Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

In addition to the north, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, a large number of fourth-tier cities are transforming. With the gradual increase of per capita disposable income, the concept of consumption is also quietly changing.

The "small town story" of the brand and the high-end background inevitably produce dramatic conflicts, and the user cognition and the brand path are split and integrated together. In addition to a few centralized cities, it is the so-called sinking market that can better reflect the general situation of the national mobile phone market.

Mobile phone can not only present the consumption appearance of a city, but also clearly see through the contradiction and harmony between the brand and the market. With the radiation effect of the central urban economic circle, the sinking market capacity will continue to grow, and it will become more and more important for mobile phone brands.

Whether the brand and users have been neck and neck in demand, whether to identify with whether to go in both directions, this market seems to have more reference significance.

The "values" of supply and demand are different. "it's too expensive!"

When it comes to the views on mobile phone products, local Gu Feng blurted out. Gu Feng works in the public service, has a stable income and belongs to the local median.

In the first three quarters of 2022, the local per capita disposable income was 15800 yuan, only 2% higher than the average level of the whole province, and the consumption power was in the middle of the province. There are still many fourth-tier cities like this in the whole country.

"Last year, I finally replaced Xiaomi 6, which has been in service for many years, and bought 12s," Gu Feng shook his head as he unconsciously wiped his new phone. "more than 4,000 yuan. I don't play mobile games. In fact, it's the same as choosing Mi 6. Choose a flagship processor with more memory. It can last longer, and it doesn't get stuck. But Mi 6 is only about 2,000 yuan on sale, and now it has almost doubled."

Not only Xiaomi, but also Glory, OPPO and vivo have built their own series into the main force, and the price of their products has increased by leaps and bounds in the past few years. Although the brands themselves have accumulated a lot of exclusive selling points, in the sinking market, the price of the product seems to be less convincing.

At present, the flagship straight-board mobile phones are mainly distributed in 4,000 to 7,000 yuan, while the folding screen phones are mainly in more than 8,000 gear. For consumers who are sinking in the market, high-end mobile phones are still "big consumers".

Consumption in small towns may not be able to keep up with the high-end trend for the time being.

"the price has gone up so much that I personally don't think I've got the corresponding experience." According to Gu Feng, the Mi 6 also used the top hardware at that time, and its batteries, photos and processors were all similar to other brands of flagship machines. "if you add 2,000 yuan to the Mi 6, its user experience may stand out in the same period."

The new model, on the other hand, allows users to pay for higher prices, giving the usual flagship experience. Each brand collective price increase, the product does not have the obvious advantage of horizontal comparison, just maintain the regular position.

"K50 is our best volume," the clerk did not point to the latest red rice K60, Xiaomi 13 series, "this model has been reduced after the launch of the new model, and now the price ratio is very high."

The situation in Rong OV's three offline stores is similar: half-generation old models work well, and some of the configurations are out of stock, while the new models are out of stock or even can only accept reservations.

Brands'"caution" about supply is a worry about inventory.

On the one hand, under the background of product homogenization, no one has the confidence to hoard a large amount of goods; on the other hand, the rise of mobile phone brands has been accompanied by an increase in unit costs in recent years. Take Xiaomi 12s Ultra as an example, its hardware cost is about 3400 yuan. If you add in channel, transportation, design, software and other costs, one inventory may need two sets of profits to balance profits and losses.

The sinking market, which pays more attention to value for money, is still "fight and retreat" even if it is similar to the old red rice flagship model with a certain capacity, not to mention the more expensive top flagship model.

I bought the 12s Ultra for the camera. After having a child, I need a recording tool that is easy to use with me.

Yang Hao works in one of the few good local units, with an annual income of more than 100,000 yuan, is not sensitive to the marginal effect of products, and is willing to pay more for rigid demand.

In recent years, with the fierce competition in the image track, the accumulation of self-research technology of mobile phone brands and cooperation with traditional image manufacturers are essentially for high-end Xu Li. The subsequent software and hardware upgrades are accompanied by an increase in R & D investment, which is bound to lead to a rise in product prices. The response of the sinking market is actually not positive.

"most people around them buy mid-and low-end models, but flagship phones are less visible to the naked eye, even less like top flagships. So far, there is no second 12s Ultra in the offices of more than a dozen people, and most people still have mid-end models and have been using them for several years."

Yang Hao pulled out an OPPO Reno5, which is now his backup machine. At that time, the choice of this model is also valued its performance-to-price ratio, high brush, processor, fast charge, screen share, and relatively able to control the Tianji 1000 + "green factory adjustment".

"several colleagues and friends are still using Reno5. In their words, the flagship phone is nothing more than a new processor, so it's a little better to take pictures, but it's really a lot more expensive, and it's not as exciting as buying a flagship phone for NT $2,000."

Yang Hao said that although he does not agree with this view, but before buying the top flagship machine, a lot of persuasion and advice around him is to disagree with the price.

Brands want to be high-end, but the acceptance of the sinking market is not high for the time being.

As for which model to choose for the next opportunity, Yang Hao said without thinking: "I want to try Apple." Then with self-mockery, he said that he was willing to be a "bad head".

In recent years, iPhone has been approached by Android in terms of image and performance, and the fast charge has been completely thrown off. even so, the "full experience version" can only be bought at a price of more than 10,000 yuan. Yang Hao said that many of his friends joined the Android midrange camp after the retirement of the old iPhone, and after the iPhone X, the number of iPhones visible to the local eye has decreased.

Yang Hao said that "enough of the domestic Android camp's own advertising, third-party App mixed beads" and other common problems, "even if you buy a top flagship can not avoid, but at least Apple does not have these annoying problems."

When high-end products encounter small-town stories, per capita disposable income largely determines the direction of the story.

Similar to Gu Feng and Yang Hao local middle-and high-income people, have purchasing power but still hold reservations, the high-end of domestic brands, there is still a lot of resistance in the sinking market.

Sorry, this one is out of stock now. If you make a reservation, you can pick it up in a year. "

"does it mean the seventh and eighth year after the new year?"

"it may have to be postponed until the factories, channels and other links are fully resumed before the goods will arrive one after another."

Lu Fenghai played with the Glory Magic Vs display machine and frowned slightly to consult the shop assistant, but in the end he could not get a satisfactory answer and had to try his luck with other brands.

Even if you visit the whole business district, the vivo and OPPO stores are the same as the Glory authorized stores: the folding screen is temporarily out of stock and can only be booked and waited. Xiaomi MIX Fold2 is only available, and the entry model still needs to be booked.

At Rongmi's four OV stores, no one mentioned spot even from customers a few days ago. The situation of "dispensing goods to order" is not caused by increased sales during the Spring Festival, nor is it even likely to exist in the short term.

The staff of the Honor authorized store explained this. This is the only official authorized store in the city. When the Magic Vs went on sale, the store booked a total of about a dozen units, almost the peak of local offline sales of the model, and it often took several days to sell one.

Through the communication with the store staff of various brands, it is found that "spectator serving" is not an honorable maverick, but a common tactic.

Due to the high price of the folding screen and the large volume resistance, the upstream channel strictly follows the market scale for the dispensing volume of the sinking market. The advantage is that the capacity direction is clear, and the spot corresponds to the volume area, such as first-and second-tier cities, or online. The disadvantage is that it is inconvenient for offline users to pick up goods.

This seems to be a little different from the "user thinking" that brands talk about.

On the 29th of the 12th lunar month, the few local commercial centers were crowded and bustling, and there was an endless stream of customers in the mobile phone store, but Lu Fenghai, with "hot money", finally did not accept the long wait, so he turned to online channels to buy.

For the brand side, the offline lack of goods may not affect the final order of loyal users. In the sinking market, high-priced models correspond to relatively few "tourists", and the possible loss of the brand is not large.

Lu Fenghai once tried to bargain off the store online: "if you have to wait so long, there should be a discount on the price."

"our clerk only earns 50 yuan for a folding screen, and this one can only give you a discount of 100 yuan. in fact, it's not a discount, it's a subsidy from our store, so I can only withdraw 20 yuan." the clerk moved out the gift bag. "the price discount will be taken as part of the subsidy for you with the commission."

No matter it is verbal skill or fact, it is obvious that it is difficult for offline stores to win customers.

"the biggest function of offline stores is to touch the real machine. If there is a spot, we should also compare the online price. The big platform has an obvious price advantage in 618 or double 11. Offline always gives some small gifts such as cups, schoolbags and headphones, which are not attractive at all." Lu Fenghai gave up the idea at this point.

Online brings a strong impact, offline like treading on thin ice. As a result of the trend, the already relatively narrow customer base of high-end products is further shrinking in the sinking market.

There is nothing wrong with choosing to be careful in order to avoid a waste of resources caused by mismatch. While the high-end banner of mobile phone brands is firmly planted online, it is also found in the streets of first-and second-tier cities, but it can only infiltrate into the sinking market in a small area for the time being.

Perhaps in the brand side's point of view, regional development to pull low-line urban economy is the biggest breakthrough of high-end downward infiltration. This is much more realistic than relying solely on one's own strength to increase investment in the sinking market.

The current booming sinking market may be more suitable for pasting past experience.

Strategy "sinking", different depth of domestic mobile phone brands used to be familiar with the struggle for performance-to-price ratio, has not been replaced by high-end, but copied and pasted into the sinking market.

Over the past few years, Rongmi OV has launched a mid-range fashion that focuses on volume, pushing the performance-to-price ratio as high as possible without hedging with its own products.

The sinking market is playing an important role in the new round of performance-to-price ratio dispute.

Rongmi OV four stores of the Spring Festival, except for the season's new products and folding screen models, all have 200-400 yuan in cash discounts, and still include gift packages.

There is a large crowd of onlookers, including a large number of middle-aged and elderly groups.

"it is very important to buy mobile phones for the elders, performance-to-price ratio and after-sales are very important, so they have always been given the choice of mid-range models. Even if the processor is not stuck for two years, even if the processor is not stuck for two years, even if you buy a broken screen, don't worry," Yang Hao shares the heart and virtue of buying a phone for the elders. "if you choose to go offline, you can take the elders to the store for personal experience, and they can also come to consult on their own when something goes wrong."

In the sinking market where performance-to-price ratio is king, brands should understand not only young people, but also middle-aged and old people.

Even if it is a hundred yuan machine, brands also regard large battery, big screen, fast charge, fall resistance and so on as the core product strength. A track without differentiation can solve most of the problems by relying on the supply chain, and the core of the difference in sales may lie in the channel.

Yang Hao stressed an easy-to-ignore fact: "only Xiaomi and Huawei have direct stores in this city, and other brands are authorized stores."

When asked "which local brand has the highest appearance rate of mobile phones", the vast majority of people answered "Xiaomi". Perhaps Yang Hao's words illustrate the nature of the difference in sales.

Price suspicion, to some extent, stems from the difference between direct stores and authorized stores.

As mentioned earlier, authorized stores have store subsidies in order to stimulate volume, which tends to give people the impression that there is a lack of a uniform price standard. When users compare prices in many ways, they often choose third-party online platforms with better prices to place orders, while direct stores have absolute control over the price, even in official and third-party online platforms, it can also restrain the price difference more effectively.

Although the channels are different, the brand finally facilitates the sale. The hard-hit authorized stores also face the problem of a shortage of high-end users. If there is no price subsidy, the authorities can only pay out of their own pocket and turn to reduce profits. If the middle and low-end models are still blocked after the official price cut, the relatively lower profit margins will be compressed again, and authorized stores can only fall into a vicious circle if they want to continue to play.

In the sinking market, which is relatively sensitive to product prices, brands may not only need to sink strategically, but also need ways to fit.

Whether to set up brand stores, market volume may be an important consideration, and user orientation is not only after-sale, but also in pre-sale.

Perhaps, the brand needs to wait for the city to grow, and the best time for the brand to develop is to be in tune with users. If you reach out your hand first, you may mismatch your enthusiasm, but if you go step by step, you may also lack sincerity.

Based on their own basis and considerations, brands have made different choices and have planted cause and effect.

This article is from the official account of Wechat: photon Planet (ID:TMTweb), by Xiong Xing

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