Jiwei network news, "A certain manufacturer had thousands of people at its peak, and by the end of last year, there were only more than 300 people." For the market situation of smart phones, some insiders have said helplessly.
Behind all this, in addition to the "failure" of its own strategic decision, the entire unfavorable environment is actually the biggest driver. In May last year, Guo Mingqi warned that by 2022 Chinese mainland mobile phone brand manufacturers have cut 270 million mobile phone orders, and global smartphone shipments in the same year fell 11.7% year-on-year, the lowest since 2014.
The unfavorable situation of mobile terminals is also reflected in the supply chain. According to Jiwei.com learned from the supply chain, last year, the entire upstream supply chain of mobile phones was shrouded by reduced orders and declining gross margins, and the ensuing low capacity utilization rate was the norm, and at this stage, some manufacturers had no choice but to reduce working days in the off-season.
Others are lean in-house, reducing spending in mature areas, selectively reducing staff in certain functions and preparing contingency plans.
Suddenly, the flow of personnel has arisen, and the news of layoffs in the mobile phone market is not uncommon. So, in the case of this sharp decline in mobile phone shipments last year, what are the changes in personnel at the end of the downstream industry chain of mobile phones? What are the characteristics of the change in the number of people? Where are the new industry opportunities under the change in the number of people?
Mobile phone track cooling: serious loss of personnel
In 2022, the Android camp is mired in slashing. The ensuing news of layoffs has been repeatedly pulled into the front of the stage. At the end of last year, it was reported that Xiaomi carried out large-scale layoffs, involving multiple departments.
For the number of layoffs, Xiaomi officially denied it, but it also responded that there were real layoffs at the end of the year, and the compensation policy was implemented in accordance with N+2.
In addition to Xiaomi, on November 12 last year, according to Taiwan media reports, Duntai Chairman Hu Zhengda said at the legal conference held on November 11 that although the worst time point has passed, the current market situation is still unclear, it is expected that inventory will need to be adjusted for 9 months to 1 year to return to normal water levels, the company is carrying out lean management, it is expected to eliminate 10% to 13% of employees, all of which are non-R & D talents, and senior executives have also reduced salaries.
Obviously, this is a helpless move taken by upstream and downstream manufacturers after the mobile phone track cools down. However, as everyone knows, in fact, there are still some actions behind the layoffs of mobile phone manufacturers that have been ignored.
Taking Xiaomi as an example, it is observed that in the first quarter of this year, Xiaomi employees increased by 366 on the basis of 2021, of which 222 mainland employees and 410 R&D employees.
The company's personnel reduction is from the second quarter of 2023, which includes both mainland employees and hundreds of R&D personnel.
But in the third quarter of last year, the number of full-time employees, mainland employees and R&D employees of Xiaomi reached another peak, but as of 2022, the number of full-time employees of Xiaomi decreased by 2,771 compared to September 30, and even the number of R&D personnel decreased by 740. This also means that throughout the fourth quarter, Xiaomi made major adjustments in full-time employees and research and development personnel.
However, overall, compared with the same period of the previous year, Xiaomi has 884 fewer full-time employees in 2022, of which 976 fewer mainland employees, but 1,579 more R&D personnel than the same period last year.
In addition, when Jiwei Network counted the personnel changes of mobile phone listed companies, it was found that last year, the personnel of Furi Electronics, Tongxingda, Changying Precision, Wufang Optoelectronics, Qiu Ti Technology, and Xinli International all showed a year-on-year decrease. Among them, the personnel of Tongxingda, Changying Precision, Qiu Ti Technology and Xinli International have been reduced by more than 1,000 on the basis of the previous year.
The employees of Qiu Ti Technology and XL International will decrease by 5,100 and 3,300 respectively in 2022. As for the reasons for the decrease in employees, Qiu Ti Technology said bluntly in the announcement that the significant decrease in employees compared with last year was mainly due to the reduction of the company's production capacity and labor demand due to the further demonstration of the group's production automation and digital upgrade, and the decline in sales of camera modules and fingerprint recognition modules this year reduced employee demand.
It is worth mentioning that although the number of employees in Crystal Optoelectronics has decreased, the company's R & D personnel have increased by 447 on the basis of the previous year; In addition, the number of employees of BOE A, Lante Optics and Sunny Optics in 2022 has increased significantly year-on-year, of which BOE, Lante Optics and Sunny Optics have increased by 8882, 357 and 1946 employees respectively on the basis of the previous year.
It should be noted that BOE A not only has a high growth rate of personnel in 2022, but also the company's production personnel have increased by 6,759 employees on the basis of the previous year. It is not difficult to see that the company's business volume must have a significant breakthrough in 2022, and Guo Mingxi also issued an article earlier that the latest investigation shows that BOE has beaten Samsung and obtained most of the display orders for the new iPhone 15 and 15Plus. If development and production go smoothly in the next few months, BOE will be the largest screen supplier for iPhone 15 and 15Plus, accounting for about 70% of supply.
Therefore, it is impossible to speculate that the large increase in BOE A production personnel last year may be related to the Apple project. Coincidentally, last year, Lante Optics' employees, technicians and R & D personnel also increased significantly compared with the same period of the previous year, and those familiar with Lante Optics understood that there was a "close relationship" between the company and Apple, so Apple's customer may become the driving force behind the growth of its technical personnel and R & D personnel.
Of course, whether it is to serve very large customers, or to expand other areas and expand new business, behind all these personnel changes, it is not just numbers. Taking the increase of production line employees as an example, under normal circumstances, the increase in production line employees is generally due to the increase in orders, and the increase in the number of R & D is more worthy of scrutiny, because it plays a crucial leading role in the future market trend.
What is the trend of mobile phone supply chain R&D?
Even under the great recession of mobile phone shipments, the net profit of manufacturers has decreased significantly, but they still increase investment in R & D personnel, and the importance of which is self-evident.
When it comes to today's consumer electronics market, some insiders have bluntly said that today, the entire consumer electronics is in a stage of transformation, and at this stage, confusion seems to have become a difficult problem. Through observation, it is found that the research and development trends of manufacturers that increase in R & D personnel can provide some ideas for mobile phone industry chain manufacturers who are confused.
To this end, in order to let mobile phone manufacturers see the market development prospects more clearly during the trough period, Jiwei Network Special has carried out relevant sorting out in the disclosure stage of the annual report.
Through combing, it was found that BOE A's R&D personnel increased by 1367 on the basis of the previous year, and the R&D personnel of Crystal Optoelectronics increased by 447 on the basis of the previous year, so where are they invested in R&D?
Taking BOE A as an example, Jiwei Network observed that BOE A mentioned the words "1+4+N+Ecological Chain" business development framework in its 2022 annual report. It takes "1" as the semiconductor display, which is called the source and origin of transformation and development.
"4" is based on BOE's core capabilities and value chain extension selected direction, is its layout in the process of Internet of Things transformation, Internet of Things innovation, sensing, MLED and smart medical engineering four main fronts.
"N" is BOE's continuous development and cultivation of the Internet of Things subdivision application scenarios, and is the specific focus of its Internet of Things transformation and development.
Through combing, it was found that in terms of R&D investment, BOE's R&D investment is not only for mobile phones, wearables, notebooks, automotive, IC and multi-scenario applications, but also the company has expanded its business to its own brands and terminal fields.
After observation, it is found that the R&D investment of crystal optoelectronics points to the absorption reflection blue glass infrared cut filter project, the fingerprint recognition side button project, the combined micro prism project, the optical sensing module project, the DOE project, the vehicle Diffuser project, the vehicle lidar radome project, the AR-HUD project, the W-HUD project, and the AR/VR optical module project.
In fact, in 2022, the entire mobile phone supply chain is in a trough period, therefore, the entire mobile phone industry chain personnel generally declined, but many companies in the industry downcycle, still continue to maintain high-intensity R&D investment, and achieved positive results, of course, high-intensity R&D investment Although it has a certain impact on their expenses, and then affects the performance of the current net profit, but these investments will bring them a stronger source of growth and growth momentum in the future. (Proofreader/Li Shuai)