Why do mobile phones collectively "cut prices"?

 

image/ visual china

From the perspective of promotional efforts, this Double Eleven can almost be said to be the lowest price of mobile phones in recent years. Apple's latest generation iPhone has dropped to about 5,000 yuan in less than a month, and the Android camp can buy performance for 2,000 yuan. With a well-balanced "bucket machine", you can buy the "diving" flagship that was priced at more than 5,000 yuan before at a price of 3,000 yuan, and there are even more dazzling products at a price of 1,000 yuan.

 

　　Written / Edited by Zeng Guang / Dong Yuqing

 

　　Source: AI Finance and Economics

 

　　Great price cut started

 

　　Before Double Eleven has arrived, mobile phone manufacturers have already gone crazy. From domestic brands to Apple, various mobile phone manufacturers have started big price cuts in advance, and at the same time they have launched new products with “cost-effectiveness” to prepare for the sprint for Double Eleven mobile phone sales.

 

　　Recently, Xiuwen, who was about to buy the iPhone 14, found that this mobile phone, which Apple has just released for less than a month, has been reduced by more than 1,300 yuan on major e-commerce platforms, of which the 128G version has dropped by 800 yuan, and the starting price At 5189 yuan, the price reduction of the large memory version is even higher. The iPhone 14 Plus, whose sales have been underestimated since its release, has a starting price of 5,749 yuan for the 128G version, which is more than 1,200 yuan lower than the official price.

 

　　For Apple, it is the first time that the new iPhone has been significantly reduced in price not long after it was released. The same price reduction in previous years basically has to wait until June of the following year.

 

　　After Apple released the standard version of the iPhone 14 series last month, it quickly fell below the official website price due to the small upgrade. "The price cut is so fast, I decided to wait, maybe Double Eleven will be even cheaper." Xiuwen said.

Compared with Apple mobile phones, mobile phones from Android manufacturers are also very cheap now, and many models are greatly reduced in price. Lina recently bought Xiaomi's Redmi Note 11T Pro 512G version for her grandmother, and it only cost 2,299 yuan. "I can't imagine that a phone with 512G memory costs only 2,000 yuan." Lina said.

 

　　According to the introduction to Lina by the clerk of Xiaomi Home, this phone is equipped with Dimensity 8100 processor, "the next-door brand sells for more than 3,000 yuan", and the 512G version is just released recently, specially for the promotion of Double Eleven. It is only 100 yuan more expensive than the 256G. In contrast, the official website price of the 512G version of the Apple mobile phone is generally 1,800 yuan more expensive than the 256G version.

 

　　But what Lina didn't expect was that in the past few days, the price of this phone has dropped again. On October 20th, JD.com's Double Eleven was officially launched. The Redmi Note11T Pro 512G version is only 2099 yuan, and the entry-level 6+128 version is even more Only need 1569 yuan.

 

　　In fact, it’s not just Xiaomi’s model that is dipping in price. OPPO, vivo and Honor all have a variety of models that are undergoing significant price reductions. OPPO’s OnePlus ACE racing version, 12+256G Jingdong Double Eleven is available The price is only 1899 yuan, OPPO Reno8 Jingdong starts at 2069 yuan, and vivo's IQOO Neo 6 SE, Jingdong starts at 1999 yuan.

 

　　In addition to the big promotions on old models, many mobile phone manufacturers are also releasing new mobile phones intensively recently to prepare for the upcoming Double Eleven, and several new phones are also positioned at mid-to-low-end prices, collectively shopping for cost-effectiveness.

 

　　On the evening of October 13, Honor held a new product launch conference and launched the new Honor X40 GT. This is a mobile phone with the main game performance. It is equipped with Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 processor, DDR5 memory, 66W super fast charging and other configurations. The entry is 8 +256G version, the starting price is only 1999 yuan.

 

　　On October 20, IQOO, a subsidiary of vivo, also released a new mobile phone, the IQOO Neo 7. This model is equipped with the Dimensity 9000+ processor and the independent display chip Pro+ developed by vivo. The price starts at 2,699 yuan. Before that, the same model was used. The processor's Mi 12Pro Dimensity Edition and vivo X80 are both priced at more than 4,000 yuan.

 

　　In addition, Xiaomi's Redmi brand has also officially announced that the latest model Redmi Note 12 series will be released this month. "2 new technologies that are 'handsome', the world's premiere; 11 series for the first time, the biggest upgrade in the history of Note", Red Mi wrote in the official announcement Weibo that according to media reports, the model will be equipped with the Dimensity 1080 chip for the first time, and the price is expected to be between 1,000 yuan and 2,000 yuan.

 

　　The Redmi Note series has always been the most representative model of Xiaomi. It is called "Little King Kong" by Xiaomi and Mi Fans, which supports a large part of Xiaomi's sales. According to Lu Weibing, vice president of Xiaomi in May this year, Redmi Note The cumulative global sales of the series exceeded 280 million units.

 

　　From the perspective of promotion, this Double Eleven can almost be said to be the lowest price of mobile phones in recent years. Apple's latest iPhone has dropped to about 5,000 yuan in less than a month, and the Android camp can buy it for 2,000 yuan. For the "bucket machine" with balanced performance configuration, the "diving" flagship that was priced at more than 5,000 yuan can be bought at the price of 3,000 yuan, and the products at the price of 1,000 yuan are even more dazzling.

 

　　"Value for money" is very high,

 

　　But you can't close your eyes and buy

 

　　"Before Double Eleven, don't buy a mobile phone, and hold back no matter how much you see the price." A digital blogger wrote on his WeChat public account a week ago. According to the prediction of the digital blogger, during the Double Eleven period, the prices of mobile phones of major manufacturers will plummet. If you want to buy a mobile phone in the near future, you might as well wait.

 

　　As predicted by this blogger, in this Double Eleven, many users who buy mobile phones have become "waiting parties", which means that if they wait a little longer, manufacturers will continue to cut prices. "If you don't buy it, I don't buy it, and you can drop another 2,000 yuan." One user joked on the social platform.

 

　　The reason why manufacturers suddenly started selling together is related to the current general environment of the mobile phone industry. There is an excess of upstream chip inventory, and downstream consumer demand is sluggish. Manufacturers can only cut prices and clear warehouses to increase turnover.

 

　　This can be seen from the mobile phone market shipments in the third quarter just released recently. The global mobile phone shipment report released by Canalys in the third quarter shows that mobile phone shipments in the third quarter fell by 9% year-on-year, which has been declining for three consecutive quarters.

 

　　In order to attract consumers to switch phones, mobile phone manufacturers have to collectively start the "cost-effective" mode, carry out big price promotions on old models, and at the same time launch more cost-effective new products with low prices.

　Although the price seems to be very low, this Double Eleven mobile phone is really not worth buying. Many models of mobile phones are not worth buying.

 

　　From the perspective of Apple's camp, one of the reasons why the sales of the newly released iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus this year are cold is that the processor uses last year's A15, and the shape is the same as last year's iPhone 13. It is difficult for consumers to experience the specific upgrade. When the old iPhone 13 is cheaper, many bloggers will recommend buying the iPhone 13 with a higher price-performance ratio.

 

　　However, as the price of the standard version of the iPhone 14 continues to dive, the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus are getting closer and closer to the affordable price. "The price of the iPhone 14 has dropped to around 5,000 yuan, and the price of the iPhone 14 Plus has dropped to below 6,000 yuan. Basically, you can Consider getting started," said a digital blogger.

 

　　In the Android camp, many bloggers said that due to the poor experience of some old models, "don't buy it no matter how cheap it is", which mainly refers to the Android devices that were previously equipped with the Snapdragon 888 and Snapdragon 8Gen1 processors. cell phone.

 

　　These two processors are the flagship processors launched by Qualcomm in 2020 and 2021 respectively. They are used by the high-end flagship machines of major mobile phone manufacturers. However, these two processors have had a bad reputation since their release. Due to the high power consumption, these two chips are prone to problems such as heat reduction, reduced battery life, and dropped frames. The performance is difficult to exert on many models.

 

　　In the first half of this year, the global mobile phone industry declined, and domestic mobile phone shipments also ushered in a historic decline. The Android camp was accused of failing to “go high-end”. The Android camp is weak as a whole. In addition to product factors, the main reason is that Qualcomm chips are not strong, and the power consumption of the two generations of chips, Snapdragon 888 and Snapdragon 8Gen 1, has been "overturned", resulting in poor sales of high-end Android phones.

 

　　But in recent months, with the introduction of the Snapdragon 8+ processor using TSMC's technology, the reputation of the Android camp has begun to repair. According to multiple evaluation bloggers, Android phones equipped with Snapdragon 8+ processors have greatly improved in power consumption, daily heat generation, battery life and game performance have been greatly improved.

 

　　In November this year, Qualcomm's new-generation flagship processor Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 using TSMC's technology will be released soon. Many mobile phone manufacturers will also release corresponding new products within the year, and some models are expected to meet consumers before Double Twelve. With the coming of the new processor, many models equipped with Snapdragon 8+ will have a discount on this Double Eleven, such as the Xiaomi Mi 12S series and OnePlus Ace Pro.

 

　　In addition, despite the failure of Qualcomm for two consecutive generations, the Dimensity series processors under MediaTek have made great progress in the past two years, with excellent power consumption control. Compared with Qualcomm processors, the price of Dimensity processors is often lower. In the case of limited budget, models equipped with Dimensity series processors are also a good choice.

 

　　Apple "falls", can domestic manufacturers "eat enough"?

 

　　As a synonym for "value preservation" in the mobile phone industry, this year's iPhone 14 series unexpectedly "falls down" and becomes the iPhone with the fastest price drop in history. Apple's unchanging design and insincere upgrades make consumers unwilling to buy it.

 

　　After the official release of the iPhone 14 series, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo revealed that the sales of both the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus were significantly lower than expected, and may become the worst-selling iPhone in history.

 

　　Recently, another media broke the news that a person involved in Apple’s supply chain revealed that Apple has significantly reduced orders for the standard model and Plus within a few weeks of the iPhone 14 starting to ship, and Zhengzhou Foxconn has dismantled part of the iPhone 14 production line.

 

　　Among them, at least one Chinese manufacturer has been told to stop producing iPhone 14 Plus components, and Apple is re-evaluating the need for the existence of iPhone 14 Plus products.

image/visual china

 

　　Before the iPhone 14 launch in September this year, Apple even had an optimistic plan to increase production by 6 million iPhone 14 units in the second quarter to further grab the high-end market after Huawei's absence. But because sales fell short of expectations, Apple had to change this plan to increase production.

 

　　In the first half of the year, the mobile phone market staged a drama of "Android falls and Apple is full", but in the second half of the year, with the gradual adjustment of the Android camp, the situation is reversed. Since Apple's A16 processor has made little progress, the iPhone 14 series continues to use the A15 chip. With the reliable power consumption brought by TSMC's process, the Android camp is expected to regain a certain market share from Apple.

 

　　Not long ago, Huawei and Apple held a press conference at the same time, bringing the Mate50 series, which was a year late, and set off a wave of panic buying on major platforms. .

 

　　According to media reports, Qualcomm's upcoming Snapdragon 8gen2 processor in the fourth quarter will continue to use TSMC's process, and it will perform well in power consumption control and performance. At a time when Apple is underperforming, this has also become a good time for domestic mobile phone manufacturers to launch a siege.

 

　　However, domestic mobile phone manufacturers have their own ideas on how to regain the market that was taken away by Apple.

 

　　On the one hand, several major mobile phone manufacturers are focusing on preparing the next generation of folding screen mobile phones, and the goal is also very clear - lighter, thinner and cheaper. Previously, it was reported that Honor, OPPO, vivo and Xiaomi are all planning to reduce the price of their flagship folding screen phones to around 5,000 yuan, which is the current price of mainstream flagship phones. Due to the interactive innovation brought about by the folding screen form, this will be a competitive problem for the iPhone 15.

On the other hand, domestic manufacturers continue to improve the combat power of self-developed chips. Prior to this, vivo has continued to recruit chip R&D personnel, and has regarded self-developed chips as its primary goal. OPPO's ambitions are not small. It has successively released its self-developed imaging chip MariSilicon X and its self-developed cross-end system Pantanal.

 

　　On the occasion of the Honor's new product launch in September this year, Honor CEO Zhao Ming said bluntly when he mentioned Apple again, "Apple is nothing to be afraid of. After the release of the iPhone 14 series, we can see that its standard version has no changes compared to the iPhone 13." For surpassing Apple, Honor's idea is to innovate and make breakthroughs in the underlying technology. "Honor will develop its own chips, operating systems, and many patented and innovative technologies."

However, Apple's advantages in the high-end market come from software services, underlying hardware capabilities, brand effects, etc., which also happens to be the shortcoming of domestic mobile phones. Previously, Mi Fan said that the impact of domestic mobile phones on the high-end, not only hardware innovation, but also the need to improve software service capabilities.

 

　　At present, from the release of Qualcomm processors in November to the launch of the new generation of flagship models of the Android camp, it still needs to go through a certain product cycle. Therefore, in this Double Eleven, most domestic manufacturers can only rely on low-end models to stabilize the market. Live sales. Whether it is Honor, vivo or Xiaomi, several new products launched this month are basically concentrated in the price of 2,000 yuan or even lower, which is difficult to threaten the sales of iPhone.

 

　　But no matter whether domestic manufacturers can take the share ceded by Apple, for the mobile phone industry whose shipments have been declining continuously, the industry challenges are constantly intensifying. It means that the profit margins of the industry are further squeezed.

 

　　This Double Eleven, compared to picking up affordable consumers, whether it is Apple or Android, mobile phone manufacturers need to wait for the dawn before dawn.

 

　　Note: The consumer in the text is a pseudonym