The authoritative data research organization IDC released the China smartphone market tracking report for the first quarter of 2024. The data shows that the top five smartphone manufacturers in China are Honor, Huawei, OPPO, Apple, and vivo, accounting for 17.1%, 17%, and 17% respectively. 15.7%, 15.6%, 14.6%,Among them, Honor and Huawei are the only mobile phone manufacturers among the top five brands to achieve positive growth, with year-on-year growth rates reaching 13.2% and 110%.
Every large-scale change in the market is essentially a profound evolution of interaction methods. It is not only an iterative update at the technical level, but also a direct reflection of the upgrade of user needs and experience. Therefore, in a fiercely competitive environment, the final terminal experience is the decisive factor that determines whether a brand can stand out and continue to lead.
Advertisement
As always, IDC market shipment data objectively reflects some new changes in the Chinese smartphone market. Judging from the Q1 report released this time, at least the following points are worthy of attention:
first,With the gradual recovery of market demand, the Q1 smartphone market continued its rebound momentum at the end of last year. The overall performance was better than expected, and the market rebounded significantly.
In addition, the rankings of the top five brands have once again seen new changes. Honor has reached the top, and Huawei's upward momentum has not diminished. While other brands have lost share, the two have become the key forces driving the market recovery in Q1.
Advertisement
However, due to the early close relationship between Huawei and Honor, the industry had previously predicted that Honor might be one of the brands directly affected by Huawei's return. However, judging from IDC data, Honor's share not only did not decline, but outperformed the rest. Seizing the top spot in China’s smartphone market.
Another interesting change brought about by the changes in the top five is that Apple, which has always been unfavorable in the high-end market, has also begun to encounter obstacles. This also means that domestic mobile phone manufacturers represented by Huawei Honor are gradually affecting the high-end market. competitive landscape.
1. Dynamic changes in the market structure have become the norm, and manufacturers must fight a “prepared battle”
As the saying goes: Thirty years to the east of the river, thirty years to the west of the river, it is often used to describe the unpredictable development of things.
In the commercial market, especially the consumer electronics market, this statement makes sense to a certain extent, but it is not entirely accurate. The reason is that the market changes too fast.
After years of turmoil, the Chinese mobile phone market has long entered an era dominated by giants. However, with the advancement of technology and the diversification of consumer needs, this seemingly “solidified” pattern is being replaced by more intense competition. Impact, and the frequency is becoming faster. When the competition intensity crosses the threshold, the most direct manifestation is actually the change in market share.
Generally speaking, dynamic changes in the market structure are a manifestation of market maturity and vitality, which is equally valuable for the smartphone market. However, the more intense the competitive environment, the more manufacturers are required to continue to innovate in technology to adapt to the rapid changes in the current market environment. As the saying goes, if you don't go up, you will go down. At present, the dynamic adjustment of the market structure has become the norm, which puts forward higher requirements for participants.
This time, Honor won the first place with a market share of 17.1%, a year-on-year increase of 13.2%. Facing the coexistence of variables and challenges in 2024, it took the lead in delivering good results. This is not the first time that Honor has won the first place in the Chinese market. It is not uncommon to be ranked in the top three. However, the new Honor has only been established for three years, and its results are surprisingly “stable”.
Just like studying, a student who ranks first in exams many times must have something special about him. Honor can thrive in today's mobile phone market. In the final analysis, it has found the “secret” to adapt to the development and changes of the market. It is easy to say, but the secret is not the same as the “trick”. There is no “salted fish” competing in the same field. If there is no hard power You can't lead all the way by making endorsements.
As the saying goes, “Opportunities are for those who are prepared,” and the same applies to companies. Science and technology are changing with each passing day. Whether companies continue to invest in scientific research or uphold the spirit of innovation, it is by no means a verbal self-impression, but a necessary accomplishment that truly determines life and death.
As a mobile phone brand, Honor has always maintained a high degree of focus and advancement in key areas such as communications, battery life, screens, glass, imaging, and AI. More importantly, it ensures that it is always at the forefront of the industry so that when opportunities come, it will not fall behind. Queen of people.
However, can you sit back and relax if you are strong and prepared?
2. The explosion of AI has become a new variable affecting changes in the market structure.
As mentioned before, there is no shortage of good opponents among manufacturers competing on the same stage, and you understand and I understand the principle, so why are there still development differences? This means that there are new variables that affect changes in the market structure. .
Looking at today’s mobile phone industry, the biggest change comes from the rise of new technologies. In the early years, smartphones came out, which directly eliminated feature phones. The popularity of 5G has directly established today’s market pattern of “giants”. There is no doubt that new technologies and new applications are quietly changing the underlying logic of the market. For brands, maintaining flexibility and foresight is the key to adapting and achieving sustainable development.
In 2023, AI will explode, and scenarios, applications, and terminals based on large AI models will begin to emerge, and will show a vigorous development trend at a speed visible to the naked eye. It seems that overnight, we have reached a consensus: an AI-driven The era of intelligence is coming soon.
Smartphones, as the carrier of AI's advantages, have become the best candidates for change. With the rise of the concept of “AI large models”, domestic and foreign manufacturers have moved quickly, and mainstream manufacturers have brought their own large models and a series of derivative applications.
According to Wang Jiping, vice president of IDC China, the role of AI is indispensable for this honor. Especially in the high-end market, IDC data shows that Honor's market share of mobile phones priced above US$600 expanded significantly in the first quarter of this year, with shipments surged 123.3% year-on-year, firmly consolidating its position as the third largest player in the high-end market. After Apple and Huawei.
Wang Jiping believes that Honor has made relatively stable progress in the high-end market in the past period. From a model perspective, Honor is relatively the fastest or faster manufacturer in the industry, and many manufacturers have promoted the concept of AI in the past. Honor is relatively Publicity comes earlier.
In fact, Honor has been deploying AI since 2016. So far, the cumulative investment in research and development has reached 10 billion, the number of AI patents has reached 2,100, and the number of AI intention recognitions has reached 600 categories.
At the beginning of this year, Honor released MagicOS 8.0, a full-scenario operating system, which is deeply supported by Magic Big Model. At the same time, thanks to the increase in AI functions and the all-round upgrade of core experiences such as imaging and screens, the shipments of the Honor Magic6 series in the first quarter exceeded the combined shipments of the previous generation products in the first two quarters, and integrated platform-level AI-powered folding screen products such as Honor Magic V2 and Honor Magic V2s have also achieved skyrocketing sales.
It is obvious that the widespread application of AI technology is bringing new variables to the smartphone market. According to IDC predictions, it is expected that starting from 2024, with the widespread application of new generation AI technology in smartphones, a large-scale replacement boom will be triggered. The application of these innovative technologies not only improves the performance and experience of mobile phones, but also provides Brands provide opportunities for differentiated competition.
3. Based on user needs, terminal experience determines the future
Every large-scale change in the market is essentially a profound evolution of interaction methods. It is not only an iterative update at the technical level, but also a direct reflection of the upgrade of user needs and experience. Therefore, in a fiercely competitive environment, the final terminal experience is the decisive factor that determines whether a brand can stand out and continue to lead.
In the past three years, Honor has been focusing on and deeply exploring the actual needs of consumers, and has successfully launched a series of groundbreaking products such as Hongyan Satellite Communications, Qinghai Lake Battery, Oasis Eye Protection Screen, Jurhino Glass, and Eagle Eye Camera. The technical solutions have achieved significant technological breakthroughs and have also been recognized by a large number of users.
In the field of AI, Honor also has its own ideas.
Honor CEO Zhao Ming has said more than once that “mobile phone AI is not equal to AI mobile phone.” He believes that “AI mobile phone means using AI to reconstruct and enable mobile phone applications and operating systems, as well as all aspects of consumer experience and business logic. AI is the foundation. , AI is everywhere on mobile phones, so it can be called an AI mobile phone.”
Targeting user needs is the most distinctive feature of Honor AI phone. Honor AI phone is not just a simple function overlay, but aims to become an intelligent housekeeper that can deeply learn user behavior, predict user needs, and proactively provide personalized services.
The Honor Magic6 series is the first to be equipped with the Honor self-developed 7 billion parameter end-side AI large model “Magic Big Model”. Based on the platform-level AI and the excellent learning capabilities of the Magic Big Model, a sensing middle platform has been built to achieve various applications. The “one-click, one-drag, direct service” function at any door is based on intention-based human-computer interaction and provides more intelligent interactive services by sensing user needs.
Or when you are wandering around Xiaohongshu and occasionally see a good-looking piece of clothing, you can drag the photo to the e-commerce app on the sidebar to quickly compare prices and place an order immediately.
In addition, based on the semantic understanding of large models, the system will automatically edit the film for you with just one sentence description; the “Smart Capsule” can easily grasp the dynamic information of the current task on the mobile phone screen in real time, for example, when you are online When taking a taxi, the smart capsule will update the vehicle status in real time, eliminating the need to frequently open the app to check.
It can be seen that through system-level integration, AI is more closely integrated with various functions and services of mobile phones, thereby achieving fundamental optimization and reconstruction of user interaction experience.
at last:
Over the past three years or so, Honor has continued to make innovative breakthroughs around the real needs of consumers, such as Hongyan Satellite Communications, Qinghai Lake Battery, Oasis Eye Protection Screen, Jurhino Glass, Eagle Eye Camera and other groundbreaking technical solutions, and has achieved It has made breakthroughs in communication, battery life, screens, glass, imaging and other fields, bringing new “sparkling points” to the “micro-innovation” smartphone market.
Facing the magnificent AI era, Honor is unswervingly using AI to enable the entire business strategy and comprehensively deploying a four-layer AI strategy. It will undoubtedly inject new vitality into the development of AI mobile phones and lead a new round of terminal innovation cycle.