Picture source: Oriental IC
30 seconds quick reading
1. Gree has released a 5G mobile phone. When some people regard Gree’s mobile phone manufacturing as a joke, Dong Mingzhu is serious and persistent. She never thinks that Gree mobile phone has failed.
2. Half a month after its launch, Gree’s 5G mobile phone sales on its official website only exceeded 2,000 units. Gree’s third-generation mobile phone launched in 2018 has also been removed from the official website. This mobile phone has only sold 1 in 3 years since its launch. More than 10,000 units are sold, which is even less than the sales volume of some models of Xiaomi mobile phones in a month or a day.
3. Why does Dong Mingzhu never forget her mobile phone? Are you trying to get angry with Lei Jun, or are you planning to lay out the entrance to your smart home? Gree 5G mobile phone, another serious joke?
People who like to follow the trend will definitely smell the trend of 5G replacement. Whether it is the hot iPhone 12 or the popular thousand-yuan phone, they have all been prefixed with 5G.
However, when Gree Electric, a star company, also caught up with the last train of 5G and launched a 5G mobile phone named after the sub-brand Dasong, what it faced was another sales failure in the mobile phone industry.
The famous saying in the fashion circle, "Trends fade away, but style lasts forever" seems to be quite applicable to the head of Gree in the manufacturing industry. Dong Mingzhu, chairman of Gree Electric Appliances, who only became a topical figure last month because of a master's thesis titled "Research on CEO Narcissism and Its Economic Consequences - Taking Gree Electric Appliances as an Example", has recently been brought into the spotlight by the newly launched Dasong 5G mobile phone. "Dong Mingzhu does not think Gree mobile phone failed" hot search.
Even though Gree’s many cross-border attempts to build cars, mobile phones, and chips have caused a lot of public controversy, Dong Mingzhu has never questioned her decision-making. Since releasing its first mobile phone in 2015, Gree has never made a name for itself in the industry. If Gree's 5G mobile phone also "overturned" this time, what would be the reason for dissing it?
In November 2019, Gree Electric revised its articles of association and deleted "operating telecommunications business and value-added telecommunications business". Regarding such adjustments, the outside world cannot help but speculate that Gree Electric is preparing to abandon the mobile phone business.
However, the official response stated that they have not given up making mobile phones, but have just handed over the mobile phone business to its subsidiaries. Gree will not only continue to manufacture mobile phones, but also 5G mobile phones.
More than a year later, Gree has stumbled into fulfilling its promise of 5G mobile phones. On December 7, Gree’s official mall launched a Dasong 5G mobile phone built by its sub-brand Dasong.
Screenshot of Gree Dasong 5G mobile phone on December 8, source: Gree official mall
Equipped with Snapdragon 765G ultra-fast 5G chip, supporting 4-band dual-mode 5G full Netcom, up to 8GB + 256GB of memory, equipped with a 6.81-inch FHD+ full screen and a rear 64-megapixel flagship quad camera. The price is divided into two grades: 2,699 yuan and 2,999 yuan.
Snapdragon 765G is a mid-range processor that is widely used in cost-effective models, such as Redmi K30, vivo Z6, Xiaomi 10 Youth Edition, etc., with prices mostly in the 2,000 yuan range.
Take Redmi K30 as an example. Its main configuration is the same as that of Dasong 5G mobile phone. The price is only 1,999 yuan, which is 1,000 yuan cheaper than the high-end version of Dasong 5G of the same grade.
According to media reports, Dasong’s 5G mobile phone sales were less than 30 units on the first day, and it failed to exceed 1,000 units a week after it was launched. As of December 21, 15 days after its launch, the sales volume of Dasong 5G mobile phones on Gree’s official website was 1,956 units, and the sales volume of Gree Dong Mingzhu store’s mini program was 2,284 units. Among them, the sales of Meiye Aurora mobile phones, the mini program and the official website were exactly the same .
As of 14:00 on December 21, the official website shows that Dasong 5G mobile phones have sold 1,956 units. Source: Gree official mall
Complaints about "low configuration and high price", Since the first generation of Gree mobile phones came out in 2015, it has never stopped.
Gree’s first-generation mobile phone uses a Snapdragon 410 quad-core processor, 1GB+8GB memory, a rear 8-megapixel camera and Android 4.4.4 operating system, priced at 1,600 yuan.
This price-performance ratio cannot even be compared with the first-generation Redmi Note mobile phone released in 2014. The enhanced version of Redmi Note 4G is equipped with MediaTek MT6592 eight-core processor, 2GB+16GB memory, and a rear 13-megapixel , only priced at 999 yuan.
By the time Gree’s third-generation mobile phone was launched in 2018, its configuration still lagged behind the market in the same period. At the hardware level, Snapdragon 855 processors and 6GB+128GB mobile phones were already on the streets at that time, but Gree’s third-generation mobile phones still used the Snapdragon 821 processor and 4GB+64GB storage combination released in 2016. The LeTV Pro3 with the same configuration , Xiaomi 5S and other models using Snapdragon 821 are being eliminated by the market.
At the software level, the Android 7.1.2 system used by Gree’s third generation mobile phones is also two generations behind the Android 9.0 system that was common at the time.
Another distinctive feature of Gree mobile phones is that they are pre-installed with photos of Dong Mingzhu, the head of Gree.
After the first-generation Gree mobile phone was launched, Dong Mingzhu’s photo was used as the startup screen.
Source: Internet
Regarding this, Dong Mingzhu said: "Why does Gree mobile phone use my photo as the startup screen? It's not to save advertising costs, it's because I want to tell consumers, I am the founder of Gree Mobile, and this is respect for consumers.” In her view, Gree Mobile does not compete with prices to reduce sales, which is a sign of being responsible to consumers.
With no market and no reputation, is it too early to talk about being responsible to consumers?
Faced with bleak sales data, "Iron Lady" adopted the method of "self-produced and self-sold" to digest it. At the beginning of 2017, Gree's second-generation mobile phone was included in the year-end bonus of employees. After the Spring Festival, all employees were required to use Gree mobile phones, otherwise they would not be able to enter the company.
Picture source: Internet
In addition to employees, Gree mobile phones have also been "bundled and sold" to suppliers who purchase air conditioners, and they have been forcibly "provided" to installation workers, otherwise they would not be able to Log in to the system normally to receive the work order, which made the latter say "I can't use it".
Source: Internet
Chen Zili, the then marketing director of Gree Electric Appliances, once said that Gree did not force suppliers to purchase mobile phones, but only mutually beneficial cooperation. Dong Mingzhu's response was even more domineering: "You are my employee, why don't you use my mobile phone? You have no confidence in your products, how can you let the market recognize it?"
"Look from the outside" "Decay" did not shake Dong Mingzhu's determination to make mobile phones. She believes that Gree mobile phones have not failed. Making mobile phones can bring many technological extensions. Gree has always insisted on independent research and development, and success is only a matter of time.
Where will the technological extension of Gree mobile phones be directed? The startup screen seems to be the answer. Below the photo of the leader is an "ambitious" greeting: "This is one of the first mobile phones launched by Gree after it entered the world's top 500. It can not only have interpersonal communication, but also open up Gree's The door to 'smart and environmentally friendly home'."
When did Gree, which is mainly engaged in the air conditioning business, start participating in the smart home blueprint? In 2018, "Gree Zero Carbon Healthy Home" was launched globally, integrating the two distinctive smart home systems of "energy saving" and "intelligence", allowing the home to independently realize one-stop energy management and control.
As early as the 2014 annual report, Gree stated that it would enter the smart home field in the future, and would use Gree mobile phones as the center for connecting to smart homes.
Source: Gree 2014 Annual Report
According to estimates from the Home Appliances Industry Information Center, by 2020, the intelligence rates of white goods, household appliances, and kitchen appliances will each reach 45%. , 28% and 25%, it is conservatively expected that smart home appliances will bring market demand of 1.2 trillion yuan in the next three years.
Picture source: Qianzhan Industry Research Institute
Gree did not choose the wrong course, but in comparison, Midea and Haier, which have more successful product diversification, may have more say.
In the revenue structure of Midea Group, HVAC and consumer appliances accounted for 43.12% and 35.72% respectively. In 2018, Midea launched COLMO, a high-end brand of AI technology home appliances. According to the official battle report, COLMO’s Double 11 sales this year A year-on-year increase of 2994%, it has gained a prominent share of the high-end market in some categories.
Haier relies on the industrial Internet platform COSMOPlat to allow users to participate in the intelligent manufacturing system throughout the entire process. The Haier Smart Home App was launched in December 2019, turning "selling single products" into "selling scenes". Consumers not only You can purchase goods online and control smart home appliances.
Although Gree’s sub-brands include Dasong, which specializes in heaters, rice cookers, humidifiers, electric fans and other household appliances, and Jinghong, which focuses on refrigerators, washing machines and large kitchen and bathroom appliances, their market volume is not the same. Not too big. Excluding air conditioners, Gree's household appliances revenue accounted for only 3.19%.
Proportion of Gree Electric’s operating revenue by product, source: 2020 Semi-annual Report
It is still difficult to expand in the home appliance category, so how can we rely on mobile phones to open up smart homes? door?
Rather than seeing the prospect of smart homes, Gree’s obsession with mobile phones is more like a “tragedy” caused by a “billion dollar bet”.
Source: Internet
In 2013, Dong Mingzhu and Lei Jun bet 1 billion, agreeing that whichever company has the highest turnover in five years will win.
Since then, Gree has officially entered the field of smartphones. Unfortunately, with the label of "low configuration and high price", Gree mobile phones have not been able to occupy a place in the market so far.
In the official mall "Gree Dong Mingzhu Store", the total sales volume of Gree's third-generation mobile phones starting from 3,400 yuan in the three years as of December 16 was only more than 10,000 units, even less than some models of Xiaomi mobile phones for one month. Or one day’s sales.
Despite this, Gree has always refused to admit defeat in its competition with Xiaomi.
The "Global Smart Home Invention Patent Ranking in the First Half of 2019" jointly released by the intellectual property industry media IPRdaily and the incoPat Innovation Index Research Center shows that Gree ranks second in the world and first in China with 219 patents. Xiaomi ranks third with 121 patents.
In August this year, Dong Mingzhu also talked about the "billion bet" in CCTV's "Relativity" dialogue program, saying that Xiaomi products are basically OEM products and are asset-light, while Gree's home appliances I have always insisted on doing it myself, which is asset-heavy. The two are not on the same plane. At the five-year mark, Gree won.
Source: Internet
Interestingly, in the second year after the bet expired, Xiaomi’s revenue surpassed Gree’s. However, Dong Mingzhu did not regard the sixth year as Xiaomi's narrow victory, and joked that this was the beginning of the second "five years".
If we really start counting the second "five years" from 2019, then Gree's smart home story has just begun. Can it still rely on the core technology of air conditioners to get ahead?
CMB International’s December research report pointed out that the current competitive landscape of the smart home market is relatively fragmented. Apple and domestic mobile phone brands (Huawei/Xiaomi/OPPO/vivo) both have layouts, among which Xiaomi enjoys the first-mover advantage. , using the "smartphone + AIoT" two-wheel drive model to build a complete product structure, and taking the expansion of large home appliance series represented by smart TVs as the next stage goal.
Gree, which claims to use mobile phones as a carrier to connect to smart homes, does it mean to imitate Xiaomi?
Throughout Xiaomi’s industrial chain layout, it is involved in mobile phone manufacturing, smart hardware, daily consumables, communications, chips, finance, etc., covering almost all IoT products.
The mobile phone manufacturing ecological chain alone includes many companies including screens, batteries, display motherboards, glass, ceramic exteriors, ODM, etc.
Source: Internet
Industrial Research said that as of Q2 2020, Xiaomi had invested in more than 300 upstream and downstream industry chain companies, with an after-tax net profit of RMB 1.16 billion, a quarter-on-quarter increase 413%, now it has entered the "harvest" period from "sowing".
Even with the decline in smartphone sales, IoT revenue still maintained a positive year-on-year growth rate of 2.1%.
On the other hand, Gree, even though it has frequently crossed borders in recent years, has not invested in mobile phone technology and industrial chain fields. Its recent foreign investments have also focused on medical equipment and energy.
Therefore, there are always doubts about "Gree makes mobile phones in vain". Regarding the newly launched Dasong 5G mobile phone, although Gree Electric calls it a group-level deployment, it hopes to use this to better promote its secondary sub-brands to the forefront.
Reminiscent of Dong Mingzhu’s announcement that Gree would invest 50 billion yuan to enter the field of independent chips, and her bold statement that “Huawei (mobile phones) sells first, and we will be second.” When will we see Gree? I’m afraid it’s hard to say what the mobile phone’s “proud work” is.
Editor/Kicked Girl
Typesetting/Huang Jian
Pictures/Oriental IC, Gree Official Mall, Gree Financial Report, Qianzhan Industry Research Institute, Network
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Source/"IT Times" public account vittimes