Produced | Sohu Technology
Author | Liang Changjun
Edit | Yang Jin
Operations Editor | Liu Yujia
"Buy a car and send your phone? Or buy a mobile phone to send a car? Talking about the upcoming NIO mobile phone, NIO owner Wang Qian said that he may not buy the first generation of mobile phones, "I don't want to be a guinea pig." ”
Since the beginning of 2022, the release of NIO's first mobile phone has been delayed from the end of last year to this year. NIO President Qin Lihong revealed earlier that the NIO Phone will be released on September 21, and some owners confirmed this time to Sohu Technology.
This does not seem like a good time. Huawei Mtae 60 series is not sold first, continues to be popular, and will officially release mobile phones and other products on September 25. Apple launched the iPhone 15 series last week, and although it was complained about the lack of innovation, there were also many highlights.
"Now I'm using an Apple phone, and if I give priority to the recently released iPhone or Mate 60 Pro." Wang Qian said to Sohu Technology.
Despite the prominent user label, NIO CEO Li Bin may have overestimated the stickiness of car owners. "I will not unconditionally support it because it is a NIO phone, but because it really works well and the product is hard enough, I will buy it." Another NIO owner, Li Ming, told Sohu Technology.
Li Bin previously stressed that the purpose of making mobile phones is not to compete with Huawei, Xiaomi, etc., but to create an integrated ecology of mobile phones and car machines. However, many car owners mentioned that they do not care about the so-called ecology of NIO, and the interactive functions of the car machine can basically meet the daily needs.
As of the end of August this year, NIO has sold about 383,900 vehicles, even if its owners buy all mobile phones, it is not a fraction of the sales of domestic leading mobile phone manufacturers. This makes the outside world full of doubts about the prospects of NIO mobile phones, Wang Qian bluntly said, not NIO owners are difficult to trust NIO mobile phone brands, on the whole, it must be sold at a loss.
Will the upcoming NIO mobile phone make NIO owners excited? At least now, whether for car owners such as Wang Qian and Li Ming, or in the eyes of the outside world, NIO's mobile phone will be difficult to escape the fate of a backup machine, and profit will also be a big pressure.
The pricing is similar to that of the Mate60 Pro
Some car owners bluntly say that it is not attractive
Since August this year, NIO has begun to collect car owners' purchase intentions for NIO mobile phones. A number of NIO users said that they received the collection of intentions pushed by the NIO app. NIO car groups around the country have also started warming up to collect users' purchase needs.
Wang Qian said that some time ago, he received this intention, but did not fill in the intention, and the first generation of products may not be considered enough. "Now that there are a lot of smartphone options, the NIO Phone doesn't appeal much to me."
Li Ming, who has not yet seen the real machine, is in a wait-and-see state, but he is also a little looking forward to it. "NIO's aesthetic design, including functional design, should be fine." But whether you will buy it in the end, the key depends on whether the function can meet the demand.
Previously, the appearance of NIO's mobile phone has been exposed on the Internet, which adopts a straight screen design, with three cameras and a ring light; The upper part of the back panel is made of piano lacquer, and the lower part is made of simple leather, which has a strong business atmosphere. A user who has experienced engineering machines on the NIO APP revealed that the NIO mobile phone looks like a combination of (OnePlus) Ace Pro + realme GT5, which is slightly longer than the Mate 50.
The appearance of NIO's mobile phone exposed on the Internet
In terms of performance configuration, according to many sources, NIO mobile phones are equipped with Qualcomm Snapdragon 8Gen2 leading version chips, ultra-large core frequency 3.36GHz, and match 12GB of memory and 1TB of storage space.
According to public information, NIO Mobile has obtained the permission of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology to access the network in July, and the applicant unit is NIO Mobile Technology Co., Ltd., a company established in August last year with a registered capital of 100 million US dollars, and the legal representative is Qin Lihong. The model will support 5G network standards, dual SIM and dual standby, and is produced in Xiangtan City, Hunan Province.
According to the judgment of this circle, NIO's mobile phone assembly factory may be Lens Technology, which is also an enterprise supplier such as Apple, Samsung, Huawei, Xiaomi, OPPO, VIVO and Tesla. In response to investors, Lens Technology said that there are already a number of high-end mobile phones in Xiangtan Park, but due to customer confidentiality requirements, it is not convenient to disclose specific information.
Bloggers who have previously obtained and experienced NIO Phone said that compared with mainstream Huawei, Xiaomi and other Android phones, the performance of NIO Phone is not the top level, but the configuration that should be given is there, and it is not an unqualified mobile phone. Li Bin previously revealed in the car friends group that the NIO Phone feels absolutely good, the back is very recognizable, the basic performance is also good, not hot, power saving, long standby time.
Wang Qian believes that NIO's mobile phone may be well designed, but other aspects, such as system research and development, may be relatively weak for the time being. Ivan Lam, a senior analyst at Counterpoint Research, judged Sohu Technology that from the current exposure information, NIO's mobile phone may not be at the same level in product strength compared with the high-end mobile phones of mature domestic head manufacturers.
In terms of price, NIO mobile phone positioning Android flagship machine, the market forecast price is 5,000 yuan - 7,000 yuan. The aforementioned NIO APP owner said that the price of NIO's mobile phone is similar to that of Mate60Pro, which means that its price is closer to the price of 7,000 yuan.
Ivan Lam believes that NIO's first-generation mobile phone is seen as a set product, so its price positioning does not think too much about competing with all the latest key players in the market, but is more focused on supporting the overall NIO ecosystem.
Li Ming said that the aforementioned pricing of NIO mobile phones is acceptable, but the expensive ones are reasonable and valuable. "If the appearance is good enough, the car machine can have a unique connection function, the functional configuration can also be played, plus economic conditions permit, I can also buy."
Promote the integration of mobile phones and vehicles
Can't escape the fate of the spare machine?
It is widely predicted that NIO's mobile phone will also support UWB ultra-wideband technology, so as to have a digital car key function. Li Bin also previously revealed that in terms of driver interconnection, the first-generation platform has a limited hardware experience, and the second-generation platform experience is definitely good, and there are innovative applications.
UWB communication has the characteristics of strong anti-interference ability, high positioning accuracy and strong coexistence, and officially became the third generation of digital keys in July 2021. But if you want to use the car, you need a mobile phone terminal to support UWB capabilities. At present, a few brands of mobile phones such as Apple, Samsung, and Huawei have this ability, and the market predicts that it will take 2-3 years for mobile terminals to fully popularize UWB functions.
Not wanting to be controlled by others is the main reason why NIO cross-border mobile phones. Li Bin previously explained that mobile phones are the most important device for NIO users to connect to cars, and NIO users mainly use Apple and Huawei mobile phones, and the proportion of Apple users is gradually increasing. "The cars of the second generation of NIO platform are equipped with UWB as standard, and Apple does not open the interface, which makes us very passive."
During the Shanghai Auto Show in April this year, Li Bin told Sohu Technology and other media that NIO's original 50% of users were Apple and 50% of users were Android, and now it has become 60% Apple and 40% Android. These mobile phone companies are not very open, Android is more open, but now they want to make cars.
Apple's CarPlay is based on the iOS system, and the iPhone can be adapted to use. Although Android phones are relatively open, Huawei, Xiaomi, etc. have become competitors of NIO. Before NIO was exposed to making mobile phones, Apple and Xiaomi were already promoting car manufacturing. Although Huawei claims not to build cars, it has also deeply intervened through the smart selection mode, and has also created the Hongmeng car machine system, landing models such as Qianjie and Avita.
"We were forced to build our users an Android phone that would match our car best." Li Bin has stressed many times that NIO's mobile phone is not attacking, but defending, and it is a last resort. "If you don't make a mobile phone, it's equivalent to having the keys to your own home in the hands of your opponent."
Ivan Lam also mentioned that NIO's users are mainly concentrated in Apple mobile phone users, while Apple's CarPlay localization process is relatively long, NIO mobile phone can improve the car experience, promote the interaction between smart phones and cars, and provide other mobile phone manufacturers difficult to replicate the exclusive experience.
A number of NIO owners said that at present, they mainly connect to the car through Bluetooth. "Some of the interactive functions now basically meet my needs, and there are no functions that I am excited or strongly need. If you have functions such as AirTransfer and resource sharing between Mac Book and iPhone, you can also consider buying a mobile phone. Wang Qian said.
Li Ming also said that the current demand for UWB digital car keys is general, and it is acceptable to use Bluetooth to get through. "As a car owner, I care more about whether the function is good or not, or whether I value the experience, and I don't care about NIO's so-called ecological concept."
However, there are also NIO owners who are Apple family barrel users who told Sohu Technology that what they are most looking forward to and most needed is the linkage between mobile phones and car machines, referring to the current Huawei, Lynk & Co 08 and Meizu. "Although I don't have high expectations for NIO mobile phones, I will still buy them for use as a backup phone."
For similar purposes to NIO, Geely acquired Meizu in the middle of last year. The recently released Lynk & Co 08 moves the mobile phone function to the car, with functions such as cross-border non-sensory application and non-sensory navigation flow, realizing cross-terminal interconnection and natural human-computer interaction.
Ivan Lam believes that NIO's original intention to launch its mobile phone business is to support its core business, and there is no need to consider replacing Apple or other brands in the short term. "It's more like a car key or a spare phone, and this dual-phone usage pattern is quite common among business people or high-end users."
The goal is to take down half of the owners
NIO mobile phone to sell at a loss?
For NIO, which lacks brand accumulation, it is difficult to get a piece of the current high-end mobile phone market in the red sea. At present, the domestic high-end mobile phone market is basically monopolized by Apple and Huawei.
According to IDC data, in the first half of this year, Apple, Huawei, OPPO, Xiaomi, Honor, and vivo accounted for more than 97% of the domestic mobile phone market of more than $600, of which Apple and Huawei accounted for 82.6%.
Yuan Shuai, deputy secretary-general of the Zhongguancun Internet of Things Industry Alliance, believes that NIO's positioning of mobile phones as a product serving NIO owners may have certain market demand. However, there are already many Android flagship brands in the market, and the competition is also fierce, and NIO needs to make breakthroughs in technology, performance and user experience in order to gain more recognition and acceptance from users.
Li Bin seems to be very clear about this, saying that "mobile phones are rolled more ruthlessly", and has repeatedly emphasized that NIO makes mobile phones for user needs, not to compete with Huawei, Xiaomi and so on.
"NIO's mobile phones can sell hundreds of thousands of units, and half of the users are very happy to buy them, and they feel that they have reached their goals." In Li Bin's view, the pressure on car users to change mobile phones of the same brand is small, while mobile phone users change cars of the same brand, only Apple can do it. Obviously, Li Bin sees Apple as his biggest competitor in the future.
According to the current cumulative sales volume of 383,900 NIO, if the penetration rate reaches half, NIO mobile phones are expected to achieve more than 1.1 billion yuan in revenue (based on the price of 6,000 yuan), which is insignificant in NIO's tens of billions of yuan in revenue.
At the same time, the investment in building a flagship mobile phone is also huge. Honor CEO Zhao Ming previously said in a conversation with Sohu Technology that Honor needs 1 billion yuan to develop a flagship machine, which is not counting production costs and marketing channel laying (expenses).
Talking about the opportunity for new brands to enter the market, the veteran who has been deeply engaged in the communication industry for more than 20 years and the mobile phone industry for nearly 10 years pointed out that it is no problem to simply stack a mobile phone, but to do the experience of TOP, the challenge is still great.
Wang Qian said that NIO's mobile phone to open the car system is necessary and will also form an advantage, but at present, it is not very optimistic about the prospects of NIO's mobile phone. He believes that NIO's stall is too big, and now the environment is so bad, it is necessary to tighten his waist to live, and the cash flow of car companies is particularly important. "It's hard to understand what NIO is talking about as ecology, it may be like JD.com, which is less profitable in the short term."
At present, in addition to mobile phones, NIO is also developing high-investment fields such as chips and batteries, and continues to expand infrastructure such as communities and energy replenishment. In the first half of this year, NIO lost about 10.8 billion yuan, doubling its year-on-year loss, and an average loss of nearly 200,000 yuan per vehicle.
"What are the selling points of NIO mobile phones in terms of battery life (Huawei), innovation (Apple), cost performance (Xiaomi), and photography (Huawei, OPPO)?" Wang Qian believes that it is difficult for NIO mobile phones to obtain users other than NIO owners, even if they are sold to car owners, it will be less than 400,000, and it is likely to lose money in the end.
Qin Lihong also said earlier that NIO will not make money from advertising in mobile phones. This will make NIO's profitability pressure even greater. Yuan Shuai said that NIO may need to explore other ways to make money, such as providing value-added services through the interconnection with the car.
Li Bin previously said that he would not take mobile phones as his main business, but said that he would develop a mobile phone every year like Apple. This also means continuous investment, and the market performance of NIO's mobile phone in the lead may also affect the layout of subsequent models and other smart devices.
For the upcoming NIO mobile phone, some owners said that they would participate in Shanghai on-site, but some owners were not very interested. "When you release it, I will pay attention to it when I have time." Wang Qian said.
(Note: Wang Qian and Li Ming are pseudonyms)