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

Apple CEO Cook has recently appeared in a number of cities across the country, from signing in photos posted on social media to fancy visits offline, all of which show the CEO's "absolute cooperation" with the Chinese marketing team.

This past September, the company launched its latest flagship mobile phone, the iPhone 15 series, to the world, and Cook's visit to China undoubtedly brought more popularity to the phone.

In the past two years, Apple's market share in China has exceeded 25%, making it one of the most important players in the high-end market.

But the competition in the mobile phone market is cruel. After 0: 00 every day, new and old players start a new round of market competition, and the opportunity is brewing again. Judging from the market data released recently, whether it is the full return of Huawei's high-end phones or the glory of the "three consecutive launches" on folding screen phones, the "attack" of domestic phones in the high-end market is putting renewed pressure on Apple.

"with the release of Magic V2, the inflow of Apple users has increased by 300%, and the folding screen experience is fully evolving, challenging the flagship of the straight board." Zhao Ming, Honor CEO, said bluntly in a recent interview that when the internal definition of Magic V2 and Magic Vs2 folded screen products released this year, they were defined as the competition between Apple Pro Max and Pro, which is a core thinking. "at present, we have seen Huawei Mate60, Glory Magic V2 and Magic Vs2 bring some share pressure to Apple, making Apple's share lead shorter."

According to the latest data released by the above-mentioned market institutions, Glory Magic V2 ranked first in the domestic "big folding" smartphone market ranking in the third quarter of this year, while Huawei Mate X3 and Mate X5 ranked second and third respectively. Following in the footsteps of Huawei, Glory has grown into a powerful player that can not be ignored in the high-end market.

"the smartphone industry is full of competition and vitality in order to challenge and break the dominance of Apple." Zhao Ming said.

Three years dormant, ten years accumulation

On November 17, 2020, Huawei issued a statement that divides Glory and Huawei into two.

Huawei said that at a difficult time when the technical elements of the industry were not continuously available and the consumer business was under great pressure, Huawei Investment Holdings decided to sell the Glory business assets as a whole in order to allow the Glory channels and suppliers to continue. A total of more than 30 Jia Rongyao agents and dealers jointly launched the above acquisition, which is also an act of self-rescue initiated by the glory-related industry chain.

The Glory brand was founded in 2013 and has always been aimed at young people, and has grown into an Internet mobile phone brand with annual shipments of more than 70 million units in seven years, Huawei said in a statement.

In other words, the glory of focusing on online channels in the past needs to stand up again in a very short time and quickly transform from an Internet brand into an omni-channel and crowd-wide brand. only by upgrading the brand connotation, broadening the technology moat, broadening the product layout, and expanding the channel system, can we have enough strength to compete with the current competitors. But the strategic time window for the rebirth and rise of a brand is always short, inadvertently, and opportunities disappear, especially in the highly competitive mobile phone industry.

The glory after independence, there is little time to prepare to be pushed to this field. At that time, it was not only faced with the full reconstruction of supply chain and channel capabilities, but also from other competitors' crazy nibbling on market share. Some media described the glorious situation at that time as "a man who grew up in a big family, wrapped in cotton-padded clothes, was suddenly sheltered and exposed to the cold rain," while the man with an umbrella left, Glory had to learn to trek alone in the rain.

Ni Jiayue, president of Glory Terminal Co., Ltd., China, is the witness of all this, with more than 10 years of market experience. As a former Huawei terminal "veteran", she knows that the market does not need the weak, glory wants to survive. Must quickly build their own core competence.

In a recent interview, Ni Jiayue told reporters that Glory is a company that makes long-term investment and does not care about the short term, so no matter what problems it encounters in the past three years of growth, Glory's strategy has not changed, that is, to be in the high-end market, to provide consumers with valuable products, and to let users feel that Glory is a company that makes products well. " For us, we have no right or qualification to pick opponents and win every best game. "

In addition to the product side, Glory wants to achieve market success, the core lies in the construction of channels.

Ni Jiayue said that in the process of glorious growth, channel partners and retailers have given great support. " They can feel that Glory shares all the benefits of development. No matter how difficult it is, Glory will never let the channel get hurt, because they are closest to consumers, including front-line product consultants. People who push the product to the consumer. So everyone can feel why in the process of glory development, there are more and more retail customers and more and more experience stores, because (because people) can see that glory not only wants to make good products, but also wants to do a good job in retail. "

It is understood that so far, the number of counters in Glory's special area in the Chinese market has reached more than 40,000, and there are probably more than 2000 experience stores. Mall stores account for 50%, and it is expected to reach 60% by the end of the year.

‎ Zhang Ming (not his real name) is one of the honorable agents. At the end of April 2021, the first Glory experience Store was opened in Guangzhou. After three years of development, it has become a small-scale agent in Guangzhou.

"in the early days of our cooperation with Glory, it was the most difficult time, when the market share was only 3 points and 4 points. The store has an area of 295 square meters and a large storefront. During the trial launch, there was only one phone on sale, Glory V40, followed by a light and extravagant version of V40, but there were only two machines in eight counters, which was obviously not enough. at that time, more than a hundred mobile phones were sold in a month." Zhang Ming told reporters that after the first two months, the confidence of the agents came back.

"our confidence comes from the market and from consumers. Glory 50 series launched, the first sale of more than 100 units on the day, the product slowly return, glory market share is also on the rise." Zhang Ming said that during the epidemic in 2021, the sales of Glory 50 exceeded everyone's expectations. as the first blockbuster product polished after Glory became independent, from product development to channel operation, it was operated independently by the New Glory team. Glory's ability to cope with and break out under extreme survival conditions has made more and more channels begin to strengthen their confidence in investing in Glory. In 2022, with the increasing richness of Glory's product line and the acceleration of systematic capacity building, Glory began to show stronger and stronger market competitiveness.

"there was some controversy before, but there has been a marked change this year." Another agent said that the average turnover period of the phone is 20 days, and the ideal turnover rate is about 10 days. "Glory Magic V2 is generally controlled at 8-9 days, Glory 90 is about 12 days, these are the core categories."

Ni Jiayue says the core of Honor's insistence is to do what is right for a long time. "I often say to leave difficulties and uncertainty to myself and focus and simplicity to the farthest people, such as channel businessmen. how far and how many layers of channel merchants at the county level, we must leave simplicity and focus to them and difficulties and uncertainty to ourselves. only in this way can the whole channel system become healthier and healthier."

With the return of Huawei's high-end, it is generally believed that glory must be the first to be affected. However, the Glory China team led by Ni Jiayue did not worry about this market view. "when all the major mobile phone brands are launching new products, we can still get the first place." The performance of Glory in the Chinese market throughout the third quarter is the best evidence of Ni Jiayue's judgment.

The market relay race enters "speed skating time".

After a trough of 3% market share in the early days of independence, Glory began to pick up the market share it had lost in the past, and gradually found its own pace in the field of high-end mobile phones.

In March this year, as the home of the annual launch of Huawei's P-series high-end flagship phones, the Shanghai Mercedes-Benz Cultural Center was packed, where mobile phone channels and supply chain partners from across the country gathered to wait for new opportunities. the protagonist of the venue has changed from Huawei to glory.

On the same day, Honor launched the annual flagship Mobile phone Glory Magic5 series in Shanghai, which is equipped with self-developed RF enhancement chips and Qinghai Lake battery technology, with a starting price of 3999 yuan and a high-end version of up to 7499 yuan.

Entering the second half of the year, Glory continues to make efforts in the field of folding screen. In a very short period of time, three flagship folding screen phones, Magic V2, V Purse and Magic Vs2, were launched one after another. Among them, the hot market performance of Magic V2 made Glory surpass Huawei Mate X3. It not only won the first place in the growth of horizontal folding screen mobile phone stock in July and August, but also ranked first in the domestic "big folding" smartphone market ranking in the third quarter, while Huawei Mate X3 and Mate X5 ranked second and third respectively.

Counterpoint analyst Archie Zhang told reporters that at present, all manufacturers in the high-end market basically adopt the double flagship strategy of straight board plus folding screen. Glory has been working hard to lay out the high-end market since the return, and is a major competitor in the high-end market. " The Magic series focuses on the traditional flagship track, focusing on images, including the concept of multi-camera fusion computing. The second is the big folding track. After the launch of the first folding machine Magic V in 2022, Magic Vs was launched in the same year, and then V2 and V Purse were released this year, making a more diversified layout. "Archie said that Glory tries its best to make the thickness thin and extreme on the folding screen, so that the large folding phone and the straight board machine can be at the same thin thickness, or even thinner than the straight board machine, at the same time. It brings users the experience of large screen and double screen, which is significantly more attractive to straight-board users.

And this layout also allows Glory to achieve high-quality growth in the face of a downturn in the market. In W37 (9.11-9.17), Glory tops the list with a market share of 18.2% of the Chinese market. This is Glory in June 26 to September 17 nearly three months a total of 12 weeks, a total of 11 weeks to win the market share of the first market in China. Since W26 (6.26-7.2), except W33 (8.14-8.20), glory has been the first in all periods of time.

Under the premise that all major mobile phone brands are releasing new products at the same time, it is not easy for Glory to achieve such a result. At present, the Magic5 series accounts for about 35 per cent of sales in the Glory store channels represented by him, while folding screens account for 10 per cent, Mr Zhang said.

"this year Glory's product line planning is very good, high-end products are mainly Magic series, high-end products are folded screen and Magic5 series for traction, waist products are Glory 90 series, middle and low-end products are X40 and X50 series, Changkuo series are mainly operator products, the positioning of the four series is very clear, and the portraits of users are also very clear." Zhang Ming said that during the period of Huawei, the product mobile phone was basically no more than 4000 yuan, mainly making online products, but this does not mean that the glorious R & D team does not have this ability, as long as the market gives time, it can slowly move up.

In Zhang Ming's view, Glory's breakthrough in high-end computer technology has benefited from technological breakthroughs in research and development, such as Qinghai Lake batteries, zero-risk dimming eye screens, including the Magic5 series of first-launch Hawkeye cameras.

For Ni Jiayue, the result is not surprising. In her view, the establishment of confidence is mutual, better technology, better products, and then combined as partners to provide better retail presentation, once the retailer is confident, when he communicates with consumers in stores, he will talk more about glorious brands and glorious products, which will become a very good positive cycle. Every link can feel progress, and the spirit is very good.

It is worth noting that Glory has also adjusted its playing style in the strategic deployment of the market this year. From the product, the channel, the retail, all the adjustments are based on the consumer's stopping time, as well as the embodiment of the far, middle and near field.

"what is the far field? When a consumer passes by your store, does he have the opportunity to enter the store because of the decoration of the store without knowing the brand at all? this is called the far field; the midfield is that after entering the store, he has the opportunity to get close to your experience desk; the near field is whether he has the opportunity to pick up your phone to experience. So Glory's entire SAP (store is product) project presents near and far in the store, and everything is built with the consumer as the center. "

In Ni Jiayue's view, being a good brand is like running a relay race, the product is the first best, marketing is the second best, a good product must have a good consumer language to speak out, retail is the third best, online and offline retail is reflected here, service is the last stick. " Why do we call it a full-process business closed loop? The relationship between the stick and the stick is very important. First of all, when you run each stick yourself, the core is to win the track. Second, the process of passing the stick is also very important. You don't throw the stick, you hand it to him, and you have to run with him for a period of time. To connect, each stick will give him a better lead and bring him speed. " Ni Jiayue said that in the current uncertain situation, the baton has become a speed skating relay, you have to push your speed to your teammates, and you may even need to run a few more laps if you have the ability.

"A big factor in Glory's success is that the whole team has a very strong ability to cooperate and collaborate, and the whole process of delivering great things is really a concerted effort." Ni Jiayue said that all the problems are the point of opportunity, many brands and companies tend to cover up the problem, but Glory the whole team will find opportunities in the problem and certainty in the uncertainty.

First there are challengers, then there are winners of challenges.

Glory's goal is not to continue to expand market share, but to target the "number one folding screen brand" as an important strategic starting point to compete with Apple and Huawei in the high-end market.

Speaking of Huawei, Zhao Ming once said that the best tribute to Huawei is to compete with Huawei with the strongest products and the best state, which will make the whole industry full of vitality. "everyone says that the mobile phone industry is a little boring, and now the return of a manufacturer and brand that brings more possibilities is good for the whole industry."

Glory is the first smartphone maker to speak publicly about Huawei's actions, and Zhao Ming has not avoided his intricate relationship with Huawei in the past.

At the end of 2020, Ren Zhengfei expressed the hope that Glory would do its utmost to embrace global industrial resources, establish relations with suppliers as soon as possible, and be Huawei's strongest competitor in the world. "surpassing Huawei, and even shouting to overthrow Huawei, will become a slogan of self-motivation."

Public information shows that at least 8000 employees joined New Glory at that time, half of whom were the backbone of Huawei's original R & D system. Wan Biao, chief operating officer of consumer business, became chairman of the new glory, and Fang Fei, former vice president of Huawei's consumer business product line, became president of the new glory product line, responsible for the planning of the new glory product line.

After three years of technical accumulation and systematic capacity building, at this stage, glory has come to the real "take-off" moment and entered the time node of full outbreak.

In the view of glory, in the strategic idea, all the targeting points should be the pain points of consumers, and why should glory challenge Apple, just like Huawei did when it challenged Apple? without a challenger's heart, it is impossible to become a successful challenger.

"after three years of accumulation, it's time for glory to take off. It doesn't matter who you meet in the process of jumping, it doesn't matter. It's better if Huawei can dance with you. If you meet Apple, it's even more interesting." Ni Jiayue said that the core of change in uncertainty is continuous innovation to provide better products to consumers.

Glory is a cutting-edge brand, so it has a very strong ability to eat "new". "like Glory Magic V2, there are three times as many users from Apple as before, and this ability to eat new is very important, depending on the innovation behind it, as well as the service capabilities of retail and channels, which is a comprehensive embodiment." Ni Jiayue said.

A few months ago, Glory was fully prepared for the upcoming market explosion. Especially at the retail and channel level, what kind of carrying capacity and service capacity should be done, and how to make the whole retail and channel more efficient, glory every step is planned. Ni Jiayue believes that "only under pressure can an organization's ability be improved at a high speed."

Facing the future, Zhao Ming believes that in the mobile phone market, people can see Huawei, Apple and Glory take the lead in market share, or take turns to take the lead, which will become the norm in the industry. "We can't decide what our competitors do, we can decide how to make the best of ourselves."

Ni Jiayue made a similar judgment: two high-speed racing cars compete with each other in order to run faster. This is the greatest benefit that Huawei's return brings to glory.

In terms of market share, although Apple still accounts for a relatively high share, the domestic mobile phone market is undergoing changes with the onslaught of Huawei and Glory. If the alternate leadership expected by Glory becomes the new normal, then the future market pattern, especially the high-end market, may gradually change from Apple to a tripod dominated by Apple, Huawei and Glory.

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