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: Return to the car network, do you have any new feelings?

Zhang Chunhui: I don’t feel far away. I have been doing car-related things before, and I have done unmanned driving-related explorations. I used to do the upper body of the car, and later I made the lower body of the car. At that time, we went to the rookie ET laboratory to explore the scenario of logistics driverless driving.

: What is the new mission of Zebra after reorganization?

Zhang Chunhui: For example: if we say that the mobility of smart phones is particularly good, standardization will bring about a vigorous development of the entire mobile Internet for ten years; in addition to mobility There are spatial attributes. This industry is combined with the Internet industry. The energy and influence it releases will definitely exceed the mobile phone industry. This also includes changes to our lives.

For Zebra, after the reorganization, we have returned to our original intention, and returned to the original intention of starting the Internet car: using OS to give the car a second engine. Today, after deep integration of the OS team and the Zebra Intelligent Connected Car team, we have a core-the operating system, and the value of this operating system to the industry will gradually be released.

Now, the automotive industry has undergone tremendous changes, and redefining cars is the general trend. How to redefine the car? Software is defining cars, data is defining cars. This requires online cars, ordinary cars and smart connected cars are already different species. Intelligent connected cars have more and more sensors and chips, and they need the connection of the operating system.

Driving a car is no longer the only requirement of users. They need more travel services, so the operating system has become a necessity and will soon release huge value.

: When did Xiaoyaozi look for you and what impressed you?

Zhang Chunhui: Last September, Xiaoyaozi talked to me and I felt the group’s determination to promote the reorganization of zebra. In November, we held an expedition ceremony, equivalent to the OS team and Zebra team meeting. In the past, everyone had a close cooperative relationship, but before it was two BUs or two teams fighting together, it is better to join a team to fight now.

Our group of people is still very lucky. It happened to be the operating system for ten years, and we have the opportunity to get the brothers together again and fight the operating system battle.This thing impressed me.

: What is the most difficult part of the reorganization process?

Zhang Chunhui: The most difficult thing is the integration of the team. The direction of this matter is unified and recognized by everyone. My main task is to put the right people in the right positions and regain confidence.

: So many high-level talents, how do you convince them to join Zebra?

Zhang Chunhui: I did not deliberately convince them. I just said, let’s do OS again, and they agreed. Everyone has been working on OS for ten years, and they all know that OS is very difficult. At first, there were various doubts, but now they have come together.

: You have invested in OS for 10 years, this time is a second return, will there be a feeling of not leaving the road, how do you think about this career choice?

Zhang Chunhui: Neither the original nor the present, I have never considered the topic of so-called “career planning”. Doing an operating system is because it feels meaningful, the more challenging it is, the harder it is to want to do it. After ten years of sharpening my sword, I feel that our people are still very lucky to have such an opportunity to challenge the difficulties.

: As a joint CEO, how will you and CEO Hao Fei divide the work?

Zhang Chunhui: Everyone manages a company together, discuss things together and contribute wisdom when encountering things.

: After the reorganization, what new resources has Zebra mobilized?

Zhang Chunhui: Zhang Jianfeng, chairman of Zebra Network, is the president of Alibaba Cloud’s intelligent business group, so the resources of the cloud sector will support us. At the same time, he is also the dean of Ali Dharma College, and Dharma College’s technology can also cooperate with Zebra. Our technical force is very powerful, including flat head brother (chip), vision, voice, etc., will give Zebra full support. There are also high-quality maps that everyone is familiar with.

All of Ali’s resources will empower Zebra. Our current business model is the Powered by model. We not only provide operating system support, but also do the Powered by model ecologically. Today Zebra is not going to be Tier1 (first-tier supplier), we are supporting and helping OEM manufacturers to carry out digital transformation together.

: Are these resource supports reflected in the organization mechanism?

Zhang Chunhui: Yes, now our entire mechanism is very flexible and innovative. In addition to the overall technical support, there is a dedicated team to support us. For example, Bodhidharma has a dedicated team to support Zebra. At the same time, the specific heads of Ali’s business modules are familiar to each other and cooperation is smooth.

: You mentioned the integration of resources, like Gaode or Alipay, and even the Tmall Genie provide services to car companies separately. How to sort out this relationship?

Zhang Chunhui: Every service you mentioned is a big business, and auto companies also have different demands.

AliOS operating system has two capabilities, one is the ability to get through the upper and lower layers, including the chip; it also has horizontal penetration capabilities. AliOS can have a chemical reaction with brother business teams such as Gaode and Alipay. They have an enhanced effect on the AliOS operating system. This is the charm of the operating system. It is a large basic chassis that can be integrated vertically and horizontally. The most important thing for the operating system is framework and systematization.

: Has the cooperation with “Pingtou Brother” already begun?

Zhang Chunhui: has already begun. Pingtou is doing AI chip NPU (Neural Network Processor). The automotive industry’s demand for chips may be second only to the IoT (Internet of Things) industry in the future. The operating system is not limited to one screen, it is a distributed system that supports scheduling, including AI computing power, etc. We call it “awareness, connection, computing”. The realization of this logic requires the operating system to support more AI chips in order to be better applied.

Talk about development

: Software-defined cars, there is a consensus on this concept, and now Zebra’s products seem to be limited to the entertainment cockpit, which will be further expanded ?

Zhang Chunhui: The automotive field is still evolving. Similarly, AliOS is also evolving. At a specific stage, AliOS is an Internet operating system, which is used on different screens: mobile phones, TVs, cars. In the car, the first user to perceive is the central control screen, which is the export of services. We are going in three steps, first is the smart car machine, then expanded to the smart cockpit, and finally the whole car is smart.

: Now many car companies are based on Android for central control entertainment, how do you see this situation?

Zhang Chunhui:Assuming that we are talking about PC Internet, mobile Internet, and car Internet, it is still far from the real car Internet. Secondly, among the problems faced by car companies today, the chip has not yet been solved, and the problem of intelligentization and digitalization has not been solved yet.

Android does not solve these problems, it may solve some problems in this screen, but the ecological service behind it is the most critical problem of the operating system, and relying on Alibaba, we have no worries in this regard.

: Will Zebra’s 2B approach have a typical problem? As the number of projects increases, the size of the team grows positively?

Zhang Chunhui: This is our Powered by model. Today we want to serve vehicle manufacturers well, instead of relying on the traditional end-to-end delivery model, but to become a strategic partner, providing a platform, technology and capabilities to help automotive companies digitally transform together.

Not everything is done by yourself, otherwise the industry chain is unhealthy. In fact, today’s OEMs are also building their own software teams, or have very good software partners, all we have to do is push the boat.

: Xiaomi recently invested in Botai, and Huawei is also pushing hard on HiCar. What do you think of these mobile screen projection solutions?

Zhang Chunhui: This is normal. There will be a transitional stage in the early stage of the industry. With the development of the industry, technologies and models will slowly mature and become clear. From feature phones to smart phones, various mobile phone brands and various forms appeared, but mobile phones with the technical capabilities of the underlying operating system will gradually show their advantages in long-distance running.

: So in this relationship, do you think the screencasting scheme is more like a feature phone?

Zhang Chunhui: Seeking truth from facts, the projection screen solution appears because the vehicle-mounted system is not doing well enough, and the projection screen solution has its practical needs. Some cars, even if they are equipped with locomotives and large screens, are still traditional cars. However, the car of the future must be a smart car.

: Does Zebra exclude the screencasting scheme?

Zhang Chunhui: From the perspective of the operating system, we directly supportWith the technical capabilities of the underlying operating system, it can achieve better functions and experience than the projection screen. However, if a third-party developer develops a screencasting application based on our operating system, we support it. Looking at this matter from the perspective of IoT (Internet of Things), the mobile phone is a very good smart device, the mobile phone and the car can form a connection, and the smart device also needs a very friendly connection. ability. From a platform perspective, we welcome different smart devices.

: Which piece of technology resources will Zebra Network focus on next?

Zhang Chunhui: The industry generally believes that the core points of the Internet of Vehicles will definitely be invested in. We will work together with the Ali Group to invest in the fields of voice, maps, and perception. We will invite the scientists from the Ali Darma Academy to do it together. Zebra has a closer use scenario.

: Huawei is also doing Hongmeng and the entire smart cockpit, will you consider them as a competitor?

Zhang Chunhui: We hope that more people will do the operating system. The focus of this industry is definitely not the competition between the two. The most important thing is whether it can create valuable things.

: What is your expectation of Zebra’s direction next year or within two to three years?

Zhang Chunhui: Our requirement is to be ahead. Leading concept, leading product, and leading technology are the goals for the next three years. A few years ago, we were definitely ahead in all three areas. For example, voice becomes the main way of interaction. Behind the voice is intelligence, services, and so on. Everyone is doing this today, so we don’t have to keep saying that we still have to look at the results.

Talk about industry

: Will you face any challenges in independently building an in-vehicle operating system ecology, such as using Android, you can directly move the mobile application into the car?

Zhang Chunhui: There are several challenges in making an on-board operating system. One is the technical challenge, which is equivalent to breaking a new architecture and allowing the system to operate on different ends. We have broken through in 2014 and have already used it in cars, which laid the core of the AliOS operating system. At the same time, distribution, heterogeneity, and real-time are required in the car, and we must also focus on perception, connection, and calculation. We have accumulated and reserved many operating systems.I don’t have much worry about this matter.

But the technical obstacle is not the biggest obstacle. Many people think that the car does not need to be done, just be a mobile phone screen. But we think that smart cars are a very important thing. In addition to mobile attributes and spatial attributes, it emphasizes travel scenarios, not just limited to a small screen. You will find that the ecology of the car is completely different from the ecology of the mobile phone, and there is an essential difference between them.

Mobile phones have an APP ecosystem, because they are almost always with people, but the time people spend in the car is relatively short, and you need to understand your quality service experience better. The interactive method you need is also more natural and even more proactive, which is what we often say “situation intelligence drives services to find people.”

So the ecology of the car is different from the mobile phone. The car is actually a service ecosystem. The operating system that can connect the service ecosystem upward and connect more computing power downward is the real vehicle operating system.

: Speaking of ecology, now BAT, including byte bounce, also needs to be connected to the car. Everyone wants to get on the car, and every family wants to push their own family bucket.

Zhang Chunhui: I think the final key is the product design and user experience. Of course, the choice of the car manufacturer is also very important, whether it can bring real value to them.

: Now that cars don’t seem to be as integrated as a mobile phone, can a mobile phone gather the resources of various advantages?

Zhang Chunhui: That is still very difficult. Therefore, it is necessary to help automakers build a good product with an open mind.

: We can integrate on mobile phones, why is the competition between ecology and ecology on the car?

Zhang Chunhui: Because these two products are different, the industry attributes are also different, and the industry has experienced different stages, so it is not a thing. These two are not one thing, but they are particularly normal.

The era of smart cars has just begun. The era of smart cars is at least ten or twenty years. Looking back at 2020, a very critical year, the era of smart cars has just begun. We have to be positioned as the infrastructure of this industry. The ability to provide infrastructure is completely different. You can think of it as potential energy at the ecological level.

: From the user’s standpoint, I really want to have one in the carWeChat, but also want Zebra service, this goal is difficult to achieve?

Zhang Chunhui: Not necessarily. Many OEMs also came to me to discuss, and they worried that in the end, it would be exclusive to several companies. I said that the car is different from other industries. At least it is definitely not the case in the early stage of the industry. Now it is a vast opportunity. No one has really solved the problem, but today some people run faster, some people have just started, or some people are still thinking. The space facing everyone is huge, and it is far from the end when there is only one piece of land.

: Why do you say that 2020 is the beginning of a smart car, based on which signals to judge?

Zhang Chunhui: Ten years later and twenty years later, the moment is a critical moment. A few years ago, everyone had begun to do various explorations and attempts, from the perspective of intelligent networking, from the perspective of unmanned driving, etc. At that time, the car factory wanted to make a decision to change, and it was not that painful.

But in 2020, the automotive industry has undergone very big changes, coupled with the impact of the new coronary pneumonia epidemic, making everyone think more systematically about this matter. We feel very deeply this year that the internal cause of the car manufacturer has changed, including when we talk to them, they are also very anxious. Of course, people who are anxious are people of insight, and they are all thinking about how the company develops.

In 2020, there will be such an opportunity for the entire automotive industry, and the industry will change every ten years, especially like the mobile phone industry ten years ago. Of course, the automotive industry will change more and more profoundly, and the time of change will also be Longer.