Domestic smart attack: 2G market still has

According to statistics just released by Gartner, global smartphone sales accounted for 23.6% of total handset sales in the first quarter of 2011, an increase of 85% year-on-year. According to the exclusive information obtained by the China Electronics News from Sinomax Market Research Corporation, the sales volume of smartphones in the Chinese market in the first quarter of 2011 was approximately 12 million, which represented a year-on-year growth rate of approximately 200%. Saino's latest data shows that smartphones account for 23% of the total handset shipments. In other words, the market share of smart phones in the Chinese market is already close to the global level, and the growth rate is much higher than the global level.

The trend of such rapid growth of smart phones will naturally form a huge market size above the huge base of 900 million mobile users in China. Can domestic mobile phone companies, which have been fighting in the mobile phone industry, seize this opportunity?

Who is leading domestic smart?

One type of Chinese company adopts the same strategy in both international and domestic markets, and the other focuses on smart phones.

There is not a single wave of smart phones that Chinese companies have created. In the past week, Yulong Coolpad launched the world’s first 5-inch ultra-large screen dual-network dual-standby smart phone; ZTE’s Blade V880 refreshed the “600MHz frequency processor, 3.5-inch capacitive touch screen” The new standard for smart phones, and signed a one-time sales agreement with China Unicom, and earlier, Huawei launched Android2.3 C8800 to enter the high-end market... These three companies are Chinese mobile phone companies. The components do not represent the entire Chinese mobile phone industry.

ZTE and Huawei are very distinctive smart phones competing strengths, not only because other companies' origins (communication system equipment companies) other companies can not replicate, but also the international and domestic markets they adopt and promote cooperation with global operators. The model is also unique among domestic enterprises. The two companies are currently working hard to seize the opportunities for replacement of smart phones and devote themselves to the operation of end products. They have already achieved good results in the field of 3G smart terminals with different standards from the three major domestic operators.

The other category is domestic companies focused on smartphones. Yulong Coolpad is a representative of such mobile phone companies, and there are more and more such companies. After more than ten years of hard work, Yulong Coolpad has finally formed its own stable user base and brand image in the field of smart phones. Later Meizu and Qiji mobile phones also adopted strategies that specialize in intelligence and were effective. With the arrival of the smart phone trend, such enterprises are still emerging, such as Shenzhen, the first to send a strong market offensive this year.

Traditional forces try to cut in

Traditional domestic mobile phone companies also plunge into the smart phone market.

In China, there are a large number of very small and medium-sized mobile phone companies with vitality. Many of them are old-fashioned domestic mobile phone companies. Different companies have different attitudes toward smart phones. In addition to these two forces, they form the reserve force for Chinese smart phones.

In the current domestic mobile phone camp, OPPO (including backgammon), Jin Li and Tianyu Langtong are the best brands and operating conditions. These companies all have a unique understanding of China's large and complex market structure, and have their own unique insights on 2G feature phones. However, for the smartphone market, they always "listen to rumor only." However, this situation is changing.

Not long ago, relevant information of the OPPO smartphone X903 was exposed on the Internet and it is reported that it is coming to market soon. At the Boao Forum on May 19, Jinli’s smartphones were announced as the "Baoji Asia Forum Designated Business Phones." Tianyu Langtong completed the move from feature phones to smartphones last year and launched Android phones. It is believed that when these enterprises lay smart phones in their respective channels, domestic smart phones will have a big breakthrough in volume.

Among the older domestic mobile phone companies, Lenovo has a better business situation. In addition to the LePhone launched with Lenovo Group, Lenovo Mobile, which is engaged in the production and operation of mobile phones, does not have much smart phone products (excluding Ophone), but it was disclosed by Unicom executives at a conference of China Unicom last week. One step Lenovo will also launch a thousand yuan smart phone. In addition, the Sharan mobile phone, which originated from the Amoi old department, has also made it clear that it will launch 3G smart phones in the second half of this year.

All kinds of information indicate that these traditionally domestic mobile phone companies or mobile phone companies with traditional Chinese mobile phone blood are also interested in rushing into the smart phone market. However, their investment in the smart market this year is still exploratory, and it will take some time to set off a "smart wave."

2G smart and market space

The factor that affects the scale of domestic mobile phones to enter the smart market is the upstream chip.

One of the clear characteristics of the current global smartphone competition is the high degree of centralization of the chips. The vast majority of smartphones use Qualcomm's chip platform. The domestic mobile phone companies will turn to smart terminals and will rely on their old partner, MTK, Spreadtrum, or other companies that provide higher-performance chips. However, these chip companies have not yet launched too powerful smart platform products.

MTK has been committed to the introduction of smart phone chips. This year MediaTek's main push is based on the Android system chip program, one is released last year's EDGE smart chip MT6516, one is released earlier this year, 3G smart chip MT6573, it seems that these two chips have not yet like its 2G function Cell phone chips have reverberated in the market. However, it is reported that smart phones based on MT6516 platform iVio (Fan Zhuo) has been shipped in bulk overseas, not far from the domestic market.

However, experts believe that the performance of the MTK program is not too questionable, but that the positioning and pricing of its smart chips will be relatively embarrassing, and it is an urgent issue to be resolved. “At present, ZTE and Huawei have been able to use QUALCOMM’s chips to make 3G smart phones with a market price of less than US$150. With MediaTek's 3G smart chips being limited by Qualcomm’s patent fees, it may be difficult to get the right price right now. According to Lu Junkuan, a senior analyst in the field of mobile communications at Gartner, a reporter from China Electronics News stated, “And its EDGE smart solution will compete with its own dual-card dual-standby feature phone program with a price of 50 dollars (unit).” Explains that MediaTek's $50 dual-card dual standby mobile phone can also provide meager, QQ, and other mobile Internet experience, and the EDGE smart solution with a frequency of less than 600MHz is only "useful," so the pricing of the smart solution is relatively low. .

Lu Junkuan is not not optimistic about MTK's smart phone platform. "But if one day we can make a 2G smart phone that sells for $55, there is a show," he said. "If the price of a smart phone is reduced to a little more than that of a feature phone, then there will be a market. Now the company in Shenzhen. We are working hard in this direction.” He said that according to the coverage, experience and tariffs of China’s 3G network, “2G has a certain incremental market, and smartphones are a prevailing concept, so 2G ​​smart phones still have A certain market space." Lu Junkuan believes that the 2G smartphone market will have about one year of vitality in China, and domestic companies can use this market.