Image source @ Visual China
| New Media Technology Review
Luo Yonghao, who was born in 1972, also reached the year of "knowing the Mandate of Heaven".
On April 16, 2022, in reply to whether netizens have the courage to do mobile phones again, Luo Yonghao said: "Because I want to burn investors' money, so I really don't have the courage", indirectly suggesting that I will not enter the smartphone industry again.
However, this does not mean that Luo Yonghao is no longer interested in smart phones, because in response to questions from netizens, Luo Yonghao also said: "Otherwise you vote, as long as 2 billion." We don't think about financial returns or the reactions of the masses, and I'll make you a phone that touches the soul and swells the gut."
Image source @ Weibo
In the past, whether it is the listing of the iPhone 13 series, or the small tail of the nut mobile phone R1 has become an "Android client", Luo Yonghao has stood up for comments. Considering that Luo Yonghao has proved his commercial value through e-commerce live broadcasting, and has the courage to create a "mobile phone that is full of intestines", just because he can't bear to "burn investors' money", it does not seem to explain why he no longer cultivates the smartphone industry.
01 7 rounds of financing nearly 2 billion hit the water
Luo Yonghao said that the reason for not doing mobile phones is because subjectively can not bear to "burn investors' money", but objectively, Luo Yonghao may be difficult to get the trust of investors in the smart phone industry, not only because of the previous failure of hammer mobile phones, but also because of today's market environment is no longer suitable for start-up brands.
According to official information, in March 2012, Hammer Technology received an angel round of financing of 9 million yuan, at which time the company's valuation was 50 million. According to the data of Tianyancha, from 2012 to 2017, Hammer Technology completed a total of 7 rounds of financing, with a total financing scale of nearly 2 billion yuan.
However, reflected in the specific sales level, Hammer Technology's products have been on the edge of the market.
Take Hammer Technology's first product, the Smartisan T1, which was released in May 2014, but as of August 2015, it has sold more than 255,000 units. In contrast, Xiaomi 4 years of sales released at the same time as smartisan T1 has exceeded 10 million units.
This is largely because as a "novice", Luo Yonghao ignores the objective laws of the smartphone industry on the one hand, and amplifies personal emotions on the other hand.
For smart phone products, catching up with the quarterly supply chain dividend is the key to maintaining product competitiveness, and to this day, we can still see many smart phone brands "grabbing the first time" after Qualcomm launched a new processor. However, due to the extremely high requirements for the process, the Smartisan T1 has been repeatedly postponed.
From a processor perspective, the Snapdragon 801 was released in February 2014, and most of the products equipped with the processor were launched in mid-2014. However, due to production capacity, it was not until September of that year that the Smartisan T1 passed the capacity climb period and opened for purchase.
On the other hand, because he believes that he is the "only heir to inherit the mantle of Jobs", Luo Yonghao also believes that his products have a certain brand premium, advertises smartisan T1 as "the best smartphone in the Eastern Hemisphere", and sets its starting price at 4000 yuan, which is twice as expensive as the price of the similar Xiaomi 4 mobile phone 1999 yuan.
Considering that even Huawei has not gained a foothold in the high-end mobile phone market at this time, it is naturally difficult to persuade consumers to pay for the hammer mobile phone that rises from the ground.
Luo Yonghao's style of ignoring the objective laws of the industry has also made Hammer Technology have been in the quagmire of losses. According to the data disclosed by the financial community, in 2015, Hammer Technology lost 462 million yuan, and in 2016, it lost another 427 million yuan.
Although since then, Hammer Technology has reversed the dilemma of "applauding and not calling" through the strategy of reducing the price of flagship products and launching low-priced products, but because Luo Yonghao has not been able to overcome the above character defects, he launched the "not doing business" TNT computer on May 15, 2018, and in the context of the contraction of the industry dividend, Hammer Technology has also gone to the end of the road.
Rising Sun big data shows that in Q1 of 2018, in China's smartphone industry, the shipment of Hammer Technology Technology was only 570,000 units, ranking twentieth. In contrast, Huawei's current shipments reached 36.38 million.
02 The mobile phone industry is not as good as before
It is undeniable that part of the reason for the failure of Hammer Technology's mobile phone business is that in 2014, the window period of the smartphone industry has gradually narrowed.
According to data released by GfK China, in 2013, shipments of China's smartphone industry were 350 million units, an increase of 84% year-on-year. But by 2014, shipments in China's smartphone industry had fallen by 21.9% year-on-year.
As Yu Chengdong said: "In the next few years, some Chinese players will disappear, and there will be only 2-3 left in the global smartphone market." "In the context of the ceiling of this market, not only the hammer, but also the small micro mobile phone brands such as IUNI, Meitu mobile phone, and 360 mobile phone that have not completed the race are also gradually declining."
Taking the Internet brand IUNI as an example, its first product, IUNI U2, was released in March 2014, focusing on "cost-effective". However, the data disclosed by Tencent Technology shows that in the six months of release, the "total sales volume of IUNI U2 does not exceed 50,000 units". Within a few years, IUNI was disappearing from the smartphone market.
Similar to 2014, by 2022, because 5G did not trigger a wave of replacements as expected, the smartphone industry has no more dividends to tap.
According to data released by Canalys, from 2017 to 2020, China's mobile phone shipments fell by 4%, 14%, 7% and 11% respectively. Although in 2021, China's mobile phone shipments increased slightly by 1% year-on-year, but by the beginning of 2022, China's mobile phones have suffered a cold winter.
According to data released by CINNO Research, in February 2022, the total sales volume of China's smartphone industry was about 23.48 million units, down 20.5% year-on-year and 24.0% month-on-month. In the list, except for Glory, which increased year-on-year due to the smaller shipment base due to the independent event in 2021, other smartphone manufacturers have experienced a decline in shipments.
On the one hand, this market trend has intensified the struggle of giants, on the other hand, it has also brought severe tests to the survival of small and micro brands.
First of all, from the perspective of the giants of the smart phone industry, although it has survived the reshuffle period, because the market cake is shrinking, compared with the previous cultivation in the incremental market, in the context of the stock market, it is more difficult to grab food from the mouth of friends.
Taking Xiaomi as an example, it previously hoped to be independent through Redmi, so that the "Millet" brand could explore the high-end market, but due to the narrowing of the market dividend, in order to keep the basic disk, Xiaomi once again chose to return to the previous "cost-effective" old road.
Official information shows that compared with the Xiaomi 11 series, the starting price of the 12 series has been reduced by 7.5%. But unfortunately, the 12 series did not help Xiaomi save shipments. According to CINNO Research, Xiaomi mobile phone shipments in February 2022 fell by 20.1% year-on-year.
As the giants of the smart phone industry control more supply chains and financial resources, the struggle is becoming more and more fierce, which will also bring greater survival pressure to small and micro brands.
Taking Meizu as an example, in 2016, with the tactics of the machine sea, the shipment of Meizu mobile phones reached more than 20 million units, ranking ninth. However, due to the subsequent changes in personnel and product strategies, Meizu was devastated. According to data released by BCI, from the end of 2020 to the beginning of 2021, the market share of Meizu mobile phones is only 0.1%.
Perhaps because of financial difficulties, or because there is no hope of a reversal, in early 2022, Caijing reported that Geely Group was in contact with Meizu to negotiate an acquisition.
In fact, being acquired may be the best choice for small and micro mobile phone manufacturers at this stage. At about the same time as Meizu was acquired, in January 2022, 36Kr also released news that Tencent was planning to acquire the game mobile phone company Black Shark Technology.
03 Luo Yonghao bid farewell to "Luo Yonghao"
"(Hammer mobile phone) is a project that will help them particularly much in the second half of their lives", in the interview program "Zhang Luo A Bureau" created by OPPO, Luo Yonghao said, "The future company should no longer be called Hammer, because the name itself has some problems, the products they want to make are more innovative technology products, and they don't want its public image to be "funny". ”
Although he has not yet returned to the technology industry, after the failure of Hammer Technology, we can clearly feel that Luo Yonghao has bid farewell to his former conceit and become more honest. This point, we only need to compare Luo Yonghao's current and previous remarks on mobile phone entrepreneurship to be clearly felt.
For example, in 2013, the new startup was named "Hammer Technology", and in the face of doubts from Sichuan netizens, Luo Yong also said indignantly, "Isn't it some places in the southwest and northwest?" China is so big, the dialects everywhere have their own stink, I can't take care of it, the United States listed companies also have a name called SB. We have a global mind and do not care about the gains and losses of three cities and two pools. ”
However, Luo Yonghao did not fully compromise, because he had never given up the technology industry he loved in the context of making simple money.
Jingwei Zhang Ying previously said on Weibo: "I am one of those fools who have no courage and no passion and dare not fight hard, and have advised Lao Luo that it is better to do a talk show." With his traffic and Internet celebrity degree, 50-70 million bags a year is easy, but he is going to take the road of making a hammer mobile phone, the more difficult the more persistent. ”
However, Luo Yonghao chose Hammer Technology, although Hammer Technology has made Luo Yonghao bear heavy debts to some extent, but through e-commerce live broadcasting, Luo Yonghao also has a good income. Official information shows that on April 1, 2020, Luo Yonghao started his live broadcast career on Douyin, and the GMV of the live broadcast debut exceeded 100 million yuan.
On September 23, 2020, Luo Yonghao revealed in the finals of the "Talk Show Conference": "The debt of 600 million yuan that began at the end of 2018 has been repaid by nearly 400 million today. ”
It is also in the context of the imminent realization of "wealth freedom" by live streaming with goods, Luo Yonghao once again said on Weibo that he will return to the technology industry and has confirmed that he will devote himself to the AR track.
Although it is not yet known what surprises Luo Yonghao can bring us in the future in the technology industry, considering that he has experienced the tempering of the smartphone industry. In the new entrepreneurial track, even if there is no big achievement, Luo Yonghao can largely avoid the previous problems in the supply chain and personal emotions.