Text/Zheng Dadun
Gold three silver four, it is time for mobile phone manufacturers to issue new machines.
The mobile phone market has had ups and downs over the years, but no one has ever really shaken the iPhone's head position. In the fourth quarter of last year, the iPhone set a record for the highest market share in The country: for every five phones sold, one Apple phone was sold.
Authoritative consulting agency Counterpoint reported that Apple's market share in 2021Q4 was as high as 21%
To know that this is not only the data of the high-end machine market, but also the thousand-yuan machine and the mid-range machine, Apple still sells the best.
In addition, according to data released by the China Mobile Terminal Lab, up to 76.3% of iPhone users will maintain brand loyalty. In addition to the two OV brands, the rest are less than 50%.
If the mobile phone market is compared to a class, Apple is the "other people's child" who has both good character and excellent learning.
Benchmarking
It is a fact that the iPhone is very good, and it is also a fact that it is expensive to sell.
With the continuous development of technology, the popularity of 4G and even 5G, global consumers are becoming more and more receptive to high-end models. Many domestic mobile phone brands have also launched an attack on the high-end market, but in the price range of the iPhone (800 to 999 US dollars), in addition to Huawei's head-on confrontation before the chip storm, other brands have not shaken Apple's position.
Indeed, spending thousands of dollars to buy a mobile phone, choosing to go is really the most pleasing to the iPhone.
But it is undeniable that from the tenth generation of the iPhone, there have been few disruptive innovations. The iPhone has also embarked on a toothpaste-like "pile" upgrade routine. In addition, signal and fast charging have always been the two major pain points that plague iPhone users. In terms of signal, Apple users have been waiting for a mature and stable baseband that can perfectly adapt to A-series chips, until the iPhone 13 has not been perfectly solved; thanks to the powerful battery management algorithm of iOS, the battery and battery life have achieved a leap forward on the iPhone13 Pro Max, but the charging speed is also part of the endurance experience, and some domestic high-end models with flash charging have done a good job in this regard.
In this way, Apple is not insurmountable, and in recent years, domestic mobile phone brands have launched an impact on the high-end market. At the end of last year, Lei Jun released the "five-year 100 billion" research and development plan, publicly stating that "Xiaomi officially benchmarked Apple, learn from Apple, and must surpass Apple step by step in the next period of time." ”
The Xiaomi Mi 12 series is the first work launched by "Xiaomi officially benchmarking Apple". In addition to micro-innovations such as photo speed, performance, and fast charging, it is worth mentioning Xiaomi's self-developed intelligent dynamic refresh rate technology. For mobile phone users in different scenarios, different sliding speeds, Xiaomi's screen refresh rate can be dynamically switched between 1Hz and 120Hz instantaneously. This is the first sliding variable speed screen in An Android phone, which is used to benchmark the ProMotion technology of the iPhone 13 series.
OPPO and vivo focus on the traditional strength of the iPhone - imaging capabilities. When taking pictures and recordings, the solution for mobile phone stabilization is generally OIS optical image stabilization, that is, the algorithm is used to achieve a more stable camera experience. OPPO's flagship machine adds a lens stabilization "plug-in" to the algorithm, and puts the suspended lens into the narrow body. Vivo also conquered the "micro-gimbal" technology very early, and at the camera hardware level, whether it is technical complexity, module volume control, cost control, it is at the forefront of the industry. In addition, OPPO and Vivo have also reached in-depth cooperation with legendary imaging manufacturers Hasselblad and ZEISS respectively, and these two companies are serious about the deep cultivation of imaging.
Looking back at the mobile phone market in 2021, domestic brands recognize the importance of technological innovation to enter the high-end market, and find a "long board" with a single breakthrough. Although Apple's "short board" is still there, no mobile phone has really shaken Apple's status so far.
The game with Apple is actually a docking with the needs of users in the global high-end market. As a portable computing platform that emphasizes comprehensive performance, the most important thing for consumers is the integrated experience. If you want to challenge Apple, it must be a long-term head-on competition.
challenger
As with competitive sports, there are no mediocre people who can reach a high level of competition. But the championship is leading by a few tenths of a second, a chasm that many people can hardly cross. Zhao Ming, CEO of Honor Terminal Co., Ltd., called Apple a "powerful and respectable opponent."
After experiencing chip turmoil and independent operation, Glory officially released its latest flagship mobile phone - Honor Magic4 series at the World Mobile Communications Conference held in Barcelona on February 28.
This release is just over half a year after Honor's last flagship machine Magic3, and the speed of this research and development and listing shows to a certain extent that Honor has the systematic strength to impact the high-end flagship market. Glory, the "sub-brand" that once focused on young people, is trying to reconstruct the discourse power of high-end products through this globally watched science and technology circle event.
How is Honor's high-end product line market performing? According to Counterpoint's fourth-quarter report last year, Honor's domestic market share increased by 100% year-on-year, followed by Apple, reaching 17%, a large part of which is due to the performance of the Magic3 all-rounder. The new flagship Magic4 series continues the Magic3's "no short board" strategy, and furthermore, Honor begins to have a "long board" that confronts the high-end market competition head-on.
The first "long board" is the first on the hardware, mainly for the pain points of eye fatigue in low-light environments.
In order to better understand this technical difficulty, you can imagine the mobile phone screen as an empty picture frame in the dark night, and someone with a glowing light stick stands behind the picture frame and waves. If the speed of waving is fast enough, so fast that the human eye can no longer distinguish the trajectory of the light stick, then look at the picture frame, only see the color of the light stick on the screen, as if the picture frame itself will glow.
Contrast of high-frequency PWM dimming under high-speed cameras
If you turn down the brightness of the screen, that is, to darken the frame, there are two ways. One way is to reduce the speed of swinging the light stick, similar to the effect of the 480Hz PWM in the picture above, when we will probably have a "dazzling" feeling in front of the frame, although we can't see the appearance of the light stick, but we can still vaguely perceive the trajectory of the light stick. This is where the "screen flash" phenomenon comes from.
Another way is to change to a thinner, lower-brightness light rod, but the speed of the swing is unchanged. This way, the brightness of the frame becomes lower, but it doesn't look as tired as the first method. Similar to the PWM dimming effect of the Honor Magic4 1920Hz above.
The second "long board" is a solution for the pain point of call privacy, which belongs to the category of user experience. The mobile phone earpiece can be seen as a tiny speaker, when in a quiet environment such as a car or an elevator, it is inevitable to miss the sound and leak the privacy of the call. Honor pioneered the dual-unit AI crossover secure private call technology, like adding a layer of invisible channel to the earpiece, which only the owner can hear.
Honor Magic4 Pro supports smart privacy calling for the first time
Private calls are the first and unique in the industry. In terms of screen display, although the iPhone has always occupied an advantageous position, it has hardly seen progress in recent years.
When the iPhone12 full series was released, the domestic flagship brand in the same period almost came standard with a high refresh rate of 120Hz, until the iPhone 13 series, and finally saw high brushes on the iPhone 13Pro and 13ProMax, to know that this is not difficult for Apple, 120Hz high brush + Promotion technology has been adapted to the iPad Pro for many years.
From this point, it can be seen that the domestic flagship has been fighting for many years, and the pace of the iPhone has slowed down.
Rocky moments
"The important thing is not that you can hit multiple punches, but that you can get multiple punches and keep going." In the movie "Rocky" series, the main theme of the boxer Rocky's life is not victory, but being knocked down again and again by opponents, by life, and by various ups and downs.
Glory has experienced the trough of "being knocked down", and at this time last year, Glory had only 3% of the market share, and surviving was the biggest challenge. In January this year, Honor bucked the trend and achieved the top spot in domestic shipments, becoming the first in the Android camp that month.
At the global conference held in Barcelona, Zhao Ming gave a speech in English throughout the process, and the slogan of "HONOR CAN DO" appeared frequently. This slogan was shouted out by a brand that turned around and counterattacked, just right.
But Glory's ambitions are not limited to "domestic first". Zhao Ming has repeatedly said in public that Honor will no longer focus on short-term market share, but will focus more on technology research and development and product experience optimization, adhere to the continuous innovation of system capabilities, and strive to build the ability and strength to compete with the world's top brands, and the final market share is the collateral value of these efforts.
The high-end market will not relax its standards because of the slogan of "benchmarking Apple", and Apple's simple but blockbuster product launches twice a year will not be absent because of competitors' innovation. In fact, the situation in the global high-end market is far from optimistic, and in the first half of 2021, Samsung and Apple reached 94% of the high-end market share in Western Europe. How to seize this part of the highland and achieve a high brand premium is a problem that Honor and other domestic brands have to face.
There is also an impressive scene in the "Rocky" movie, where Rocky runs through the streets and parks, runs through Franklin Avenue, rushes to the top of the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, throws a fist to the sky, and proves his return to the boxing community.
Screenshot of rocky video
The debut of the Honor Magic4 series at the 2022 Mobile World Congress also has the meaning of "Rocky Moment". This is a full demonstration of Glory's brand strength to the global market. From "domestic Android first" to the global high-end market, Honor has the confidence to compete with top players.
Who is the next challenger for the iPhone? It's too early to answer this question. Looking at the global market, Glory is already on the table.
This article represents only the views of the author and does not represent the position of the journal.