[CNMO] Since smartphones became the most popular terminal, for a long time, mobile phone companies and notebook companies did not seem to have much overlap. On the one hand, in the days when the mobile phone industry is in full swing, the laptop industry seems to be very Buddhist

【CNMO】Since smartphones became the most popular terminal, for a long time, mobile phone companies and notebook companies did not seem to have much intersection. On the one hand, in the days when the mobile phone industry is in full swing, the laptop industry seems to be very Buddhist, and the two sides are clearly distinct. But I don’t know since when, mobile phone companies have released notebook products one after another.

There are many notebook manufacturers involved in the mobile phone industry but rarely successful (picture source from the Internet)

Although it seems that the notebook products released by mobile phone manufacturers usually focus on the selling point of business portability and have not yet touched the core product line of notebook manufacturers. However, Huawei's notebook sales have shown steady growth in China in recent years, and it has already taken over the market share of some notebook manufacturers. As more and more mobile phone manufacturers begin to get involved in the notebook industry, relying on their own unique advantages and the concept of terminal ecology, attract more and more users. The notebook industry must have been aware of this situation, and suddenly dreamed back to ten years ago, because it was in that year that domestic non-operator customized machines or Internet-branded mobile phones also emerged like this, shaking the former mobile phone industry. Dominant brand.

The former "Chinese Cool Alliance" defeated foreign brands (picture source from the Internet)

The "Chinese Cool Alliance" era created an excellent start for domestic mobile phones to seize the foreign brand market, and also gave Internet brands such as Xiaomi and Meizu a fertile market. Soil has also given many computer brands the idea of ​​expanding their mobile phone product lines. In addition to Lenovo, which originally dominated the mobile phone industry, domestic companies such as Shenzhou, Asus, and Acer, and foreign companies such as Dell, HP, and even Microsoft and Intel, have all been involved in the mobile phone industry and launched products. The results are obvious, but since then We can summarize several common characteristics in the reasons why they encounter obstacles.

Emphasis on brand over experience It is difficult to change PC thinking

Back to 2010, the entire PC industry had not yet shown a downward trend, and PC products, including notebooks, were still the main revenue of major notebook manufacturers. The smartphone business was only an immature "possibility" business. At that time, the smartphone market was still controlled by leading brands such as Nokia, Motorola, Lenovo, and ZTE. Other mobile phone manufacturers were also able to achieve this through the user base they had accumulated previously. A basic balance, so notebook manufacturers with smartphone businesses can also focus more on the PC business.

Mobile phone systems focus more on experience (picture source comes from the Internet)

At that time, Android had not yet emerged, and iOS was not yet well-known. Nokia's Symbian and Microsoft's Windows Phone systems carried the early banner of smartphones. Compared with Symbian, Windows Phone is closer to people's expectations for smart systems. However, because of this, Microsoft still adopts the PC model in the development of Windows Phone. As a result, Windows Phone often seems to be directly copied from the computer system. Just like mobile phones, it has not been effectively optimized for mobile phones, and the user experience is mixed. This also gives other systems a chance. Perhaps what they didn't expect is that by 2011, Apple and Samsung occupied nearly 50% of the market share, and their profit share gradually stabilized at more than 90%. The Android system has grown by leaps and bounds from 1.6% in 2011 to 80% of the market share. Rate. It was only then that many manufacturers with mobile phone businesses realized that the new era of smartphones had arrived. In the future, this small handheld device would become the most potential and cruelest "city".

Complete upstream and downstream TOB users are sufficient

As we all know, the manufacturing industry is highly dependent on the upstream and downstream industry chains. The notebook manufacturers at the core of the industry and the upstream supply chain have experienced a long period of accumulation and running-in. Therefore, when it comes to notebook components, notebook manufacturers will It has greater advantages than mobile phone manufacturers, including notebook manufacturers having more say in raw material supply and price control. For mobile phone manufacturers, they still need to purchase raw materials at higher prices, but the price must be lower than that of traditional notebook manufacturers. The profit margins on notebooks themselves are not high, and the net profits of mobile phone manufacturers are also low. Will press again and again.

Upstream and downstream channels are the advantages of notebook manufacturers (picture source comes from the Internet)

Also in the downstream channels, notebook manufacturers adopt the most classic 4P (product, price, promotion, channel) marketing model in the industry, through specific customer groups , stable agents and relatively fixed sales channels form a huge sales network. Especially for TOB users, B-end customers accumulated in the whole machine era provide a stable sales outlet for traditional notebook manufacturers. These customers are difficult for today's mobile phone manufacturers to intervene in notebooks, so mobile phone manufacturers The notebook products produced can only compete for share in the C-end user market.

But this also makes it easy for notebook manufacturers to ignore potential crises. The long-standing role of "market maker" makes notebook manufacturers somewhat take it lightly when facing industry challengers, especially when leading notebook brands are gradually being replaced by mobile phone manufacturers. The response of the invaded edge market is slow, and it may take some time to observe whether traditional notebook manufacturers will take action

Technical weakness Core technology controls

Intel and AMD still control the X86 architecture (picture source comes from the Internet)

In fact, from this point of view, today's notebook manufacturers may be the tomorrow of mobile phone manufacturers. Since most personal computer operating systems today still use Microsoft's Windows system, which is built on the X86 architecture, and the only companies that can manufacture X86 architecture chips are Intel, AMD, and via. The problem lies with patents. Therefore, this also leads to notebook manufacturers having to use chips from Intel and AMD to meet the needs of consumers for daily use. Therefore, we can see that the main research and development of notebook manufacturers is still in cooling technology, power consumption efficiency and other appearance functions, and the core technology is rarely exposed.

ARM’s open architecture brings more possibilities to mobile phone chips (picture source from the Internet)

In comparison, mobile phone manufacturers have many fewer restrictions, although the only common mobile phone chip manufacturers on the market are Qualcomm Snapdragon, MediaTek, and Samsung. Chips Exynos and Huawei Kirin also show the feasibility of mobile phone manufacturers’ self-development of chips. Although the architecture of mobile phone chips is also controlled by ARM, in order to compete with products leave more leeway. In recent years, mobile phone manufacturers have "involved" in technologies such as network connection, photography, fast charging, and biometric identification, which has really promoted the development of the entire technology industry.

In addition, Apple is a special mention here. This company is one of the few companies on the market that is profitable for both notebooks and mobile phones. It has basically achieved self-research on notebook and mobile phone chips under the ARM architecture. For related content, you can refer to Our article on Apple: Steve Jobs not only redefined mobile phones but also made history!

There are no technology-based companies that lead the industry.

Laptop manufacturers mostly aim to fully cover users when formulating product strategies. This will not only expand the audience for their products, but also reduce the research and development costs faced by multiple product lines. . But this also makes it difficult for notebook products of different brands to have a fixed perception in the minds of users. Currently, the most important notebook products on the market are portable business notebooks, gaming notebooks, and comprehensive notebooks. In addition to individual consumers, a large amount of revenue also comes from group purchases, so they can still maintain a high growth momentum in the short term. It is also because of this that many notebook manufacturers have become inert in their research and development. They are all "fed" by the supply chain, and selling similar products is not a problem as long as the marketing is in place. In terms of marketing, mobile phone manufacturers are still much more inexperienced than notebook manufacturers. After all, they are all veterans who have experienced many battles.

Mobile phone manufacturers have been in a process of continuous advancement since their birth. Apple's iPhone has always been the target of all Android mobile phone manufacturers to catch up. From insufficient performance to superior performance, domestic mobile phone manufacturers have continued to catch up in this process, which has also promoted With the advancement of iPhone functions, only in a fully competitive market can enterprises have stronger competitiveness. The law of survival in material competition is vividly reflected in the mobile phone market. In order to survive, each manufacturer must have its own strengths. Apple and Huawei’s comprehensive self-research capabilities, Xiaomi’s cost control and the recent launch of Pengpai power control chips, as well as the new technology research and development of batteries and cameras by many manufacturers, Let the mobile phone industry flourish and give consumers more choices, thus promoting brand loyalty.

Ecological construction is an important way for mobile phone manufacturers to maintain core customers (picture source comes from the Internet)

Not only hardware technology, software technology is also particularly important. In order to better retain these fans, mobile phone manufacturers have begun to continuously promote the construction of the ecosystem from a single terminal to multiple terminals. Huawei, Apple, and Xiaomi are particularly outstanding in the construction of the ecosystem, from mobile phones to tablets, from IoT smart phones to From home to car systems, it has finally arrived in the notebook market. This is by no means inevitable. A good ecosystem is not only smooth interaction and sharing between multiple screens, but also the pursuit of seamless experience by users during use.

This is beyond the reach of traditional notebook manufacturers. Perhaps it is not obvious yet. When mobile phone manufacturers have the same channels and supply chain resources, will traditional notebook manufacturers really make the same mistakes?

Therefore, in addition to retaining their own advantages in various aspects when making mobile phones, notebook manufacturers must also pay attention to changes in the market and user habits, and only by concentrating their efforts can they be targeted. In addition, the technology of notebook manufacturers also plays a decisive role in research and development in the entire technology field. For example, as of March 31, 2021, Lenovo Group has registered a total of 21,658 authorized patents. In recent years, it has played a decisive role in notebook cooling. The product design is absolutely It can be called the "top class" in the industry, so it may be a good choice for notebook brands to use their own design genes when making mobile phones, or to try to cooperate with mobile phone brands. Of course, if they can quickly activate their original users, There is nothing better than building an ecology.

Fortunately, there are still many traditional notebook manufacturers that stick to the mobile phone product line, including Apple and Samsung mentioned above, as well as Lenovo, the current leader in the notebook industry, and the new aristocrat ROG (Republic of Gamers), etc. Either they are unique in the mobile phone and notebook industry, or they focus on the research and development of technology and products, or they are trying to catch up while adhering to their absolute position, which are all worthy of admiration. After all, for consumers, we do not want to see the phenomenon of one company dominating the market. Only competition can promote greater progress.