Apple's lack of innovation has led to the rise of domestic mobile phones

The iPhone 6, which was displayed at Apple's 2014 autumn new product launch conference, may have been the most fiercely criticized by domestic users and the industry since Apple released the iPhone. There is a saying that Apple is overdrawing consumers' expectations of it. In my opinion, this may be a great opportunity for the rapidly developing domestic mobile phone manufacturers to rise in line with the trend.

Although the lack of innovation of iPhone 6 is reflected in many aspects, I think the more fatal problem is that the mediocre craftsmanship and design of iPhone 6 make Apple no longer convincing as the darling of leading the fashion of smart phones.

We can see that the 4.7 and 5.5 screen sizes of iPhone 6 finally compromised to the large screen, which also highlights the strategy of grabbing Samsung's market share and catering to some users who prefer large screens. Of course, iPhone 6 also has its practical side: 20 nanometer CPU with a larger battery brings a good battery life improvement, iPhone 6 Plue also adds support for optical image stabilization to ensure stable photos when exercising; for iOS, Apple has demonstrated a series of software centers that integrate health and fitness data. In addition, you can use iOS devices to control home automation devices and open the Touch ID fingerprint recognition system to third-party developers.

On the other hand, the materials that were once rumored, including sapphire and liquid metal, did not appear on the iPhone 6, and this important design element itself is a highlight that provokes consumers' nerves. This is also an important reason why many people who are preparing to buy the iPhone 6 feel disappointed. Because the craftsmanship design represents Apple's style, it is fatal for Apple to lose the craftsmanship design. Apple's chief designer Johnny Ive is called "the soul of Apple and the spiritual partner of Steve Jobs" in Apple. Apple officials have praised his "unparalleled design aesthetics that have been the main force in promoting the appearance and feel of Apple products for more than a decade." But the new iPhone 6 is obviously no longer able to bear the name of aesthetic design. We can see that the design of iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus is no different from the previously circulated video: the back panel is made of aluminum, with a rounded frame, and the appearance design is a combination of HTC and Samsung. The large screen design imitates Samsung, but the back cover of the phone seems to have a sense of HTC. If the craftsmanship design of iPhone 6 is just following and imitating, and it is just a practical mobile phone, can it still provoke consumers' nerves?

The marginal effect of technology is decreasing, and the craftsmanship and design of mobile phones are highlighted

The reason why we said that it is fatal for Apple to lose its craftsmanship and design is that fashion represents the future of Apple. Let's review the key nodes of Apple's brand from decline to fashion: when Jobs returned to the CEO of Apple in 1997, Jonathan Ive, who was responsible for design and considered leaving, finally decided to stay, and he and his team also designed a gorgeous and colorful translucent iMac, and then launched a number of i series products permeated with design aesthetics - iPod, iPhone, iPad. These were Apple's most memorable products at the time, and they quickly captured the hearts of consumers. It was these that helped Apple recover from its decline, and Apple has since been dubbed a fashion technology company. As smartphones have developed to the present, fashion is not only an important element of Apple's brand premium, but also an important battlefield that smartphone manufacturers want to seize and an important element that they urgently need to highlight.

The fierce competition in the smartphone market today is self-evident. High-priced and low-spec domestic smartphones are competing in the thousand-yuan market. In the mid-to-high-end market, there are countless smartphones with similar appearance and performance parameters. It is an indisputable fact that smartphone hardware is oversupplied and homogenized. Technical parameter competition is no longer a pain point for consumers to choose a mobile phone. The current situation of smartphones is very similar to that of the PC field in the past decade. In the past 10 years, when computers really became popular, consumers also made purchasing decisions based on technology, such as faster processors, larger hard drives, etc. But now consumers are no longer concerned about the configuration and technical parameters of PCs, and the user experience and appearance design of computers have begun to become important needs of users.

Industry insiders once said that when industry innovation reaches a staged bottleneck, Apple does not need any disruptive innovation. As long as no competitor runs faster than Apple, Apple will always be the representative and leader of innovation in the smartphone industry. But this time we see that the mediocrity of iPhone 6 in technological innovation has begun to stand out. The iPhone 6 screen is still not scratch-resistant and waterproof, while Samsung and Sony's flagship phones already have waterproof functions. Last year, iPhone 5S launched a 64-bit processor and fingerprint recognition. This year, many manufacturers in the Android camp have launched such models. At the same time, compared with the fact that Android platform competitors have entered the 2K screen era in advance, with the thinnest being 5.1 mm, Apple's two new iPhones not only highlight the lack of design and fashion elements, but also show its backwardness in technological innovation. Apple's role as a leader has begun to waver, which also indicates that valuable innovation in smartphones has entered a bottleneck.

But looking at it from another perspective, smartphones are actually already a very mature product. Technical requirements have been basically met, and it is difficult to have disruptive innovation in a short period of time. Design has gradually become a highlight factor in the industry. Therefore, at this stage, process design highlights its own value. Therefore, manufacturers are currently beginning to look for gimmicks in materials and highlights in process design.

You know, because the iPhone itself is a technology leader, the new generation of iPhone must not be a simple upgrade of the existing equipment. Jobs finally shaped the high-end style of iPhone products by perfectly integrating software optimization, new technology applications, and excellent hardware materials. This was also followed in the iPhone 5 in terms of 64-bit processors and fingerprint recognition. Now the iPhone 6 has substandard process design, which weakens the fashion sense and attractiveness of the hardware device itself. The fashion sense of hardware design innovation will influence consumers' purchasing desire. At present, iMedia Consulting has released a survey report on Chinese netizens' product evaluation after the 2014 Apple conference. Half of the consumers expressed disappointment with the 2014 Apple conference. In terms of mobile phone purchase intention, 48.6% of consumers chose not to buy, and 40% of consumers had a negative attitude towards the product appearance. Consumers' purchasing desire determines whether Apple's unified software system ecology can be truly implemented.

Looking back at China, Xiaomi's "Artistic Journey of a Steel Plate" highlights the austenitic 304 stainless steel material of Xiaomi 4, which also reveals Xiaomi's anxiety about its own cost-effectiveness and fan economy model. We see that Xiaomi has begun to raise process design to a very important level, with the aim of breaking through the framework of cost-effectiveness and creating its own brand premium. Xiaomi's shift from cost-effectiveness enthusiast to process design also indicates a forward-looking prediction of user psychology and market demand. This prediction is also a market decision based on the understanding of future users by domestic mobile phones.

Apple's innovation is weak, and the domestic high-end market is experiencing a rise

We know that Apple's lack of innovation was already quite obvious in the iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C. Whether it was increasing the processor speed or adding fingerprint recognition, they were not pain points for users, nor were they factors that made fans crazy about them. However, based on Apple being synonymous with fashion and innovation, users still have expectations for it.

Therefore, it can be said that when almost everyone is waiting for the so-called new generation of Apple mobile phone iPhone6, this user expectation is a double-edged sword. It means huge business opportunities, but also means that if the new iPhone6 ​​cannot conquer these fans, then the decline of Apple mobile phones may accelerate. As mentioned earlier, the survey report of iMedia Consulting shows that half of the consumers are disappointed with the 2014 Apple conference, and 48.6% of consumers choose not to buy mobile phones. Perhaps the user's sense of loss has already appeared in the iPhone 5S, and the iPhone6 ​​pushes this negative potential energy accumulated in the user's psychology to the peak. Once consumer expectations are constantly frustrated, it will inevitably accelerate the aesthetic fatigue of loyal fans and users, and then turn to the Android camp.

At present, some senior "Apple fans" said in an interview with the media that they used to continue to pursue the iPhone series of products, but now they have decided not to buy iPhone 6 because "after so many years, I have become aesthetically fatigued with Apple products. On the other hand, Android products are no worse than iPhones from the inside out."

This involves the true meaning of fan economy. Continuously exceeding expectations is the psychological expectation of Apple fans. Only by letting Apple fans continue to scream can the fan stickiness be maximized. If Apple continues to frustrate consumers' expectations and causes the product to lose popularity at this important time of the iPhone 6 release, fans may turn against it.

Therefore, it can be said that when Samsung's sales in China declined and Apple fell into the dilemma of innovators, domestic mobile phones ushered in an excellent time window for rise. In the first quarter of this year, Apple's mobile phone sales ranking in the Chinese market has fallen to fourth, and the top three are occupied by Samsung, Lenovo and Xiaomi. In the second quarter, Xiaomi has surpassed Samsung in sales in the smartphone market and ranked first, followed by Samsung and Lenovo. At present, the sales and market share of smartphones released by various data agencies for various reasons show inconsistent rankings, but the general trend is that China Cool Union, Xiaomi, Samsung, and Apple show a balanced market share pattern and development trend, and the monopoly pattern has been broken.

On the other hand, we know that domestic mobile phones have basically eroded the low-end market of smart phones and started to reshape their image in the mid-to-high-end market. This year, China Cool Alliance almost unanimously attacked the high-end market at the same time. Huawei launched its first lightweight dual-core flagship smart phone, Ascend P1, which kicked off its entry into the high-end smart phone market. ZTE and China Mobile jointly released three smart phones, U880E, U960, and U788, focusing on three different levels of mid-to-high-end; Coolpad launched high-end mobile phone brands such as Dashen F1 and F2. The author previously analyzed in an article that the success rate of domestic mobile phones in the high-end route is not high, mainly because the gap between their scale, strength, brand premium, technical foundation and innovation and the giants is still very obvious, and they are not enough to form the ability to impact the high-end market. From hardware to software to the control of the industrial chain, Samsung and Apple still firmly control the right to speak.

But on the other hand, what I didn't analyze at the time was that as domestic mobile phones accumulate technology and strengthen brand penetration, it is impossible for them to always fight in the low-end market of thousand-yuan phones. For example, Huawei has already formed its own hardware research and development system and owns HiSilicon Kirin chips. Its research and development strength and technology are no less than those of world-class manufacturers. As more and more manufacturers begin to start with profits and fight in the mid-to-high-end market, the competition in the smartphone market will shift from land grabbing to intensive cultivation of brands.

It is foreseeable that in the future, Android phones will see a significant improvement in both hardware and software. The high-end market's recognition of domestic mobile phones only requires a certain time window for market cultivation. We see that domestic high-end mobile phone brands such as Huawei Honor 3c, 3X, Coolpad Dashen F1, F2, Lenovo vibe z2, and ZTE Nubia series currently have good sales or attention, which means that the incremental users in the smart phone market have their own more rational judgment on the choice of mobile phones, and the original high-end mobile phone market leaders will increasingly lose control over the new generation of consumers. On the other hand, the independent brands of traditional mobile phone manufacturers have shown their advantages in supply chain, product quality, and micro-innovation of mobile phone hardware. With the vigorous follow-up of brand marketing and supply chain management, the advantages of the products themselves are becoming the core force of competition for domestic mobile phone manufacturers in the future. As for the process design of smart phones, which represents the fashionable side, Apple is moving towards mediocrity, while many domestic mobile phones including Xiaomi Meizu, China Cool Union, OPPO, etc. are making efforts. At present, we can already see many highlights.

For example, the aforementioned Xiaomi's "Artistic Journey of a Steel Plate" highlights the austenitic 304 stainless steel material of Xiaomi 4. Huawei, as a benchmark company of domestic mobile phones, released a flagship phone Mate7 which is regarded as a strong rival of Note4. This is not only because both are large-screen phones or have similar functions. More importantly, in terms of craftsmanship and design, Mate7 is also on par with Note4 and has begun to be praised by the industry.

In addition, we can see that the MX4, which was launched after the comeback of Meizu founder Huang Zhang, is made of aviation aluminum-magnesium alloy and has a metal frame design, and it also continues Meizu's stunning attitude in terms of craftsmanship and design. OPPO and VIVI, domestic mobile phones that have been able to occupy the mid-to-high-end market for a long time, also have consistent aesthetic design ideas. Chen Mingyong used "the ultimate beauty and stunning" to summarize OPPO's design philosophy, which is actually not an exaggeration. OPPO and VIVI and other mobile phones have unique designs and their performance in the mid-to-high-end market is quite impressive. At the same time, by strengthening the subdivided functions such as photography and sound quality, they have firmly occupied their own place in the 3,000 yuan range.

In the context of smartphone hardware oversupply and homogeneity, design and brand may be the G-spot for users. When Apple, the leader, falls into the innovator's dilemma and all smartphones are committed to creating an excellent smartphone, domestic smartphones have not stagnated in micro-innovation of mobile phones and are slowly growing and gradually surpassing. Domestic smartphones may also take the process design as an important breakthrough and continue to bring surprises in leading fashion and trends.

Conclusion

We know that Apple is still a good enough company in the smartphone industry, relying on its own iOS mobile operating system, powerful AppStore closed ecosystem, software and hardware integration model, technical strength and industry chain discourse power. If Apple wants to get rid of the curse of Moore's Law of hardware and win more brand premium, fashion technology elements are an important cornerstone for Wall Street and Apple itself to shine in the market. But when Apple's innovation is weak, the design is mediocre, and users are tired of Apple's aesthetics, Android phones are no worse than Apple in all aspects. What can Apple, which is no longer fashionable, rely on to create brand premium?

We know that Huawei has R&D strength and self-developed chips, Xiaomi has loyal fans and cost-effectiveness and style, and is gradually exploring process design, Meizu has process design and brand tonality, and China Cool Union has strong industry chain operation capabilities and innovation potential, which can promote the establishment of an efficient sales system. Many domestic mobile phone manufacturers have also begun to lay out smart hardware ecosystems. Based on the advantages of localization, domestic manufacturers have a deeper understanding of users, and have taken root in process design, software and hardware integration layout, industry chain, smart hardware ecosystem layout, and channel construction. The future of domestic mobile phones sprinting into the high-end market to compete with Apple and Samsung is still promising.

Apple's mediocrity may herald the end of the glorious era of the entire smartphone market. The redefinition of the entire smartphone market, or subversive or incremental innovation, will require the entry of emerging companies with more foresight, technological accumulation, and innovative design. Here, domestic mobile phones have ushered in a better opportunity and era than before.

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.