Rebirth 08: Rise from copycat phones

Chapter 148 On the eve of S10 release
Taking into account the difference in tariff costs of major competitors and market positioning issues, the Chinese version of Zhiyun's new flagship S10 is priced a little cheaper than the Chinese version of the Apple Watch, which is a more reasonable range...

This price difference of two or three hundred yuan will not cause any problems with the brand, but will also help it gain more market share due to certain price advantages.

Of course...when we promote domestically, we must compare the price systems of both sides in foreign markets, especially the price system of the US market must be promoted as a priority.

In the US market, the Zhiyun S9 phone is more expensive than fruits...and the same will be true for the future S10!

This price difference must be promoted vigorously, and at least tens of millions of dollars must be invested to promote this point... Consumers must know that our Zhiyun mobile phones are more expensive than fruits in the United States, and yet they are still on par with fruits.

We are definitely high-end phones, higher-end than Apple phones!
As for the fact that it is sold cheaply in China, it is purely to benefit domestic consumers...

Consumers must feel that they have gotten a good deal, and even have a sense of pride in being Chinese.

Except for the special prices in the United States, the prices of S10 phones in other overseas markets generally remain the same as those of Apple's new flagship.

The pricing of high-end models is more complicated, and there are too many things to consider...the only thing you don’t need to consider is the price/performance ratio.

With the insistence of the marketing department, although the current S9 mobile phone does not have much advantage in hardware, it still insists on being priced above yuan, and it is likely to maintain this price for several months in the future.

In the next year, the S9 phone will continue to have small sales, occupying the ecological niche between 3 yuan and yuan, and its competitor will still be the Apple GS.

As a new model, S10 will occupy the ecological niche above 4 yuan. Its competitor will be the new flagship of Fruit, most likely Fruit ...if Fruit doesn't name it randomly and changes its name!
As for the S10 Pro... this thing actually has no direct competitors because it is too expensive. It is a test of the market by Zhiyun Technology. Xu Shenxue wants to know the acceptance level of consumers of this era for high-end mobile phones with large screens.

If the market is receptive to 4.3-inch screens and can afford the price, then by next year Xu Shenxue will launch a new flagship with a 4.7-inch screen without hesitation.

The reason why we still have to test it and push it so cautiously... is mainly because the cost of this kind of high-end large-size screen mobile phone will be very high, which means the selling price will also be very high.

After all, it is impossible for Zhiyun Technology to produce a low-end large-size screen. If it wants to do so, it will basically be a high-end screen with a pixel density of more than 300 PPI, which is very expensive.

Various other configurations will also be maxed out.

Then the final cost of the 4.7-inch mobile phone will be very high, and in order to maintain high profits, the selling price will also be very high.

To be honest, Xu Shenxue is skeptical about how much people today can accept mobile phones that cost more than 6,000 yuan.

Therefore, he needed an experimental model to test the price and see whether people would accept a price range of six or seven thousand yuan.

----

Since May, S10 phones have begun to enter major OEM factories for mass production and stocking.

On May 23, Xu Shenxue inspected the new factory of Wecoo Industrial in Anhua. This new factory of Wecoo Industrial is also the first high-end production base under Xu Shenxue that is built entirely for mid-to-high-end mobile phones.

The production line of this factory uses a large number of active equipment to reduce foundry costs and improve yield.

In this new factory, Xu Shenxue also saw the S10 mobile phone that had entered mass production.

Unlike the previous times when he saw engineering prototypes, this time Xu Shenxue saw the S10 phone that was mass-produced and ready for sale.

The packaging box is as elegant as ever. In addition to the mobile phone, it also contains a charger, a data cable, included headphones, an instruction manual, and a SIM card pin.

The earphones are quite interesting because this pair of earphones with a 3.5mm interface is actually a customized pair of earphones. Zhiyun Technology found a top earphone manufacturer in the industry and customized this pair of earphones specifically for them.

The sound quality is pretty good, and most importantly, it is universal... The size of the earphones is very balanced, and almost everyone can enjoy the good sound quality.

Although not excellent in all aspects, this balanced design is of utmost importance... This means that when this headset is sold all over the world, it can be accepted by people of different body shapes, men and women, young and old.

This is a typical international brand style, which is to take into account the needs of different types of users in different regions around the world, and increase performance as much as possible on the basis of this balance.

This pair of headphones is sold at the Zhiyun flagship store for more than 100 yuan.

Xu Shenxue took out his cell phone, looked at it briefly, and then turned it on...

Then it entered the power-on activation state... After successful activation, it simply skipped various settings and came to the fingerprint setting module.

After setting up the fingerprint, Xu Shenxue used the phone, including turning off the screen and then restarting it.

A group of people nearby were watching Xu Shenxue trying out the product and waiting for his evaluation. During this process, many people were very nervous!

Xu Shenxue is not a fool, so he naturally would not find faults and criticize others for no reason when the product has already been finalized and mass-produced.

After a brief trial, Xu Shenxue felt that this phone basically met his expectations.

The appearance and hand-holding feel are also very good. The flat round fingerprint button under the screen is also very well made, and it is very well integrated with the glass cover on the front. There is no tearing feeling between the physical button and the glass cover.

The fingerprint button and the glass cover are very smooth and look like they are integrated into one.

Although this thing is a physical button, it is still a capacitive button... In other words, even if you press it hard, it won't move. The button function is achieved by the capacitive button collecting bioelectric current data.

Xu Shenxue said: "Yes, the mass-produced model of this phone has maintained good quality and gives people a good texture!"

"We are making high-end mobile phones. The configuration can be low, but the quality must be good. People can tell at a glance that this is a high-end product, and it must be convenient to use."

"As I said before, mobile phones must be easy to use and not create any obstacles for users. They should not only be easy to use for highly educated and knowledgeable people, but also for people who are sensitive to knowledge!"

"The simplest example is to allow the elderly at home, even those with little education in rural areas, to use it smoothly without worrying about them having any problems while using it!"

Song Changhai said, "Our system project team has always attached great importance to Mr. Xu's opinions. We have always implemented the basic principle of simplicity and ease of use in the design of various functions. At the same time, we have also launched a 'simple mode' in the auxiliary function, which can make the mobile phone's operating interface simulate the operating interface of the feature phone era, making it easier for the elderly to use!"

As he spoke, Song Changhai also used another S10 mobile phone and called up the simple mode after simple operations. Then the font size of the entire phone's screen became larger, and there were no messy APP options. The entire operating interface became extremely simple.

Xu Shenxue said: "This elderly mode is well done, and it's a great idea!" Then Xu Shenxue continued to visit the production workshop of Weiku Industrial's Anhua factory. Naturally, the main object of this visit was not the mobile phones, but the production line itself.

An Dayu, general manager of Weiku Industrial, introduced: "In the construction of our production line, we have adopted a large number of active equipment. In some processes where manual operation is prone to errors and leads to low yield rates, we have adopted mechanical production!"

"To this end, we also formulated technical parameters on our own, and then tendered to many top equipment manufacturers around the world to develop a variety of specialized automatic production equipment!"

"Compared with the previous S9 production line, today's new generation of production lines has a significant improvement in yield rate, which has also greatly reduced production loss costs."

"The one in front is our smart workshop. There are no ordinary workers in the entire workshop except the equipment control engineers. All operations are completed by mechanical equipment!"

"This smart workshop can complete more than 100 processes with a very high yield rate and higher production efficiency. Except for equipment maintenance time, it can achieve 24-hour uninterrupted production."

Under the guidance of An Dayu, Xu Shenxue saw a huge workshop in front of him that seemed very quiet and even a little dark... There was no one in this huge workshop, only in the equipment control room in front there were more than a dozen engineers staring at various parameters on the screen.

Xu Shenxue looked at this thing and couldn't help but sigh. This thing should be regarded as a low-end version of a dark factory. Although it can only complete part of the process in the mobile phone manufacturing process, it is still a relatively big technological advancement for contemporary mobile phone manufacturing.

In response, Xu Shenxue said: "This smart workshop is very well done. It seems that you at Weiku Industrial have not been lazy and have maintained a certain enthusiasm for the research of technology. Very good!"

“Keep up the good work. I look forward to seeing more smart workshops and even smart factories in a few years!”

Then An Dayu introduced many aspects of the S10 production line, especially focusing on the twenty or thirty kinds of "self-developed" equipment.

These devices are developed independently specifically for the production of S10 mobile phones... Of course, this so-called self-research is just that Weiku Industrial, as the party A, puts forward various technical requirements and indicators based on its own situation, and then the equipment suppliers conduct research and development and design based on these requirements, and finally produce the corresponding equipment.

It’s not that Weiku Industrial directly designed and produced these devices...that would be too much of a cross-industry issue.

Weiku Industry is engaged in production line research and development, they are not an equipment manufacturer...even if they wanted to do it, they would not be able to do it.

There are a lot of equipment designed for a mobile phone production line, of all kinds, covering a very wide range... and there are a lot of equipment suppliers involved.

To be honest, setting up a mobile phone production line requires the support of an entire industrial system, which is not something that can be accomplished by just one or two companies.

Let’s just name one, or the aluminum alloy body... This thing requires a top-level multi-axis machining center for primary and fine machining, especially the final fine machining process, which requires very high precision, and it is an one-piece molding process!

The requirements for machining centers are very high, and currently only a few of the top machine tool manufacturers can supply such machining centers!
Weiku Industrial does not have the ability to develop a five-axis machining center. It does not have that ability!

However, it is not easy to formulate various technical indicators according to production needs, and then cooperate with manufacturers to produce special customized equipment.

In order to produce these equipment, Weiku Industry also has an intelligent manufacturing equipment department, which specializes in designing and developing some specialized equipment according to production needs.

Otherwise, it would be impossible to produce S9 or S10 phones relying solely on the general-purpose equipment currently available on the market, because the production of many parts or processes requires specialized customized equipment.
After Xu Shenxue came back from his inspection at Weiku Industrial and confirmed that the mass production of the S10 mobile phone was progressing steadily, he began to focus on the launch conference scheduled to be held in June.

-

Not only Xu Shenxue is paying attention to it, but people outside are also generally paying attention and waiting for the new product launch of Zhiyun S10.

A large number of suppliers are eagerly waiting, hoping that Zhiyun's new flagship will continue to sell well.

Workers in many OEM factories are also looking forward to Zhiyun's new flagship to sell well, which will bring more OEM orders to the factory so that they can work overtime and earn more wages.

Even the people at Blue Mountain Investments learned that Zhiyun Technology was preparing for a new product launch, and that this new product launch was a preparation for a close battle with Apple. At the same time, there were rumors in the market that Apple would use its ultimate weapon to seize the market.

I couldn't help but come over to inquire about the situation... to see how prepared Zhiyun was, whether he had confidence, etc.

Damn, Zhiyun Technology now concerns the employment of millions of people, and also the upgrade and transformation of a large number of consumer electronics industry chains. We have to pay attention to it!

Ordinary consumers are also paying attention to the launch of Zhiyun’s new flagship in June.

People are expecting Zhiyun Technology to once again come up with a new mobile phone that shocks the world and creates some major innovations that will surprise people.

Even the peers have prepared their homework books, waiting for Zhiyun's new flagship to be launched and then copied directly...

However, when the S9 phone was launched, a bunch of mobile phone manufacturers were ready to start a copycat war... Every one of them was thinking about making an aluminum alloy body, but later they found that they couldn't do it...

Because there is no corresponding parts supplier in the market, Anlong Precision does not supply to the outside world...

Then they wanted to copy the system... This thing was even more difficult. Even a four-star developer couldn't figure it out. They could only use the native Android system and simply modify the interface. As for the core code at the bottom of the system, they didn't dare to change even a single punctuation mark!
It’s not that we haven’t tried it, but after trying it, all kinds of inexplicable problems always arise... Zhiyun’s engineers buried too many traps in it, and Google’s engineers also hid as much as they could, and many core codes are so convoluted that people can’t understand them.

The aluminum alloy body cannot be made, and the system cannot be imitated, but there are things that can be learned, of course, such as the three-button solution, and some interface and appearance designs.

There is still a lot to copy!

Now that Zhiyun is about to launch a new generation of flagship, these competitors are thinking about whether there is anything they can copy.

But they may be disappointed... The core difference between S10 and S9 lies in the fingerprint recognition module, which is currently the exclusive technology of Zhiyun Technology.

It’s not that easy to imitate!

Not to mention other things, the press-type fingerprint technology alone is enough to keep them busy for at least two years... and this is based on Fruit's strong financial resources and ability to integrate the supply chain.

As for other manufacturers, just wait and if you are lucky, you will be able to use them in three or four years.

At present, and even in the next two to three years, the press-type fingerprint recognition module will become the exclusive technology of Zhiyun mobile phones, or even a landmark technology.

This thing is easier to bring high added value to the brand than an aluminum alloy body, and is more conducive to the stability of high-end brands.

Amid great anticipation, on June 4, Fruit held a launch conference for the Fruit . The unique appearance of the phone, thanks to its glass back cover, received an overwhelming response.

And just three days later, Zhiyun Technology also held the Zhiyun S10 launch conference at the Shenzhen International Convention Center!
(End of this chapter)