Visual China.
Text |Pacific Technology.In the technology industry, cross-border innovation is a common phenomenon. There are opportunities for mutual learning, learning and cooperation between different fields, as well as the possibility of competition, challenge and subversion. In recent years, the crossover between the two fields of smartphones and smart cars has become more and more eye-catching.
Especially in the Chinese market, among the mobile phone manufacturers, Xiaomi announced its entry into electric vehicle manufacturing, and Huawei found another way to cooperate with Celis to build a world, and deeply cultivated the smart car business with great success. Among the car companies, Geely acquired the mobile phone manufacturer Meizu in one step to create a better car-machine interaction system, while NIO chose to build its own mobile phone and successfully released the first NIO phone.
The frequent cross-border actions of manufacturers can't help but make people think: why do mobile phone manufacturers choose to build cars, and car companies have begun to get involved in the mobile phone industry? What kind of business logic and social development trend are contained in this?
Xiaomi is an Internet company with mobile phones as the core, but its products are rich and diverse, covering smart homes, wearable devices, Internet of Things and other fields, and has formed a huge intelligent ecology. Xiaomi's vision is to "let everyone enjoy the good life brought by technology". In order to realize this vision, Xiaomi has continued to expand its product line, from headphones and watches to air conditioners and washing machines, to toothbrushes and hair dryers, constantly exploring new markets to meet the needs of users, and was even nicknamed "Xiaomi Grocery Store" for a time.
In March 2021, Lei Jun, founder, chairman and CEO of Xiaomi Group, shouted "fight for Xiaomi Auto" at the press conference, officially announcing its entry into the field of smart electric vehicles. Lei Jun said that this is his "last major entrepreneurial project in his life", and he is willing to bet on all the achievements and reputation accumulated in his life to personally lead the team to fight for Xiaomi Auto.
At present, the smartphone market has entered a stage of saturation and decline, Xiaomi needs to find new growth points and profit margins, and smart electric vehicles are undoubtedly an excellent choice, with broad prospects and potential. Xiaomi can use its technology accumulation and user base in the field of smartphones to create a smart car that seamlessly connects with mobile phones, providing users with a more convenient and comfortable travel experience.
Secondly, Xiaomi's car manufacturing is a kind of improvement and upgrade of the intelligent ecology. Xiaomi has established a smart ecosystem covering multiple scenarios such as home and office, but only the link of smart cars is missing. Xiaomi's car manufacturing can be said to be the last piece of the puzzle that completes the intelligent ecology, and it can also create more value and services for users.
Finally, Xiaomi's car manufacturing is a kind of responsibility and contribution to social responsibility. New energy vehicles integrate new energy, new materials and the Internet, big data, artificial intelligence and other transformative technologies, which can drive the transformation and upgrading of energy, transportation, information and communication infrastructure, promote the optimization of energy consumption structure, and improve the intelligent level of transportation system and urban operation, and are also China's strategic measures to respond to climate change and promote green development. Xiaomi's car manufacturing can provide a feasible solution to social problems such as traffic congestion, environmental pollution, and energy crisis, and can also make its own contribution to promoting China's transformation, upgrading and innovative development.
First, independent research and development, not with third-party car companies. Xiaomi believes that smart electric vehicles are a new field that needs to be built from scratch, rather than simply installing intelligent systems on traditional cars, and hopes to master the core technology and intellectual property rights of smart electric vehicles through independent research and development, and build their own competitive advantages and brand influence. From the most critical power battery, electronic control system to autonomous driving technology, lidar, etc., Xiaomi has made a series of investment layouts around car manufacturing.
The second is to be user-centric and not to pursue profits. Xiaomi said that building a car is a long-term investment and will not consider short-term returns and profits. Xiaomi's goal is to provide users with a cost-effective, high-quality, and high-experience smart electric car, rather than building a car to make money.
The third is to think on the Internet and not stick to tradition. Xiaomi believes that smart electric vehicles are an Internet product, not a traditional industrial product. Xiaomi will use Internet thinking to create an open, shared and collaborative car manufacturing platform, innovate and progress together with all partners, and realize the rapid iteration and upgrade of smart electric vehicles. At the same time, Xiaomi will substitute the idea of mobile phone operation into electric vehicles, maintain continuous interaction and feedback with users, create a user-centered smart travel ecosystem, and provide more value-added services and scenario applications.
NIO is an automobile-centric smart mobility company, and its products are mainly smart electric vehicles, smart charging piles, smart battery swap stations, etc., and has formed a complete smart travel ecosystem. Driven by NIO's vision of "making mobility better", NIO continues to improve its product quality and service levels, and explore new technologies and business models. In September 2023, NIO officially released its first smartphone, NIO Phone, entering the smartphone field. This is the largest crossover innovation in NIO's history, and it is also the most controversial product launch of NIO to date.
NIO's mobile phone is a supplement and extension of the smart travel ecosystem. NIO has built a smart travel ecosystem that covers multiple links such as vehicles, charging, battery swapping, maintenance, and communities, but it also lacks a core link - smartphones. As an indispensable intelligent terminal product in daily life, smart phones can be interconnected with cars and other smart devices to form a more complete and powerful core hub of intelligent networks.
NIO's mobile phone is also based on the user's perspective. NIO has always adhered to the concept of "customer first", paid attention to the needs and experience of users, and is committed to using technology to improve the quality of travel. By making its own mobile phones, NIO can provide users with a more seamless, safe, and efficient smart travel experience.
First, it is car-centric and does not compete with other mobile phone manufacturers. NIO said that the mobile phone is not made to enter the smartphone market, but to serve NIO's car users. NIO's mobile phones are only for NIO car owners and potential customers, and will not be sold in other channels, nor will they participate in the ** war and configuration war. NIO's mobile phone is a smart terminal that seamlessly connects with NIO to provide users with a more convenient and safe travel experience.
The second is to be innovation-driven, not confined to tradition. NIO believes that smartphones are an innovative field that needs to be constantly explored and broken through, rather than simply imitated and followed. NIO's mobile phones use some unique designs and features, such as car control buttons, sky windows, NIO Link, etc., which reflect NIO's innovative spirit and user orientation. NIO's mobile phones also integrate NIO's smart travel ecosystem, such as NIO APP and NIO Power, to provide users with more value-added services and scenario applications.
Although it was still subject to external restrictions last year, Huawei relied on the excellent performance of the new P60 series, sales increased significantly, and returned to the top five domestic smartphone manufacturers, in terms of automotive business, according to Huawei's financial report released last year, it has invested more than 20 billion, but Huawei continues to emphasize that it will not build cars in person, but through empowerment and cooperation with car companies, so that car companies can build good cars.
There are three main models of Huawei's automotive business: one is the parts model, in which Huawei charges a fee for the sale of parts to car companies; The second is the HI (Huawei Inside) in-depth cooperation mode led by the car BU, and the rear of the vehicle will have a "HI" logo; The third is the "smart car" model led by the terminal business group, in which Huawei leads the R&D and design of product definition, and the vehicles are sold in the mobile phone channel.
Huawei's most successful car business in February this year shows that the latest vehicle sales data in February this year shows that Wenjie once again claimed that "the new force sold the first in February and won the monthly sales champion for a second time". According to official data, 21,142 vehicles were delivered in February, of which 18,479 were delivered to the new M7.
Huawei mainly provides solutions in the fields of intelligent cockpit and autonomous driving, while Sailis is responsible for the R&D and manufacturing of vehicles. It is a very wise choice for Huawei not to build cars themselves, but to cooperate with various car brands. As a large-scale manufacturing industry with high investment, a large amount of cash flow is risky for Huawei, which does not raise funds, and the smart car model can better leverage Huawei's advantages in the intelligent Internet of Things.
As early as July 2022, Geely, which was in the process of transforming from traditional cars to intelligent connected vehicles, had an imminent need to build a market-competitive in-vehicle system and even a vehicle ecosystem.
Some netizens ridiculed, "Meizu makes a car, and it is auspicious". In fact, Geely values Meizu for the user habits and demand data it has accumulated in the mobile phone industry, as well as the excellent interactive experience of the Flyme system.
In the future, the tracks of the two industries of smart cars and smartphones will no longer be monotonous, and the two will no longer go their own ways, but will be an integrated relationship of multi-terminal, full-scene, and immersive experience for common users. At the press conference of the acquisition, Li Shufu, chairman of Xingji Times, once said.
In March last year, at the "Meizu Lynk & Co Unbounded Ecosystem Conference", Meizu Group released a new generation of flagship mobile phones Meizu 20 series, Flyme10, and the first generation of Flyme Auto on-board human-computer interaction software that will first be installed on the Lynk & Co 08 model.
Last month, following the general trend of AI, Meizu announced that it would "All in AI", stop new projects of traditional smartphones, and fully invest in AI for new generations. In addition, Meizu also announced the details of its AI strategic plan, including building AI device products, reconstructing the FlyMe system, and building an AI ecosystem.
As early as a few years ago, Geely began to research and apply AI large models, such as the Galaxy L7 on the car machine can use AI large models to generate wallpapers, create idiom stories, etc., as well as Galaxy E8, equipped with "AI voice", "AI time engine" and other applications. In the future, how will Meizu's investment in AI be applied to Geely Automobile's products? We'll see.
In short, Xiaomi's car build, Huawei's cooperation with Cialis, Geely's acquisition of Meizu, and NIO's mobile phone manufacturing are completely different cross-border innovation strategies, reflecting the different visions and goals of different technology companies. Xiaomi's car manufacturing is to complement its own people, cars and home intelligence ecology, and enhance its market share and brand influence; NIO makes mobile phones to improve its smart travel ecosystem and improve its user experience and user stickiness. Geely's acquisition of Meizu helped improve the development of vehicle-machine interaction systems; Huawei does not build cars, but develops smart car models. These are all based on insights and judgments into the intelligent market, and are all in response to future changes and challenges.
We hope that the cross-border innovation strategy of manufacturers can enable the industry to enter healthy competition, so that the automobile and mobile phone industries can learn from each other's advantages, and promote the overall progress of the industry.