Little Giant | Microelectric new energy Chen Zhiyong: the competitive spirit of a miniature battery

Economic Observer reporter Zhang Rui is 45 years old, and Chen Zhiyong has made no secret of his desire to win or lose. His hair was gray and full of bookish anger, but he spoke like he was always ready to "fight".

Chen Zhiyong is the founder and chairman of Guangdong Microelectric New Energy Co., Ltd., and his original intention is to make a button-sized battery the first in the world. It took about three and a half years for the young company to be selected for the third batch of specialized new "little giant" companies announced by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology in July this year.

The company rarely publishes its own dynamic information, and is almost invisible in the internet world with developed information. However, the "declaration of war" from the international leading enterprise Varta may show the impact that the company has already produced in the global micro battery field from one side.

According to the national enterprise credit information publicity system, Guangdong Microelectric New Energy Co., Ltd. was established in December 2017, located in The Dongjiang High-tech Industrial Park, Zhongkai High-tech Zone, Huizhou, and its main business scope is research and development, manufacturing and sales of new energy lithium battery raw materials, high-energy lithium batteries and accessories.

Three years ago, Chen Zhiyong's large investment in the company's factory and office building caused people around him to question "there is not a single customer, the stall is so big." But he didn't hesitate, he thought the company was going to face world-class customers, and all the layouts had to revolve around this from the start.

In early December, Chen Zhiyong was interviewed by a reporter from the Economic Observer to talk about the company's future, which was simple and not polite. He said that the company's production and sales of micro lithium batteries are mostly used in Bluetooth headsets, smart bracelets and other mobile portable wearable devices, the establishment is to go to the global market, the goal is to become the first in China in 3-5 years, 8-10 years to achieve the world's first.

According to the information provided by Guangdong Microelectric New Energy Co., Ltd., in 2018, the company invented China's first secondary rechargeable coin cell battery half a year after putting into production, breaking through Varta's monopoly on the industry. At present, the company's main domestic customers are Huawei, ZTE and other consumer electronics companies, this year has become a supplier of Jabra, BOSS, Apple, is negotiating cooperation with internationally renowned hearing aid manufacturers, plans to expand the market.

Demonstrate business acumen on campus

Chen Zhiyong always had a thought in his heart: to be the first. This belief, whether it is studying or starting a business, has not wavered so far. "I left home very early, from a small mountain village in Shanxi to the county's key middle school with the first place, the junior high school is the first place, the high school is the first place, and the college entrance examination is also the first place in the county." This is the beginning of a life that Chen Zhiyong often mentions. In his memories, he always clearly remembers that he was admitted to the mechanical and electrical engineering major of South China University of Technology in 1995, and his father accompanied him to sign up on the day the two people borrowed 2,000 yuan. "After paying 1250 yuan in tuition and buying some miscellaneous things, I was left with 400 yuan when my father left, which was about 2 months of expenses, and I didn't think I could ask the family for money." Chen Zhiyong said that he had taken the college entrance examination twice, and his first choice was the University of Science and Technology of China, and his ideal was to become a scientist.

"I finished my third year of high school in my second year of high school, participated in the national competition of physics and chemistry and won many awards, the school encouraged me to take the college entrance examination, and there was a bonus at that time, I was able to go to Tianjin University in the second year of high school, but it was not my dream to go." Chen Zhiyong, with the aura and pressure of the campus, did not expect that the second college entrance examination "did not sleep for three days, the pressure was too great", and finally lost the Hand at the University of Science and Technology of China by a difference of 6 points. "I think now, maybe I've come to the right place." Chen Zhiyong said that studying is not difficult for him, and the more urgent part of life away from home is to solve the tuition and living expenses by himself. At the beginning, with little experience, he went to the wholesale market in Guangzhou to buy notebooks, sold cheaper than in the school, and sold them one by one, making money for 1 and 2 cents. Later, he noticed that every time the recruitment season, the students went to Shenzhen and Zhuhai for interviews, and the round-trip fare was expensive and convoluted, so he went to find a point-to-point transfer to contact the bus. "The students' own round-trip fare is about 110 yuan / person, the cost of renting a bus is 80 yuan / person, my ticket sells 100 yuan / person, as soon as it is launched, it is very popular, and the rented cars have changed from a few to dozens." Mr. Chen said he earned enough living expenses for his senior year. He also used the custom of "Pai Li Is" to help a northern medicinal liquor company to do market promotion in Guangzhou. "In fact, it is to seal the red packet, Guangdong people will not lose, and then put 1 yuan in it to open the natural will look at the advertisement, the first batch printed more than 1,000 copies, an afternoon on the distribution, and then printed more than 100,000 pieces, I earned tens of thousands of yuan." Mr. Chen said he bought himself a cell phone in 1999. That year, Chen Zhiyong repaid all the money his family had borrowed from all his relatives and friends. "There was about 20,000 yuan left on me, which was very rich at that time." Chen Zhiyong said. In 2001, after working for a period in a Hong Kong-backed electronics company, Chen Zhiyong returned to South China University of Technology to pursue a master's degree in computer software.

Extreme challenges in the gaps in the market

"My graduation thesis was to study the development of embedded Bluetooth headsets, and I always wanted to start a business, just to say at what point in time to do this." Chen Zhiyong said. From 2002 to 2008, Chen Zhiyong joined the world-renowned headphone supplier as the "first Chinese employee in Greater Nordic", where he was responsible for helping to develop the Chinese market. He began to travel frequently between Denmark and China, from technicians and department heads all the way to executive positions. "Great Nordic" to the public familiar is its production of Bluetooth headset Jetbra brand. According to the information on the official website of Jiebolang, Great Nordic Communication Equipment Trading (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. is a company under the GN Group, and the GN Group is also the first batch of foreign-funded enterprises to build factories in China after China's reform and opening up.

Chen Zhiyong said that the work of Greater Nordic has enabled him to change his thinking from product development to customer markets. "To this day, we can generally talk about customers three times, because you understand technology, and it is easy to impress each other." Chen Zhiyong said. "The work of Great Nordic also encountered bottlenecks later, the entire industry has entered the platform period, Bluetooth headsets have no innovation, I do the same things every year, but the customers are different." Chen Zhiyong said that the idea of starting a business accumulated in his heart, but he felt that he was relatively unfamiliar with company management at that time. From 2008 to 2010, he chose to study EMBA at the Carlson School of Management in Minnesota, USA. After that, he met a Silicon Valley company that was preparing to set up a research and development organization in China, D.LIGHTDESIGNLIMITED (Guangyue Technology of the United States).

From 2010 to 2015, Chen Zhiyong served as the head of the company's China region, which became an opportunity for him to return to China to start a business.

Around 2015, the scale of the smart headset market grew rapidly, and Chen Zhiyong finally saw an opportunity. "In the field of micro batteries, there was originally only one German Varta in the world, and this segment was completely blank in the domestic market." Chen Zhiyong said that the work experience of Great Nordic and D. LIGHTDESIGNLIMITED has enabled him to understand both the research and development technology of headphones and batteries, and the accumulation of mature customers, and the rest is to quickly seize the industry outbreak period.

"The advantage of our products is that the price is 30% lower, the performance is doubled, and several customers directly say, you take it and I try it." Chen Zhiyong said that the customer's order proves their strength, the company put into production in mid-2018, in 2019 won the order of his old owner JieBolang, in 2020, 2021 has become apple, BOSS suppliers.

"In the first year of entrepreneurship, our profit was about 15 million yuan, and the market growth is still very rapid." Chen Zhiyong wants much more than that. His experience working overseas has made him accustomed to seeing things from a global perspective. "We used to discuss the market with our colleagues, how much to pay in Asia-Pacific, how much to pay in Europe, how much to pay in the United States, and I also developed a habit that the design of each product is from the perspective of global customers, what is the demand." Chen Zhiyong said that now the company has passed the period of life and death.

In 2016, before officially founding Guangdong Microelectric New Energy Co., Ltd., Chen Zhiyong wanted to conduct a stress test for himself. He took part in an adventurous journey through the Gobi, encountered sandstorms in the desert, and experienced the life-and-death experience of heat stroke and dehydration.

"This extreme challenge is fascinating, beyond the material sense of accomplishment, I want to exercise my willpower." Chen Zhiyong said.