While domestic mobile phone manufacturers are busy launching new products, ZTE recently announced the replacement of the head of the mobile phone business. Veteran Yin Yimin replaced Zeng Xuezhong as the general manager of ZTE's terminal business department. Industry insiders pointed out that ZTE’s change of command is a decision made by ZTE’s mobile phones unwilling to fail in the domestic market and at the same time want to expand its influence in overseas markets, but this is not easy. ZTE used to rely heavily on operator channels, and the lack of offline open channels has caused ZTE's mobile phones to decline with the decline of operator channels. For the new management, how to get rid of operator dependence is the key to the successful revival of ZTE mobile phones.
Overall high-level adjustment
On Monday, ZTE released a red-headed document, announcing that Yin Yimin, the company’s executive director, concurrently serves as the general manager of the terminal business department, and is the head of the company’s mobile phone business. Zeng Xuezhong, the former head of mobile phone business, who has served for nearly three years, will assist Yin Yimin as an EVP. . The relevant person in charge of the marketing department of ZTE also confirmed this appointment to a reporter from Beijing Commercial Daily.
This personnel adjustment is also the return of ZTE's veteran. It is understood that Yin Yimin is one of the earliest founders of ZTE mobile phones and contributed to the construction of ZTE mobile phones from 0 to 1. Yin Yimin also mentioned in a letter to the mobile phone team, "I am very happy to return to the mobile phone business department after 14 years and I can work with you again. I feel very warm and look forward to working with you and surpassing."
The change of the person in charge of the mobile phone business is only part of the overall adjustment of ZTE's management. In April of this year, ZTE announced that Zhao Xianming will serve as the chairman and president of the company's seventh board of directors. The former company president Shi Lirong no longer serves as the president, but is still a member of the board of directors of ZTE. In addition, the former executive vice presidents Tian Wenguo and Qiu Weizhao have also changed. This round of personnel adjustments is also regarded by the outside world as a major top-level change since the establishment of ZTE. Nearly 30%-40% of the personnel have been adjusted.
This round of high-level adjustments is dominated by technical talents. It is understood that Zhao Xianming previously served as the CTO of ZTE and is the leader of ZTE's many technologies, such as long-term responsibility for the research and development of CDMA digital cellular mobile communication systems, and independent research and development of GoTa digital trunking systems.
Yin Yimin has served as the R&D director of ZTE Semiconductor since 1991, and has been in charge of R&D, marketing, sales, and mobile phone business. Many of ZTE’s outstanding products are from his hand.
In an interview with a reporter from Beijing Business Daily, Kang Zhao, the editor-in-chief of the operator World.net, also said, “Yin Yimin has a strong technical background and is very good at product development. Strength".
The mobile phone business has fallen step by step
In the mobile phone business, compared with Zeng Xuezhong, who is mainly responsible for the domestic market, Yin Yimin has a lot of global operating experience and is more able to mobilize the company's overall resources. ZTE also stated in an internal open letter that the move aims to improve the strategic position and management level of the mobile phone business. ZTE said that ZTE’s management changes every three years, and adjustments are in line with the company’s conventional practices.
However, in the view of industry insiders, the expiration of the three-year term is one aspect, but it is more dissatisfaction with the development of ZTE's mobile phone business. Data shows that the actual shipment volume of ZTE mobile phones in 2015 was 56 million units, which was less than the target of 60 million units set at the beginning of 2015.
It is worth noting that ZTE's domestic shipments in 2015 were only 15 million units, which is not only far from Huawei, Lenovo, Xiaomi, etc., but also not as good as OPPO, vivo, Gionee, Meizu and other brands. Zeng Xuezhong once admitted in an internal letter that the main problem with ZTE’s failure to complete its sales target lies in the domestic market.
Industry observer Hong Shibin even pointed out that if ZTE still sells 15 million units this year, not to mention that the gap with other manufacturers will be further widened, and may even be surpassed by LeTV mobile phones that have been less than two years old. In September, Feng Xing, president of LeTV Mobile, announced a set of figures, and the total sales of LeTV super phones exceeded 17 million. Previously, LeTV Mobile announced that the total sales of super phones in 2015 exceeded 4 million. This also means that in the first three quarters of this year, sales of LeEco’s super phones approached 13 million units.
For ZTE, the mobile phone business is still the top priority of the company's development. According to the semi-annual report released by ZTE, the revenue in the first half of 2016 was 47.757 billion yuan. According to the business division, operator network revenue was 28.735 billion yuan, government and enterprise revenue was 4.607 billion yuan, and consumers mainly based on smartphones Business revenue was 14.415 billion yuan. The proportion of consumer business is second only to operator networks, and is the company's second pillar industry.
Excessive reliance on operator channels
Once upon a time, "China Cool Alliance (ZTE, Huawei, Coolpad, Lenovo)" was almost synonymous with Chinese mobile phone manufacturers. Nowadays, except for Huawei's steadily rising mobile phone market, ranking third in the world and first in China, the other three companies are struggling in fierce market competition.
Hong Shibin pointed out that during the smartphone outbreak in the past three years, ZTE’s mobile phones failed to seize the opportunity to take advantage of the momentum and were instead chased by companies such as Xiaomi, OPPO, vivo, and Meizu. There are two main problems. And publicity, on the other hand, it relies too much on operator channels.
In terms of branding, Xiaomi has set a benchmark for cost-effectiveness, Huawei has created a mid-to-high-end brand image, and LeEco has launched an ecological concept, while ZTE has failed to bring any new ideas to consumers. However, ZTE has made great changes this year. In May, ZTE announced that the international piano superstar Lang Lang was the image spokesperson for the flagship series of AXON Tianji. Almost at the same time, Nubia announced the signing of Cristiano Ronaldo as the spokesperson for the Nubian brand, launching the spread of high-end business and fashion concepts.
Channels are the root of the problem. For a long time in the past, 90% of ZTE’s mobile phone shipments came from operators, while in e-commerce and open channels, ZTE’s development has been slow. Zeng Xuezhong once rethought that in the era of functional phones, grasping the core element of operators has achieved "China Cool Alliance"; in the popularization period of smartphones, the cost-effective and good online marketing has made Xiaomi; the replacement window since the second half of 2014 , OPPO, vivo, and Huawei, which have long-term precipitation in offline channels and pursued "light luxury" in workmanship, have also succeeded; ZTE did not respond quickly enough and began to rely too much on operator channels, and later gave up too much of this market, but other channel It is not a day's work, it is a great lesson.
It can also be seen in ZTE's latest plan that the overall plan for the terminal business this year is to establish 3000-4000 stores across the country, mainly for open channels, just to make up for the shortcomings. But to realize this plan, not only a lot of money is needed, but also a long time.
Gionee President Lu Weibing once pointed out, “Gionee’s offline channels are done in one store. In China, we are close to 50,000 people. In India, there are 10,000 Indians who can be called Gionee employees. In Nigeria, there are 1,000 Gionee employees. This time is very long and very hard."
In the cruelly competitive smartphone market, how to build a channel and ensure a balance in the sales of existing products is a difficult problem facing Yin Yimin. In Hong Shibin's view, if ZTE can survive this period smoothly, it may rise again and become another Huawei, but if it is not handled well, it may decline further.
