Author| Snow Night Maple Scales
This afternoon, an acquisition rumor shocked the gaming and digital circles.
According to 36Kr, Tencent plans to acquire Black Shark Technology, a game mobile phone company that has cooperated many times in the past, at a purchase price of between 2.6 and 2.7 billion yuan. After the completion of this acquisition, Black Shark as a whole will be merged into the Tencent Group Platform and Content Business Group (PCG) led by Ren Yuxin.
In the sale news, the most interesting thing is the transformation of Black Shark technology. According to rumors, once the transaction is completed, Black Shark's future business focus will shift from gaming phones to VR devices as a whole. Tencent will provide specific content to Black Shark, and Black Shark will provide VR hardware entrances. This acquisition once again confirms Tencent's determination to enter the meta-universe.
However, it is not difficult to analyze tencent and black shark companies to find that Tencent has engine companies such as Epic Games in its hands, and the layout of the metacosm does not need to acquire hardware companies. Tencent is more selfish, or to compete with NetEase and ByteDance to grab the territory of the meta-universe.
Since the appearance of game phones, the four words "positioning embarrassment" seem to have been unable to get rid of. Most domestic e-sports games do not require ultra-high-performance hardware, and there is very little exclusive content. At the same time, the excessive weight of the gaming phone does not meet the requirements of the e-sports player competition.
Today's acquisition of the Black Shark mobile phone seems to confirm once again that the game mobile phone has no way out.
01
In the past, the industry fell out of the top three, and it was imperative for the Black Shark to switch to the meta-universe
Looking at several game mobile phone companies, Black Shark Mobile, as the former king, seems to have a bad time recently.
In the first quarter of 2020, the Black Shark mobile phone was still the well-deserved number one in the industry. He occupies 71.61% of the market share, far exceeding similar competitors. This achievement comes from the trust of users on the one hand, and from the superior hardware configuration and heat dissipation ability on the other hand.
But just two years later, Black Shark mobile phones handed over the throne of the industry's first. According to the data given by the well-known research agency Canalys, iQOO has become the first place in the gaming mobile phone market with a market share of 23%, followed by the Redmi K series and the realme X series, and the Black Shark mobile phone can only rank fourth.
In order to save the declining market share, in 2021, Black Shark Technology directly launched two generations of game phones. The black shark 4 and black shark 4S series were released less than 6 months apart, and the speed of the update was staggering. However, the number of new machines is not the only way for Black Shark mobile phones to drive sales, and fighting a price war is also their conventional weapon.
When Black Shark 3 was in place, the price of two generations of mobile phones was still above 3499 yuan, and the Black Shark 3 Pro was as high as 4699 yuan. But in 2021, the most important move made by Black Shark Technology is to reduce prices. Black Shark 4 directly reduced the price by 1,000 yuan and lowered it to 2499 yuan. The purpose of price reduction is naturally to acquire a large number of light players and differentiate themselves from other companies. Unfortunately, price cuts cannot stop further shrinking market share.
In the face of the current situation, Black Shark Technology seems to have prepared for it, and the key to breaking the game is the meta-universe.
According to Tianyancha data, since November last year, Nanchang Black Shark Technology Co., Ltd. has applied for the registration of a number of trademarks related to the metacosm, including "meta-black shark", "black shark metacosm", "black shark META", "multiverse" and "black shark multiverse".
In addition to registering trademarks, Black Shark Mobile also cooperated with AR eyewear manufacturer Rokid this year to explore the linkage between AR headsets and gaming phones. It was after that collaboration that Black Shark Technology began to realize that the metaverse seems to be the future of technology, and the users it embraces are much higher than the user volume of game phones.
Obviously, the registration of trademarks and the testing of AR equipment are the best examples of Black Shark Technology's entry into the meta-universe.
At the same time, in the process of tencent laying out the hardware field of the meta-universe, the first thing that naturally came to mind was this former collaborator. Since the beginning of Black Shark Mobile 3, this branch of Xiaomi has become closer and closer to Tencent.
Black Shark's biggest advantage over other VR hardware companies is undoubtedly that they have a stable supply chain. The founders come from many mobile phone manufacturers such as Xiaomi, Coolpad and Huawei, and Black Shark Technology has a large number of contacts in the industry, which also makes it easier for them to obtain parts
Now, both have plans to enter the metaverse, and both need each other, and it is not surprising that they will eventually merge at once.
02
The "pseudo-demand" is basically a reality, and the prospects for game phones are bleak
Black Shark Technology leaves the field of game mobile phones, and behind it is the shackles that the subdivision of game mobile phones has always been shackled. The scale of the industry has been delayed, and whether players need game phones to be put on the table again.
Like ordinary smartphones, the configuration evolution of game phones is becoming more and more "volume". Liquid cooling, lighting, ultra-high battery life, 4K screen, dual X-axis linear motor and manufacturer customization optimization have long been standard in gaming phones.
Most gamers turn around and find that the games they play on their phones are the same games they usually play. It is nothing more than that it is not so hot to run, and there is a certain improvement in the handling comfort. Whether or not to pay for these low-value-added features has become an important choice in front of gamers.
On the one hand, in the process of optimizing mobile games, manufacturers must first consider the mainstream models.
Every year, the number of mobile game users is growing, and the number of users who can buy high-end models is ultimately a minority. Some e-sports games that rely more on performance and the network are more accommodating to low-end models at this time. Even if gaming mobile users get a high-speed network and a non-stuttering experience, teammates and opponents still play with delays, and the playing experience will obviously not improve much.
On the other hand, from the Gamboy series and DS series handheld products launched by Nintendo to the current Nintendo Switch, the core of the portability of gaming devices to attract players has never been a variety of so-called additional functions, and the exclusive game lineup is the last word.
Even Valve's Steam Deck is because it offers a large number of games that smartphones can't run compared to mainstream mobile devices. In contrast, gaming phones have no advantage in exclusive content.
The so-called additional functions have been discounted, and the exclusive game is a minus, and the development prospects of game phones are naturally not optimistic.
Regardless of whether Tencent is ultimately successfully acquired, the Black Shark Technology Transformation Metacosm has been determined. Their escape proves that gaming phones are a "pseudo-demand", and after four or five years of development, most manufacturers still can't find a correct positioning, and transformation is already an imperative.