Qualcomm chip windfall profits have sparked industry outrage
In today's mobile phone industry, Qualcomm is undoubtedly one of the most influential chip suppliers. With excellent technical strength and first-mover advantage, Qualcomm has dominated the mobile phone chip market for many years. In recent years, the high pricing of Qualcomm chips has caused widespread criticism and dissatisfaction inside and outside the industry.
According to Li Nan, a veteran of the mobile phone industry, the price of Qualcomm chips has reached the level of 140-160 US dollars (about 1000-1150 yuan). For a domestic mobile phone of about 4,000 yuan, the cost of the chip has accounted for about 1/4 of the total cost, which is undoubtedly a heavy burden.
In the current environment of chip shortage, domestic mobile phone manufacturers have no choice but to be forced to accept Qualcomm's high-priced chips. Li Nan bluntly said that domestic mobile phone brands were "out of breath" by the high price of Qualcomm chips. Some small and medium-sized mobile phone manufacturers have even had to withdraw from the market because they cannot afford the cost of chips. The profiteering pricing of Qualcomm chips has undoubtedly intensified the survival pressure of domestic mobile phone manufacturers.
Domestic mobile phone manufacturers are in a passive situation
Qualcomm has occupied a monopoly position in the field of mobile phone chips for a long time, and domestic mobile phone manufacturers can only passively accept Qualcomm's pricing due to the lack of independent and controllable chip capabilities. In recent years, although some chip manufacturers have emerged in China, they are still far from being comparable with Qualcomm in terms of technical level and market share.
In the face of Qualcomm's "overlord clause", domestic mobile phone manufacturers have no other way but to be forced to accept it. Some mobile phone manufacturers have tried to ask Qualcomm to reduce prices through collective bargaining, but in the end they have failed. With its absolute advantage in chip technology and patents, Qualcomm firmly controls the right to speak.
In the industry, the reason why Qualcomm can arbitrarily increase the price of the mobile phone chip market is mainly due to its absolute monopoly position in the field of baseband chips. The baseband chip is the most critical in the mobile phone chip and is responsible for the communication between the mobile phone and the base station. Qualcomm has the vast majority of patents in this field, and other chip manufacturers must pay high patent fees if they want to produce baseband chips.
This makes Qualcomm in the "boss" position in the mobile phone chip market, and other chip manufacturers cannot really form a strong competition. Relying on this advantage, Qualcomm implements monopoly pricing on the mobile phone chip market, while domestic mobile phone manufacturers can only passively accept it due to the lack of chip autonomy and controllability.
Huawei's Kirin chip may change the landscape
In the face of the profiteering pricing of Qualcomm chips, Li Nan made an interesting suggestion: he called on Huawei to open up its own Kirin chips and sell them to other domestic mobile phone manufacturers. If Huawei really does this, it will undoubtedly bring a ray of life to domestic mobile phone manufacturers.
Huawei's self-developed Kirin chip has excellent performance and power consumption, which is completely comparable to Qualcomm chips. Moreover, since there is no need to pay high patent fees, the cost of Kirin chips is bound to be lower than that of Qualcomm chips. If Huawei opens up the Kirin chip, then domestic mobile phone manufacturers can choose to use the Kirin chip at a more affordable price, thereby greatly reducing the overall cost of the mobile phone.
For domestic mobile phone manufacturers who have been deeply hurt by Qualcomm's chip "price robbery", Huawei's opening of Kirin chips is undoubtedly a blessing. With the Kirin chip as an alternative option, domestic mobile phone manufacturers will no longer passively accept Qualcomm's pricing, so as to alleviate cost pressure and regain space for survival and development.
Huawei's opening up of Kirin chips did not happen overnight. First of all, Huawei needs to solve the problem of chip production capacity to meet the needs of other mobile phone manufacturers. Huawei also needs to establish a sound chip sales and technical support system. But as long as Huawei is determined, these problems can be solved gradually.
Once Huawei's Kirin chip is truly open to other domestic mobile phone manufacturers, Qualcomm's monopoly position in the domestic mobile phone chip market will be severely challenged. With the Kirin chip as an alternative option, domestic mobile phone manufacturers will no longer passively accept Qualcomm's pricing, thus forcing Qualcomm to adjust its pricing strategy and ultimately achieve reasonable and orderly competition.
Chip autonomy and controllability is the fundamental way out
Throughout the whole incident, it is not difficult to find that the fundamental reason why domestic mobile phone manufacturers are oppressed by the high price of Qualcomm chips is the lack of independent and controllable chip capabilities. Only with independent and controllable chips can domestic mobile phone manufacturers truly get rid of the dilemma of being passively slaughtered.
At present, although the mainland has made some progress in the field of chips, there is still a big gap compared with the international advanced level. Especially in key areas such as baseband chips, we are still heavily dependent on imports. This is destined to make it difficult for us to compete with international giants such as Qualcomm in the field of mobile phone chips.
Accelerating the pace of chip independence and controllability and breaking foreign monopolies is the fundamental way out for the mainland's mobile phone industry to achieve truly independent development. Only in this way can we truly get rid of the dilemma of being passively slaughtered and grasp more initiative and voice in the global mobile phone industry chain.
To achieve chip autonomy and controllability, it is not achieved overnight. This requires strong support from the state in terms of policies, funds, and talents. We should also strengthen exchanges and cooperation with the international advanced level and master more key core technologies. Only in this way can the mainland chip industry achieve independence and controllability as soon as possible and provide strong support for terminal products such as mobile phones.
Qualcomm's chip profiteering pricing has sparked widespread dissatisfaction and criticism inside and outside the industry. Due to the lack of independent and controllable chip capabilities, domestic mobile phone manufacturers can only be forced to accept Qualcomm's "robbery price" and face heavy cost pressure.
Li Nan suggested that Huawei open up the sale of Kirin chips to other domestic mobile phone manufacturers, which will undoubtedly bring a ray of life to domestic mobile phone manufacturers and force Qualcomm to adjust its pricing strategy to achieve reasonable and orderly competition. But fundamentally speaking, in order to truly get rid of the dilemma of being passively slaughtered, the mainland mobile phone industry must accelerate the pace of chip independence and control, break foreign monopolies, and grasp more right to speak.
Only in this way can the mainland mobile phone industry occupy its due position in the global industrial chain and achieve truly independent development. In this regard, our top priority is to increase the investment in policies, funds and talents for independent and controllable chips, master more key core technologies, and realize independent and controllable chips as soon as possible.