2012 Smartphone Development Pattern Analysis

In the fourth quarter of last year, Apple’s iPhone sales in the global smartphone market remained at the leading position. In the fierce competition with the iPhone, Samsung is the mobile phone manufacturer that Android can compete with. Earlier market analysts said that with the successive launch of dozens of Google Android smartphones, people’s demand for the iPhone may be inhibited. But in October last year, after Apple introduced the new smartphone iPhone 4S, Apple sold a record 37 million iPhones worldwide in the fourth quarter of December 31, while Samsung sold 36.5 million smartphones. Second, both have 23.9% and 23.5% share of the global smartphone market, respectively.

Ramon Liammas, an analyst at IDC, a US market research firm, said: "For Android handset vendors who are launching new smart phones in succession, they need to be very brave enough to compete with Apple's iPhone."

As the world's most promising mobile phone market, mobile phone sales in the Chinese market are critical to these mobile phone manufacturers. In 2012, smart phone manufacturers will build their own territory.

Whether Apple attaches great importance to the rapid growth of Apple's iPhone sales in the Chinese market is not unrelated to the strong demand in the Chinese market. Last year, Apple stated that, on average, the traffic volume and revenue of China's Apple retail stores are the highest in the world. However, whether it is in Beijing or Hong Kong, the iPhone's new launches are being snapped up by the "yellow cows," causing Apple companies and ordinary consumers to lose their brains.

“Look at the colleagues and friends around you. There are not a few people holding an iPhone. New products are not on sale in the mainland. Everyone needs to find ways to buy elsewhere, or to buy high-priced parallel imports. What I know from Apple here. "Hunger Marketing," said Miss Dong, a staff member of a company in Beijing, who told reporters that she did not understand why Apple did not attach importance to the Chinese market and that people in China were still rushing to Apple's mobile phones.

Apple CEO Cook believes that Apple attaches great importance to the Chinese market, and emphasized this point in the recent earnings conference call. He believes that the demand for the iPhone in this world's largest mobile phone market is amazing. Cooke said that Apple's investment in the Chinese market today is far more energy-intensive than other emerging markets. This does not mean that other markets are lacking in hard work and attention, but that it is less than Apple's investment in China today.

For Apple, in addition to the high profits that can be obtained with iPhone sales, users can also benefit from the download of applications. According to the latest survey data, the number of applications downloaded by Apple's mobile phones and tablet PCs exceeded 1.2 billion in the past Christmas week, marking the first time that the number of single-week application downloads exceeded 1 billion. Most of the downloads came from the United States, followed by 99 million from China.

Although Cook claimed to further develop the Chinese market, people in the market felt the "discrimination" of Apple. On the timeline for the release of new iPhone products, the Chinese market is regarded by Apple as a parallel to the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands and other three or four markets. This is completely inconsistent with the importance of the Chinese market that Cook claims. For a long time, Apple has intentionally or unintentionally ignored the Chinese market. This is a marketing strategy.

As for whether Apple has really attached importance to the Chinese market, it is valued in terms of Apple's performance growth. However, from the perspective of Chinese users, it is not enough attention.

Smartphones don't allow strategic mistakes As early as last October, Sony has announced that it will acquire Ericsson's 50% stake in Sony Ericsson for 1.05 billion euros in cash, making it a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sony, and Ericsson will no longer be involved in the terminal. This degree caused people to speculate, "Society" brand will not die? On January 30, some media reported that the European Union has approved Sony's acquisition of Sony Ericsson (hereinafter referred to as "Sony"). With the approval of the European Union, this also means that Sony will complete all the steps of the acquisition as originally planned.

In 2001, Sony Ericsson founded Sony Ericsson, each with a 50% stake. Sony excels in design and hardware technology, while Ericsson is good at creating platforms. The prospects of the two cooperation were once favored, but the mutual checks and balances within the joint venture will also become the biggest obstacle to the company's decision-making.

Judging from smart phones, Sony Ericsson and Nokia have obvious strategic mistakes. Sony Ericsson’s feature phone has been focusing on Symbian. Until 2009, Sony Ericsson’s first Android phone was listed. However, Motorola’s (microblogging), HTC (microblogging), and Samsung’s companies have been working hard on the Android system. , resulting in a very embarrassing situation for Sony Ericsson.

Earlier, Sony CEO Scott Ginger had disclosed that Sony Ericsson will abandon the competition in the low-end market, focus on smart phone production, and integrate smart phones into Sony's extensive Internet consumer electronics product platform. An insider of Sony Ericsson revealed to reporters that Sony Ericsson's goal is to be the first mobile phone brand in the Android world. In the past, the thinking of Europeans and Americans was not the same as that of the Orientals. The conflict of opinions will affect the development of the company's business. After the acquisition, the company's decisions and processes will be simplified, and the company's response to market changes will be faster. The person thinks that Sony's acquisition will play a positive role in the development of Sony's mobile phone business. "After all, Sony's brand is better."

The person also said that currently Sony Ericsson employees are generally worried that after the company was acquired, corporate culture transformation and personal treatment changes, some people have chosen to leave due to concerns about these changes. “In the period of the joint venture company, the corporate culture of the company was European-American style. After being acquired by Sony, the corporate culture will become a Japanese-style corporate style. There is also the problem of personal treatment. Many people worry that after re-signing the employment contract, the salary will be reduced.”

Although the target after the acquisition is very clear, but in view of the current Sony Ericsson position in the mobile phone market, market research firm Gartner analyst Dila wiki that: "Interesting content is a tool for Sony to achieve differentiation with Android handset manufacturers. At least content can Help Sony to become a powerful competitor.” Sony Ericsson internal analysis, Sony still will take its strengths to gradually occupy the market, Sony has an advantage in music and games, may be smart phones, tablets, laptops, television Combine it as a channel to integrate content resources, but it takes time to rationalize all this.

Many manufacturers abandoned the "sea machine" tactical interval soon launched new, this is a lot of mobile phone brands in the Android camp of the rescue tool, although it can continue to attract the attention of consumers, but it also led to manufacturers must continue to fine-tune the product and exhausted. In the new year, smart phone manufacturers such as Motorola, HTC, and RIM are likely to adjust their strategies, reduce the number of mobile phone models released each year, and instead focus their resources and marketing on fixed-model mobile phones.

In an interview with the media, HTC’s UK district officials said that they will abandon the "sea-breathing" tactics this year and no longer win more, but also focus on hardware configuration and design. This also means that HTC will give top priority to the development of mobile phones and strive to introduce classic models.

The shape and configuration of smart phones are important, but quality is more important. Smartphone makers also saw Apple and Samsung expand their market share and lead by focusing on one or more flagship systems. Apple's single-quarter iPhone sales can reach 30 million units in a single quarter, and the Samsung Galaxy S II smart phone also successfully sold 10 million units within six months of its launch.

In the Chinese market, some manufacturers give up the tactics of "seasiness" and may affect the purchase of college students. “The number of college students using mobile phones such as HTC and Motorola is relatively high, mainly due to the high price of Apple. Relatively speaking, HTC, Samsung and other brands have more models and the price is relatively cheaper.” College student Jiang Shan worried, If mobile phone manufacturers focus on one or a flagship brand of mobile phones, will the price of smart phones become higher?

Industry insiders believe that manufacturers’ tactics to abandon “ocean sea” not only help smart phone manufacturers save R&D and marketing costs, but also enable suppliers of supply chains to scale up in production to better control raw materials and transportation. However, due to the reduction in the number of models launched by the branded mobile phone manufacturers, the competition between mobile phone original design manufacturers will become more intense.