In 24 years, there will be a turning point in the global smartphone: the market as a whole will recover moderately, Huawei will return strongly, and the market pattern is likely to be rewritten. More importantly, the AI model will be implemented in smart terminals, which will open a new industry cycle of smart phones: increased variables.
What kind of mobile phone can be a winner in a volatile market?
At the beginning of 2024, the industry's first flagship phone is coming: OPPO's Fengshen flagship Find X7, which comprehensively surpasses Pro, and the strongest Fengshen flagship Find X7 Ultra on the surface, have brought breakthroughs in imaging, performance, AI, etc., and created a new peak of experience. The launch of this flagship series, which can be called Fengshen, also provides a successful example for the industry - good-style innovation.
The OPPO Find X7 series is a masterpiece, especially the Ultra version, and Liu Zuohu uses "the ultimate without an intermediate state" to illustrate its toughness:"I believe that this OPPO Find X7 Ultra will definitely make friends anxious for a while, and there will be many people to follow up with Double Periscope in the future. That's at least the top of the list in the Ultra class in 2024. ”What makes Liu Zuohu confident is not the technology, but the innovative logic behind the technology.
There is no shortage of innovation in the field of smart phones, and we often see the creation of various technologies, the refresh of parameters, and the breakthrough of capabilities at various flagship product launches. The innovation of smartphones is very volatile, doing what others have not done, doing what others cannot, or constantly exploring the limits of technology. This kind of innovation is the dedication to science and technology, the awe of technology, and a sense of transcendent satisfaction, which we can call transcendent innovation.
With the OPPO Find X7 series, we see another kind of innovation: innovation for good, which uses technology as a means to think about products based on user needs.
Transcendent innovation, technology to the top is the goal. In the case of innovation for good, user experience is the ultimate goal, and technology is the means to achieve the goal.
In the view of understanding, good-doing innovation is a kind of innovation that "starts with the end in mind". In 2020, OPPO put forward the brand mission of "technology for people, for the good of the world", which is shaping the relationship between technology and users. Good products and good user experience are the end of innovation and the starting point of all scientific and technological innovation. Therefore, for OPPO, the transcendence of technology is very important, but all technological transcendence is for the improvement of user experience.
The image has always been OPPO's longboard, which is a typical innovation based on results.
Transcendent innovation pursues extreme distance, extreme brightness, and high pixel height in images, and constantly refreshes various records. OPPO's thinking point is the effect, first determine what kind of effect you want to achieve, and then push back what kind of components are needed, how to optimize the algorithm, and so on. OPPO continues to accumulate on this idea, and slowly precipitates the OPPO Super Light and Shadow Image Engine, that is, a complete set of perfect computing light and shadow software and hardware integration solutions with effect and aesthetics as the traction.
This also makes the OPPO Find X7 series take a step forward in imaging: for the first time, it moves from the correct relationship between light and shadow to the delicate regional light and shadow relationship, bringing a sense of three-dimensionality, space, and immersion that far exceeds that of mobile phone shooting, which can be called the masterpiece of mobile phone imaging.
Innovation from 0 to 1 is important, but having it does not mean perfection and comfort, and it is also important to keep adding 0 to the end.
Nowadays, more and more manufacturers are putting satellite communication into mobile phones, but because of the signal, they do not support the handset mode, and can only hold the mobile phone to talk, which is very different from the way people often use mobile phones. OPPO took a step further after thinking about it, and launched the Find X7 Ultra satellite communication version, which for the first time made the satellite walkie-talkie, truly became a satellite mobile phone, and through the satellite antenna pattern control technology, for the first time, satellite communication realized handset and hands-free dual-mode communication, which is no longer limited by the way it is used.
When it comes to technology iteration, the concept of speculation is very eye-catching. But in OPPO's view, any technology is only valuable if it brings value to users.
The hottest thing in the tech circle in 2023 is the big model. When others are rolling up the parameters of the large model, OPPO is considering the application of the large model: what different experience can it bring to users?The OPPO Find X7 series, the industry's first mobile phone with 7 billion parameters on the device side, brings a more "smart" Xiaobu to help users solve more problems in life, such as call summaries to help you remember key points and chat with you more intelligently. In terms of AIGC, it also brings a very practical AI experience, and it is easy to save waste films with one draw.
In the field of smart phones, on the one hand, innovation is highly concentrated, and on the other hand, technology iteration and upgrading are fast, and the competition is very fierce. In just two decades, there have been several generations of brands that have risen and fallen. What kind of mindset does it take to be a long-termist in such an industry?
The ultimate purpose of all products and services is to create value for users. The needs of users will change, if enterprises insist on starting with the end and always standing with users, they will not be afraid of industry iteration and industry competition. Obviously, user-centered innovation for good is a manifestation of long-termism.
At the beginning of 2023, in the face of a complex external environment, Chen Mingyong proposed within the company to "focus on hard work and grow with resilience". This is to constantly remind yourself when going through the industrial cycle: focusing on satisfying users, enterprises will get the capital to grow resiliently.
In the view of understanding, OPPO's benevolent innovation has three characteristics: simplicity, focus, and persistence.
The so-called simplicity means that the goal is extremely clear at the strategic level: making a good product is the only reason why the OPPO brand exists.
If an enterprise's strategy is too complex, it is easy to be confused due to unclear goals in the implementation process, or lack of implementation, and even lead to the distraction of resources and energy. As a result, the goals are simple, easier to quantify and evaluate, and the results are visible.
The so-called focus is to get rid of distractions and concentrate on the tactical level.
In a complex environment, enterprises are often misled by "noise", such as the so-called tuyere, economic cycle, competitive environment, etc., which can easily lead enterprises to adopt short-term strategies or tactical deviations, which will not only hurt the enterprise itself, but also ultimately hurt users in the long run.
Consciously resisting the noise of sales fluctuations, focusing on self-development, and returning to the fundamentals of business are the due meanings in the process of enterprise development. Chen Mingyong believes that focus is an important magic weapon for enterprises to maintain high-quality growth in the face of any uncertainty. Without focus, critical businesses won't be adequately supported. For example, in the past few years, the smartphone market has been in a downturn, and there are many external ones, but OPPO has always focused on doing a good job of certainty - sticking to the main channel and deepening the main business. It is precisely for this reason that when the industry recovers this year, OPPO has the ability to come up with a masterpiece like the Find X7 series to ignite the market.
The so-called persistence is to keep the original intention unchanged.
We often hear companies mention the word original intention, but there are very few companies that can really maintain the original intention from time to time, which is a test of the endurance and determination of the enterprise.
OPPO is in the high-tech industry, and if you want to make a good product, you need to continue to invest in research and development, and there is no shortcut. This time, we can see a lot of innovative breakthroughs in the Find X7 series, all of which come from OPPO's years of technology accumulation. At OPPO, 60% of the employees are R&D personnel. Judging from third-party statistics, the number of OPPO's intellectual property patents has ranked among the top two domestic mobile phone manufacturers for many years, second only to Huawei. In the field of 5G, OPPO is the domestic mobile phone manufacturer with the largest number of patents except Huawei.
Simple, focused, persistent, these words all require endurance and concentration, can endure not to be stirred by external factors, not afraid of loneliness, endurance and determination can ultimately be exchanged for resilience: resist the cold during the industrial downturn, and bloom first in the recovery period.
Forget about competition and do a good job of products, which is the simple belief that OPPO has always adhered to. Less is more, as long as you don't deviate, don't take corners, and always stick to one direction, the longer the time, the more you get.
It is precisely because of this belief that OPPO can not only bring the flagship of the flagship, the OPPO Find X7 series, but also step by step closer to the hearts of users, and achieve success in the market in different dimensions.
Folding screen phones are the only bright spot in the smartphone market in the past two years, and the only segment that has grown against the trend. OPPO seems to be a "slow" step in the folding screen, and its first folding screen mobile phone Find N was only launched at the end of 2021, and it was the last of several leading manufacturers to launch a folding screen at that time. Why "slow"?As a new category, some of the first generation of mobile phones on the market at that time only achieved "usability", but there is still a big gap from "easy to use". Find N is a product that OPPO finally brought to the market after four years of development and six generations, bringing users a truly unabated folding screen experience at that time.
Based on this concept, each subsequent generation of products is close to the user's experience, constantly adding value to the folding screen and adding to the user's experience. The advantages of the OPPO folding screen have gradually taken root in the hearts of the people, and the market has also given enthusiastic returns. OPPO's folding screen market share in the first three quarters of 2023 ranks second. In particular, the small fold is loved by female users, in the past"Double 11", the OPPO Find N3 Flip won the first place in sales in the small folding category on both Tmall and Pinduoduo.
The high-end market is a strategic highland that must be established for any leading brand. But high-end users are more picky, and they want to, want, and ......Don't make a choice.
OPPO does not speculate on the concept, relying on the product power of the Find series of dual flagships, breaking through in the market little by little. In China's high-end Android market, its share increased from 98% to 13 in 20223%, and sales increased by 22%.
In the high-end market, OPPO is not impatient or hype, and insists on speaking with really easy-to-use products, and has now become a strong competitor to Apple together with Huawei.
In addition, the only way for any brand to succeed is to go international. In the past, Chinese companies went global, some relied on low prices, some relied on marketing, and OPPO went out by relying on products. Global users are complex and diverse, and impressing users through products will be slower than using strategies such as low prices and marketing, but it will go more steadily and longer.
In the overseas market, OPPO is the only Chinese brand that can compete with Samsung, and has achieved good results in many regions around the world, such as 183% of the market share surpassed Samsung to top the list;In the second quarter of 2023, the Netherlands and Switzerland in Europe maintained the top three market sharesOPPO rose to second place in Egypt with a 21% market shareIn the Middle East, OPPO maintained its top five market rankings in the UAE region, ...... the regionThis is only part of it, OPPO's road to globalization has long been opened, and the brand momentum continues to grow, and it is on the rise in many regions. It can be said that OPPO has become a business card for Chinese companies to go overseas.
Less is more. The simpler the OPPO goal, the more persistent it is, and the more rewarding it will be in the end. In 2023, whether it is a folding screen or a high-end market, OPPO's reputation is improving, and the process of globalization has also taken a big step forward.
The competition in the mobile phone market is far from final, and it has just entered a new industrial cycle. Every iteration of the industry means the reshaping of the competitive landscape. OPPO is sure that the market will always belong to good products. Storytelling, volume comparison, those are short-term competitive strategies. In the long run, insisting on doing a good job is a more advanced competitive strategy that comes from nothing.
This calmness is attributed to innovation for good. User experience is the end, good products are the end, and technological innovation is the path to the end. Technology can form a strong bond between the product and the user: technology has temperature and can influence people. Mobile phones are already an indispensable part of people's lives, and when the product carries the trust and emotion of users, then the relationship between brands and users is more rock-solid.