Image source @ Visual China
"Huawei must survive with quality" is the new goal of Hu Houkun, Huawei's rotating chairman.
On April 26, at the 19th Huawei Global Analyst Conference held by Huawei, Hu Houkun proposed that Huawei is taking positive business initiatives to continuously enhance industrial resilience and survive with quality.
Facing the future, even if it is Huawei, living is still the first priority.
Huawei's 2021 financial report shows that the annual revenue of 2021 was 636.8 billion yuan, down 28.6% year-on-year; profit increased to 113.7 billion yuan, an increase of 75.9% year-on-year.
Huawei's profitability has increased, but it has become smaller and it is not safe.
The carrier business is still Huawei's core source of revenue, accounting for 44.2%; Huawei's consumer business has declined severely, with a decline of 49.6%; and the enterprise business is Huawei's only main business to achieve growth, up 2.1% year-on-year.
Huawei attributed the decline in revenue mainly to the decline in consumer business revenue, while part of the net profit increase mainly came from the sale of Honor, X86 server and other businesses.
Huawei is still too dependent on operator services, with a relatively single profit growth point and a lack of new service development. As the consumer business that once had the largest revenue, Huawei needs to find a new growth curve.
Huawei made it clear that the smart auto parts business will be a long-term strategic opportunity point for Huawei.
Huawei is here to grab business
Huawei entered the automotive industry with great interest, showing a posture of "benefiting all sentient beings".
But people in the car industry know it: Huawei is here to grab business.
Huawei always emphasizes that it will never build cars, and is positioned as a supplier of incremental parts for smart cars, but only uses its own ICT technology to empower industrial intelligence and help car companies build good cars.
Huawei wants to highlight its presence in the automotive industry and threatens to help car companies sell good cars, so it will take out its brand operation, marketing experience, and sales network accumulated in the consumer electronics industry as a gift for cooperation with car companies.
Huawei's sincerity has attracted the attention of car companies.
At present, Huawei's car company partners mainly have four companies: BAIC Jihu, GAC Aian, Changan Avita and Xilis under Xiaokang.
Huawei, which has just entered the car, has no small ambitions and a large appetite.
In February, a video of Yu Chengdong's internal speech circulated online. As the CEO of Huawei's terminal BG and the CEO of smart car solution BU, Yu Chengdong said that Huawei's vehicles will use 1 year to overturn Tesla in the future, soar in 2 years, and annual sales will quickly exceed 2 million vehicles.
"When Huawei enters the automotive industry, its goal is to be first, because no one will remember second." On April 18, Yu Chengdong once again made a bold statement in an interview.
However, this time Yu Chengdong's bragging bull is probably difficult to achieve in a short period of time.
Huawei has high hopes for models equipped with its own technology. Last year, Huawei set a "small target" of selling more than 300,000 vehicles in 2022, exceeding the sales volume of Wei Xiaoli in 2021 combined.
Since April last year, Xilis Huawei has selected new models such as SF5 and Q&I M5, which have successively entered Huawei stores. Take the Xilis Huawei Smart SF5, after the release on April 19 last year, the two-day order exceeded 3,000 orders, and the debut was highlighted.
But Huawei clearly overestimates the market's ability to pay.
According to the data of the Association, from April to December 2021, the annual sales of the SF5 totaled 8169 units, with an average monthly sales of less than 1000 vehicles. At the beginning of this year, the Cyrus SF5 was once caught in a shutdown storm.
Huawei sold cars, but could not move the goods.
Hu Houkun also found a step for Huawei yesterday: for the sales target of 300,000 smart cars this year, even if this goal cannot be achieved, please have more tolerance and understanding from the outside world.
On January 5 this year, the official statement of Xilix said that Xilis SF5 will continue to accept user orders, but the C.L.S. SF5, which once occupied the C position in Huawei's store, is withdrawing from the stage and replaced by the Q&A M5 launched by AITO, a new brand co-created by Huawei and Cyris.
From the Cyrus SF5 to the Q&I M5, the cooperation between Huawei and Cyrus has entered a new stage.
At present, Huawei and BAIC cooperate with Jihu Alpha S Huawei HI Version, the delivery date has repeatedly jumped tickets; the Avita 11 jointly built with Changan may be officially unveiled in May; and the first medium- and large-scale intelligent pure electric SUV model (AH8 model) jointly developed with GAC Aeon is scheduled for mass production at the end of 2023.
Although Hu Houkun said that this year Huawei will have new smart cars released, including models of smart selection mode and Inside mode.
At present, only the Q&E M5 is the main carrier of Huawei's sales targets.
According to the retail data of the Association of Automobile Associations, in March this year, the sales volume of the Q&I M5 reached 3,045 vehicles, as a high-end new energy vehicle that took only 4 months from release to mass production and delivery, the sales performance of the M5 in March was quite considerable, but it was still a drop in the bucket from completing Huawei's goal of 300,000 annual sales.
For entering the automotive industry, Huawei was too optimistic in the early stage, the market forecast was insufficient, the cooperative model was not popular, and the Flag that was established fell down, and Huawei's gold finger seemed to be invalid.
In an april 18 interview, Yu Chengdong also admitted that it is difficult to achieve the sales target of 300,000 vehicles this year, "in the case of global car lack of cores, it is impossible to achieve 300,000 vehicles." Because the supply is not available. We are in our first year, and if we can build one or two hundred thousand units, it is already a miracle. ”
The market never believes in miracles.
In fact, Xilis simply can't support Huawei's car ambitions. The Xilix Liangjiang Smart Factory has an annual production capacity of only 100,000 vehicles.
Last year, it was pointed out that the quality control of Cyrus SF5 was not good, and it could not meet Huawei's standards, so Huawei simply sent a team of nearly 300 people to enter Cyrus, but it was helpless for Cyrus to finally help the wall.
Huawei's entry into the auto industry is blocked and is in a dilemma: there is a military order of "never build a car" and a lack of strength of car company partners.
Huawei's automotive business is difficult to carry out effectively.
Huawei: Come and go wool with me
Huawei has entered the automotive industry and has also made some preparations.
There are two main cooperation models between Huawei and car companies: Huawei's smart selection model and Huawei's HI model.
Huawei's Smart Choice model is to form cooperation with car companies in product modeling, interior and exterior design, and brand marketing by participating in automotive product definition, vehicle design, and channel sales.
Huawei's HI model uses its full-stack smart car solution to improve the intelligence level of automotive products.
In short, one is a cooperative car; one is a buying and selling relationship.
The purpose of the two is only one: to cooperate with Huawei and work together to shear the user's wool.
BAIC Polar Fox and Changan Avita both adopt Huawei's HI model. Polar Fox Alpha S Huawei HI Version, priced at more than 400,000 yuan, is nearly 200,000 yuan more expensive than the ordinary version.
Whether Huawei's name is worth the 200,000 needs to be marked with a question mark.
Q&I M5 is born in Huawei's smart selection model. This model is not only the first application of the Harmony OS smart cockpit, but also equipped with many Huawei solutions such as HUAWEI DriveONE pure electric drive range extender platform and HUAWEI SOUND sound system.
In addition to production, from design to marketing, Huawei is almost single-handed. The Q&I M5 shows Huawei's personality and characteristics in an all-round way from the name to the heart.
From smart selection to HI, Huawei's participation has decreased, but it still needs to use Huawei's full-stack smart car solutions. Veteran car companies such as BAIC and Changan will not take the liberty of opening the door to Huawei to enter the core area.
SAIC Chen Hong's "soul theory" is still in the ear, Huawei's road to the car is really difficult, and at present, only Xiaokang, a little brother, is fully involved in the arms of Huawei.
Beiqi Jihu and Changan Avita are sub-brands, both of which are water test products of large factories, not all In works.
Among Huawei's car company partners, no one regards Huawei as a life-saving straw, but more of an exploration and innovation in conventional business.
Car companies know that if the cooperation with Huawei fails, it will not hurt the bones.
But they allow the existence of survivor bias, what if it succeeds?
The lessons of the Cyris SF5 still exist, which undoubtedly affects Huawei's image status in the minds of consumers, and also brings unfavorable factors to the sales of the M5.
On the other hand, the competitors of the M5 are too strong, such as the ideal ONE that competes in the same market, Tesla Model Y, BYD Tang and so on.
The M5 wants to seize the market in it, which is tantamount to grabbing food.
But Huawei has no better choice.
Compared with the little brother who tries to hold his thigh to get the admission ticket, Huawei must devote a lot of effort to it and make the car build a thing.
Huawei urgently needs to break the deadlock and make achievements in the automotive field. Behind the seemingly powerful and shiny technical capabilities is a huge cost investment.
In 2021, Huawei's R&D investment reached 142.7 billion yuan, a record high. Among them, Huawei's investment in smart car solutions reached US$1 billion, which is equivalent to Weilai's research and development investment in 2021. Huawei's R&D team in this business unit has also reached a scale of 5,000 people.
Hu Houkun said that Huawei is increasingly clear that the automobile or mobility industry has reached an inflection point, and the timing is crucial.
If Huawei has achieved little success in the rapidly advancing automotive industry, it will miss the fleeting golden window.
A few brushes from Huawei
If Huawei wants to gain a foothold in the auto industry, it has to show off a few brushes.
Huawei adopts the strategy of platform + ecology, that is, Huawei organizes the bureau to save plates, erect a Huawei banner, earn money together, and carry things together.
Huawei wants to provide a digital base for smart cars through three platforms: the open intelligent vehicle digital platform iDVP, the intelligent driving computing platform MDC, and the HarmonyOS smart cockpit.
According to Huawei's financial report data, the iDVP platform of the intelligent car digital platform has completed the system pre-integration with 20 devices of 10 manufacturers.
In the field of intelligent driving, Huawei has developed more than 70 intelligent driving partners to join the MDC ecosystem to jointly promote the pilot and commercialization of intelligent driving scenarios such as passenger cars, ports, mining cards, and parks.
Based on the Hongmeng vehicle and machine operating system, Huawei's intelligent cockpit platform has cooperated with more than 150 software and hardware partners to rapidly develop cockpit solutions with full-scenario coverage and multi-device collaboration.
Huawei has developed more than 300 industry chain partners around the three major platform solutions. It means that the production and manufacture of automobiles has moved towards a cross-border ecological model.
In the field of electrification, Huawei launched the DriveONE power domain full-stack solution and the industry's first power domain full-stack high-voltage platform solution, which can be charged for 10 minutes and have an endurance of 200 kilometers.
In April 2021, Huawei joined hands with 22 partners including industry organizations, car companies, and charging operators to establish the "High Voltage Fast Charging Industry Development Circle".
Huawei's other business units are also constantly transfusing blood for the smart car solutions business.
Yiou Auto learned that Huawei has 86 basic technology laboratories, focusing on basic theoretical breakthroughs and cutting-edge technology applications, and has solutions for the automotive and mobility fields in optical applications, digital energy, energy storage, HUAWEI CLOUD and other related businesses.
As soon as Huawei's battle is put out, it can indeed absorb a wave of powder.
The automotive industry really needs fresh blood, strong catfish, if Huawei has a strong heart, what is the point of not fighting.
epilogue
To break through the world in the automotive industry, Huawei is determined.
It claims that to seize the trend of intelligence, the industry will usher in the great development of intelligent driving, intelligent space, intelligent services and intelligent production.
The opportunities of the times have emerged, and Huawei is still in a dilemma, tying the second growth curve to the cooperative models, which is equivalent to putting the life of the family on others. Such an uncontrollable business model, does Huawei really not understand?
At the analyst conference yesterday, Hu Houkun said with a long heart: "Huawei is a newcomer to the smart automotive industry, many things to learn, may make a lot of mistakes." ”
Perhaps, Huawei is only one way away from breaking its promise when it builds a car.