Rebirth 08: Rise from copycat phones

Chapter 368 Robot Release Preparation

The system APP mall business, computing power business, plus a large number of different types of software businesses, as well as some content businesses, advertising businesses, etc., constitute the main part of Zhiyun Group's Internet and software businesses.

All businesses added together have a revenue of more than 20 billion US dollars, which is considered a large Internet company in the Internet industry.

However, these businesses are merely subsidiary businesses in Zhiyun Group.

The core of Zhiyun Group has always been the hardware business, namely the smart terminal business. The various smart terminal businesses combined have a revenue of nearly 300 billion US dollars.

The second is the semiconductor business, including semiconductor design and foundry, which can also bring tens of billions of dollars in revenue to Zhiyun Group.

Other businesses besides smart terminals and semiconductors are all ancillary businesses, but ancillary businesses can be of varying importance.

Xu Shenxue also attaches great importance to the Internet and software businesses because of their good momentum.

In addition, Xu Shenxue also pays more attention to some newly developed hardware businesses that represent the future direction.

Such as various ground unmanned equipment, aerial unmanned equipment... Some of them are advanced artificial intelligence fighter jets, swarm systems, ground combat systems, ship combat systems, etc. developed together with cooperative institutions. Although there is no money coming in for this part yet and it may not make much money in the future, it represents the direction of the future.

At the same time, there are various types of robots for civilian use!
On November 3, Xu Shenxue once again watched the demonstration of the first generation of general-purpose robots.

This time's demonstration is broader than the last time, which was limited to housework scenarios, and has expanded the usage scenarios.

After all, a general-purpose robot needs to be able to do many things, not just do housework...especially when housework is not very good at the moment.

At the same time, it also demonstrated a more important feature of the current generation of robots, that is, the ability to learn independently.

Based on some existing functions, users can provide guidance and correct the robot, so that the robot can acquire more efficient capabilities... To put it simply, this is to let users help Zhiyun with training.

In order to avoid accidents, the autonomous learning capabilities of this generation of robots are strictly limited to existing functions.

It doesn't mean that the robot will learn whatever the user wants to teach it... If someone trains a robot to do something messy, it will cause a lot of trouble.

Therefore, the robot's R&D team will exercise very strict control over the robot's functions. To activate new functions or train new movements, an Internet connection is required.

The user connects to the Internet, issues instructions or training, and the robot connects to the Internet and feeds back to Zhiyun's server to determine whether the instructions are within the service functions and whether they violate laws and regulations. After the robot receives the instructions returned by the server and obtains a random authorization code, it confirms that there are no problems. Only then will the robot's system unlock the corresponding functions and execute the instructions.

It doesn’t mean that the robot will do whatever the user wants it to do!
Based on this model, the marketing department also designed a very special sales plan, which is to pay for hardware and functions.

"Considering the high hardware and development costs of our robots, if we add all these costs, the selling price of our robots will be very high, and high selling prices will lead to low sales, and low sales will not be able to spread the costs, which will lead to a vicious cycle of higher prices, lower sales, and higher costs!"

“But it’s also true that the cost is high!”

"For this reason, we designed this hardware plus function payment model to lower the threshold for users to purchase as much as possible!"

“After purchasing the robot, users will get some basic functions, such as intermediate housework mode, primary care mode, primary auxiliary work mode, etc.”

“Give users a basic experience.”

"At the same time, we have also set up a monthly fee function to provide higher-level, additional services, such as advanced housework mode, advanced care mode, advanced homework tutoring mode, advanced auxiliary work mode, etc."

"As our training continues, we will continue to upgrade and update more free or paid features!"

"The work assistance test mode is a function we integrated from existing industrial robots. We have tested it and found that our robots are very suitable for performing repetitive and boring operations, regardless of whether they are used for work or not."

"After all, robots don't get tired or complain, and they can repeat operations with high precision and won't make mistakes!"

"Therefore, our general-purpose robots will provide various common auxiliary work capabilities, such as screwing, carrying goods, performing repetitive and boring laboratory operations, etc."

"We previously had more than 20 kinds of industrial robots and eight kinds of catering robots. Technically, some of the functions of these industrial robots can also be integrated into general-purpose robots!"

"After all, the core is the operation of the robotic arm, so technology transplantation is not a big problem. At present, some technology transplantation has been completed, which can allow our general-purpose robots to acquire some of the capabilities of industrial robots."

"Of course, it only has some basic industrial robot capabilities. In most areas, it is still not as useful as a professional industrial robot!"

Xu Shenxue asked: "So this general-purpose robot can do everything, but it is not proficient in anything?"

Ji Chenghe said: "You can say that, at least in our planned market positioning. After all, we can't just sell a general-purpose robot. At the same time, general-purpose robots have to meet a variety of functions and are relatively balanced in functionality. At the same time, we also have to consider costs, so the hardware cannot perform some more professional operations."

"According to our plan, this small general-purpose robot will be mainly aimed at individual consumers, providing most of the basic functions needed for daily life and work, and then providing a paid advanced mode to meet some routine needs."

"At the same time, we will continue to sell to the market and launch various professional robots to meet the needs of various professional markets!"

Xu Shenxue said: "This is quite good. It can effectively expand the application scenarios of the first generation of general-purpose robots and open up the market!"

Ji Chenghe said: "Based on our estimated market budget, combined with hardware costs and development costs, and also taking into account the subsequent training costs, the money saved by letting users help us with training, and other factors, we have initially decided on a price of 300,000 yuan for the wheeled model and 400,000 yuan for the bipedal model. We will reduce costs, expand sales as much as possible, and then spread the costs."

"We have calculated that if the annual sales volume of robots can reach 200,000 units, then we will be able to break even on the hardware costs and avoid losses on each unit sold, thus ensuring the continuous operation of the production line."

"With the brand appeal of our group and the technological attributes of Universal Robots, we believe that it will not be a problem to achieve annual sales of 200,000 units, despite the high price."

"If sales can be further increased, for example, to 500,000 units per year, then our costs can be further reduced and we can gain a certain hardware profit. If sales can reach 1 million units per year, then our hardware costs can be further reduced to less than 200,000, and then our hardware profit will be quite considerable!"

"As for the huge initial development costs, they cannot be recovered in a short period of time. We are considering gradually recovering this cost when sales increase in the future."

"At the same time, we also have paid features. We will sell some advanced features on a monthly payment basis. The price ranges from 199 to 999 per month, depending on the training cost and scenario practicality."

"Relying on the income from paid functions, we can also cover part of the R&D costs!"

"However, considering the huge subsequent R&D investment, especially the training investment, to be honest, Mr. Xu, our marketing department is still not very optimistic about the return on investment of the entire project!"

"As it stands now, we may not be able to recoup the cost of the entire project for five years."

Xu Shenxue said: "It seems that your marketing department's market forecast is not very optimistic!"

Ji Chenghe said: "It's not optimistic. After all, the cost of this robot is too high, and the price is also high. Even with the brand appeal of our Zhiyun Group, it is impossible to have a large shipment volume in the early stage!"

"After all, we have used this thing repeatedly. To be honest, it is still far from practical. It is just a large toy."

"If we want to ensure annual sales of 200,000 units, I'm afraid we will have to carry out a large-scale marketing campaign in the global market."

"After all, three hundred thousand is not cheap, and this thing is not a smart electric vehicle, it is a necessity!"

“This is why we strongly recommend that the technical department integrate the technology of industrial and service robots and launch auxiliary work mode and service mode, in order to make this kind of robot have a certain degree of practicality!”

"If our robot only costs 30,000 yuan, I can guarantee that it will be sold all over the world, with annual sales of more than several million units."

"But three hundred thousand... Alas, the sales of such non-essential large-sized products for personal consumption are very high!"

Xu Shenxue is also aware that the current market problems for robots are difficult to deal with.

High cost, high price, low sales volume... Not to mention robots for personal consumption, even the sales volume of industrial robots is not very good.

The global market size of industrial robots is actually not that large, and is basically concentrated in the field of traditional non-artificial intelligence robots, such as various robotic arms, which perform various operations to a certain degree... It is better to say that they are production equipment in a specific field rather than robots.

These traditional robotic arms are different from the artificial intelligence industrial robots made by Zhiyun Group.

Currently, there is only one manufacturer in the world that provides robots based on artificial intelligence technology, Zhiyun, which is a real monopoly.

However, the actual revenue is very low. In the field of industrial and service robots this year, the revenue is only more than 1 billion US dollars, which is simply not enough to support the huge R&D investment of the robot team in a short period of time. According to the subsequent R&D plan given by the robot team, the R&D funds are higher every year, and the R&D budget for next year will be more than 3 billion US dollars... This revenue is not as much as the R&D investment.

This is also why the robotics team attaches so much importance to general-purpose robots. They want to use this product to break the market deadlock and gain huge revenue.

Even if you don’t make money, at least don’t suffer such a serious loss.

Because... now the robot project has become one of the most loss-making businesses in Zhiyun Group.

Even the semiconductor manufacturing industry, which is a big spender, has turned losses into profits and started to provide profits for the group.

For the same unmanned driving project based on artificial intelligence technology, they have found a partner like HaiLian Automobile, which collects a large amount of technology licensing fees every year through the unmanned driving technology licensing, thereby maintaining the operation of the project without the group having to pay extra money.

However, the robot team continued to suffer huge losses, which made the robot team somewhat uneasy.

After all, losses for one or two years would be fine, but it has been losing money for six years... It seems that the losses will continue. If nothing big is done, the accumulated losses will probably exceed 10 billion US dollars by next year, making it the most loss-making business in the history of Zhiyun Group.

The robot project team is also worried that the group's top management will cut off this loss-making business line.

However, Xu Shenxue was more patient and more able to afford the losses than his subordinates imagined.

He has so many money-losing businesses under his control, so he doesn't mind a robot.

After Ji Chenghe left, Xu Shenxue continued to stay alone in this indoor test field, watching the robots in front of him conducting various tests.

Some of these first-generation wheeled, mobile general-purpose robots are performing housework, some are assisting test personnel in doing simple tasks such as lifting heavy objects, screwing in screws, etc., and some are simulating the care of the elderly and children.

On the other hand, there are also conceptual bipedal humanoid robots that are being tested, but the bipedal mobile platform still has many defects, so it seems to move relatively slowly.

Originally, the robotics team did not plan to launch the bipedal platform this year because it was not mature enough, but the marketing department suggested that a bipedal humanoid robot would have more publicity value and would sell better...

In Ji Chenghe's words, "While the wheeled robot is good, it doesn't look like a robot... and the bipedal robot may be a little worse, but it at least looks like a robot, which is more conducive to publicity."

So in the end, the robotics team is still planning to bring this bipedal robot to the market this year.

At present, the technical team is working overtime to improve the research and development of the bipedal mobile platform of the bipedal robot, and strive to improve the performance of this bipedal mobile platform before it is officially put into production.

Although the two robots have different mobile platforms, the upper part, which is the core part of the entire robot, such as the two robotic arms and the intelligent control center, are actually the same, which can effectively reduce costs.

After Xu Shenxue, Ji Chenghe and other senior executives of the group finalized the robot's listing plan.

Zhiyun Group's marketing department has begun large-scale advance promotion in the field of robotics.

In mid-November, Zhiyun Group officially announced that it would hold a winter press conference on December 17th, and revealed the launch of a major product!

When some industry insiders saw the time of this press conference and referred to Zhiyun Group’s previous winter press conferences, it quickly caused a lot of speculation!
Or they release revolutionary semiconductor products, such as products that directly surpass Intel's CPU. In recent years, Wichi Technology, a subsidiary of Zhiyun Group, has always chosen to release new products in winter, but those are basically separate press conferences held by Wichi Technology, not Zhiyun's winter press conference.

In fact, Zhiyun Group does not have a regular winter press conference. After some new chips are developed, they will hold a special press conference.

But this time, Zhiyun Group directly promoted it in the name of the winter press conference, which means it was a high-level press conference at the group level.

It is different in nature from many previous special press conferences.

In this case, it naturally attracted the attention of many people in the industry, as well as ordinary technology enthusiasts and even ordinary people.

"It has been revealed that Zhiyun Group will release the A16 mobile phone ahead of schedule this year. The new A16 mobile phone will be equipped with a new generation of -nanometer chip!"

"I guess they might want to release the C series ahead of schedule. After all, the C series is one of Zhiyun Group's core products, with sales of tens of millions of units a year. Seeing that sales are decreasing, Zhiyun Group must be doing something big to save the C series!"

“It’s hard to say. I think they are going to release new CPU chip products and notebooks!”

"Last year, Zhiyun Group chose to release a new notebook in December!"

Of course, some people also speculate that Zhiyun Group may release a robot product.

In 14, Zhiyun Group held an artificial intelligence robot launch conference, which gave many people in the world a huge shock.

But later some people in the industry also learned that the robot released by Zhiyun Group at that time was just an empty shell... It could not run at all if it was separated from the server host behind it.

Because at that time, Zhiyun Group's computing power chips were still a bit lacking and could not provide huge computing power to the robots. In addition, the core algorithms of the robots at that time were not very good.

However, two years later, Zhiyun Group is using more advanced computing chips, including EYQ3 chips, ZY23 chips, etc.

Especially the ZY23 chip, which is the chip that uses the most advanced technology at present. Although it is an auxiliary chip, the actual chip size is even larger than the EYQ3 computing chip.

In the entire system, the ZY23 computing chip that supports the operation functions of two robotic arms, especially the hand detail perception and operation, although its functions are highly single and cannot be used as a comprehensive airborne computing chip, is actually the most technologically advanced chip. To a certain extent, it can be considered to reflect Zhiyun Group's most advanced semiconductor design capabilities.

Through efficient semiconductor design capabilities, it is possible to produce this ultra-high performance chip based on the 12-nanometer process. Even if it is only for a single purpose, this is not easy.

Otherwise, according to conventional chip design ideas, if you want to make an airborne AI chip with such high performance and achieve the computing power of the ZY23 chip, you will need a -nanometer process or even higher.

But Zhiyun Semiconductor managed to develop it based on the 12-nanometer process... Although its power consumption is a bit higher, its size is a bit larger, its cost is a bit higher, and its use is highly limited. It cannot be used anywhere other than in robots or other similar fields, but it was still developed and can perfectly support the robot's arm movements.

This is actually not easy. At Zhiyun Semiconductor, I wonder how many engineers have lost their hair due to this!

At the same time, the robot's core algorithm has completed multiple iterations in the past two years, and has been continuously trained day and night on the group's AI training server array. The entire core algorithm has been greatly improved compared to the past.

Only in this way can the robot maintain its ability to operate autonomously without the need for external computing power.

However, considering actual needs, the robot team actually plans to equip the robot with an additional server host, which will have more EYQ3 chips and ZY23 chips built in to provide additional massive computing power to meet some advanced functions that require higher computing power. Consumers can purchase it on demand...but the price is very expensive, with a host costing more than yuan.

There are all kinds of speculations from the outside world, and the marketing department of Zhiyun Group is gradually sorting out the true and false news.

The fake news includes the launch of an upgraded version of the S16 mobile phone, with a new appearance, new functions, etc.

There are also many A series and C series mobile phones released in advance, etc.

It's all fake news. The S16 series of mobile phones have already been mass-produced and sold, and Zhiyun Group is designing the next-generation S17 series of mobile phones. As usual, it will be released in August next year. There will not be an upgraded version of the S16 mobile phone released in the winter.

The A series and C series are also important products of the group. The established plan is to release them at the spring conference in March to avoid the severe impact of its own S series. At the same time, this is also related to a series of factors such as supply chain layout and component price reduction. It is impossible to change the plan.

The early release of PC products is also fake news. The PC business of Zhiyun Group has been highly integrated with the CPU business of Weichi Technology, and is preparing to release them together in January next year. While releasing new high-performance new generation CPU chips, a new generation of 17 notebooks, mini hosts, integrated hosts and other PC products will also be released.

The new generation of X12 architecture CPU using the second-generation 86nm process, that is, the 17nm process promoted by Zhiyun, has entered the mass production stage, and notebook models have also begun small-scale production.

In order to avoid being overshadowed by other products, especially robots, the release of CPU and PC products will be postponed to January.

Throughout December, Zhiyun Group will only release one new product: the first generation of universal robot!
Soon, some of this news was dug out by the outside world, and the world was shocked.

This Zhiyun Group actually plans to release and sell robots!

This has made a group of people in the industry sit still. In the past two years, many people have been engaged in robots, and many high-tech companies and start-ups have been involved. Many companies have held various robot launch conferences and exhibitions, but no one has put robots out to sell... because each of them is a conceptual product, mainly for publicity.

But Zhiyun Group is planning to start selling directly?
Everyone is bragging, are you the only one who is serious?

Are you kidding!

(End of this chapter)