Rebirth 08: Rise from copycat phones

Chapter 191 Plan A
After leaving Zhiyun Semiconductor, Xu Shenxue convened the company's senior management to discuss the S200 chip and the A series mobile phones equipped with this chip.

At the beginning of the meeting, Gan Wenshan, the R&D director in charge of the Plan A project team, first introduced the current situation of Plan A to Xu Shenxue and other senior executives.

"Our project team has maintained close contact with Zhiyun Semiconductor's S200 project team from the beginning, and initially built our project based on the early design of the S200 chip."

"Therefore, our project is progressing very smoothly. We can definitely launch the phone smoothly at the press conference in August. The most we can do is to prepare the stock in less time, so the stock quantity will be smaller when it is launched!"

"At the beginning, we drew up two plans. One is the mid-range plan. If the S200 project goes well, we will adopt this mid-range plan and launch a 200 yuan mobile phone together with the C series this fall. The other is the mid-range plan. If the S project does not go well, we will wait until next spring to launch a mid-range mobile phone priced at around yuan!"

"Now that the S200 is progressing smoothly, our project can fully advance the mid-to-high-end plan!"

At this time, Gan Wenshan took out a small tray with a small motherboard on it.

"Because our project was developed for the S200 project from the beginning, we decided to use the S200 interface in the design of the internal structure such as the motherboard from the beginning, and we also designed it in a targeted manner in view of the fact that S200 integrates some functional cores!"

“So the design of the motherboards in Plan A is more compact and even neater than the motherboards in the S and C series!”

"After all, this motherboard lacks many auxiliary chips that used to need to be arranged separately!"

Xu Shenxue saw a motherboard sample on the tray. Just as Gan Wenshan said, the overall motherboard was very neat, and the number of various small chips integrated on it was obviously less than the previous S series and C series.

The large number of functional cores integrated in the S200 chip means that the circuit design of the mobile phone will be simpler and the internal structure design will be more convenient.

He immediately said: "This seems to be more straightforward!"

At this time, Gan Wenshan said to a sample phone of Plan A, which had already completed its appearance design: "This is the overall structure of our preliminary design. In order to reduce costs, control risks, and take market positioning into consideration, our Plan A uses a 11-inch screen, but the resolution is slightly lower than that of the S Pro and cannot reach the level of the retina model."

"The current 11-inch reticulated screen is still too expensive, and the -inch reticulated screen is no different from the S, and is prone to homogenization. Moreover, the -inch screen is expensive!"

"So after careful consideration, we adopted a 11-inch non-reflective screen, which can create a certain difference from the S standard version, while maintaining the selling point of a large screen."

At this time, Ji Chenghe also said: "We predict that after the S11 Pro is launched, there will be a demand for large-screen phones like 11 inches in the market. However, considering the high price of the S Pro, quite a number of consumers will want to get a high-end phone with the same large screen but relatively less expensive!"

"Just like last year, when we launched the 10-inch S pro version, there was also a strong demand in the market for mid- to high-end mobile phones with screens larger than inches but at relatively low prices."

"At that time, many mobile phone manufacturers aimed at this and launched mobile phones with 3-inch or even 9-inch screens, with prices ranging from to yuan. This had a great impact on our C Pro series and even on the sales of our S mobile phones!"

"According to our prediction, the same situation will occur this year. This part of the market demand is very likely to be taken seriously by mobile phone manufacturers such as Samsung, who will then launch corresponding competitive products."

"This is also our main goal in launching mid-range and high-end models. Before other mobile phone manufacturers get involved in this field, we will grab this market first and further block their entry into the high-end market!"

Xu Shenxue said: "Market competition is like this. We must be prepared for a rainy day. We made a mistake last year, but we can't make it again this year. This year we must increase the blockade of the 4,000 yuan price range to prevent them from affecting the sales of our S series."

Gan Wenshan said: "Our Plan A will resolutely follow your instructions, President Xu, and compete head-on with other brands' flagship models to prevent them from threatening the ecological niche of the S series!"

Xu Shenxue said: "When making products, we should not only consider the product itself, but also the market, so as to better support the overall development strategy of the group!"

"Our Zhiyun smartphone strategy must have a clear series positioning. The S series focuses on high-end, and the S Pro focuses on ultra-high-end."

"The C series is mainly mid-range, and the previous sub-high-end ecological positioning was undertaken by the C series PRO version. However, market feedback in the past year has proved that the C series Pro is still insufficient in the face of the impact of flagship phones from other mobile phone manufacturers."

"If our A plan goes smoothly this year, the X series, which is an extension of the Pro in the C series project group, can be cancelled. We can't waste time by developing two products with similar positioning. We should merge the X project group with the A plan project group and focus on the 4,000 yuan price range!"

"Then, for the C series, we will launch a 32GB high-end version to continue consolidating the yuan market!"

At the beginning of the year, considering the risks of Plan A, Zhiyun Technology still used the C series Pro plan, preparing to use a dual-core 1.2GHZ Texas Instruments chip with a -inch screen to continue to conquer the yuan to yuan market. At the same time, it also independently launched a Plan X.

This is actually a helpless move... Because of the mid-range positioning of the C series, many consumers now regard the C series as a mid-range phone in the Zhiyun mobile phone series.

The S series is high-end, the C series is mid-range... Zhiyun Technology has too few product lines. This will certainly deepen the impact on consumers' perception of Zhiyun's product positioning, but it will not become solidified!

Consumers now believe that your Zhiyun's C series is just a mid-range phone, and they think it is reasonable to sell it for three thousand yuan, but if you sell it for four thousand yuan... it's a bit embarrassing.

This has resulted in the C series Pro version having an awkward market positioning, neither up nor down!
So last year, Zhiyun Technology separated the C series Pro from the rest of the company and started a plan to develop a mid-range smartphone. That’s called the X plan.
This plan is actually one of the sources of Plan A.

The sub-high-end solution of Plan A is actually another solution of Plan X... The two are highly similar, even the 4.7-inch screen they use is exactly the same, and other aspects are also similar, but the difference is that they use self-developed SOC, which brings changes to the internal structure and even some functions.

However, from the perspective of market positioning, both of them actually undertake the same mission, which is to target the flagship phones of other brands based on a price range of 4,000 yuan.

Considering that the market positioning is similar and the usage of spare parts is also similar, there will be no major problems after the project teams merge, and it will not have a significant impact on the supply chain.

As for Zhiyun Technology, it is not very important whether Plan A makes money or not. What is important is to block other mobile phone manufacturers from entering the high-end market... Of course, that is what Zhiyun Technology has always been doing, but it must maintain high gross profit margins... Even if Zhiyun Technology does not specifically go for low-spec and high-priced products in order to compete, other manufacturers cannot compare with it in terms of price-performance ratio!
How big is Zhiyun Technology? How strong is their bargaining power when purchasing spare parts... It is difficult for other mobile phone manufacturers to compare
.

In addition, a large number of core components in Zhiyun mobile phones are self-developed, so the cost control ability is much better than those of pure assembly factories.

Therefore, even if it eventually plays the cost-effective mode, Zhiyun Technology can actually beat other mobile phone manufacturers...it’s just that Zhiyun Technology doesn’t play it that way.

When you can earn more than 50% gross profit, why do you have to play with price-performance ratio and only earn a few dozen or twenty% gross profit?
It doesn’t make sense!

Therefore, if nothing unexpected happens, this A series mobile phone will most likely be a high-profit mobile phone.

However, if you want to achieve success in the market, it is not enough to rely on some hardware configurations, the appearance design of the body is also very important.

At this time, Gan Wenshan came up with three different exterior designs: "Based on the feedback from market research, we combined the internal structure design and cost control!"

“We came up with four different designs!”

"The first one is that the rear body continues to use the mature, cost-effective three-section body design, but the design is more rounded and not as square as the S series, and the fingerprint module continues to use the flat round design at the front chin!"

Xu Shenxue frowned slightly when looking at the design of the first appearance, because this thing was too similar to S11.

Apart from the smaller screen and the more rounded body design, there is almost no difference, and the two are still too similar.

At this time, Gan Wenshan continued to introduce the second design: "In this version of the design, we did not use an aluminum alloy body design, but a plastic design, and added a richer color scheme. We continue to use the star sand color scheme, and the fingerprint module also uses the S series fingerprint module deployment solution!"

After seeing this thing, Xu Shenxue thought of the C series mobile phone at the first time. The plastic body gave off a too cheap feeling, which was not in line with the standard that a mobile phone priced at 4,000 yuan should have.

At this time, Gan Wenshan came up with another design plan: "For the third plan, although we continue to use the aluminum alloy plan, it is not a mature three-section fuselage plan, but an aluminum alloy integrated back cover fuselage plan!"

At this time, Xu Shenxue glanced at Gan Wenshan: Are you lazy? The company gives you an annual salary of more than 2 million plus options, just to let you copy the company's own products?

The first option is an enlarged version of the S11 standard version.

The second solution is actually C4 Pro, also known as the X solution.

The third solution is simply the S11 Pro solution... Zhiyun Technology tried for the first time to adopt an integrated aluminum alloy back cover body solution, abandoning the previous three-section rear body solution.

The integrated aluminum alloy body design of the S11 Pro was personally promoted by Xu Shenxue. It looks very good overall. It does not have the square feeling of the existing S series. Because it does not have a three-stage design, the phone appears more integrated and quite harmonious.

This thing was actually made by Xu Shenxue based on fruits 6 and 7 in his memory.

Of course, Xu Shenxue only copied the approximate appearance based on his memory. In fact, there are many differences in the appearance details and even the functions.

Gan Wenshan’s third solution is to directly move the S11 Pro solution over. At first glance, it is impossible to tell the difference between it and the S11 Pro.

Gan Wenshan seemed not to notice Xu Shenxue's disgusted expression, and continued to talk to himself:
"For the last solution, we adopted a glass back cover body solution, the middle frame of the body is made of stainless steel, and the front design continues to use the S series solution!"

Xu Shenxue sighed after seeing this design... Gan Wenshan just likes to copy... Isn't this thing just an enlarged version of Fruit Ninja 4!
But even though he thought so in his heart, he still took another look at it. This thing looks much more beautiful than the Fruit 4 which also has a glass back cover.

Gan Wenshan continued at this time: "In the past two years, the glass cover technology has made great progress. Although it is still a little bit unsatisfactory in terms of strength, it is much better than two years ago and can be used now!"

"Glass back cover is now a major technical direction, and there has always been a relatively large demand for this type of mobile phone in the market. Many people will compare our aluminum alloy body with Apple's glass body!"

“So we simply made a design for a glass back cover as well!”

Ji Chenghe on the side stood up directly, walked over and took a closer look: "This plan is quite interesting. I don't know whether it is technical or not, but if we make such a thing, and then raise the price to 4,000 yuan, and directly position it as the second-highest, it can have an indirect impact on the neighboring fruit, and effectively enhance our brand!"

"Nowadays, people are speculating on which is better, glass body or aluminum alloy body. We will directly launch a second-rate mobile phone to the market and tell consumers directly: glass body is one level lower than our aluminum alloy body!"

Ji Chenghe took a look at the design sample and said, "The texture is pretty good, and the body is thin and light enough. If this thing is made, we can do a lot in marketing!"

Xu Shenxue also spoke up at this time: "This is a good idea. In addition, although we are currently promoting the aluminum alloy body solution, the glass body solution is also an important technical direction. We must continue to invest heavily in research and development!"

"Our company has joined the Wireless Charging Alliance before, and we have also set up a wireless charging project team within our company!"

"In future wireless charging solutions, the body material is a key factor. Aluminum alloy is definitely not an option, and plastic bodies are too cheap, so glass is a better choice!"

(End of this chapter)