Rebirth 08: Rise from copycat phones

Chapter 458 New Sub-Brand: Xinyun
Zhiyun Group’s spring press conference, although not as popular as its autumn flagship press conference, is also a very important press conference.

The total revenue of the many smart terminal products launched at the spring conference is in the order of tens of billions of dollars a year. The importance attached to them within the group and the attention from the outside world are still very high.

After all, the annual revenue of most of the Fortune 500 companies is not as high as the revenue of these minor smart terminal products at Zhiyun Group’s spring conference.

For example, Weiku Electronics, which ranks fourth in the world and is known as the top technology stock in the A-share market, is also an enterprise under the name of Xu Shenxue. Its total annual revenue is only more than 60 billion US dollars and its net profit is only more than 6 billion US dollars.

The total revenue of all products in a spring press conference of Zhiyun Group exceeded the total revenue of Weiku Electronics.

This simple comparison is enough to demonstrate the value of Zhiyun Group’s spring press conference!
Of course, even so, it is still far from the autumn flagship launch conference of Zhiyun Group. Although the autumn launch conference only released one core product, the S series mobile phone, just one S series mobile phone can bring more than 200 billion US dollars in revenue to Zhiyun Group.

In addition, the S series of mobile phones has also greatly driven the revenue growth of other businesses, including the SX series of mobile phones for destocking. This series of mobile phones is sold entirely by piggybacking on the name of the S series of mobile phones. Then smart watches, Bluetooth headsets and other smart terminal products also sell so well because of the S series of mobile phones.

Therefore, the revenue and profit that the S series of mobile phones bring to Zhiyun Group is far more than the apparent 200 billion US dollars.

Many outside analysts believe that the S series of mobile phones can bring more than 300 billion US dollars in direct and indirect revenue to Zhiyun Group.

Without the S series mobile phone in front, who knows what Zhiyun's Bluetooth headsets, smart watches, tablets, and business notebooks are...

The S series of mobile phones are the core strategic pillar products of Zhiyun Group!
Therefore, every year’s autumn press conference is fully dedicated to the release of the S series mobile phones. Even some other smart ecosystem products or new technologies are released in conjunction with the release, basically they are also for the S series mobile phones... For example, when the Bluetooth headset was released that year, it was released at the autumn press conference, and this Bluetooth headset was just a selling point for the new S series mobile phone.

Therefore, Zhiyun Group’s autumn press conference is also called the autumn flagship phone press conference...a press conference unique to the S series of mobile phones.

Compared with the autumn conference that attracted global attention, it has gradually evolved into an annual global high-tech summit, receiving different attention from the global high-tech industry, news media and even ordinary people.

The spring show doesn’t seem to get as much attention... Of course, this is only compared to the autumn show.

In fact, the attention to the spring conference is still very high.

Even Xu Shenxue attached great importance to it and held a strategic meeting before the press conference to discuss the matters of the spring press conference.

During the meeting, the senior vice presidents or vice presidents in charge of each business unit reported to Xu Shenxue on the new products they were responsible for.

Xie Jianyong, senior vice president of Zhiyun Group and responsible for smart terminal R&D business, gave the first report.

"We will launch three series of mobile phone products to the market at the spring conference!"

"The first is the A series of phones, one of our dual high-end strategies."

"Given that our A series sales maintained a good growth last year, especially after the A16 mobile phone adopted the under-screen optical fingerprint, it brought very good feedback in the early stage. Although the subsequent sales declined a bit, we carried out a relatively large price reduction promotion in the second half of the year, and the sales of the A16 mobile phone increased significantly."

"Last year, the sales volume of the entire A series of mobile phones reached 20 to 30 million units. Although it was less than expected, it was still an increase."

"This proves that we are on the right track in the reform of the A series of mobile phones, so this year our A17 mobile phone will continue some of the main features of the A16 mobile phone, such as continuing to use under-screen optical fingerprint technology and glass cover plus wireless charging technology!"

"The new A17 phone will use the third-generation under-screen photoelectric fingerprint provided by Wanjin Technology. The performance of its under-screen photoelectric fingerprint has been greatly improved, which further ensures security while improving the speed and accuracy of unlocking!"

"On the screen, in order to better apply the under-screen optoelectronic fingerprint technology, we adopted the 17-generation OLED screen technology of Huaxing Technology. This screen was also the OLED screen we used in the S last year. Although the parameters of this screen are still generations, the quality is quite good, and the cost control is also very high, and its cost performance is very high."

Nowadays, when it comes to the cost-effectiveness of CSOT's 1.5 generation OLED screen, only people from Zhiyun Group would say so... If it were other domestic mobile phone companies, such as Weiku Electronics, they would shake their heads after seeing this screen: it's too expensive, we can't afford it!
The flagship version of the Little Blue MAX from Weiku Electronics still uses the first generation OLED screen from Huaxing Technology.

Huaxing Technology's OLED screen technology is actually advancing very rapidly. In 15, it launched the first generation of OLED screen, which was used on the S15 MAX.

In 16, the second generation OLED screen was launched and used on the S16MAX.

Last year, that is, in 17, the third-generation OLED screen was launched and was installed on the S17MAX S17MAX Pro.

At the beginning of this year, Huaxing Technology launched the fourth-generation OLED screen, whose actual performance is much stronger than the third generation. It is expected to be used in S18 Max and S18 Max Pro.

However, looking at this phone, you can tell that Huaxing Technology’s latest OLED screen is extremely expensive, not to mention the fourth generation that is now ready for large-scale adoption. Even the seemingly outdated second-generation OLED screen is still very expensive. So far, no other manufacturer has used it, let alone other manufacturers. Even Zhiyun Group itself did not use it in last year’s S17 and S17pro, and even the current A17 mobile phones... It’s too expensive. It’s not that they can’t afford it, but the gross profit margin will drop a lot after using it.

New technologies are introduced too quickly and new spare parts are too expensive, resulting in the fact that other than the top flagship models, other mobile phones are unaffordable. This is, to be honest, very embarrassing.

This is also why Huaxing Technology specially developed the so-called 1.5 generation OLED screen last year. The purpose is to reduce the cost of top-level OLEDs and control the price within a certain range so that models priced at 5,000 yuan can also use it.

Xie Jianyong continued: "Considering the importance of the A17 phone this year, we have also differentiated between large and small screen versions. We will launch the A17 17-inch standard version and the A Pro -inch screen version."

"To cover as many consumers' choices as possible. After all, this is the era of large screens, and many consumers prefer six-inch large-screen phones."

"For mobile phone chips, we will continue to use the S803 chip. After all, the A series of mobile phones are now in a good momentum. The success of last year's A17 mobile phone was largely due to the use of the S16 chip of the same generation as the S703 series mobile phones. In addition, after half a year, the average unit price of the S803 chip has dropped a lot after continuous large-scale production. The use of the A17 mobile phone can also control costs!"

While Xie Jianyong was speaking, Xu Shenxue was looking at the A17 and A17 Pro. The two phones are one large and one small, but other than the size, there is no other difference between them.

They all adopt a relatively rounded body design. The middle frame is still made of aluminum alloy, and the back is the glass cover that has always been used in the A series mobile phones. The entire A series has been using glass cover since its launch and has never changed.

The rear camera uses a very mature and cost-controlled dual-camera solution.

The front camera uses a small hollow design instead of last year's water drop design, so the entire front of the screen looks more harmonious. If you don't look closely, you can't even tell that there is a small hole.

Compared with last year's S17 series of mobile phones, the overall appearance is more rounded, which is also a consistent design feature of the A series mobile phones.

Xu Shenxue picked up the two phones separately, tried the feel, and then tried them out again. The operating experience was very good. Because the screen has only a small cutout, the display area is actually slightly larger than the S17/S17 Pro.

After all, the A series phones do not use 3D face recognition technology… It’s not that 3D face recognition technology is bad, but it is to distinguish the A series from the S series.

Otherwise, if 3D face recognition technology is added, then there will be no difference from S17/S17Pro: the same screen, the same chip, dual cameras, glass cover, wireless charging. If 3D face recognition technology is added, then except for a slight difference in appearance, everything else is exactly the same.

In addition, there are always people who don’t like 3D face recognition and think that under-screen fingerprint recognition is better, and the A series of mobile phones mainly focus on the needs of this part of consumers.

No one expects the A series of phones to be as successful as the S series, with more than 3 million units sold a year. Xu Shenxue, Xie Jianyong and others only hope that the A series of phones can take over the market that the S series of phones lack: the high-end market for phones without D facial recognition.

After trying it out, Xu Shenxue said: "This A17 phone is very mature, I am still optimistic about it. Of course, how much market share it can gain in the future still needs to be tested by the market!"

“But the dual high-end strategy is still successful overall and needs to be persisted in!”

Xie Jianyong introduced A17/A17 Pro.

The new generation of mobile phone C11 in Zhiyun C series was introduced. This C11 seems to be quite ordinary, without any special features or highlights... If we have to mention a highlight, it would be the Zhiyun LOGO on the back of the phone.

There is no way. The entire C series has a very awkward positioning among Zhiyun Group’s mobile phone products. The good technology cannot be used, and it cannot be afforded, and the price cannot be reduced too much to damage the brand value. In addition, the C series has always been positioned as a mid-range product, which makes it even more embarrassing.

The annual sales volume of C series mobile phones has declined from over 60 million units at its peak to less than 30 million now, and the sales volume is basically concentrated in offline channels... Many people who don’t know much about mobile phones will buy C series mobile phones just because of the Zhiyun LOGO.

This series of mobile phones has long been regarded by the outside world as a typical example of low cost performance.

Now, Zhiyun Group is half giving up on the C series... because the sales of the SX series of mobile phones with the same price positioning have increased and are gradually replacing the C series' product positioning.

This is also the highlight introduced by Xie Jianyong today: S17X and S1XL!

Of course, although the name has the prefix S17, the internal structure and appearance have nothing to do with S17! It still uses the design of aluminum alloy integrated body, mature high-quality LCD screen, plus the front press fingerprint recognition module, the chip is the previous generation S703 chip... basically, it is the old spare parts technology of the S15 standard version and S15Pro version in the past few years.

Even the appearance is very similar...

Because since last year, Zhiyun Group has positioned the entire SX/SXL series as a replacement for the older models of the S series.

所以某种程度上来说，其实S17X/S17XL就是S15/S15Pro……而且芯片还要更好一些，这芯片用的还是S16手机上的S703芯片呢。

Its price is between 3,000 and 4,000 yuan, meeting the needs of customers who want to use S series mobile phones but have average wallets and cannot afford the new models.

With the launch of the S17X and S17XL, the S15 and S15 Pro will also be discontinued simultaneously... Mainly because they are old products from two or three years ago, they cannot be sold without a price cut, but if the price is cut too much, such as to less than yuan, it will damage the brand.

The price of the flagship S series, even the older models, must be maintained above four thousand. This is the consensus among those who play with the market and the brand in Zhiyun Group!
So, we have the SX and SXL series… Actually, they are just the discontinued S15/S15 Pro sold under a different name, without even changing most of the parts…

Everyone in the industry knows that Zhiyun Group is trying to cover up its mistake, as if changing the name means it is not S15/S15Pro, but Zhiyun Group insists on doing so, so what else can you say?

And consumers really buy into this!
Because Zhiyun Group said that the SX and SXL series are brand new series, but they also let the Internet trolls say that these are actually renamed versions of S15, and they use the high-end version of the S16 mobile phone SOC...

The entry-level model is around 3,000 yuan, and the high-end model is just over 4,000 yuan. It is also an official brand-new authentic product, which is much better than buying a C series or a second-hand S series old model.

Therefore, last year's SX/SXL series had very high sales, exceeding 30 million units, becoming the second most popular mobile phone after the S series.

Among the many mobile phone products of Zhiyun Group, the S series is the core product, with sales of more than 200 million, the highest price and the highest profit.

The SX series is the second best-selling product, surpassing the C series. Its selling price seems a little low, with an average price of about three thousand seven or eight thousand. However, because it uses mature and old spare parts and even the production line is an existing old production line, its cost has been compressed to a very low cost, so its gross profit margin is very high... Its gross profit margin even exceeds that of the S series.

So even though it is sold at a low price, the gross profit it brings is very good.

Next is the C series. Although this series still maintains sales of more than 20 million units, its sales have declined too seriously. Because its positioning is too awkward, it can only deceive some middle-aged and elderly people who don’t understand mobile phones and young people with little education through offline channels. Its online sales are extremely low.

According to the market department's forecast, the sales volume of the C series phones this year is expected to continue to decline sharply, and it is estimated that even 20 million units will not be able to be maintained...

The total sales volume of the A series of mobile phones can reach 22 to 23 million units. Although there has not been much improvement for a long time, its positioning is to supplement the high-end models of the S series of mobile phones, so this sales volume is actually normal.

At present, the S series is as stable as ever, while the A series is lukewarm!

The SX series has gradually replaced the C series.

This is some basic information about Zhiyun Group’s current core product line, smartphones.

Among them, the A series, SX series and C series are also the highlights of this spring conference.

In addition to the release of these three series of mobile phones, new products such as tablets, Bluetooth headsets, Bluetooth watches, etc. will also be released in this year's spring conference. The sales of these new smart terminal products are actually very stable, and the conference will not have much impact on these ecological products.

Because the users of these ecological chain products are basically Zhiyun mobile phone users, when these Zhiyun mobile phone users purchase these ecological products, they will not pay too much attention to new technologies and new features. Instead, they buy the whole family bucket model for the sake of ecology. Therefore, the impact of the launch of new models is actually quite limited.

For example, the second-generation Bluetooth headsets released by Zhiyun Group two years ago are still on sale now, with very stable sales... It is hard to say whether the third-generation Bluetooth headsets released this year will bring about much change in sales of the Bluetooth headset product.

These ecological chain products are very special: the users who should buy them will actually buy them regardless of whether you have a new generation of products or not, while those who don’t buy them, such as users of other mobile phone brands, will never buy them!
This is the ecological driving force brought by the Zhiyun S series of mobile phones.

Furthermore, it is unlikely that these ecological products will undergo any major actual changes. At most, they will just be regular hardware upgrades and system upgrades... For example, if it is still a Bluetooth headset, how else can it change? No matter how it changes, it will be the same. At most, it will upgrade the chip and be equipped with a new generation of self-developed Bluetooth 5.5 communication protocol. There will be basically no other changes.

Therefore, the highlight of this year's spring conference is not these very stable smart terminal ecosystem products, but mobile phone products.

In particular, the A series and SX series have been given high expectations within Zhiyun Group.

One is to undertake the dual high-end strategy, cooperate with the S series, and identify and fill in the gaps.

One is responsible for taking over the C series and focusing on the 3000-4000 yuan market.

As for the C series, they will sell as many as they can. However, some people within Zhiyun Group want to restart the Zhiyun C plan, which is to make the C series completely independent and operate it as a separate brand: get rid of the burden of Zhiyun's high-end brand and focus on the mid-range market!

A few years ago, Zhiyun Group tried to separate the C series and operate it as a separate brand, but it was not successful. The main reason was that the sales of the C series were actually quite good that year, and the Zhiyun brand had a huge additive effect on the sales of the C series.

Once the Zhiyun LOGO is gone, the sales of the C series will inevitably experience a super avalanche!

People come here just for your Zhiyun logo. Now that you say the Zhiyun logo is gone, naturally they won’t buy it... If they don’t come here for your Zhiyun logo, do they come here because of your low price-performance ratio?
The evolution of the C series is a bit like the entry-level three-cylinder models launched by some high-end luxury car brands in the automotive market in the past two years... It's so embarrassing.

In the past, the sales of the C series were okay, so Zhiyun Group did not make up its mind to split it at that time. But now the C series is about to be completely ruined, and at the same time, the SX series has taken over the important task of replacing the C series.

Therefore, there are voices within Zhiyun Group calling for restarting the 'Zhiyun C' plan, and the voices are quite loud... Anyway, the C series is almost dead, so it would be better to change the brand, get rid of the huge burden and pressure brought by the 'Zhiyun' brand, operate independently, and see if it can be saved.

Xu Shenxue also considered this carefully, and finally formally approved the plan on March 2: he decided to separate the C series from the group headquarters, and then establish a new wholly-owned subsidiary with the C series mobile phone business as the core, and operate it under a new independent brand.

Then they can let go and do whatever they want. The new subsidiary will have independent operating authority: they can do whatever they want with the new phone.

As long as the new subsidiary does not use the Zhiyun logo and does not damage the "Zhiyun" brand, the new brand of mobile phones can be used as they please.

However, the operation process of this plan will be rather complicated. The splitting of the project team, the establishment and improvement of new subsidiaries, and the market research and development of new products all take time. The new brand of mobile phone is not expected to be released until around the end of the year.

However, although the new brand strategy of the C series has been launched, it is impossible to directly abandon the C series brand. In this year's spring conference, the C11 series of mobile phones will be released as usual.

The new brand is expected to be released around the second half of this year.

The new brand will not be promoted by changing the name of the C series. The iconic brand name C will continue to be retained, but it will not be called Zhiyun C. Instead, it will use the new "Xinyun C" as the early transition brand, and will subsequently create the new brand "Xinyun".

The main reason is that although the efficiency of the C series is low, the brand value is still very huge and it is impossible to give up easily.

But we cannot use the two words Zhiyun… If we use the two words Zhiyun, there will be no difference from now. Whenever you lower the price, people will think that it is the price reduction of Zhiyun mobile phone!

And Zhiyun phones will definitely not be sold too cheaply... This will be a huge harm to the brand!
Therefore, the two words "Zhiyun" must not be used.

Therefore, we finally chose "New Cloud C" as the external brand promotion name during the transition period. On the one hand, it is to separate it from Zhiyun, and on the other hand, it also hints to consumers that this is the "New Zhiyun C" series of mobile phones.

As for the lack of popularity of the new brand, this is a huge trouble for other companies, but for the sub-brands under Zhiyun Group, this will not be a problem.

At that time, Xu Shenxue only needs to personally host the new product launch conference and then clearly announce to the public that the new brand "Xinyun" is a sub-brand of Zhiyun. This will ensure that the new brand name Xinyun will become popular all over the world overnight!
This is the confidence of Zhiyun Group, the world's top company with the largest market value.

It is also the basis of Xu Shenxue's personal influence!
Soon, a new wholly-owned subsidiary was established. The new company was named "Xinyun Technology Co., Ltd." and the new brand to be launched was: Xinyun!

The first product is the 'XinCloud C11 MAX' and the 'XinCloud N11 series' with a planned price of around yuan, which is expected to be released this fall!

As for whether the outside world will accept it and how the sales will be, it is hard to say. Everything depends on market feedback!

If this plan fails, and the 'Xinyun N 11' and 'Xinyun C11 Max' don't sell well... ahem, Zhiyun Group has a backup plan: it will release a new model of the C series at the spring conference next year: the 'C12' mobile phone!
Xu Shenxue and his team also made preparations for both scenarios!

(End of this chapter)