become a means for mobile phone companies to demonstrate their strength. At the MWC conference in Barcelona, ​​Spain earlier this year, almost all mobile phone companies with a certain level of strength displayed their 5G mobile phones and new products with flexible and folding screens. Not long ago, OPPO and Xiaomi also showed off their own under-screen camera black technology on Weibo.

Although some of these products (technologies) are still some distance away from large-scale commercial use or mass production, every exposure of new technologies seems to be a good marketing tool for brands. However, this way of showing off black technology is sometimes prone to problems.

The most eye-catching folding screen is still "out of reach"

Among all the technological innovations on display, the foldable screen is undoubtedly the most attractive and accessible to users. A number of mobile phone manufacturers including Huawei, Samsung, Royole, Xiaomi, OPPO, and Nubia have demonstrated their flexible foldable screen products. Among them, except for the little-known Royole, which has launched related products on its official website, no other company has officially launched its own new foldable screen mobile phone products.

The Samsung Galaxy Fold, which was originally highly anticipated, also encountered some quality control problems during the media pre-testing phase before its release, which forced the release to be delayed again and again. The impact of this quality control problem is not just a simple delay in the release of a folding screen product, but also caused the Samsung mobile phone brand, which was originally revived, to face a lot of doubts in the market.

Last week, US operator AT&T said it had canceled pre-orders for Samsung's $2,000 foldable phone Galaxy Fold, and said it would provide $100 compensation to customers who pre-ordered. Prior to this, Best Buy also canceled related pre-sale orders. This series of order cancellations highlights the market's distrust of Galaxy Fold at this stage.

In addition, according to CNBC, the release date of Huawei's foldable screen product Mate X, which was originally scheduled to be officially launched in June, will also be postponed to September because Huawei needs to conduct more tests on the product. Obviously, the premature exposure of the flexible foldable screen disrupted the company's new product release rhythm. In this regard, a relevant communication industry expert told Dongdong Notes:

"Huawei's choice is wise. The quality problems of Samsung Galaxy Fold are not just a single product problem for Samsung. While affecting Samsung's brand image and reputation, it also exposes some shortcomings of Samsung's internal product design and testing management. Samsung's internal management must bear the blame for the Galaxy Fold's failure."

The person also pointed out: "There are only three reasons for the damage of flexible folding screens. The first is that the flexible screen process is not up to standard, the second is that the hinge technology is immature, and the third is that there are problems with the assembly process. If it is a problem with the screen process, it will be difficult to solve it in a short time. Judging from some failure cases and a series of subsequent statements from Samsung, it is more likely that there is a problem with the hinge. Another point to note is that compared with the screen folding solution, the inner folding screen will also bring greater pressure to the screen because of the smaller bending radius."

The failure of Galaxy Fold also shows that although Samsung previously stated that the phone had been folded 200,000 times, the actual performance shows that the relevant tests are obviously not perfect. The reason behind this may be the urgency and pressure of manufacturers to come up with innovative products in the context of the sluggish smartphone market.

Time and creativity are important, but stability is fundamental

Judging from the current market situation, although many mobile phone brands have displayed their own folding screen prototypes, most of them have not yet reached the mass production stage. Moreover, even the Samsung Galaxy Fold and Huawei Mate X, the two products closest to mass production, are priced at more than 10,000 yuan. High prices naturally cannot become popular mainstream products in the short term. Their appearance is more of a display of the company's own technological strength.

OPPO Vice President Shen Yiren once put forward a point of view:

• "At this stage, the greatest significance of folding screen design lies in the innovative exploration of ID design, and there is no possibility of popularization in two to three years."

Perhaps, compared with the popularity of foldable screen products, 5G mobile phones will arrive earlier. In the near future, with the improvement of the yield rate of flexible screens and the maturity of hinge technology, the price of foldable screen products will also drop. By then, perhaps rich applications (adaptation) + 5G high-speed data transmission will be the opportunity for foldable screen products to truly enter the mass market.

In the bottleneck period of the mobile phone industry, any small technological innovation and the title of "first release" are crucial to all players in the field. Therefore, we also understand the frequent "first release" measures of many mobile phone brands in the past six months. In this regard, relevant communication industry analysts told Dongdong Notes:

• “The commercialization of new technologies and their early release can allow brands to obtain considerable brand premiums, and to some extent will also disrupt the rhythm of competitors, thereby gaining more market share.
• Therefore, this is also the main reason why all companies are rushing to be the first to launch and are eager to disclose technologies that cannot be mass-produced yet.”

However, you cannot be unprepared when launching a product, otherwise there will be unpredictable risks. At a time when players in the market are keen to show off their skills, any "failure" will have a huge negative impact on the brand. As an analyst said: Technology can be shown off, but once it is put into mass production and sale, it must withstand the test of scale.

Perhaps, sometimes, in the long run, the theory of "slow is fast" is more suitable for the development needs of current smart phone brands than rushing to launch new products. Just like what is sung in a famous Douyin song: Stay steady, don't waste time. When you have enough energy, then "stay steady and take you to waste time!"