As the top event in the global mobile phone industry, MWC has always been a place for global mobile phone manufacturers to release new products and showcase new technologies.
Starting February 28, MWC Mobile World Congress was held in Barcelona, Spain, under the theme "Connectivity Unleashed The Infinite Possibilities". This was originally the largest event in the global communications industry, which was originally held once a year, was cancelled in 2020, postponed in 2021, and some large manufacturers did not participate, and finally ushered in the first "return" after the epidemic.
MWC as lively as the scene before 2020, the world's major manufacturers all returned, but not all manufacturers are as enthusiastic as ever, Samsung and other foreign manufacturers no longer put the new product release of fist products here, compared with glory, Huawei, millet, OPPO and other domestic manufacturers are much more active.
"The news around MWC 2022 will certainly be dominated by Chinese tech brands who are doing their best to keep the heat alive at Europe's biggest mobile show." Foreign media The Verge commented. Once, Huawei, which released its first mobile phone at MWC, created a Chinese brand legend around the world, and now, domestic manufacturers are taking over the torch and trying to recreate the legend.
The "inspection field" returns
Although MWC is still the MWC, the impact of the epidemic on the mobile phone industry in the past two years has also left traces on it: Samsung, which has released the flagship Galaxy S series on MWC and the folding screen product Galaxy Fold, has no mobile phone product release plan this year, but has focused on the release of laptop products.
In contrast, domestic manufacturers are still as active as ever, honor, OPPO, TCL, vivo, realme have announced new products or new technology release plans. Among them, Honor released the Magic4 series of new products, OPPO will release several flagship models and virtual reality and 5G related achievements, TCL launched 30 series of 5 mobile phones, vivo may release the first folding screen mobile phone.
In MWC, the "military inspection field", they have left their own latest and most cutting-edge technology, the deepest understanding of users, such as the world's first glory Magic4 series on February 28, which has been upgraded in performance, display, image and security and many other aspects - equipped with the industry's new generation of Snapdragon 8 mobile platform, the same chip brings a better experience; the industry's first LTPO screen + 1920Hz PWM high-frequency dimming technology, smoother and more eye-catching; the new and improved "recording and shooting" function, And the first smart privacy call protection function...
At the press conference, Zhao Ming, president of Honor, has repeatedly emphasized the term "HONOR CAN DO", in his view, what Honor can do is to study user pain points with heart, make breakthroughs in products, and achieve more excellence.
In fact, behind the "HONOR CAN DO", there is the global dream of all domestic mobile phone manufacturers, including Honor - "MWC's increasing attention to Chinese companies does not mean that its status is no longer there, but because these mobile phones are more popular with customers around the world than ever before", as The Verge writes.
Today, Honor has demonstrated the importance it attaches to MWC with the world's first Magic new product, and also shows its global ambitions.
For domestic manufacturers, MWC's "dream-making" magic has been verified. Once, Huawei went from Barcelona to the world through MWC, in 2009, Huawei showed off its first Android smartphone at MWC, and by 2018, its global sales exceeded 200 million units.
At a time when domestic manufacturers are once again gathering on the battlefield of globalization, the returning MWC has become a "dream factory" for domestic manufacturers. After Huawei, they all look forward to becoming the mobile phone brand that continues the Chinese story, "CAN DO" (can do) globalization.
Global Battle: High-end PK machine sea
If Huawei still has the possibility of a war with Samsung in the global market before, then at present, the global market is basically Samsung and Apple, which have become the "mountains" that domestic manufacturers must aim at and even confront on the road to globalization.
At present, the global mobile phone market has two routes, represented by Samsung and Apple. Samsung is taking the "machine sea" route, Samsung mobile phone can definitely be said to be the most extensive mobile phone brand in the overseas market, down to the 100-yuan level of Samsung Galaxy A series, up to the level of 10,000 yuan of Samsung Galaxy Z series, everything is available.
Apple is taking the high-end route. According to the latest report released by research institute Canalys, in the fourth quarter of 2021, Apple's iPhone series shipments accounted for 22% of global smartphone shipments, regaining the title of the world's largest smartphone manufacturer.
From the perspective of the whole year of 2021, Samsung still ranks first with a 20% share, and Apple ranks second with a 17% share. Comparing the data in 2020, it can be found that Samsung's market share has not changed, in contrast, Apple from 16% to 17%, domestic manufacturers Xiaomi, OPPO, vivo from 12% to 14%, from 9% to 11%, from 9% to 10%.
The reason behind the analysis may be related to the market strategy of Samsung and Apple: the former was eaten by Xiaomi, OPPO, vivo, etc. Some of the low-end shares, data show that last year in the global market, Xiaomi occupied 14% of the market share, ranking third; OPPO accounted for 11%, in the fourth; vivo occupied 10%, in the fifth.
Apple enjoys peace alone. After Huawei gave up its high-end share, although various Android manufacturers shouted to impact the high-end and made adjustments in product lines and prices, the final market showed with practical actions that the high-end market sold by Huawei was swallowed by Apple alone, forming a unique pattern.
According to CINNO Research data, in 2021, the high-end market above the domestic 5K price level, Apple's share increased significantly from 48% in 2020 to 75%.
From domestic to global, domestic manufacturers want to go from the Red Sea to the Blue Ocean, but as many manufacturers adhere to the machine sea route, the low-end of globalization has become the Red Sea. Recently, Apple was rumored to plan to launch the iPhone SE 3 priced at about 3,000 yuan in the spring of 2022, intending to grab the mid-range market from other manufacturers, which is undoubtedly another bad news for Samsung and domestic manufacturers.
In the past, huawei's brand stirred up the storm in the global market, relying not on low-end products, but on high-end products in the M series and P series. Nowadays, with Apple and Huawei in front, the "high-end" direction provides the possibility for domestic manufacturers that intend to go to sea and overtake in curves, and "globalization + high-end" has become a new competitive blue ocean.
Is it still possible for Chinese brands?
Huawei once proved that Chinese brands have the possibility of "globalization + high-end". With Huawei being blocked, is it possible for other Chinese brands to impact "globalization + high-end"?
Analyzing the former Huawei, we can disassemble its success into several elements: long-term technology accumulation, in-depth research and development, opening up overseas operator channels, focusing on product lines, not following product propositions, and high user recognition.
Combing the current domestic brands, Xiaomi, OPPO have sorted out the product line and brand, are making efforts in high-end, but also in research and development efforts, but it seems that it is still almost a bit hot, the outside world's recognition of them is still affected by the impression of "low-end" and "cost-effective".
From Apple to Tesla, countless cases have proved that it is relatively easy for high-end brands to go to the middle and low end, and Apple, which once grew stagnant, ate the sweetness on the iPhone SE; conversely, it is difficult to go from the low end to the high end.
So, what about the glory of independence? Before independence, Glory's goal was "China's top two" and "global top four", but after independence, it adjusted its goal to "China's first" and benchmarked Apple. With the announcement of globalization at the MWC in 2022, its goal has correspondingly increased to the "top two in the world", benchmarking Apple.
The question is, is this possible?
At least from the first goal, "HONOR CAN DO". According to the latest data from the Counterpoint Research Market Monitor, Smartphone shipments in China fell 11% year-on-year in the fourth quarter of 2021, Apple ranked first and reached its highest market share in history (21%), and Honor rose to second (17%) for the first time.
As for the second goal, its preparation is not less: the product and brand have been completed and the high-end route has been clarified; in research and development, the previous technical reserves have been implemented into the product, and at the same time, the technical competition such as folding screen, photography, and fast charging is not lagging behind or even leading; on the channel, there is not only the previous experience of globalization, but also the channel with global strength.
For example, on the road to high-end breakthrough, taking pictures has always been the focus of competition for domestic manufacturers, and it is also one of the secrets of Huawei's rapid rise. With the advent of the 5G era and the rise of short videos, consumer demand focuses on shifting from taking pictures to video recordings, and even the needs of video recording and taking pictures in parallel have been born, such as capturing a wonderful moment when shooting sports games in video; when shooting children and pets, freeze-frame expressions are instantaneous.
"HONOR CAN DO" was confirmed. Honor Magic4 series upgrades multi-main camera fusion computing photography technology, equipped with the self-developed HONOR Image Engine image engine to fully release the hardware potential, so that the imaging capabilities have been further advanced. In addition, the newly improved "Record And Shoot" function further integrates the two operations of camera and photography, providing better photo imaging results while shooting video.
According to Zhao Ming, under the premise of ensuring the security of user information and data, Magic4 Pro also pioneered the smart privacy call protection function, which solves the common problem of call sound leakage on many smart phones and greatly improves the privacy of calls... The application of a series of new technologies and functions has made a breakthrough in the scientific and technological and intelligent power of the Honor Magic4 series.
In addition to the strong product strength performance of the Honor Magic4 series, "in the journey of the global market impact on the high-end in 2022, Honor can be described as fully prepared", according to Zhao Ming, there are currently 6 R& D centers in countries and regions outside China, two of which are located in France and Japan, and more than 100 innovation laboratories. At the same time, starting from 2021, Honor has fully resumed cooperation with industry chain partners such as Qualcomm, Microsoft, Google, Samsung, MediaTek, and Tsinghua Unigroup.
In addition, Honor's overseas channels and retail system have also been fully restarted.
In October 2021, the Honor 50 series has begun to resume the global market, and it will be sold simultaneously in 9 countries: France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, Spain, Belarus, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Iraq. At the same time, Honor's channel and retail systems in more than 40 countries around the world have also been initially established, and more than 200 operators and distributors have established cooperation. In 2022, Honor will continue to carry out market penetration in key countries such as France, Finland, the Czech Republic, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, and Mexico.
This high product strength, research and development power, and channel power give Honor the confidence to put the global debut of Magic4 on MWC, taking the first step in globalization and re-issuance. Perhaps, this is also a new step in the globalization of domestic manufacturers.
epilogue
With the glory once again opening up globalization, Chinese mobile phone manufacturers have also entered the 2.0 stage, bidding farewell to the era of quantitative development and entering the high-end brand. From Huawei's appearance at MWC in 2009 to glory's re-emergence in 2022, facts have proved that Chinese brands have passed on the torch and the road to rise has never stopped.
Under the leadership of front-end brand owners, China's mobile phone industry chain will also conquer globalization, realize industrial transformation and technological upgrading - this is a new Chinese story.