Big players frequently flirt with each other, has the spring of small and medium-sized brand mobile phones arrived?

Recently, China Mobile held a global partner conference. At the terminal sub-forum, three things happened by coincidence: First, China Mobile, Qualcomm and ODM manufacturers signed a five-mode public version project agreement, the purpose of which is to reduce the industry's R&D costs and promote the development of five-mode mobile phones. The project mainly supports small and medium-sized mobile phone manufacturers. Second, the monitoring unit includes Ali Yun OS, which will also cooperate. What Ali Yun OS is doing is to build a mobile ecosystem with mobile operating systems as the starting point, and small and medium-sized mobile phone manufacturers as the long tail are the main customers. Third, Hu Shengli, general manager of JD Communications Procurement and Sales Division, shared the successful case of the Da Kele 3 mobile phone raising funds, raising wisdom, and raising brand communication on the JD crowdfunding platform at the forum, which is also a way to serve small and medium-sized brands.

As you can see, the three things have one thing in common: that is, large companies are making full use of their resources and capabilities, crossing over to create different forms of ecosystems, and providing survival or growth solutions for small and medium-sized brand mobile phone manufacturers.

1. Small and medium-sized brand mobile phone manufacturers are facing survival crisis and development bottleneck

The view that small and medium-sized mobile phone manufacturers are about to be reshuffled is not new. Regardless of whether it is right or wrong, it is an indisputable fact that the survival space of small and medium-sized mobile phone brand manufacturers is being squeezed. For example, large brand manufacturers are infiltrating cities below T4, which were originally the main market space for small and medium-sized brand manufacturers; the shortcomings of small and medium-sized brands such as insufficient product R&D capabilities, insufficient innovation capabilities, and easy funding bottlenecks are becoming more and more obvious. It is also a bloody fact that some small and medium-sized brand companies in Shenzhen have collapsed one after another. The mobile phone network access data of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology from 2013 and 2014 to mid-November can also confirm some of the views.

In 2013, there were 509 manufacturers that produced mobile phones and whose products passed the network access test of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. By mid-November 2014, there were 383 manufacturers, a decrease of 126. Specifically, 247 manufacturers did not produce products or went bankrupt within a year, and 121 new manufacturers or their products were added. The number of small and medium-sized brand mobile phone manufacturers is decreasing.

Analyze the number of mobile phone models that have been registered by the top 10 manufacturers in terms of sales this year. In 2013, 2,622 mobile phone models were registered, of which 17% were from the top 10 manufacturers. In 2014, 1,881 mobile phone models were registered, of which 24% were from the top 10 manufacturers. The brand concentration has increased significantly, and it can be seen that big brands are expanding their market share.

2. Alibaba, JD.com, and China Mobile’s strategies for supporting small and medium-sized brand manufacturers

There are several major pain points in the production and growth of small and medium-sized brand manufacturers: R&D capabilities, funding issues (including various costs), brand awareness, and sales channels. The three companies are solving their pain points to varying degrees, and of course, while solving customer needs, they are also getting what they want.

1. Alibaba’s strategy, with Yun OS at the core

Alibaba wants to build an ecosystem with mobile operating systems as the core, with the three goals of achieving profitability, gaining industry voice, and accumulating big data. In 2011, Alibaba launched its self-developed mobile operating system Yun OS (then called Alibaba Mobile Operating System), and has made great efforts to attract small and medium-sized brand manufacturers. According to the network access data of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, as of mid-November this year, 43 mobile phone brands have used Alibaba Yun OS, with a total of 78 products. Lenovo, Coolpad, and Meizu have also conducted exploratory cooperation with Yun OS to varying degrees this year, with a total shipment volume of more than 10 million units. Some of the cooperation failed, such as Tianyu and Acer, and some were successful, such as popular cooperation manufacturers Philips and Meizu.

The Alibaba model is able to attract small and medium-sized brand manufacturers because it solves four pain points: First, the free Yun OS operating system reduces the difficulty and cost of secondary development compared to the Android system. Second, the Yun OS system is equipped with some special applications of Alibaba, which can enhance the brand value of small and medium-sized brand manufacturers. Third, Alibaba's e-commerce platform provides small and medium-sized brand manufacturers with additional efficient sales channels. Fourth, Alibaba provides certain subsidies to small and medium-sized brand manufacturers, adopting a profit-sharing model, and each mobile phone can receive an average of 1-2 yuan in direct subsidies from Alibaba.

2. JD.com’s strategy: using crowdfunding platforms as a starting point

JD.com's approach is quite cross-border. A while ago, JD.com's crowdfunding platform and Dakele 3 conducted "crowdfunding" marketing. The official results: 10,000 mobile phones were crowdfunded in 25 minutes, and the original 30-day crowdfunding period was completed ahead of schedule with a fundraising amount of more than 15 million yuan. It broke many records in the history of China's physical crowdfunding, including time, number of orders, and order amount. At the same time, this project received the most selfless contributions. Dakele 3 became the fourth project on JD.com's crowdfunding platform to have a crowdfunding amount of over 10 million yuan, following 3 Dads Air Purifiers, 11 Yuan Funding 1.1 Discount House, and Haier Air Cube.

Note: This is marketing, and crowdfunding is just a means. What has been raised through "crowdfunding" marketing? First, capital, which is the most basic thing for crowdfunding. Of course, mobile phones cannot rely too much on this capital. Second, wisdom. 16,000 dream partners will bring new ideas to the operation of Da Kele in the later stage. Third, brand marketing has formed a stronger fan effect, increased brand premium, and laid a good foundation for the next step of fan management and product sales. In addition to crowdfunding, whether it can cooperate deeply with JD.com depends on the luck of small and medium-sized brands. For example, jointly selling products on JD.com. JD.com occupies half of the e-commerce B2C mobile phone sales market, and its ability to operate is beyond doubt. For example, big data services, JD.com can understand the price, configuration and other factors of the products that users like through the mining and analysis of accumulated consumer data, conduct C2B customization, and launch products that users are more satisfied with.

3. China Mobile's strategy to build a public version project platform

In the field of mobile phones, China Telecom was the first to propose a public version solution, and applied it to the guidance of EVDO products, which brought certain benefits to mobile phone manufacturers and the entire industry. Can China Mobile's public version solution model play a guiding role this time? We can see China Mobile's guidance ability in the 3G era. In the 3G era, China Mobile got a bad card, and the entire TD industry needed to be cultivated. China Mobile invested hundreds of billions of resources, established a professional company to guide, and held industry chain conferences regularly. After many measures, the TD industry showed a trend of prosperity and development, with four to five hundred TD partners and products occupying half of the market.

This time, China Mobile took the lead and united chip manufacturers, ODM manufacturers, operating system manufacturers, and mobile phone manufacturers to concentrate the industry's strength and formulate a five-mode public version plan, including general R&D and procurement plans. Small and medium-sized brand manufacturers can reduce R&D costs by adopting the five-mode public version plan, and at the same time they can obtain resource subsidies and solve some funding problems. If the product performance is high, further cooperation with China Mobile in sales channels will greatly increase the profit level. For China Mobile, it has promoted the prosperity of the industry and realized the strategic intention of the five-mode product. The cooperating chip manufacturers, ODM manufacturers, operating system manufacturers, mobile phone manufacturers, etc. will increase their own share. This is a large group purchase for the industrial chain.

3. Has the spring arrived for small and medium-sized brand mobile phone manufacturers?

Seeing so many favorable policies, is it the spring for small and medium-sized brand mobile phone manufacturers? No, perhaps for some small and medium-sized brand manufacturers, there is a short spring. We need to realize the following points:

First, policies don’t last long.

Whether it is Alibaba, JD.com or China Mobile, the starting point of the policy is definitely not entirely for small and medium-sized brand manufacturers, but it is difficult to cooperate directly with large manufacturers. The support situation is in the early stage of policy development. If the implementation is good, large manufacturers will gradually enter, and for small and medium-sized manufacturers, this meal is about to end. For example, as the market share of Alibaba Yun OS expands, subsidies for partners will gradually decrease. This is an inevitable trend.

The situation of eating the government's food is not limited to here. Some of Xiaomi's mobile phone sales are shipped through Tibet Zimi Company (which can be found in the annual report of its strategic partner Aishide). Some small and medium-sized mobile phone manufacturers have moved from Shenzhen to Chongqing and other places. They are all eating the government's food. This kind of cooperation has a time limit. It is necessary to do a good job of short-term and long-term strategic research in cooperation.

Second, maintain your true colors in cooperation

The most common situation when relying on a large platform is that you lose your direction in the face of strong words. Following the direction proposed by others often does not lead you to your ideal destination. You need to retain your own characteristics in the process of cooperation, whether it is software, service, or even temperament.

There are two good examples. Meizu uses Alibaba Yun OS, and also insists on using its own Flyme system, achieving integration of the two. The first interface that users directly feel is the characteristics and temperament of Meizu. After the first crowdfunding of Dakele was successful, facing the temptations of user requirements, funds, and brands, should it launch a second crowdfunding? This requires considering the rights and interests of the first batch of partners, which is both service and attitude. In the end, according to the voting results of the 001st proposal of 2014 by 10,000 partners, the second crowdfunding was not launched.

Third, differentiation is the direction

The cooperation strategies of the three parties, through standardized processes or cooperation models, have made product homogeneity more serious. If your product positioning, hardware configuration, sales channels, etc. are the same as everyone else's, you need to combine your own differentiation and put more effort into marketing. Otherwise, you will end up with a dead end.

Fourth, consider the next goal

Whether you can’t compete with big manufacturers or your own differentiated competitiveness is not strong, you need to consider the issue of continued survival. Transformation is the top priority and requires a longer-term goal. For example, the next wave of smartphones is wearable devices, so you can plan ahead.

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.