The patch can be fixed, but in the fast-paced, highly competitive mobile phone industry, the market that Samsung lost may no longer be able to win. Among them, the Chinese market is the most.
文/张小旺
After the S10 series and the Note10 series models were exposed to security risks, Samsung was once again pushed to the public opinion boom.
According to Zinc Finance, on October 17, a British media reported that there was a security hole in the ultrasonic fingerprinting of the Galaxy S10 mobile phone launched by Samsung Electronics this year. The reason is that a user in the UK has unintentionally discovered that the silicone protective case purchased by himself has been placed on the screen of the Galaxy S10 mobile phone, which can be successfully unlocked using a fingerprint that has not been logged in.
Afterwards, there were Korean consumers who reported to Samsung mobile phone after-sales service that the new Galaxy Note 10 mobile phone purchased two months ago also had related problems.
Specific to the domestic market, although it is currently impossible to determine whether this vulnerability will involve fingerprint payment, but for the sake of conservatism, the Bank of China has now closed the Samsung mobile phone and the fingerprint payment function of a platform. Alipay and WeChat are the same. Keep up with the pace.
In this regard, Samsung Electronics subsequently issued an official statement acknowledging that there is a security hole in the fingerprint identification program, and explained that this is not a machine defect but a software problem, which can be improved through software updates, and that it will be released next week. Fix the patch.
Samsung official statement
However, the fact is that the patch can be fixed, but in the fast-paced, highly competitive mobile phone industry, the market that Samsung lost may no longer be able to win. Among them, the Chinese market is the most.
In recent years, as the “explosive door” and other events have been exposed one after another, coupled with the rise of the domestic Android mobile phone camp, Samsung mobile phone market share in China has been extremely compressed, showing a cliff-like decline. Market research company Strategy Analytics previously reported that Samsung Electronics shipped only 700,000 smartphones in China in the second quarter, with a domestic market share of only 0.7%. This is also the rebound since the first quarter of 2019, SamsungThe domestic market share once again fell below 1%.
It is possible to lay down the country in the early stage of the mobile phone industry, but it can’t keep up with the Chinese market that has been working hard for many years. The situation of Samsung today is inevitably embarrassing. It should be noted that in 2013, Samsung also sat in the position of “the boss” of the Chinese smartphone market with a market share of 18.7%. However, today, Samsung mobile phones face the dilemma of no one in the domestic market, and will retreat to the Chinese market and may become The ending of this former “leading”.
Domestic brand Dawei剿
The decline of Samsung mobile phone market in China began in 2013. This year, it was also the beginning of domestic brands to open up the land and seize market share. The rapid rise of domestic mobile phone brands such as Lenovo, Coolpad, Huawei, Xiaomi, vivo and OPPO has also ushered in the era of “hundred schools of contention”.
Lenovo was one of the first domestic manufacturers to enter the smartphone market. In April 2010, Lenovo executives placed high hopes on Lephone, and the company’s soul, Liu Chuanzhi, personally stood for this product. From 2011 to 2013, Lenovo’s mobile phone sales climbed all the way, and its market share rose from 4.1% in 2011 to 11.9% in 2013, becoming the second-largest Chinese smartphone brand after Samsung.
In 2011, Xiaomi, who used the Internet thinking to make mobile phones, turned out to be a “bumbled rice 2S” and quickly clashed with a large number of loyal “rice noodles”, which made a bloody road in the domestic market with super high cost performance. In 2013, Xiaomi sold a total of 18.7 million mobile phones, accounting for 5.3% of the market share of Chinese smartphones.
In 2012, Huawei, which relied on telecommunications equipment, decided to enter the consumer retail market as the next strategic-grade product. Then, on December 26, 2013, the glory brand officially became independent, releasing glory 3C and glory. With the 3X models, the competition between Huawei and Glory’s dual-brand strategy has gradually become clear.
At the same time, the OPPO and vivo of “Study out the same door” rely on the ubiquitous offline marketing, and quickly open the market in the third, fourth and fifth tier cities. In recent years, they have relied on younger brands. Strategy has become a force that cannot be ignored in the domestic mobile phone market.
OPPO, vivo sinking market expansion
While domestic brands have risen and further eroded market share, Apple has also blossomed more in the Chinese market, but it seems that Samsung did not notice the crisis.
The current mobile phone brand, XiaomiThe ultimate cost performance, OV market sinking, Huawei’s dual brand strategy, iPhone’s high-end positioning, etc., are their secret weapons to open up the market. In contrast, Samsung has never developed its core competitiveness in the Chinese market.
“Samsung mobile phones have always liked to show people the image of high-end business, lacking a sense of presence in the low-end smartphone market. With the rise of these local mobile phone brands, Samsung mobile phones have no millet, vivo, or low-end market in the low-end market. The price-performance advantage of OPPO and other mobile phone brands, and the main high-end market has been impacted by the latecomer Huawei. In all price products, Samsung has gradually lost its competitive advantage.” Earlier, some senior analysts in the communications industry said so.
In addition, in 2016, Samsung’s flagship mobile phone Galaxy Note7’s “explosive door” incident has caused Samsung’s brand image to plummet, and has not slowed down.
Shut down the Chinese factory
October 2, according to Reuters, Samsung Electronics said the company has stopped producing mobile phone products in China, which means that Samsung’s last factory in Huizhou, Guangdong, has also been shut down, and Samsung “exited” China. The signals of the market are getting stronger and stronger.
Samsung Huizhou factory shut down
In fact, this year, Samsung’s news that it will shut down this Huizhou mobile phone factory has been repeatedly exposed. According to public reports, Samsung said it will shift its production capacity to Vietnam, India and other countries to cope with China’s labor costs. The rise is equal to the pressure; while in China’s low-end market, Samsung will use ODM or OEM mode for production.
Before, Samsung had responded to the media: “As the Chinese market is in a tough situation and competition is intensifying, we are adjusting the output of the Huizhou factory.”
From this point of view, shutting down the Chinese factory and realizing the transfer of production capacity is really helpless for Samsung. In the fierce competition of the domestic mobile phone market, Samsung, which has left behind, has to start compromising.
On the one hand, Samsung’s mobile phone sales in the Chinese market have fallen sharply in recent years, and it is unable to provide sufficient orders for Chinese factories. On the other hand, the cost of Chinese factories is high, and it is unable to receive orders from other Samsung markets, and at the same time, it has caused the situation of Chinese factories. difficult. Under the predicament, Samsung shut down the Tianjin mobile phone factory as early as December last year.
Samsung Tianjin factory
For the closure of the Tianjin mobile phone factory, Samsung called it the initiative to eliminate backward production capacity, while vigorously adding investment in high-tech industries, adding high-end manufacturing projects such as MLCC (multilayer ceramic capacitors) and new energy power batteries.
However, while China’s market share continued to fall and it was forced to shut down its Chinese factories, Samsung did not completely abandon the Chinese market.
Zheng Guixian, president of Samsung Electronics Greater China, said at the smartphone launch conference in 2018 that in the face of the highly competitive mobile phone market worldwide, Samsung has already made preparations for success in the Chinese market. The model is launched all over the world, and it is the first to carry the latest innovative technology and top technology in the terminal model.
He also stressed: “We also continue to strengthen the star strategy, and try to work with more excellent brands to further narrow the gap between young and young consumers, gain insight into their core needs and meet their expectations. What’s important is that we will also join hands with spokespersons to enhance the influence of various corporate social responsibility activities and become a model for social responsibility in the hearts of fans. For female consumer groups, we will also launch exclusive customized products to further show female consumption. In the future, we will prove through a series of measures that Samsung has returned strongly.”
It must be acknowledged that Samsung is still occupying the top position in the global mobile phone market. On a global scale, Samsung still retains its strong posture, but wants to recapture its lost Chinese market. It is almost impossible.
Remedy, it’s too late
In March of this year, Samsung released three new products such as the S10 of the Galaxy S10 series at the press conference, and officially unveiled its first foldable screen mobile phone Galaxy Fold.
It is worth noting that in the past few years, Samsung has made many attempts to regain its market share in China, including changing product strategies, channel innovation, and tailor-made marketing strategies.
Taking the Samsung S10 series mobile phone as an example, this series still dominates the high-end market, but at the same time it also lays out the mid-end market, facing the competition from Huawei and Apple. While Huawei, Xiaomi, Yijia and other brands are actively adjusting their product mix and marching into the high-end market, Samsung is using the Galaxy S10 and Galaxy Fold to re-launch the Chinese market, trying to reverse its decline in the Chinese market. .
“Obviously, Samsung has adjusted its marketing strategy, abandoning the pricing strategy of purely high-priced markets, and began to lay out in the low-to-medium-high market.” Ding Dao, an industrial economic observer, believes. This time, Samsung released three S10The minimum price of the series of mobile phones is 4,999 yuan, which is about 1,000 yuan lower than the price provided by the official website.
However, the current mobile phone market is in the transition from 4G to 5G, mobile phone iterations are accelerating, and technology updates have become the biggest feature of the industry. On this basis, changing product strategies is bound to face many challenges. Reshaping the brand image in a short time is not easy.
In this regard, another treasure that Samsung has taken is the Galaxy Fold folding screen phone. Quan Guixian is full of confidence in this product. Before that, he publicly stated: “Galaxy Fold has created a new mobile terminal category that will surpass people’s expectations and open up a new path for the industry. We are determined to win. Go back to the Chinese market.”
Galaxy Fold
However, the facts later proved that Quan Guixian’s self-confidence at the time could only be understood as a quick slogan.
Galaxy Fold Since its release, various problems such as splash screens, broken screens, hinge breaks, and screen bulging have emerged. After experiencing the cancellation of the China conference, postponing the release, and being exposed to all test models, Samsung CEO Gao Dongjin recently admitted to the media that he would launch the Galaxy Fold when it was “not ready yet.” “Embarrassing.”
Samsung CEO Gao Dongjin
In this regard, the British “Independent” analysis believes that Samsung’s move to “catch the ducks on the shelves” is because it is subject to competitive pressure from Chinese mobile phone manufacturers such as Huawei and Xiaomi.
Even if you want to seize the front of the folding screen mobile phone, regain a game in the Chinese market, but this kind of destructive behavior may drag Samsung down a deeper abyss.
Disappointment is accumulated step by step, from the 16-year explosion door to the folding of the duck-screen mobile phone, and then to the fingerprint risk, if Samsung still does not understand the light weight, the Chinese market is Words may only be stories.