丨This article is original by Huashang Taoluo
丨First published on WeChat public account: Huashang Taoluo
丨Author: Wang Zhongmei
There is one product that uses it in every 3 high-end smartphones in the world, and half of Apple, , Samsung users use it to realize their voice functions. This is AAC AAC Technology Holdings Co., Ltd., which has emerged from China. It not only occupies an oligarchical market share, but also has a profit margin of only two chip manufacturers among more than 700 global suppliers, and is one of the most profitable companies in the Apple system.
【1】Borrow money to start a factory
The helmsman of AAC Technology are Pan Zhonglai and Pan Zhengmin father and son, and their predecessor was a small township factory in Changzhou, Jiangsu.
976, Pan Zhonglai worked as the production technology director and new product developer at the Wujin District Hardware and Electrical Appliance Factory in Changzhou City, with a set of technology and management. At work, he came into contact with the "HC-12" electromagnetic telescope sample imported from Japan, which is mainly used for electronic products such as alarms, toys, alarm clocks, etc., for warning and sound. At that time, there was no such product in China. Domestic peers have seen its considerable market prospects. Many peers, including Pan Zhonglai’s hardware and electrical appliance factory, have conducted research and attempted, but unfortunately they failed. After the failure of
, others let go one after another, only Pan Zhonglai did not give up. He always felt that as long as he worked hard, there would be hope. Japanese can do it, why can't Chinese? Relying on the technical accumulation during the management of the hardware factory, Pan Zhonglai repeatedly pondered the electromagnetic communication device and finally judged that its key technology was to wind independent coils.
Pan Zhonglai determined that this technology can be realized and has a great future. In order to solve the key technology, he worked hard and took out all his assets and borrowed another money, started a factory, and found like-minded people to study the winding method of coils. Hard work pays off. In 1987, the team successfully produced the relevant trial production, and the product electromagnetic interceptor was quickly put into production. After the mass production of
was launched on the market, Pan Zhonglai's judgment was confirmed. His products quickly replaced imported products with their price advantage and occupied the electronic alarm clock market. Two years later, the company's sales revenue reached 3.9 million yuan and its net profit reached 2 million yuan.
When China's electronics industry develops rapidly in the south, Pan Zhonglai's business is more concentrated in Shanghai and Shenzhen. In order to shorten transportation distance and speed up the delivery cycle, he decided to set up a company in Shenzhen, and his son Pan Zhengmin became the best candidate.
993, Pan Zhengmin, who had just graduated from a normal school for a year at the age of 426, put down his teaching stick and went home to help manage the business under his father's order, and took charge of Shenzhen Aichen Technology.
【2】Standing on the shoulders of giants
When most emerging companies explore new markets, they will follow the "destructive innovation" advocated by Harvard professor Christensen, that is, avoid direct competition from leading companies, find their blind spots, sell new technologies and new products to non-mainstream markets at disruptive low prices, and ultimately penetrating the market value chain of leading companies to overtake. This is an easy path for small companies and has been tried and tested in the business field.
and AAC, Chinese peers, Ofey Optoelectronics, Zhejiang Sunny Optics, etc., who entered the Apple supply chain, are all practitioners of this theory. They first train in the mid- and low-end markets, and then gradually penetrate international manufacturers.
Although AAC had made some achievements in the industry at that time, compared with its developed electronics industry peers such as Japan, the United States, and South Korea, AAC was still like a fledgling recruit, and still had a long way to go in terms of technology and capital strength. But the Pan father and son chose a unique path.
After Pan Zhengmin arrived in the United States, he first targeted the mobile phone giant Motorola . The reason for this kind of "one step is in place" is also very simple. Standing on the shoulders of giants, you can not only see further, but also the giants stand for their own strength. Why not do ?
At that time, Motorola had taken the lead in launching a flip phone in the market. It was small and exquisite in size and easy to carry, and was sought after as soon as it was launched.With this trend, the mini speakers and receivers that will undoubtedly become the new favorite in the electronics industry. Pan Zhengmin decided to give it a try.
A newcomer, of course it is not that easy to get favored by giants. Pan Zhengmin takes his translator to visit Motorola headquarters almost every month, but no one cares. The stubborn Pan Zhengmin, who has been in , has been there for two consecutive years.
Until 1999, it seemed that God could not see it anymore and gave AAC a chance. A Japanese supplier of Motorola's mobile phone speaker made a mistake. The purchasing manager immediately thought of this resilient young Chinese man. He and Pan Zhengmin said: is limited to 15 days to make a micro speaker.
Pan's father and son knew the significance of this big test and tried their best to take the exam. Lao Pan immediately rushed to . The Acoustics Research Institute of Nanjing University and found Professor Sha Jiazheng, a famous acoustics expert, to assist the company in research and development. The institute was founded by the late world-class acoustic master and academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wei Rongjue . It is not only first-class in China, but also important in the field of international acoustics.
With the help of strong technical support, AAC successfully developed a micro speaker 15 days later, and was recognized by Motorola. As a result, AAC and Motorola officially shook hands and cooperated, becoming the largest supplier of Motorola's micro speakers, enjoying the rich dividends brought by its sales of tens of millions of units every year.
【3】Mode change
cooperated with Motorola, AAC has lived a very prosperous life, not only making money every day, but also gaining international reputation in the industry. But a few years later, Pan Zhengmin gradually became worried.
At the same time, AAC, as a Chinese manufacturing enterprise, had a great price advantage in the company as a high-cost labor force. One day, Pan Zhengmin suddenly thought, what if the competitors of also moved the factory to China? is obviously, AAC must make arrangements in advance and continue to strengthen its core competitiveness.
At the same time, Motorola's popularity gradually declined due to lack of innovation, and its market share was gradually overtaken by Samsung. This cruel business war sounded the alarm for upstream supplier AAC: If simply commits itself to a customer and provides it with a tangible single product, it will undoubtedly die. If downstream manufacturers can become customers, they will not be afraid of the market changing. Therefore, creating a powerful R&D design platform to provide integrated solutions for different customers was put on AAC agenda.
They immediately launched the strengthening of R&D capabilities. In addition to cooperating with domestic Nanjing University , Tsinghua University, and Shanghai Institute of Steel, they also set up R&D institutions in the United States and Sweden , and carried out industry-university-research cooperation with local well-known experts and universities.
After a period of running around, AAC finally formed the "three echelons" of R&D. The first echelon is located in the United States, responsible for collecting intelligence and deciding strategies; the second echelon is located in the Institute of Acoustics at Nanjing University, responsible for converting acoustic theory into practical products; the third echelon is located in Shenzhen, mainly solving the process problems in production.
At the same time, AAC has also started to vertically integrate the industrial chain. Most of the raw materials are produced by themselves, including molds, hardware stamping parts, etc., which are completed in the company's system, which not only gives the product a cost advantage, but also has deep guarantees in performance and innovation cycle.
Relying on its comprehensive advantages, after 2005, AAC successively obtained orders for dozens of domestic and foreign first-line mobile phone brands such as Sony Ericsson, Nokia , Samsung, Qualcomm , Xiaxin and Bogui, helping each company tailored to design and manufacture products.
In the following years, the competition in the mobile phone market entered a fierce trend, but AAC was not affected by its unique secrets of "tailoring" and its sales increased year by year. At that time, the average gross profit margin of the domestic electronic components industry did not exceed 15%, while AAC reached more than 48%.
Axio, which is fully prepared, soon welcomes another giant. In 2010, Apple iPhone 4 was launched with Siri function, establishing its high-end dominance in smartphones in one fell swoop.Apple's supply chain principle has always been to find the best partners around the world. AAC has become the biggest winner with its impeccable quality and competitive price. Relevant sources revealed that up to 50% of the built-in micro-electromechanical microphones of the iPhone are supplied by AAC. On the other hand, the high-spec electroacoustic components required by iPhone are also widely adopted by smartphone manufacturers under the leadership of Apple, and AAC has thus shared more of the dividends brought by smartphones.
At this point in time, AAC may particularly thank its former partner Motorola.
is smaller in size, can eliminate noise and has high sensitivity than traditional microphones. It was originally developed by Louth Electronics, a 70-year-old American electronics, in 2003. When Apple ignited this market demand, Lou was undoubtedly the biggest winner. However, AAC is very lucky that with the help of Motorola, they obtained the technical authorization of Lou's early, and also leveraged the micro-innovation capabilities of Chinese companies, and provided technical requirements more suitable for iPhones based on it, thus surpassing Lou's in the Apple supplier war.
, with the support of Apple, AAC's performance has been rising year by year. Huashang Taoluo (public account: hstl8888) sorted out its 2013 annual report, showing that its revenue that year was 8.096 billion yuan and its net profit reached 2.571 billion yuan, which far exceeded other peers.
【4】Shocked Taiwan’s opponents
The rise of auspicious not only attracted attention from the mainland, but also caused the crisis concerns of Taiwan’s peers.
When AAC was listed in Hong Kong in 2005, Hong Kong electronics stocks were still the world of Taiwanese businessmen such as Foxconn, Hanyubode, and Juteng. AAC was only similar in scale to Taiwan's rival American Law. 8 years later, AAC's revenue jumped to 4 times the US-Law, and its profits were as high as 17 times, making it unbelievable to the Taiwanese electronics industry.
Taiwan media reported that Chinese mobile phone components companies are gaining fame all over the world, and even threatens the status of Taiwan's global smartphone arsenal. Some industry insiders even said, "Automotive is a rare 'weird' in China's electronics industry."
The electronics industry has always been a strong industry that Taiwan is proud of. During this period, the world's top semiconductor foundry companies have emerged to establish a complete IC supply system. MediaTek chip design, TSMC chip manufacturing, PC parts production and complete assembly of Asus and Acer have all been leaders in the electronic supply chain. Among the Apple product suppliers alone, more than 40 are from Taiwan. Therefore, someone once said boldly: Without Taiwan, there would be no high technology in the world.
In the eyes of the Taiwanese industry, the mainland electronics industry started late and is still in the stage of OEM and copycat production. It has few independent brands and its profit margin is pitifully low, which is incomparable to Taiwan. Especially American and Literature, not only Taiwan’s largest electroacoustic component factory, but also ranks in the top three in the world after Lou, the United States and Fonda, Japan. Aisheng unknowingly snatched the crown, and Meilu couldn't come back to his senses for a long time.
In fact, it is not that American and legal underestimate the enemy too much, but that In this ever-changing era, companies that take the market as their life will be beaten to death by new entrants on the beach if they are slow. The so-called "If you don't advance, you will retreat."
can be among the top three in the world. Liao Luli, the helmsman of American Law, is also an elite. As soon as Lou's micro-electromechanical microphone was released, he had a premonition of the market potential of the product, and then formed an alliance with relevant research institutes and invested hundreds of millions of dollars to carry out research and development. , but due to many reasons such as technology and suppliers, there is no energy production in the end. Liao Luli believes that this is the key to Meilu's failure to enter the iPhone supply chain. Whether
can take over the ship of Apple, is the difference between heaven and hell for mobile phone parts manufacturers. On January 9, 2017, Apple announced on the 10th anniversary of the release of iPhone that the cumulative sales of iPhones have exceeded 1 billion units. Even if Apple adopts a multi-component system, the huge market base is a huge temptation for any company. It is reasonable that Meilu failed to get on the boat.
Due to the Apple supply chain dispute, the cross-strait competition between American and AVIC once became the focus.Some industry analysts believe that there is another reason why American Law defeated AAC to AAC - automated production.
Long before China's wages soared, Pan Zhengmin prepared for the future and found Dutch enterprises to help plan automated production lines. In the base area Changzhou , there were more than 70 such production lines. AAC originally requires 17 people per day for every 10,000 speakers produced, and only 6 people are needed after automation. 's automation level is the best in the industry.
not only helped AAC further reduce production costs, but also improve the precision of the product. and Apple's requirements in this regard are almost harsh. Meilu has always relied on manual assembly, and the precision of the product is difficult to meet the requirements.
[5] Only "can"
Because Taiwan's electronics industry has become more famous in the past, for a long time, many Taiwanese and Hong Kong media mistakenly believe that AV is a Taiwanese company. On the other hand, in most public occasions such as briefings and press conferences, the two senior executives who spoke erotic in a strong Taiwanese accent often spoke two senior executives in a strong Taiwanese accent - Du Guangyang and Zhu Pengfei. The real helmman Pan Zhengmin, although he has long been famous on the list of rich people and is worth tens of billions, he acts in a low-key manner and rarely accepts interviews or participates in public events. The public has little understanding of this mysterious leader.
But in the eyes of several Taiwanese executives, Pan Zhengmin's vision, courage and mind are different from ordinary people. auspiciousness is today and is believed to be closely related to Pan Zhengmin's personal ability. A former director of Aisheng did not hide his appreciation for Pan Zhengmin: "Not inferior to Taiwan's technology king. When talking to him, he would think, wow! This is the future Lin Baili, Terry Gou ."
Pan Zhengmin inherited his father's business, but Aisheng is not like a family business at all. Before AAC went public, it introduced Venture Capital shareholders, including Jiyuan Capital . Pan Zhengmin told him that he only had three seats for board seats and the other five seats, and venture capital helped him find professionals who benefit AAC's development. 's rare generosity surprised venture capital: "This person is here to be true!"
So, in addition to injecting capital into AAC, Jiyuan Capital also helped find two professional talents: Du Guangyang and Zhu Pengfei.
Du Guangyang was once the general manager of Motorola, Taiwan. has more than 30 years of experience in electronic manufacturing management. After joining AAC, he served as the operational director, responsible for sales and marketing promotion. Zhu Pengfei, financial director of
, once worked at Combat Computer. has had more than 20 years of international experience and has successively participated in many technology companies.
The chairman of the board of directors is Xu Wenhui, a famous technology tycoon. It has served as the chairman of Singapore Telecom Group and the chairman of Singapore Airlines Group. During his time at Singapore Telecom, Xu Wenhui successfully transformed him from a domestic company to a listed company, and developed his business overseas, becoming a leading comprehensive telecommunications service provider in the Asia-Pacific region. When he was in charge of
, Xu Wenhui encountered troublesome situations, "9.11" terrorist attack, Indonesian tourist destination Bali explosion, SARS epidemic raging, oil prices surge... Under the difficulties, Xu Wenhui not only led the airline through the difficulties, but also maintained profits and set a record for the highest profit in 2005.
Such a luxurious lineup of directors and executives can be said to be shining and shining. With this, AAC not only completed defamiliarization, but also successfully introduced international operating and financial systems, promoting the optimization of the company's professional processes. AAC has become a world-class technology company from a Changzhou family business.
's outstanding performance is accompanied by the Tiger and Wolf Master, and AAC has always attracted much attention from the Taiwanese industry. After learning that AAC acquired optical lens design companies in Osaka and Kyoto, Japan, and was preparing to enter the field of high-pixel lenses for mobile phones, a large number of media reported that this move was a declaration of war on Taiwan's largest peer, Dari Optoelectronics.
Since its establishment in 1993, in the past 20 years, the auspicious sound in the eyes of outsiders has been going smoothly, and the stock price has soared 32 times. However, is fighting in the business world, and Pan Zhengmin's sense of crisis always exists. He has made countless assumptions in his mind, just imagine how to deal with auspicious sounds when they are forced into a dead end in various situations. Therefore, he developed the habit of preparing for the future.
For example, what should I do if is surpassed by a potential opponent? he chose to acquire, and not only acquired South Korea's AAC R&D company, but also controlled the National Institute of Microelectronics in Singapore.
For example, when everyone was scrambling to enter the Apple supply chain, he thought of what if one day Apple abandoned AAC? In this regard, he chose to continuously expand his product line. By 2016, its revenue of non-acoustic products such as touch motors, radio frequency antennas, optical devices has gradually supported half of the revenue, and its business involves consulting technology, consumer electronics, household appliances, automobiles, and medical instruments, and has reached stable cooperative relationships with more than 30 world-renowned brands.
As for what the future will be, for Pan Zhengmin, as long as he can follow the times and do his best, he will have no regrets.
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