Intelligence will continue. In 2016, the intelligent industry may be taken over by traditional manufacturers.

In the field of smart hardware, small and medium-sized startups occupy the majority of the market. With the arrival of this cold wave, a large number of startups died on the road to raising funds, and smart hardware naturally became one of the hardest hit areas.

Some people have always believed that smart hardware products have limited creativity, lack of rigid demand, and no core technology. The so-called explosion is just a carnival of capital. This time the aorta has been cut off, and the entire industry is one step closer to death.

We have to admit that in the past two or three years, the phenomenon of products ahead of technology and financing greater than profits is not uncommon in the industry. Impetuousness and even hypocrisy are the norm that everyone knows. But at the same time, we must see that the Internet plays an increasingly important role in people's lives. The access of a large number of people and things has indeed brought unprecedented convenience to our work, study, travel, shopping, health and other aspects. The interconnection and intelligence of all things have become an irreversible trend of the development of the times. The bankruptcy of startups cannot stop the process of product evolution.

On the contrary, this may be a knockout match, and the mission will be undertaken by companies with stronger capabilities and more in line with the laws of development. In the field of smart hardware, there is a type of company that does not have the genes of the Internet, but has never stopped exploring new technologies. It’s just that the brilliance of technology giants and startups makes people rarely regard them as the protagonists of this drama.

They are the so-called traditional manufacturers active in the front line of manufacturing.

It is not new for traditional watch manufacturers to penetrate into the smart field. Casio, TAG Heuer, Rossini, Bulgari, Breitling, and IWC have all launched smart watches and have been recognized by consumers. Recently, traditional watch manufacturer Fossil has announced that it will release 100 smart wearable devices in the next year. Traditional home appliance manufacturers such as Samsung, Galanz, Haier, and Hisense have already begun to lay out in the field of smart homes. Traditional automobile giants such as GM, Audi, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Toyota are also pioneers in practicing the concept of smart cars.

The law of product evolution is similar to biological evolution, which is to make adaptive adjustments based on the previous generation in response to changes in the external environment. Traditional manufacturers have the most basic "previous generation" conditions. In other words, intelligence is not a subversive revolution of traditional products, but an expansion and improvement based on traditional products, giving them additional functions that were not originally available, such as networking, remote control, and data collection.

To put it simply, the original function of the product is the initial "1", and intelligence is just the "0" that follows. Without the "1" leading the way, no matter how many "0s" there are, they are useless. This problem has occurred in many smart hardware startups that have entered the product manufacturing field out of thin air. In this regard, the advantages of traditional manufacturers are obvious, especially in categories with more complex processes such as large household appliances and automobiles.

The accumulation of traditional manufacturers in products is also indirectly reflected at the user level. Under the same conditions, many consumers will still prefer "old brands" with higher reputation. Unlike startups, such companies usually do not have financing pressure, and the research and development and promotion of new products can get stable financial support. Moreover, as the technology continues to mature, the intelligent solutions of products gradually become systematic, and the barriers here will gradually fade.

In addition, in terms of sales channels and marketing promotion, the capabilities of traditional brand manufacturers are by no means comparable to those of ordinary startups.

In fact, many traditional manufacturers have already made their mark in the smart field. On the one hand, because the industry itself is in its early stages, and on the other hand, because startups and technology companies have more eye-catching voices, they have not been able to become the mainstream in the industry. In the coming year, the exit of startups will make the position of traditional manufacturers in the industry more important. As a result, the situation of hardware products being unconstrained may be alleviated, product categories will gradually be concentrated, and quality will return.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.