The non-mobile phone market has become an important battlefield, how can its order visibility be in 2022?

Jiwei Network news, "Now everyone is crowded into the non-mobile phone market." ”

In view of the current situation of the smart phone market, a person who is deeply involved in the mobile phone industry chain said helplessly. The reason is that domestic smartphone sales have fallen sharply, and in order to maintain the basic operation of the factory and fill some capacity gaps, mobile phone suppliers have squeezed into the non-mobile phone market.

According to IDC's latest data, domestic smartphone shipments in the first quarter of 2022 were 75 million units, down 13.7% year-on-year. On the one hand, due to the fragmentation of terminal products, more consumers have purchased diversified products such as tablets and wearable devices, on the other hand, the uninterrupted epidemic has also led to a reduction in consumer mobility, and more consumers have delayed the purchase plan of smart phones and other products.

In other words, non-mobile terminal products have dispersed a part of the mobile phone consumer population, and the epidemic has caused a heavy blow to the smartphone industry. Under such a situation, mobile phone brand manufacturers have also taken relevant measures. According to a supply chain source who is deeply involved in the mobile phone market, in order to better develop the non-mobile phone market, some of the procurement personnel of mobile phone terminal manufacturers are now transferred to the non-mobile phone field.

It can be seen that in the era of human-centered intelligent interconnection, scenes and experiences are being reconstructed, and the boundaries of products and services have been broken. However, under the continuous shroud of the epidemic, how can mobile phone manufacturers compete for the visibility of non-mobile phone orders?

What is the market like for non-mobile phones?

Nowadays, with mobile phones as the core, a strong ecosystem has been built around smart home, sports health, tablets, PCs, AR/VR and other full-scenario intelligent life experiences.

With the landing of 5G, Internet of Things, big data, artificial intelligence and other technologies, intelligent terminal products are entering a new cycle of innovation and growth resonance, and provide continuous momentum for the rapid growth of terminal upstream and downstream manufacturers.

However, due to the impact of the national phased epidemic, IDC will lower its forecast for the terminal market for the whole year of 2022. IDC said that as of the beginning of April, the uninterrupted epidemic in various places has led to a significant increase in market inventories, and the uncertainties in logistics, upstream accessories and machine production are also more prominent; at the same time, combined with the recent rise in the cost of raw materials such as crude oil. Under the comprehensive judgment, the terminal market forecast for the whole year of 2022 will be lowered, of which smartphones, PCs, monitors, etc. will have a greater impact; wearables, tablets, etc. will have a smaller impact.

Mobile phones, notebooks, and tablets are commonly known as the three major pieces of smart hardware, but in the non-mobile phone market, notebooks and tablets are also difficult to escape the fate of weak sales.

A few days ago, research and research agency TrendForce pointed out that in the first half of 2022, the notebook will be covered under the pressure of correction, and the shipment estimate will be revised down from the original annual shipment of 238 million units to 225 million units, an annual decrease of 8.5%. This is mainly due to the weak momentum of Chromebook shipments, the impact of the Russo-Ukrainian war on demand, and the downward revision of the 2022 shipment outlook of various notebook brands.

In addition to the above-mentioned PC and tablet fields, what is the market situation of other non-mobile phone terminal markets? In this regard, the author learned from the supply chain that from the current situation, the entire market for non-mobile phones is relatively closed, and many market demands are not clear.

Some insiders said bluntly that now is the third year of the epidemic, in the non-mobile phone market, in fact, the overall growth point is not prominent, the PC that has been growing strongly before is now showing a state of decline in demand, and new energy vehicles seem to have grown, but the Russian-Ukrainian war has affected the demand of the market, and other areas have not grown significantly, at most it can only be said to maintain the same level as last year.

"In the field of security and surveillance, it seems that the growth rate is also significantly slowing down, but AR and VR will be a growth point next." The above-mentioned person further added.

It admits that there is indeed a market demand for AR and VR at present. However, according to industry feedback, the current AR and VR are still in the early stages, and it needs more time to precipitate.

It can be seen that factors such as the continuous rebound of the epidemic have led to consumption downgrade, which has become a problem for non-mobile phone manufacturers.

Non-mobile phone upstream products may face a decline in unit prices

Today, the camp of the entire non-mobile phone market is expanding.

From the perspective of the product line layout of mobile terminals, in 2017, Huawei's HiLink smart home ecosystem has accessed more than 80 brands, involving more than 50 product categories, and officially launched more than 300 products.

In 2018, Huawei proposed the "1+8+N" all-scenario intelligent ecological strategy, with mobile phones as the main entrance, AI speakers, tablets, PCs, wearable devices, car machines, AR/VR, smart headphones, and smart large screens as the auxiliary entrances, combined with pan-IoT devices such as lighting, security, and environment, to actively create a full-scene smart life experience for users in important scenarios such as smart home, smart vehicles, and sports health.

As of 2018, Huawei has cooperated with more than 150 manufacturers around the world for the HiLink smart home platform, accessing more than 100 categories and covering more than 500 products.

In contrast, other mobile phone manufacturers, in addition to the original mobile phone as the basic business, they are also in the field of wear, AIOT layout, and have successively launched a variety of AIOT products such as smart POS machines, automotive electronics, smart speakers, face recognition retail terminals, covering smart homes and industrial smart terminals and other categories of products.

With the increase of non-mobile phone categories of terminal manufacturers, mobile phone upstream manufacturers have also entered the camp of non-mobile phones. According to the author's understanding, mobile phones have the advantage of large volume, and the products are quite mature, rather than the mobile phone market, the volume is small, the customers are scattered, and because of this, the upstream suppliers of mobile phones have adjusted the allocation of personnel.

A few days ago, according to an industry insider, at present, mobile phone brand manufacturers have transferred some of their original mobile phone procurement personnel to non-mobile phone products. The above-mentioned people are quite worried and mentioned that the procurement personnel of mobile phone brand manufacturers are very skilled and sophisticated, and their move may make the unit price of non-mobile phone products face a downward situation.

"With the large-scale entry of mobile phone module factories, the competition in the non-mobile phone market has changed back to the 'play' of mobile phones, and there has also been a big price war." The above-mentioned person further added.

In this regard, some people in the industry said quite helplessly that the car is the track of the giants, rather than other segments of the mobile phone, and now it is also facing huge pressure, and there are many competitors, so it is more difficult to get orders.

Obviously, under the continuous shroud of the epidemic, both mobile phones and non-mobile phone markets have become the target of the impact. But even so, in the face of the unfavorable situation, there are still manufacturers whose performance is relatively strong. (Proofreading/Sara)