Dong Mingzhu said Gree mobile phone is on sale, why can’t we find it?

The furthest distance in the world is not that you said the phone is on sale but I can't open the crowded website, but that I don't know where to buy it. Gree Chairman Dong Mingzhu just posed this difficult question to the public.

Before the May Day holiday, having just received a 3 million yuan reward from the Zhuhai Municipal Government, Ms. Dong happily announced to the world: "Gree mobile phones have been launched on the market. I hope everyone will use our phones."

As soon as the words came out, curious media visited all major specialty stores and comprehensive shopping malls, but they were nowhere to be found. Even Gree’s official mall and Tmall Gree flagship store did not have the product on the shelves. Gree remained tight-lipped about the mysterious price.

Everything seemed so sudden! Suddenly they said they were going to make a mobile phone, suddenly they came up with a mobile phone, and suddenly they put it on the market (but you can’t buy it). Everything was done in one sentence. Compared with Jobs and Lei Jun who held a press conference with great fanfare, Dong Mingzhu and Gree were too radical.

There was no time to prepare, where were the Gree phones sold to?

1. Stir-fry before selling?

Gree's headline grabbing can be traced back to the 1 billion bet that caused a sensation at the end of 2013. At the award ceremony for the Chinese Economic Person of the Year that year, Lei Jun and Dong Mingzhu made a bet that Xiaomi's turnover would exceed Gree Group in five years, and the loser would give the other 1 billion yuan.

Although it was a verbal bet that was made on the spur of the moment, Dong Mingzhu, known as the "female version of Ren Zhengfei ," was clearly serious about it. In the following year or so, Dong Mingzhu single-handedly took on the marketing of Gree.

She has appeared in a series of micro-films and has significantly increased her attendance at events. Her bet with Lei Jun has also been in the media from time to time.

Dong Mingzhu shows off Gree mobile phone at Sun Yat-sen University

The latest Gree mobile phone really made her headlines. From suddenly declaring at the beginning of the year, "I want to make a mobile phone, it only takes a few minutes, it's too easy", to suddenly showing off the Gree mobile phone at Sun Yat-sen University two months later, to the "Gree mobile phone can be used for three years without replacement" that caused a sensation. Although there is no grand press conference like Lei Jun, she can always grab attention through such unexpectedness.

Looking at the "unavailable" Gree mobile phone at this time, who can say that it is not just a false marketing bluff before the launch?

2. Has it been sold to fourth- and fifth-tier cities?

As soon as the configuration of Gree mobile phone was exposed earlier, netizens complained: With such configuration and not replaced for three years, who is Gree going to sell the mobile phone to?

The latest media reports also revealed that the final price of Gree mobile phone may be 1,299 yuan, and all will be sold offline.

A pattern has emerged: low-end, long replacement cycle, cheap, and offline sales.

Perhaps Gree’s mobile phones are aimed at fourth- and fifth-tier cities, and have already been distributed in some places, but the media has not paid attention to it yet.

The consumption level in fourth- and fifth-tier cities is relatively low, and e-commerce is not as developed as in first- and second-tier cities. In addition, Gree mobile phones can gain a certain market share by relying on the appeal accumulated by the electrical appliance brand.

3. Practice abroad first?

According to the latest statistics from market research firm TrendForce, global smartphone shipments in the first quarter were 291.2 million units, down 9.2% from the previous quarter, mainly due to the slowdown in demand in China and other mobile phone markets. Considering the current fierce competition in the domestic mobile phone market, looking for markets overseas is bound to become a new way out that domestic mobile phones need to consider urgently.

Public data shows that Gree Electric's main air-conditioning products cover more than 160 countries and regions, and it has also opened sales companies and specialty stores in local areas. Dong Mingzhu has also visited the Middle East to inspect brand promotion and sales. Domestic mobile phone companies such as Huawei, ZTE, Lenovo, OnePlus and Xiaomi have also opened up a certain territory and image overseas. The right time and place are all ready.

From this perspective, Gree Mobile Phone may be "launched without China" first, letting foreign partners try it out first before accepting the test of the domestic market.

4. Just an invitation for internal testing?

Talking about Xiaomi's fan economy model, Dong Mingzhu also gave her evaluation in a Shenzhen Satellite TV program at the beginning of the year - "If it comes to competing for fans, Gree is not afraid, with 50 million users every year."

Dong Mingzhu participated in Shenzhen Satellite TV program

Dong Mingzhu, who claimed that she would definitely "surpass Xiaomi in a minute" in making mobile phones, may have also locked in a group of "enthusiasts" before the official release of the mobile phone. She first invited die-hard users to conduct internal testing, and then put the phone on the market for formal sales after optimization. This can also create a reputation in advance so as not to lose at the starting line.

5. Is there a problem with distribution or production capacity?

At the beginning of 2015, Xiaomi and Huawei announced their sales targets of 100 million units this year. Even Gree, which just started making mobile phones, claimed that it would sell 100 million mobile phones in 2015. The worry is not whether Gree can surpass Xiaomi and Huawei, but whether it can really guarantee the production.

The "Internet +" era requires traditional enterprises to integrate themselves into the new environment and model. The slogan has been shouted, and products, channels and supply chains must keep up.

Gree may face production capacity and distribution issues

Xiaomi, Meizu, Huawei and even Apple have all experienced supply shortages. Gree, which entered the mobile phone field, chose to have a third-party solution company, Longqi, design the products and then have them produced by a OEM factory, which lost the soul of "independent core technology". Even Dong Mingzhu has never said, "Good mobile phones are made by Gree."

In addition, although Gree has certain advantages in offline channels, after all, it has more than 30,000 physical stores. However, Gree only started to lay out online e-commerce channels at the end of last year.

Perhaps when Dong Mingzhu announced the start of sales, the distribution of the product was not so smooth.

At this point, I can't help but think of a line from a song: "So those may not be true, Ms. Dong." What is certain is that the later Gree's mobile phones go on sale, the further away it will be from its sales target of 100 million units this year.

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.