China's mobile **, is such a quarrel.
Yu Chengdong has been quite busy during this time.
He just "criticized" on Weibo, but was scolded by Xiaomi, saying that his words did not conform to the facts. In the final analysis, Yu Chengdong himself is the one who started a war with Xiaomi. Yu Chengdong, CEO of Huawei Device BG, said at the Pollen Festival on December 9, 2023 that competitors lack respect for intellectual property rights. He used an example to prove his argument:
You should know that our double spiral water flow hinges are woven from keels, which are not available.
Although the words "people" and "friends and businessmen" are used, but the word "keel" has become the target of public criticism, in August this year, Xiaomi launched a mixfold3 folding screen mobile phone, and announced a new keel-type rotation axis, Yu Chengdong's sword is pointed at, it is self-evident.
Xiaomi opted for a hard hit. Xiaomi's spokesperson posted a Weibo on December 12, in response to Yu Chengdong's question about Xiaomi's mobile phone's "keel hinge", made a high-profile reply, and listed a series of patent applications, and pointed out that Yu Chengdong's remarks are very different from the actual situation.
As soon as this announcement came out, Xiaomi's Heiyu Chengdong was pushed to the hot search on Weibo, which caused a heated discussion. Huawei and Xiaomi have been fighting on smartphones for nearly ten years, and in 2020, with Huawei's strategic contraction, the head-on conflict between the two sides gradually decreased, and in 2023, both Huawei and Xiaomi are re-emerging in the mobile phone industry, and they have always been "a group of harmony", and it is indeed a bit surprising that they suddenly face off head-to-head.
To put it simply, the hinged rotary axis is the most critical part of the folding screen, as early as the birth of the folding screen, Samsung and Huawei are one of the key technologies, and when folding, the folds when folding will become tighter with folding. It can be said that, in a sense, the construction of the hinge can be said to be a kind of "life and death" key.
And in terms of the construction of the hinge, Huawei is indeed in the lead. Huawei submitted a patent for a waterdrop hinge in 2019, although compared with the U-shaped hinge and the club hinge, the cost is higher and the technical difficulty is higher, but in terms of screen folds and thinner fuselage, Huawei matex3, matex5 and other products have always occupied the first place in the domestic folding screen market.
At the 2021 annual new product launch conference, Yu Chengdong once proudly said: "Anything that can fold the mobile phone without leaving a gap absolutely belongs to us." ”
In fact, Xiaomi mobile phones do use water droplets as the standard many times when folding the screen. When Xiaomi released the MIX Fold 3, Lei Jun also posted a Weibo, analyzing the keel hinge technology it used, thinking that the current water drop hinge folding screen on the market is too "delicate", and the keel rotation axis can solve the problem of "line contact" through a more complex multi-level rotation axis, so as to improve the use experience of flagship mobile phones.
And in the promotional video, MIX 3 also inevitably made a "comparison", from the design drawings, the keel rotation axis of Xiaomi mobile phones and the droplet hinge are very different, which also illustrates from another angle MIX 3 in the independent research and development of folding hinges.
It is common for mobile phone manufacturers to taunt each other, but this is a huge challenge for Huawei, so four months later, Yu Chengdong"Open spray"Already, although it was not named, the meaning was already obvious, in his opinion, Xiaomi's "keel hinge" is an upgrade similar to a droplet hinge.
For Xiaomi, not only the difference in technical concepts, but also the order of patents, Xiaomi has nothing to plagiarize. In the statement, Xiaomi said that they had carefully read the technical information of the "Double Rotating Water Drop Hinge", as well as the patent information that had been published, and after actual disassembly, they came to the conclusion that the two are not the same thing, and Xiaomi's "Double Rotating Water Drop Hinge" It was submitted on September 18, 2020, and it has been authorized in 2021 and officially put into production in 2023, while Huawei's waterdrop hinge did not publish the relevant patent until 2021, so Xiaomi is not suspected of plagiarism in this matter.
As soon as this sentence came out, two different voices appeared on **. One of them is to raise questions about Xiaomi's reply,After this topic was hit by the hot search,Someone found the patent for the Xiaomi keel hinge,And said that this is a utility model rather than an invention,The difference between the two is,Utility model is a practical application of technology,And invention patent is an independent development of technology,The patent level between the two is different。
In short, Xiaomi has mastered the technology of the keel hinge, not the invention layer, so this does not mean that there are no similarities between the two products, but the water drop hinge is an invention patent, and its value is higher. A person engaged in scientific and technological patent work told the Hedgehog Commune that the examination of invention patents is more stringent than that of applications, and a single invention patent can also derive a number of utility model patents.
Xiaomi's supporters said that the technology submitted with it and the keel hinge is still in the review stage, and the examination of invention patents is generally relatively long, so the level of the patent does not represent anything. And in 2015 and 2016, Samsung and OPPO have both submitted a patent similar to a teardrop-shaped folding screen, which called into question Huawei's debut.
There are also some people who say that it is almost impossible for a mature company like Xiaomi to "plagiarize", and Yu Chengdong's "shooting" this time does not have enough basis in many aspects. This is probably the reason why Xiaomi wants to fight with Huawei, if "rights protection" is legally untenable, then a "war of words" will only backfire.
Putting aside these controversies, the article "Xiaomi Black Yu Chengdong" gives people a feeling of "dreaming back to 2014".
Major technology companies, especially mobile phone manufacturers, have been fighting openly and secretly, but there are very few "tears" like "peace & love".
Back in 2014. Huawei is an old communications company, since 2010 into the field of mobile phones, Huawei has been expanding wildly, from the initial "standard mobile phone", to today's hot Huawei honor, in just two years, in the domestic smartphone market to stand out, jumped to become the world's third largest smartphone manufacturers, only Apple and Samsung.
2014 is the fourth year of Xiaomi's establishment, Xiaomi 1, 2, 3, Redmi, this is a young company, it quickly gained a foothold in the field of smartphones, with its extremely high cost performance and strong user base, it became the most popular company at that time.
For Huawei, ov and other old brands, take the "cost-effective" route of Xiaomi, is definitely a huge threat, as early as 2012, Yu Chengdong once discussed Xiaomi's pricing on Weibo, but at that time, the competition between Xiaomi and Huawei, is far from reaching the point of white heat.
The turmoil began with the launch of the Redmi phone. In 2013, the success of Redmi made Xiaomi realize that it could go through multiple production lines, and in March 2014, Xiaomi released the Redmi Note and launched a huge publicity offensive, and at this time, "Honor and Xiaomi engaged in a fake hype".
The day after the release of the Redmi phone, Huawei's Honor 3 X was also announced, but the strange thing is that many of the Honor 3 X's advertising words have a lot of similarities with the Redmi phone. Whether there is any greasy in this is still up for debate, but one thing is obvious, that is, the competition between Xiaomi and Redmi, while Huawei wants to seize the low-end market.
Profit is everything, and when the product enters the market, the two sides start a heated debate.
In October 2014, after Yu Chengdong posted a Weibo on Weibo to celebrate mobile phone sales, Lei Jun began to sneer at Yu Chengdong and questioned the number of mobile phone shipments that year. In 2015, Yu Chengdong unceremoniously defined Xiaomi's users as "Dick Silk" and Xiaomi as "Dick Silk Brand".
Since then, the top management of the two companies has begun to tear each other apart, and every time a new product is launched, or a new product is promoted, it is not surprising that Huawei and Xiaomi do not fight, and the word "friend business" is no longer their honorific title, but another name for them.
Since then, domestic mobile phone manufacturers have begun to develop rapidly, but it is also the most "smoky miasma" time, it is very common to have a quarrel on Weibo, fans are arguing, among which the "power" is the fan group and the fan group, they have been arguing about what "fever", "stop the aircraft carrier", "play monkey", "navy" and other words.
But at the end of the day, because of the strategic battle between the two companies on mobile phones, Xiaomi firmly believes that its positioning is "enthusiast", the pursuit of cost performance, and the pursuit of popularity. Huawei, on the other hand, is holding high the banner and focusing on the use of super technology research and development and high-end strategies to seize the market.
Both guilds are vying for each other's turf, from Glory's hand-to-hand battle to Xiaomi's high-end offensive, all trying to infiltrate each other's turf. After 2020, with Huawei being sanctioned and Xiaomi underperforming in the high-end market, the debate slowly ended. For two years, Huawei has been struggling, and Xiaomi also hopes to break the shackles of the first and enter a broader market.
In 2023, there is not much contradiction between the two major consortia, but in terms of core technology, it is tense. In February, Huawei filed a lawsuit against four of Xiaomi's patents with the State Intellectual Property Office. Huawei, which has a large number of patents, wants to get Xiaomi and other companies to obtain their own SEP authorization through litigation, which is a very common practice, because of the technological gap, it is not easy for Xiaomi to fight against Huawei's ESP patent attack.
However, in the non-standard essential patents (Non-ESP) area, Xiaomi has never shown weakness, first, the licensing fee of non-ESP patents is relatively high, and second, Xiaomi has 29,000 patents, which is not too bad, and Huawei is in the 5 G area, which is also 41%, ranking among the top 10 in the world. In July, Xiaomi also filed six patent lawsuits against Huawei, six of which are not in the ESP field.
As a result, Huawei and Xiaomi signed a global patent authorization in September, most of which are patents in the field of 5G communications, that is, the field of ESP in the field of 5G, and the two sides finally reached a compromise. The dispute between Huawei and Xiaomi erupted again within three months, with the controversy still focused on patents.
It is worth mentioning that the technology of folding screen hinges does not belong to ESP, so Yu Chengdong's "shooting" cannot be regarded as a stab in the back, but has another deep meaning: the patent war between Huawei and Xiaomi has never stopped.
However, the most critical thing may not be this. Looking back at the mobile phone market in 2023, Huawei has pushed Xiaomi to the forefront, and folding screen mobile phones are a "city" that needs to be defended.
According to the latest statistics from BCI, the monthly activity of Xiaomi mobile phones in China's mobile phone market is 52430,000 units, second only to Apple's 6.04 million units, becoming the world's largest mobile phone brand, a year-on-year increase of 44%.
Xiaomi has become the boss of domestic mobile phone manufacturers for the last time, and it was only ten years ago now. In the past ten years, Xiaomi's development has experienced ups and downs, although the sales of 1999 yuan are very good, but it was placed ten years ago, that is, when it was young, and in the following ten years, Xiaomi experienced pain, fall, and then rose again, so that the company, which was once thought to be "bankrupt in less than five years", finally survived the cycle.
It is still valuable for Xiaomi to regain the top spot. Previously, many people were skeptical of Xiaomi's sales, arguing that Xiaomi's shipments relied on low-end products, and in the mid-to-high-end market, Xiaomi was not actually very competitive.
But now it's different, Android phones below 4000 yuan, Xiaomi 14 can be said to be invincible. Behind the amazing sales, there is another exciting figure, that is, Xiaomi's market share in the mid-range mobile phone market below 4000 yuan has reached 144%, ranked behind Apple and Huawei, occupies an absolute advantage, the top three mobile phone companies, the market share is even inferior to Xiaomi, Xiaomi's position in the field of high-end machines is very stable.
Since Lei Jun announced his entry into the high-end market in 2020, Xiaomi has begun to embark on the high-end route, Lei Jun excitedly ** this news, and said: "It took Xiaomi three or four years to finally get results." Lu Weibing, CEO of Xiaomi mobile phone, was more "radical", bluntly saying that "the gap with Apple is still very large, make persistent efforts." ”
He didn't name Huawei, which ranked second, but everyone's attention shifted to Huawei.
In fact, 2023 is also a new starting point for Huawei. Huawei, the former domestic mobile phone, has finally made a strong comeback with the Mate60 series and domestic chips after more than two years of sanctions. In November this year, the market share of Apple's 4000+ high-end mobile phones fell by 211%, iPhone15 has not become the face of Apple, but there has been a decline in sales, **, among them, some are Xiaomi's, and some are Huawei's.
In November, although the number of mobile phone activations only ranked fourth, the growth rate reached 75%, and Huawei accounted for 22 of the 4000+ high-end mobile phones3% market share, occupying the first position in China, three years later, Huawei still occupies the absolute upper hand, this is still because Mate60 has been out of stock, under the premise that supply exceeds demand.
In November, although the number of mobile phone activations only ranked fourth, the growth rate reached 75%, and Huawei accounted for 22 of the 4000+ high-end mobile phones3% market share, occupying the first position in China, three years later, Huawei still occupies the absolute upper hand, this is still because Mate60 has been out of stock, under the premise that supply exceeds demand.
For Huawei, this breakthrough is just the beginning, and the future development direction is still leading in China and even the world. The launch of the P70 series is already in preparation, and Huawei will once again stand on top of the world.
According to relevant data, the average number of smart phones in China will reach 3480 yuan in the third quarter of 2023, and the proportion of high-end machines has reached a record high.
Behind this endless "war of words", it reflects the true portrayal of the growing domestic manufacturing enterprises in the competition. The most critical point is that in the past three years, Huawei's absence has made Xiaomi unable to gain a firm foothold in the high-end market, and when Huawei returned, Xiaomi became a high-end brand.
In addition to smart phones, Huawei has begun to get involved in new industries, such as new energy vehicles, and Xiaomi's own cars are also a very meaningful thing. The contest between Huawei and Xiaomi may be just the beginning, and 2024 will be a very critical moment, because they will have to face not only giants such as Apple, but also increasingly saturated smartphones, as well as a red sea of new energy.
In 2019, Lei Jun did not belittle the "friend businessman" at the Xiaomi CC9 press conference, but made an enthusiastic speech: "I think it is a very happy thing for Xiaomi to have such a partner as Huawei, and China's technology will go to the next level." ”
Perhaps on the whole, this is just an idealized statement, but in the context of competition, this is the most perfect and realistic vision, "do over Huawei", "down with Xiaomi", it has to be a thing of the past, the next goal, is to "turn over Apple".