Leading the industry's high-end positioning
In the past four short years, from the sales of 65.438+0 million in the first year to 65.438+0.5 billion in the fourth year, Xu Chuang Science and Technology has achieved a great leap in its initial stage, and has rapidly grown into a bright star in the optical communication industry in China and a leader among domestic high-end optical module suppliers.
Xu Chuang's sudden appearance is no accident. The high-end positioning makes Xu Chuang have a higher starting point than its domestic counterparts. Liu Sheng said: "The vision of Xu Chuang Technology is to build a world-class high-end optical communication module company based in China, and the product planning is aimed at high-end products in industries such as 40G, 100G." This development goal, as well as the continuous investment and unremitting efforts in this strategy, have made Xu Chuang always ahead of the domestic industry level since its establishment.
The focus of the optical fiber communication industry has shifted to China, which is the background of Liu Sheng and his team's decision to return to China to start a business. At that time, although China's information service industry and communication system equipment industry developed rapidly, most domestic optical device enterprises mainly manufactured low-end products such as 155M, 1.25G and 2.5G on a large scale, and the high-end research and development was almost zero. After understanding the current situation of this market, Liu Sheng decided to March into high-end products.
Although there is a general direction, the small positioning is still unclear. "Because I didn't know which was better, I tried every product." In the continuous exploration, the product positioning of Xu Chuang Science and Technology becomes clearer and clearer. The first product 10G SFP+, which was launched in 2008, was successfully launched in March 2009 and entered the international markets such as the United States and Japan.
Subsequently, Xu Chuang Science and Technology quickly developed a 40G QSFP+ 10km high-speed optical module with small package and low power consumption, becoming the first company in China with the mass production capacity of 40G modules. At present, these 10G and 40G products have been widely used by world-class communication equipment customers such as ZTE, Huawei, Nokia, Siemens and some large data center customers. In addition, Xu Chuang is developing 100G series products to better meet the needs of users.
Xu Chuang's product route planning is becoming clearer and clearer. In the next few years, their focus will be on cloud computing data center market and data communication market. "Our goal is to make 10G SFP+ series the first in China and 40G QSFP+ the top three in the world. The 100G product developed now is planned to be mass-produced next year. " Liu Wei said.
The demand for network bandwidth is increasing by more than 60% every year, and high-end products account for as much as 50% in the $3 billion core optical device market. As the only company in China that ships 40G optical modules in batches, the advantages of Xu Chuang technology are self-evident, and behind this is Xu Chuang's firm determination to regard technological innovation as its lifeline.
Life and death technological innovation
In fact, from 2.5G to 10G, there is not much difference between domestic and foreign optical module products, because the package and circuit are in the same structure. The bigger threshold from 10G TO 40G lies in optical design, because in the 40G era, it is impossible to follow the previous TOSA and TO packaging modes and adopt completely different designs. But from 40G to 100G is a higher threshold, not only for optics, but also for electricity. At present, in the high-end field, foreign manufacturers are still in a dominant position, so what is most needed and urgent for Xu Chuang, which is positioned at the high end, is continuous innovation and breakthrough.
Xu Chuang Science and Technology's original optical design and packaging platform has brought high optical coupling efficiency and good product cost performance. It is this small module shaped like a USB flash drive that shines brightly in application fields such as cloud computing, data center and enterprise network. In just four years, Xu Chuang has successively launched more than 20 kinds of products in six categories applied to different market segments, and applied for 45 patents, including 2 1, which is in the forefront of domestic counterparts in technological innovation. In addition, in order to keep up with the world's most advanced technology development trend, the company has also established a research and development center in Silicon Valley, USA.
Unlike most enterprises, Xu Chuang did not take profit as the first goal at the beginning of its business. On the contrary, Xu Chuang pays more attention to its long-term sustainable development ability. "Our goal is to build a brand in the market and realize unique value in the next five or ten years."
Liu Sheng told reporters: "Although the initial OEM sales model is of great benefit to the rapid promotion of the market, we clearly realize that this is not a long-term solution. Although we have technology and production capacity, customers accept other brands and have more contact with the original factory. In the future development, we will also be subject to this. " As a result, Xu Chuang achieved a magnificent transformation and launched its own brand on 20 1 1. Last year, the sales share of independent brands increased from 20% to 80%. Since 20 12 years, the number of customers of the company has greatly increased, and cooperation agreements have been reached with many well-known domestic communication enterprises. It is estimated that the annual sales will reach1500,000 yuan.
"High-end companies and product positioning determine that we must keep up with the forefront of industry technology development, and our own innovation ability is a matter of life and death." Liu Sheng mentioned "innovation" many times in the process of "deciphering" Xu Chuang's scientific and technological development. For him, innovation is Xu Chuang's life.
Innovation needs investment, especially long-term capital investment. Since its establishment, Xu Chuang has invested more than 20% of its sales revenue in the research and development of new products and technologies every year, which has provided a stable guarantee for continuous technology research and development. In addition, this determination of continuous investment has formed the understanding that "technological innovation is our lifeline" within the company and created a good atmosphere for specific R&D work.
At the same time, technological innovation is inseparable from excellent talent teams. Xu Chuang's technical planners and project managers are both industry veterans. Many of them are "returnees" doctors who have worked in top companies in the industry for many years. "They are the source of promoting technological innovation."
In order to strengthen the training of R&D team, Xu Chuang recruits a group of fresh graduates from colleges and universities every year, establishes a good training mechanism, and then gives them full play in the implementation of specific projects, and gradually cultivates a team full of vitality and fighting spirit.
"If we jump out of individual companies and look at the entire domestic communications industry, the atmosphere of innovation is getting better and better." Liu Sheng said: "However, it is undeniable that in the optical module industry, most enterprises still focus on manufacturing and supply chain links, and their understanding and investment in technological innovation are still not satisfactory."
Therefore, Xu Chuang Science and Technology strives to promote the industry to form a development atmosphere of "focusing on innovation and healthy competition" and curb the formation of homogenization and vicious price competition that are not conducive to the overall development of the industry. Therefore, Xu Chuang initiated the establishment of Suzhou Optoelectronic Communication Industry Alliance, actively explored the integration of upstream and downstream resources and promoted the upgrading of industrial structure, which was recognized by peers and customers.
Unique silicon valley style
"Xu Chuang is the first optical device company to completely transplant the entrepreneurial model of Silicon Valley in the United States to China, and it is a unique Silicon Valley-style company in China's optical communication industry." This is the industry's evaluation of Xu Chuang, and it is indeed the case.
Liu Sheng and his entrepreneurial team members are from several high-tech companies in Silicon Valley, so the company learned from the experience of many Silicon Valley startups in the process of establishment and operation-invested by many domestic and foreign venture capitalists, aiming at the high-end product market at the beginning of its establishment and being able to sell products to many world-renowned companies.
In addition, Xu Chuang's corporate culture based on engineer culture naturally has many Silicon Valley styles. Advocating innovation is still the top priority. Advocating freedom, relaxation, equality, mutual trust and cooperation is conducive to maintaining an optimistic attitude and efficient cooperation at work. When encountering specific problems, everyone can exchange views openly and even have a professional debate. Respect for facts is also a quality that Xu Chuang attaches great importance to. Be pragmatic in formulating enterprise development goals and daily management, and basically make daily decisions and performance appraisal based on data.
Although such a corporate culture cannot be directly reflected in the hard figures of sales and profit rate, it can give people warmth in some details. There is a photo of "Company Family Day" in Weibo, Liu Sheng, which shows employees' children visiting their parents' company. Liu Sheng told reporters that "Company Family Day" is an activity that many foreign companies like to do. By letting employees' families know the working environment, work content and social value of their loved ones' companies, we can better understand our work. At the same time, we also take this opportunity to thank all our family members for their support on weekdays.
In addition, in order to improve the company's cohesion and competitiveness, Xu Chuang also introduced the employee stock ownership incentive mode in Silicon Valley, and established a benefit sharing mechanism through option incentives, so that all R&D personnel have the same expectation and confidence for the company's long-term development, and will actively solve problems when encountering difficulties. For these partners who work hard with themselves, Liu Sheng said: "I hope to build Xu Chuang into the same career platform as my employees."
In recent years, with the emergence of new trends in fiber-to-the-home, mobile Internet and cloud computing industries, the market demand for high-speed optical module products is also changing with each passing day. In addition to higher speed, there are comprehensive requirements such as higher integration, lower power consumption and lower cost. These new trends are opportunities for the development of optical module industry, and also bring great challenges to all manufacturers in the industry. But in this regard, Liu Sheng seems to have a well-thought-out plan: "In the next few years, Xu Chuang Science and Technology will continue to focus on product innovation and improve the comprehensive service level, and strive to meet the various requirements and expectations put forward by target customers."
Facing the fierce competition brought by the rapid development of the industry, Liu Sheng has his own ideas. In the field of data center and data communication market, which Xu Chuang already has core competitiveness, they plan to continue to increase investment and strive to maintain the leading position in the industry. A large part of investment is still on technological innovation. "If the technology industry does not advance, it will retreat. Only continuous technological innovation can develop for a long time." On the basis of cutting-edge technology, Xu Chuang technology will be closer to the market. Liu Sheng said: "Xu Chuang will provide customers with the latest products in the industry in time. At the same time, through his own efforts and cooperation with industry partners, he will strive to control costs, improve the quality of various services, and continuously improve the cost performance for customers."
"It has always been my dream to become a world-class high-end optical communication module design and manufacturing enterprise." When it comes to Xu Chuang, Liu Sheng makes no secret of his pride and ambition. But his modesty and sincerity make people feel very practical. "What I value is the development of the enterprise after 5 years 10 years, because I regard Xu Chuang as my career."