article: Original by Understand Chedi Jia Tianyu
[Original by Understand Chedi Industry] After half a year, the news of Geely's cross-border mobile phone manufacturing has finally come to fruition.
html On July 4, Hubei Xingji Times Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Xingji Times"), a mobile phone company owned by Geely , officially acquired 79.09% of Zhuhai Meizu Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as " Meizu ") of controlling interest.
Geely officially announced the acquisition of Meizu
According to the plan of Xingji Era, Geely’s mobile phone products will be positioned as high-end mobile phones in the future and are expected to be officially launched in 2023. This is one year earlier than the " Tesla brand" mobile phone is expected to be launched.
Tesla CEO Musk tweeted about recruiting mobile phone experts and said he would launch a mobile phone in a year
At the end of April this year, Tesla CEO Musk himself pinned a tweet recruiting mobile phone experts on Twitter. Soon, an internal Tesla expert revealed to foreign media that Tesla mobile phones will be launched in 2024 and will directly compete with and Apple . Some media even revealed the Tesla mobile phone-Model π. Rendering.
Source of Tesla mobile phone rendering: Internet
In addition to Geely and Tesla, Nio founder, chairman, and CEO Li Bin also admitted in a video interview at the end of March this year that he has plans to enter the mobile phone business. plan.
When Huawei , Xiaomi , Samsung , Apple and many other mobile phone manufacturers entered the industry to build cars, the wave of "reverse operations" of car companies making mobile phones across borders has puzzled many people.
Huawei, Xiaomi, Samsung, Apple and many other mobile phone manufacturers have entered the market to build cars
After all, in the context of China’s smartphone market becoming increasingly saturated and profits becoming more and more limited, the motivation of mobile phone manufacturers to cross-border car manufacturing is nothing more than to expand the market. Complement the ecological landscape of smart terminals, increase profit margins, and attract more capital attention.
But at a time when smart connected cars and are promising, if car companies don't improve their own car machines, what are they thinking about mobile phones instead?
Nio founder, chairman and CEO Li Bin
Regarding this matter, Li Bin’s reason is that is to improve the user experience and break the closed business model of mobile phone manufacturers.
" Apple is now very closed to the automotive industry . For example, NIO's second-generation platform cars are equipped with UWB as standard, and Apple does not open the interface, which makes us very passive. From the perspective of user interests and experience, we must also study mobile phones carefully and car-centered smart terminal devices," Li Bin said.
NIO ET7
According to him, the reason for the poor interconnection experience between mobile phones and cars is that mobile phone manufacturers do not open some interfaces to OEMs. But in fact, car companies have not opened all interfaces to mobile phone manufacturers.
" Current car companies have not fully opened all interfaces to mobile phone manufacturers, especially when it comes to some control and remote control functions. " Zhang Xiang, automotive analyst and dean of the New Energy Vehicle Technology Research Institute of Jiangxi New Energy Technology Vocational College It was pointed out that, firstly, in order to protect the core technologies and data of car companies, and secondly, in order to prevent vehicle data leakage from being remotely controlled and threatening users' driving safety, car companies also firmly hold some interface parameters in their own hands.
Car companies have not fully opened all interfaces to mobile phone manufacturers.
This has also resulted in the current experience of interconnection between mobile phones and cars still stuck in the primary stage of limited functions and experiences such as playing music and navigation. It has not truly connected all smart terminals, and the application scenarios are very limited.
Since both camps have concerns, it would be better to just do it ourselves.
Geely’s entry into the mobile phone business is also intended to break this deadlock and achieve true integration and deep collaboration between mobile phones and cars.
Li Shufu, Chairman of Geely Holding Group
For example, during the acquisition of Meizu, Geely's "head" Li Shufu made it clear: "In the future, the tracks of the two industries of smart cars and smartphones will no longer be monotonous, and they will no longer go their own way. It is an integrated relationship of multi-terminal, full-scenario, and immersive experience for common users. By arranging the mobile phone business, the consumer electronics industry and the automotive industry are deeply integrated, and a cross-border user ecological chain can be achieved to achieve super synergy . Earlier, Li Shufu also mentioned one point in particular, "Mobile phones are fast iteration portable mobile terminals and are application carriers for electronic product market verification and software innovation. They not only allow users to share innovative results as quickly as possible, but also make some safe and reliable The results are transferred to automobile applications, and realizes the close interaction between car and mobile phone software technology. ”
At present, the Internet experience of mobile phones and automobiles is generally poor.
The implication is that in addition to hardware, it is also possible to improve the strength of its own software level. This is a must, especially for traditional car companies that have been lagging behind in this regard.
So, starting from the mobile software business is a good entry point.
First of all, it helps companies make more money. Take Apple, the most profitable company in the field of smartphones, as an example. The gross profit margin of its mobile phone business is about 40%, but the gross profit margin of its software business can reach more than 70%.
Apple's software business is more profitable than its hardware business.
Similarly, with the profit margins of automobiles becoming increasingly narrow, relying on software to make profits has become one of the future directions. New companies such as Tesla, Weilai, and Xiaopeng have already been involved in this aspect.
In other words, if done well, whether is used on mobile phones or in cars, the profit from the software business is expected to become a new growth point for car companies' profits .
The software business may be the profit focus of smart terminals in the future
Secondly, from a longer-term perspective, the iteration and competition in the field of intelligent connected cars may one day be like that of smartphones, with competition based on appearance and use. Turning to competition in the level of interior cockpit intelligence. Building your own smart ecosystem earlier is more conducive to keeping your job and preventing your users from being taken away by your competitors.
For example, Li Bin once said bluntly: " Think about 2025, the Apple car will come out, and 60% or more of our users will use Apple. We have no defense at all. If we don't make some preparations today, it will be difficult to handle then. ".
Apple Car is not far away
To sum up, the cross-border manufacturing of mobile phones by car companies is not actually "not doing their job". Instead, it is to build better cars and create smarter and connected cars with better experience.
I just don’t know. Will car owners pay for the mobile phones manufactured by Geely, Tesla, Weilai... when they are launched in the future?
