For the US market, Huawei headquarters has been hesitant. Compared with the rapid growth of the global market in recent years, the US market seems to be an island. A former US terminal employee who has left the company said, "Because of previous US government investigations and non-trade barriers, Shenzhen has never thought about whether or not to invest in expanding the US market. But the United States has always been a market that cannot be ignored. They will start to work sooner or later."
On Wednesday, Huawei officially released the US version of its sub-brand Glory 8 at the San Francisco Museum of Nature. Although this is not the first time Huawei has released a mobile phone in the United States, the launch of the Huawei mobile phone in the United States has a milestone. Because this is the first time that the Haisi Kirin chip entered the US market, it also marked that Huawei began to formally enter the US market.
From white card to Nexus
Compared with the third-largest market share in the world, Huawei mobile phones have little impact in the United States. Before the start of this year's efforts, Huawei's mobile phone in the United States did not go well. Before 2012, Huawei used small US carriers to sell low-end white-brand machines, which once reached a 3%-4% market share in the US market. However, with the merger and acquisition of operators, Huawei lost the small operators. Orders, market share also fell sharply.
That period of time was also the most silent period for Huawei's network department in the United States. The Huawei network was investigated by the US government, the acquisition transaction was rejected, and the Sprint network equipment order was cancelled. Also during this time, Yu Chengdong, who was in charge of Huawei's terminal, severely cut off the white-label machine business that could bring profits but could not upgrade the brand, and began to streamline the product line and enhance brand positioning.
After a brief adjustment, Huawei Terminal began to reorganize its US business in 2014, and established its own e-commerce website and after-sales customer service system. It has launched products such as Mate 2, GX8 and P8i, which are publicized through its own websites, Amazon and Best Buy. Channel Sales. However, unlike Huawei's hot-selling models in the country, the US-listed models use low-end versions of Qualcomm's low-end and mid-range chips, often several months later than the global time-to-market, directly affecting the product's appeal. And sales.
In June last year, Xu Zhiqiang, president of Huawei Terminal USA, in the interview with Sina Technology, proposed the goal of entering the top three in the US market within five years. At that time, because Huawei's products listed in the US were not very competitive, this goal is almost impossible. The US smartphone market has long been dominated by five or six companies, with Apple (42%) and Samsung (28%) accounting for more than 70% of the market, while LG (10%), Motorola (5%) and HTC (4%). The three companies together account for 20% of the market share, leaving little room for other manufacturers.
The Nexus 6P, which went on sale in October last year, is the first step for Huawei to upgrade its brand in the United States. As the first Nexus built by Chinese manufacturers, Nexus 6P has been highly recognized by the US media. The authoritative media "TheVerge" even gave the evaluation of "Best Android Phone", which greatly enhanced Huawei's brand in the US market. The value laid a good foundation for the subsequent follow-up products. Huawei's terminal US department said that in order to focus on building a good Nexus project, Huawei even delayed the listing time of the glory brand in the United States.
This year, Huawei filed a patent lawsuit against Samsung and the third-largest operator T-Mobile in the United States, so that more American consumers have learned about Huawei's technical strength. In addition, Huawei watches and Matebook have also played a role in promoting Huawei's brand to a certain extent. In the Microsoft store, Matebook was placed in the most prominent position. Huawei watches also entered the Best Buy and Google Play official store sales. Although the sales of these two products may not be too high, it clearly brings attention to the Huawei brand.
Glory is the main market for young people
As a sub-brand of Huawei, the glory of cost-effective and e-commerce model is an important pillar for Huawei's terminal to rapidly increase its global market share. According to data released by Zhao Ming, president of Glory, the sales of glory in 2013 was only 100 million US dollars, and reached 2.4 billion US dollars in the following year. Last year, it continued to soar to 6 billion US dollars, and sales reached 40 million units, accounting for Huawei's total global sales last year ( Nearly 40% of the 108 million units. In overseas markets such as Europe, the growth of glory is particularly rapid.
But until this year, Huawei and Glory began to attack the US market with double fists. In January of this year, Glory 5x was listed on the US market, which is also the first glory mobile phone to enter the US market. However, the glory 5x with a price tag of $200 and fingerprint recognition is still using 616 chips from Qualcomm mid-range. Like many Huawei phones that were previously sold in the United States, Glory 8 is still on the open market route, selling online and offline channels such as Amazon, Best Buy, and New Egg Network.
Glory is the mainstay in the United States for cost-effective and young people, so marketing has a clear focus. In addition to hiring David Beckham's eldest son, Brooklyn, as a spokesperson, Glory is promoted in the United States primarily by sponsoring activities of interest to young people. These include the Southwestern South Festival, the San Francisco Film Festival, and the FISE World Extreme Sports Tour.
Unlike the Huawei brand, such as Messi and Scarlett Johansson, the spokesperson of glory is very smart. Brooklyn is not a first-line star, so his signing endorsement price is also very low, but due to the father of the first-line superstar, his media exposure is very high, and has a high reputation in the American youth market. According to industry sources, Brooklyn's global endorsement fee is only $400,000, but this price has not been confirmed by Huawei's US department.
The Glory 8 is equipped with the HiSilicon 950 chip, which is designed with double-sided glass (1210, 2.00, 0.17%). It sells at a high cost performance and is available for sale at US$400 in the US market. The mainstream media in the United States, such as "Connected", also emphasized the high cost performance in the evaluation, calling it "high-end configuration, mid-end price." After US carriers have cut subsidies and canceled contract machines, US consumers now have to pay mobile phone prices at full or instalments. Compared with the starting price of 649 US dollars for Apple and Samsung's flagship mobile phone, Glory 8 has certain appeal to young users considering cost performance.
Haisi chip landed in the United States
Another focus of the release of Glory 8 is Huawei's own Hysin Kirin chip. Previously, because the HiSilicon chip was not listed in the US, Huawei's Mate 2 and P8i sold in the US both use Qualcomm mid-range chips, which are lagging behind the rest of the world, and have become uncompetitive when the US is listed. The HiSilicon chip is on sale with Glory 8, which indicates that Huawei's branded mobile phones can be listed simultaneously in the US in the future.
In fact, Huawei mobile phones released in the second half of last year have quietly supported the US 4G LTE network, making it one of the few domestic mobile phones that can use 4G networks in the US (currently limited to Huawei, One Plus, ZUK, etc.). This means that Huawei's international version of mobile phones can be used directly in the United States.
According to Yang Haifeng, a spokesperson for Huawei's terminal public relations, according to the regulatory requirements of the US market, mobile phones for operators' sales channels require chip platform access and pass the test of operators; while mobile phones sold in the open market are controlled by the manufacturers themselves through the US government. Mandatory market access test. The Kirin 950 chip equipped with the Glory 8 is tested as part of the whole machine together with the whole machine. It does not need to be tested by the operator, and the Huawei terminal itself is qualified for the whole machine test.
Although taking the open market channel allows Hisilicon to avoid the strict procedures of chip platform access and operator testing, it also means that Glory 8 is temporarily unable to enter the US carrier channel and loses its largest market. Unlike other markets around the world, the US smartphone market is dominated by operators, with operators accounting for 90% of total shipments.
However, in recent years, as US operators gradually canceled contract machines and cut purchase subsidies, American consumers began to feel the high price of flagship smartphones such as Apple Samsung, prompting more and more consumers to choose not to operate from operators. At the time of purchase, the company turned to the open market to find cost-effective low-end machines. Beginning in the second half of last year, Best Buy, the largest electronics store in the United States, launched its bare metal counter for the first time. The motorcycle even sold the 2015 version of the X line to bare metal.
It will take time to increase the share
At present, Huawei's products sold in the US include Nexus 6P, newly-listed Matebook, Huawei Watch, P8i, GX8 and MediaPad T1 8.0 tablet, plus 5x of the Glory Department and the newly released Glory 8, which basically cover the three sections of high, medium and low. market. However, perhaps only after Huawei's flagship mobile phone is simultaneously listed in the US and enters the operator channel sales, Huawei can have sufficient market share in the United States.
Last year, Huawei’s president, Xu Zhiqiang, said that Huawei would seriously consider the possibility of taking the US carrier channel. After the conference, Huawei's terminal US public relations also revealed that the operator certification of Hisilicon chips is still in progress. Glory 8 is just the beginning of Huawei's re-growth in the United States, but what kind of market space can be achieved in the future may depend more on the degree of Huawei's headquarters investment in the US market.
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