On February 7, US time, based on the trade secret and copyright infringement lawsuit between Hytera and Motorola Solutions Inc. (hereinafter referred to as the "Trade Secret Case"), the U.S. Department of Justice filed charges against Hytera. If the allegations are established, Hytera may be fined not more than three times the value of the trade secret in question.
On the evening of February 8, Beijing time, Hytera issued an announcement declaring that it was deeply disappointed by the allegations and believed that the allegations of the US Department of Justice did not have factual basis and the company should not be included in the target of the accusations. "(Hytera) strongly opposes the allegations made by the US Department of Justice this time, and will resolutely respond to this matter with legal means and factual basis, and resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of the company." At the same time, it is emphasized that "the company abides by the code of business conduct, respects trade secrets, adheres to honest and compliant operations, and is committed to providing rich and perfect special communications and solutions for customers around the world." ”
Hytera has become the third High-tech company in the Chinese communications field to be suppressed by the US government after ZTE and Huawei, what is the truth behind it?
Politics and business go hand in hand to suppress China's high technology
On Feb. 7, the same day, the Commerce Department added 33 Chinese entities to an "unverified list," bringing the total number of Chinese entities on the list to 175, most of them high-tech-related.
In addition to this "unverified list", the US Department of Commerce has also included a large number of Chinese high-tech entities in the "entity list", in addition, the US Treasury Department has an "investment blacklist" that prohibits investment by US companies and citizens, many of which are also Chinese high-tech entities.
It can be said that suppressing China's high technology has become the consensus of the US political circles, and in recent years, it has increased layer by layer.
Close the market and maintain monopoly profits
In response to the US Department of Justice's allegations, mark Hacker, the party involved in the secret case, Motorola's chief legal counsel and chief administrative officer, issued a statement saying that Motorola would continue to file a civil lawsuit against Hytera around the world to recover the money.
Motorola's Chief Legal Counsel and Chief Administrative Officer Mark Hacker
In Lao Ji's view, this incident itself was a conspiracy of the US political and business circles, and the purpose was to safeguard the commercial interests of American enterprises.
Or back to motorola, the party involved in this incident. According to consulting firm Omdia, as early as 2019, Motorola's global walkie-talkie market share was as high as 54.3%, which is obviously in a monopoly position.
Motorola has also been using its monopoly position to "reap the benefits", especially in the U.S. market, where the degree of monopoly is higher. In February 2017, citron Research, an American research institute, released a report on Motorola, which revealed very interesting data: Motorola's gross profit margin in the US market was as high as 83.6%, while in the European market it was only 9%.
Immediately after the citron disclosed, the same Motorola walkie-talkie, the low-end APX 6000 walkie-talkie sold for $5200 in the US market, while the other higher-end walkie-talkie in the UK market was only 975 pounds. Citron believes that the fundamental reason for such a huge contrast lies in its monopoly position and the government's market protection behavior. Whether in government procurement or market access, the American company Motorola has been carefully cared for by the U.S. government. "It's like drugs, we spend more in the U.S.; it's not like drugs because we get less in the U.S."
In order to continue to maintain its competitive advantage, Motorola chose to conspire with the US government to suppress competitors. For the global market share second only to its own Hytera, Motorola is the most capable of suppressing, and has launched a number of lawsuits and sky-high claims. At the same time, the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the US Department of Commerce have successively included Hytera in the "blacklist of purchase bans", relying on administrative means to squeeze Hytera out of the US market and trying to stop Hytera's global development momentum.
Openness and innovation are the way to development
From the data point of view, Motorola monopolizes the market and wins high profits, but it greatly hinders the global popularization and development of technology. As a result, we see that in the more closed market of the United States, many corporate customers can only use thick and clumsy walkie-talkies, although they spend a lot of money.
At the same time that Motorola is stuck in its own way and does not want to forge ahead, its Chinese competitor Hytera continues to innovate, taking the lead in proposing a public-private integration evolution plan, launching a 5G industry private network, and launching an end-to-end overall solution for the characteristics of industry applications. At present, Hytera's related programs and products have been commercially used in industrial manufacturing, smart mine, smart port and other fields, and have won the praise and trust of customers. In addition, in the current booming low-orbit satellite communication market, Hytera also provides customers with key components and products for satellite communications.
From the experience and lessons learned from the development of the global technology industry over the past many years, we can draw a clear conclusion that closure and monopoly will not last long, and openness and competition can be sustained. In the face of the suppression of the US political and business circles, Chinese enterprises must fight to the end, defend their rights and interests, and at the same time increase open innovation and insist on providing better products and services for global customers.