Go high-end, start with tablets and speakers
Huawei ’s latest MatePad Pro tablet and Sound X speakers have significantly increased prices compared to the previous generation. These two products do not continue the sequence of previous products, but separate a series as a high-end version of its similar products.
Huawei’s previous tablets are named after “M + number”. The starting price of is less than 2,000 yuan, which is an affordable model. MatePad Pro starting price increased to 3299 yuanCompared with the previous generation, it has increased by 1,200 yuan, and its high-end version has reached 5,999 yuan. Yu Chengdong also said that MatePad Pro may launch products with larger screens and higher prices in the future.
Mate means high-end in Huawei brand. Prior to this, Huawei phones had the Mate series and PCs had the MateBook series. Only the tablets were not named after Mate. After the release of MatePad Pro, The highest-end mobile phones (Mate series), high-end tablets (MatePad series), and high-end PCs (MateBook) all start with Mate. And all three series offer Pro versions, which is similar to Apple’s naming of the three major product lines.
MatePad Pro is similar to Apple in the direction of its new products, and is focused on strengthening its office attributes. Yu Chengdong introduced that the reason why this product was released is because Huawei sees the trend of light business and mobile office, and the tablet is becoming a very important productivity tool.
Huawei uses the highest hardware configuration on this product: the highest-end chip Kirin 990, which supports more than 10 hours of battery life, and supports three charging methods: fast charging, wireless charging, and reverse charging. The software supports multi-screen collaboration, which can synchronize content with mobile phones, PCs, and smart screens. The function of “parallel horizon” is a major feature of Huawei tablets. Vertical screen applications that are not well-adapted to tablets can be displayed horizontally. Can display up to three applications on the same screen. In addition, with a stylus and keyboard (optional). It’s all about better productivity tools.
Huawei also upgraded the system. Yu Chengdong said: “ Our tablet’s operating system is not standard Android, we have made great enhancements, such as multi-screen collaboration, parallel horizons of a single application, etc. are made by Huawei itself.”
As the first generation MatePad product, it can meet the basic office needs such as browsing, annotation, writing, drawing, and image processing. It may not have a good effect in slightly heavy design. Apple still has a gap. But Compared with Apple iPad, Huawei also has its unique advantages, mainly in multi-screen collaboration. Yu Chengdong also said in an interview: “ Our distributed operating system will work better with multiple devices than Apple.” But to achieve this function, except Huawei In addition to the tablet, you also need to own PC, mobile phone and other Huawei equipment.
Huawei tablet has already ranked in China in the third quarterthe first. After Huawei launches a high-end tablet, leveraging its channel and B-end sales advantages, it is expected to further squeeze and squeeze Apple’s share.
Similar to the iPad, the price of Huawei’s Sound X speakers has also increased significantly, from 399 yuan in the previous generation to 1999 yuan, which is not far from the price of Apple’s HomePod National Bank version of 2799 yuan. Its advantages are also very similar to Apple’s. In addition to serving as the basic function of smart speakers, it also emphasizes the sound quality and uses the technology of France’s well-known high-end audio brand Divaré.
Unlike MatePad, this price is very challenging for domestic consumers, and it may be difficult to measure in the short term. However, Yu Chengdong said that the sound X speakers sold in China must exceed Apple, and the sound quality is much better than Apple. It is necessary to develop local language adaptation overseas. Google, Amazon’s voice assistant Huawei, which is not available overseas, still needs some time to develop its own AI assistant.
Huawei ’s IoT road, half is Xiaomi, half is Apple
The IoT is widely expected, and domestic first-tier manufacturers such as Huawei, Xiaomi, and Ali are all making arrangements.
On the surface, Huawei’s strategy on IoT is similar to that of Xiaomi. Both of them built the IoT platform earlier and took into account the development of their own hardware. Xiaomi’s strategy is “1 + 4 + X”, where 1 is a mobile phone, 4 includes a TV, smart speaker, router, and notebook, and X is provided by ecological chain enterprises and cooperative enterprises. Thanks to the support of a large number of ecological chain companies, Xiaomi’s rich variety of IoT devices is second to none, and it does the best on X. Xiaomi’s self-operated four IoT devices are also excellent, occupying a relatively leading share in the industry.
Similar to Xiaomi, except for mobile phones, Huawei owns 8 types of IoT devices, others are provided by partners. However, in the specific management of IoT devices, Huawei’s approach is very different from Xiaomi’s. Xiaomi has continued the cost-effective strategy of mobile phones on IoT devices, resulting in lower profits. Huawei is taking the high-end route.
In the two categories of glasses and smart screens, Huawei has laid out high-end products from the beginning. At present, these two categories are still in their infancy. The market for smart glasses is not large, while the market for traditional TVs is close to saturation.
In the two markets where smart speakers and tablets are still growing and have a large capacity, Huawei is first to deploy affordable products, stand firm, and then explore the high-end market. Huawei ’s MatePad Pro and Sound X are both benchmarking against Apple.
The high-end market has higher profits, which can avoid a deadlock in a price war. The most obvious case is smart speakers. Chinese manufacturers occupy three seats in the global top 5, butBecause of fierce price wars and competition to snatch the entrance to the Internet of Things, Baidu, Ali, and Xiaomi all burned money on smart speakers to subsidize them, leaving no room for profit. Moreover, low price + subsidy is a kind of competition without barriers. After Baidu started participating in the price war of smart speakers, it ranked among the top manufacturers within one year.
Huawei did not follow the old path of Ali and Xiaomi on smart speakers. The first speaker was priced at 399 yuan, and the subsidy was very limited. However, according to data provided by Huawei, Huawei AI speakers sold 1 million units in the eight months after its listing, ranking first in the 300-500 yuan range. The second speaker, the Sound X, went directly to the 2,000 yuan level and began to compete with Apple’s HomePod. The same goes for Huawei tablets.
As you can see, the new products released by Huawei yesterday are basically high-end products. In an interview, Yu Chengdong said that Huawei did not set a very aggressive goal in the sales of these categories. It is important to occupy high-end users.
Huawei is similar to Xiaomi in the framework of its IoT strategy, but the design of high-end products is against Apple. Referring to the competition in the domestic mobile phone market this year, the hardware market ultimately competes with technology, brands, and channels. Higher cost performance alone is not enough to last. Huawei, which has a comprehensive advantage in technology, brands, and channels, has occupied 40% of the domestic market this year, while Xiaomi, the most cost-effective mobile phone, has experienced the largest decline.
Like Apple, Huawei also attaches great importance to building ecological advantages through software ecology. Huawei has started to support multi-screen collaboration on mobile phones, PCs, tablets, and smart screens, and interconnected through various functions such as AI, Huawei account, and one-click transmission.
Yu Chengdong believes that the ability of multi-device system coordination and control is where Huawei outperforms Apple, and it is also where Huawei builds its ecological advantages. He even put down his ruthless words: “Huawei’s ecological advantage may be that I am not very modest. The ecological advantage we will build in the future is at least far beyond all competitors in China. Today is November 25, 2019, and another three years are waiting Five years and ten years later, if you look at what I said today, we will definitely exceed the experience of all manufacturers. This experience is an ecological experience. “
Of course, Huawei is not just taking the high-end route like Apple. Taking tablets and speakers as examples, Huawei still retains the M series of affordable tablets and Huawei AI speakers priced at 399 yuan to meet the needs of users with average purchasing power. After the release of MatePad Pro and Sound X, Huawei is gradually building a comprehensive layout of high, middle and low-end products in the categories of tablet, PC and speaker.
Compared with mobile phones, Huawei’s IoT devices have grown significantly faster. Huawei’s global market growth rate for mobile phones this year is 2