Nowadays, vivo is practicing the concept of building a brand that consumers love through great products, and creating more explosive products that can meet the needs of users.
In a rapidly changing commercial society, there is not a pond that does not dry up.
Today, a sense of "dry" crisis is spreading in the mobile phone market. In the third quarter of 2021, global smartphone sales fell by 6.8%, and the market has long been the consensus of the industry when it enters the era of stock. Mobile phone manufacturers who do not want to be eliminated have begun to look for a second growth curve in the stock market.
In the midst of industry change, the reason why many players are eliminated is not that the product itself is not sophisticated enough, but that the designer cannot find new needs and cannot transform the product according to environmental changes. Management guru Charles Handy believes that "when you know where you should go, you often don't have a chance." "Therefore, companies should start looking for a second curve of growth in their heyday."
In Charles Handy's theory, the core of finding new growth points is to first abandon the "comfort zone" built by past successful experiences and devote sufficient resources to cultivate a new direction that may not see benefits in the short term. This means that companies that "retrograde" in more dangerous directions often have the opportunity to reap more.
Vivo, which achieved a year-on-year increase of 20.9% in the third quarter, is undoubtedly a company with "reverse thinking". On December 30, Vivo's newly launched S12 series mobile phones went on sale, and on the day of the first sale, vivo S12 series won the double championship of sales and sales in the 2000-4000 yuan price segment of Di Xintong, Gome, Jingdong Five-Star Electrical Appliances, Suning Tesco and other multi-channel channels; and won the double champion of sales and sales of JD Android mobile phones at full price, Tmall mobile phone industry. Since its launch in 2019, the vivo S series has sold nearly 30 million units.
Why did vivo bet on the S series three years ago that it could be evergreen in several iterations? Behind the hot sales, it is vivo's "explosive" long-termism.
Retrograde, new
Munger once said that he was going to fish where there were fish. In his annual speech at DailyJournal, he noted that "in an extremely competitive environment, no amount of effort is useful." "When the environment enters the era of stock, it is crucial to open up a new market. In vivo's view, the high-end market is undoubtedly the next growth point of domestic mobile phones.
In the past year, vivo has achieved certain results in the mid-to-high-end market. According to Counterpoint Research, Vivo's market share in the $500 to $599 price range has risen from 10% in September 2020 to 20% in September 2021.
This market also has sufficient potential, and the 2021 "China Telecom Terminal Insight Report" pointed out that the willingness of high-end price mobile phone users to change and upgrade is higher than other price points, reaching 55.8% in Q3. The report also said that the current mobile phone market performance is still in the adjustment period. Although the performance and parameters of mobile phones are constantly improving, the basic experience and cost-effective pain points of products are still the core needs of consumers. At present, in the process of using mobile phones, the pain points experienced are mainly manifested in mobile phone lag, long operation response time; short battery standby time, small battery capacity; mobile phones are easy to be hot, hot and so on.
It can be seen that in the high-end market, there is a lack of a flagship product that can truly solve the underlying needs of users. After anchoring the new market, Vivo adjusted its product design ideas and decided to create the S12 series with the positioning of "all-round", which is based on the important changes of the times and consumer needs.
In the past, the figure image was the foundation of the S series, from the definition of five kinds of "super texture beauty", to the noise reduction technology in the RAW field, to the research and development of micro-slit soft light technology, which has become one of the models of portrait mobile phones.
This time, while adhering to the image stand, the S12 series also added a more versatile technology configuration and more innovative technologies. Front 50 million custom camera, rear 100 million pixel ultra-clear image capabilities, with the ultimate night scene function, flagship core to support the game performance, 240Hz sampling smooth experience, CMF design aesthetics presented to the public.
Just by discussing the parameters, it can be found that the characteristics of many flagship devices are integrated into the S12 series, which is supported by its comprehensive positioning. For a long time, vivo has always adhered to the consumer orientation as the core of the enterprise product culture, enriching the user experience with its own technical strength, in order to stand out in the industry competition.
Without vivo's continuous investment in the four long tracks of design, imagery, system and performance, a "all-round" product like the S12 would not have emerged. Through the overall innovative integration of software and hardware, the vivo S12 series has reached the performance level of the head in the same price level, and has also subverted the inherent impression of the industry and users for this series.
The S12 series, which carries the explosive gene, was born.
Change the position, seek change
From the launch of the S12 series, you can also peek into the changes in vivo's thinking in the stock era.
According to the IDC report, the average global price of a smartphone in 2021 is $423.50 (about 2697 yuan). Therefore, Vivo chose to position the S series products in the high-end market of $470, which is undoubtedly a choice that can radiate to more users.
Since the launch of the first vivo S1, the series has undergone seven iterations. The S series, which used to adhere to the core of portrait photography and appearance, has become a more universal all-round product. Through iteration, the S12 series has found a balance between the three core requirements of performance, imagery and appearance.
Aiming at the mid-to-high-end market as the next journey of growth, vivo is using the S series to send a signal of change to the industry. In addition to the product itself, the changes in the S series are of great significance to Vivo's strategy in the entire mobile phone market. Previously, vivo's X series positioning was slightly blurred, swinging in the market of 3,000 yuan-5,000 yuan. However, after the success of the S series card slot, X was able to impact the higher end of the market, reaching more than 3500 to 5000 yuan. The adjustment of the product line also supports vivo to go more steadily in the mid-range and high-end.
For vivo, 2021 is undoubtedly a year full of variables. This year, vivo redefined the three product lines of low, medium and high. This kind of change is to embark on a new route without hesitation, and to reinvent itself according to the needs of users.
Compared with stimulating consumers to place orders through beautiful parameters on paper, meeting the underlying needs, and knowing how to create a mobile phone manufacturer that users really want to use and love to use products, in order to achieve lasting growth. Technological innovation oriented to consumer demand will also become the right innovation path. In the gear of the stock change, the research and development of smart phones is stepping into a new cycle centered on practicality.
Vivo's product philosophy coincides with market trends. Ni Xudong, senior vice president and chief marketing officer of Vivo, once pointed out that Vivo should balance products from the two dimensions of consumer insight and technical cognition, and in this process, form their own understanding of products, which is the differentiation of brands.
Ni Xudong believes that there are two key points in the positioning division of products. The first is to help consumers make trade-offs and reduce consumers' purchase, choice and use costs. The second is to find a differentiated route, through the investment and accumulation of long tracks to achieve "no one has me".
The reason why vivo can still grow against the trend in the stock period of the mobile phone market is nothing more than to adhere to the steady but innovative route. While broadening new channels and developing new products, we should grasp the pain points of existing old users, respond to changes in the market pattern and user demands in a timely manner, and dynamically adjust positioning.
Upward, truth-seeking
According to the "2021 Mobile Phone Industry Crowd Insight White Paper" released by Judasu, the first half of 2021 as a whole showed the phenomenon of user replacement consumption upgrades, and the number of users who changed machines to high-end models was nearly twice the outflow of high-end models. That is to say, under the general trend of consumption upgrading, the high-end smartphone market is also ushering in growth.
The S series released the original ambiguous positioning of the X series, so that it can impact the higher end of the market. The S Series is anchored to the demand of the $470 segment. Have greater potential. The product matrix composed of entry-level Y series, high-end S series and high-end X series can not only stabilize the basic disk of vivo users, but also make them achieve contrarian growth in the stock market.
Among them, the importance of the new S series is also self-evident. With the overall jump in product power, the S series is more extensive in terms of user base and price radiation. According to the analysis of Counterpoint Research, as the average selling price of China's mass market is expected to continue to increase in the next two years, the mid-range S series has important strategic significance for vivo.
In March 2020, the cumulative number of users of vivo S series exceeded 10 million units. In just one year, that number doubled again, with the S Series surpassing 20 million users. The S9 series launched that year won the sales and sales champions of the 2500-3500 price segment of 6 channels, and also created a new record of sales exceeding 100 million in 9 seconds. The continuous breakthrough in sales proves the hard power of the S series and is also the embodiment of vivo's explosive philosophy.
But vivo has never lingered on its past achievements, as its founder Shen Wei said, "We must continue to walk on thin ice, trembling, humble and low-key." "In the competition, always maintain the Day 1 mentality, always calm vivo, is trying to warm every user with the power of science and technology."
The mid-to-high-end war is far from over, and the mobile phone market is still facing high and concentrated competition. However, vivo has been recognized by many consumers by starting with core needs, rejecting meaningless inner volumes, and crossing the uncertain cycle with a continuous evolutionary attitude.
Shi Yujian, senior vice president of vivo, stressed in his speech at the developer conference that "this year is the first year of vivo's qualitative change." Will change the tone for the logic of corporate growth, risky but effective.
Along the way, Vivo has been the first to use design-driven innovation strategies in the field of hardware design.
Under the influence of this R&D strategy, the impressive lifting camera and true full screen in the NEX series, the most representative micro-gimbal structure of the X series, and the V1 image chip have emerged. Today, the new achievements of the S12 series prove the correctness of the S series change, and also confirm that "change" is the second growth curve of the enterprise.
In Munger's view, the secret to commercial success is "to stay in this game and not let it slip away when rare opportunities arise, knowing that there are not many opportunities that every ordinary person can share." In the face of rare opportunities, Vivo grasped the key.
Setting the tone of the S series "comprehensive" is just the beginning, and how Vivo's explosive philosophy will evolve in the future is more worth looking forward to.