One mobile phone to conquer the world: mankind's last chance for gold nuggets

Chapter 21 You Are the Next Bill Gates (3)
The next layer is PaaS, which provides platform services and management similar to the operating system level, such as Google GAE. You can put your own Java applications (or Python) in Google's GAE to run. GAE is like a "cloud "The operating system, for you, doesn't have to care about which machine your program runs on.

The last layer is SaaS, which is the software as a service we are familiar with.In essence, the idea of ​​SaaS is: software does not need to be purchased, and the traditional license payment method (such as purchasing Windows Office) emphasizes on-demand payment. There are many famous SaaS products, such as IBM's LotusLive, Saleforce.com and so on. [8]
"Combined Vertical" and "Lianheng" in the mobile phone industry chain

From fighting alone to fighting in groups

The competition in the traditional market is limited to the solo struggle within the industry. For example, the competition between chip manufacturers and chip manufacturers in the earliest computer Internet era was limited to the competition between Intel, Motorola, AMD and Qualcomm.The competition of mobile phone terminals is mainly Motorola, Nokia, Ericsson, Sony, Apple, Samsung, and then ZTE, Huawei also joined in, and there are various counterfeit versions, but it is still the competition between mobile phones.Including the competition between browsers and operating systems, they are all carried out alone.

Later, companies discovered that such competition was not only inefficient but also a waste of resources, so they began to form different camps based on the upstream and downstream of the industrial value chain.In the era of the computer Internet, the biggest combination of powerful leaders is the Wintel alliance established by the operating system's Microsoft and the chip supplier Intel, and then these two bundled hardware bosses - IBM computers cooperate together.The alliance of the three companies gave Jobs' Apple Computer a big drink.The reason why Apple Computer was defeated was that it did everything by itself and refused to open cooperation.Apple Computer was the leader of personal computers in the PC market at the beginning, and was well received by users all over the world.In order to defeat Apple Computer, IBM combined the best chip and the best operating system to form the IBM and Wintel alliance, and finally defeated Apple Personal Computer.

This strategy has also continued into the era of the mobile Internet. No matter what kind of enterprise is in this industrial chain, if it does not form an industrial alliance with complementary advantages and shared win-win upstream and downstream in the industrial chain, and relies on its own strength to fight alone, it will inevitably eliminated by others.

Nokia was acquired because it fought alone and did not integrate industry chain resources. Therefore, even if it beats Motorola, even as the largest mobile phone hardware manufacturer, it will go to the fate of failure.Enterprises that do not form an alliance will be killed by those that form an alliance.The Symbian system used by Nokia, because it has not formed an alliance with more industries, only relies on it alone. Although it is the hegemony of the mobile phone industry, it is still weak. Facing the Android alliance, Nokia quickly declined.

In the era when mobile phones were just a tool for making calls, operators were the bosses of voice and mobile information services, equipment suppliers, mobile phone terminal manufacturers...all of these were its little followers, and it was the leader of all partners, because the operator Vendors control the network and users.And other partners, just provide it with supporting services and supporting products.But in the era of the mobile Internet, operators around the world began to be in a difficult situation, because the integration of mobile phones and computers, and the integration of communication tools and computer tools into smartphones.At this time, the leader is no longer an operator, but an enterprise that can integrate the mobile communication industry alliance and the mobile Internet industry alliance.For example, Apple, which integrates hardware, software, Internet .com platform, content providers, application developers, and manufacturers - Terry Gou's Foxconn, all serve Apple's standards and models.If the operators still close themselves at this time, their control and influence on users will become smaller and smaller, and they will only be marginalized. The dilemma that operators have to face is that the network contributes a lot, but the share The money is getting less and less.

Industry competition and cooperation: be the leader, not the overlord
In industrial alliances, both cooperation and competition coexist.

The first is the cooperative relationship between the upstream and downstream of the industrial chain.

The key to cooperation is:

1. Complementary advantages.If the two sides cooperate, instead of complementing each other's advantages, there is no need for cooperation.

2. Equivalent strength.The boss only cooperates with the boss, and the second only cooperates with the second, and each other does not suffer.So we see that McDonald's, as the leader in catering, cooperates with Coca-Cola, the leader in carbonated drinks, and KFC only cooperates with Pepsi.This principle is also suitable for the mobile industry chain.

3. Cooperation must generate new value, and 1 plus 1 must be greater than 2, bringing greater benefits and benefits.

When the cooperation succeeds and when it fails depends on whether the distribution of benefits in this alliance can maintain stability and balance.If some companies in this cooperative alliance take too much, making other partners feel that they have not received their due profits and benefits in this alliance, some enterprises will rebel and quit, and the alliance will collapse.The cooperation of an alliance is a good ecological chain, which must be distributed reasonably according to work and benefits according to contribution, and learn to share in a balanced manner.

But on the other hand, among the partners of the entire industry alliance, in addition to the cooperative relationship, there is also an internal competitive relationship.For example, in the competition for leadership, whoever becomes the leader or overlord of this cooperative alliance will control the power of this industrial chain and can control the standards for sharing money and profits.The simplest example is the desktop computer Internet era just mentioned, the war between IBM and Intel, Microsoft and Apple.But the result was that IBM was originally the leader of the alliance. When it defeated Apple, IBM suddenly found that it was no longer the leader of the alliance and had lost its leadership in the computer industry chain. Take away, Microsoft and Intel snatched 49% to 50% of the profits of the entire computer industry chain, becoming the leader of the computer industry chain.This is the fact that all computer manufacturers hate in the computer age, but they have to accept the fact that selling a computer is like selling a watermelon or a cabbage, and it only acts as a computer hardware porter.In the case of high labor costs and thin profits, IBM finally simply sold the entire business unit of the personal computer ThinkPad to China Lenovo.

In this kind of competition and cooperation relationship, who is the king is the core issue of commercial competition. Apart from cooperation and gang fights, who will be the leader?Who will be the overlord again?How to distinguish the overlord from the lord?
The overlord wants to eat alone, and the strategy he implements is domineering-in addition to making money from consumers, he also needs to squeeze the profits of his partners so that they can't survive.For example, in the traditional retail industry, Wal-Mart and Carrefour are the overlords.In China's home appliance industry, Gome and Suning are the overlords.

Case
United Resistance Channel Hegemony
沃尔玛合作伙伴的通道费用为8%，与供应商签订的货款结算时间平均为29天。家乐福进场费25%，与供应商签订的货款结算时间为60天左右。[9]
On November 2005, 11, more than 16 home appliance manufacturers and dealers in charge in Chongqing launched a "Chongqing Home Appliance Club" to boycott Gome.Club members include: Changhong Color TV, Skyworth Color TV, Konka Color TV, TCL Color TV, Hisense Color TV, Prima Color TV, Kelon Air Conditioner, Electrolux Refrigerator, Galanz Small Appliances, CAV, AO.Smith, Vantage, Noriritz, Constant Heat, Rinnai , Shuaikang, boss, age, etc.The Chongqing Household Appliances Club published an open letter to Gome, in which it complained that Gome swallowed up too much profit margins of home appliance manufacturers, which harmed the fairness of the market.However, the alliance was persuaded to surrender by Gome in just one week, and they were defeated one by one. [10] On November 2005, 11, an "air-conditioning alliance" was established on the Council of Guangdong Household Appliances Chamber of Commerce. It is also to resist channel hegemony and gain the right to speak. [25]
What is an alliance leader?As the boss, you must consider the balance of the interests of each partner, and share the money fairly, and you cannot be the overlord.This is an inspiration for the long-term stability of the business model. Otherwise, the distribution of benefits will be uneven, the industrial ecological chain will be destroyed, the ecological environment will not be maintained, and the entire industry will collapse.Back then, Changhong played a role that caused huge losses to the TV industry chain.

Case
Changhong price war

Changhong lowered the price for the first time since 1989, making its 10 color TV sets sold out. In 1996, Changhong lowered the price for the second time, with a rate as high as 18%, making its market share reach 27%, becoming the overlord of the color TV industry. In 1996, Changhong launched several price-cutting wars in an attempt to eliminate competitors through low prices, which caused a collective decline in the profits of China's color TV industry.In addition, Changhong began to buy out an upstream accessory product - TV color picture tube. In 1998, Changhong announced that it controlled more than 70% of the domestic color tubes. Changhong stockpiled color tubes to attack competitors and partners, but it caused the inventory of millions of color TVs and squeezed tens of billions of funds for itself. In April 1999, Changhong launched the third price war in the face of a large inventory, and the price cut reached 4%.But in 16, Changhong's net profit fell by 1999%. On April 74, 2005, Changhong announced its 4 annual report, throwing out the largest loss in the history of listed companies in the Chinese stock market: 16 billion yuan.The inventor and staunch supporter of the price war paid the most expensive tuition for the final gamble. [2004]
Changhong’s desire to become the overlord was shattered. The price war had a lot to do with Changhong’s industrial alliance strategy in Ni Runfeng’s era. The price war launched by it caused the Chinese TV industry to lose vitality, and the impact still exists even in the current high-definition TV stage.

For the same reason, China Mobile, China Telecom, and China Unicom, the three network pipe movers, have been engaged in a harsh price war that can destroy the ecological environment for many years.From this point of view, China Mobile has played an unwise role: it has already accounted for more than 70% of the market share, and it is still trying to eliminate China Unicom and China Telecom through price wars. Is it possible to achieve 90% of the market share?This is extremely unfavorable to the competition of the entire operator, and also extremely unfavorable to the future development of the entire industry.

Knowledge point

Since June 1988, Ni Runfeng has been the chairman and general manager of Sichuan Changhong Electric Co., Ltd. In July 6, he left Changhong after 2004 years of hard work.The departure of Ni Runfeng means the end of an era in the color TV industry.

For this kind of enterprise that wants to be a hegemon, it is easy to arouse public anger and arouse the disgust of the whole society, and will eventually be cleaned up by the government in the name of anti-monopoly.This means that things must be reversed when they are extreme, and that things must decline when they are extremely prosperous.

The price war of the three major operators has begun to brake - the rich man's family has no food left!
data
原国家信息产业部的统计显示，2008年之前的5年来，国内电信综合价格水平累计下降了53%，其中2007年同比下降高达13.6%。2008年至2011年，电信综合价格水平下降幅度分别为8.0%、9.5%、9.3%及4.2%。只有2012年电信业综合价格水平同比下降仅1.9%。电信业资费降价到2012年戛然而止，使得2012年成为电信业价格战最平和的一年。[13]
Learning from Apple: Selling Chopsticks to Bind Manchu Banquets

In the past marketing theories, there have been debates about whether channel is king, content is king, technology is king, brand is king, or scale is king?There is no consensus in the fight, the public says that the public is right, and the mother-in-law says that the mother-in-law is right.But in fact, none of them grasped the crux of the problem.

Who can be the leader?Every partner in the entire industry and cooperation links, no matter what they do, has the opportunity to become the leader of this industry alliance.

So how can you become an ally?Enterprises should do the following things: The first step is to give full play to their core competitiveness and unique advantages at a certain point, quickly defeat competitors in the same link, and become the leader in their own link field in the industrial chain.

For example, Intel, which defeated Motorola, defeated AMD, defeated all semiconductor chip suppliers, and became the king of chips in the IT industry.The new generation of electronic products replaces the old generation of products, starting with the replacement of chips, and Intel relies on Speed ​​to rapidly increase the computing speed of chips through Moore's Law, and even drives the market development speed of the entire IT industry.

The second step is to become the king of the industry alliance must control consumers.Becoming the boss of a certain industrial link is just an opportunity to join forces and form an alliance with the bosses of other links in the industrial chain.Intel is the leader in chips, Microsoft is the leader in operating systems, IBM is the leader in hardware, and there are other leaders in various links.The boss looks for the boss, the second looks for the second, and the third looks for the third, and several alliances are formed.Although you are the leader of a certain link, in the industry alliance, you are not necessarily the leader of the alliance, you may be just a small follower.Therefore, although Intel became the leader in chips, it was suppressed by IBM for a long time, and IBM was the industry leader at that time.Because Intel's position in the industry chain is far away from consumers, its chips cannot be sold directly to thousands of computer users, but can only be sold to IBM, HP, Lenovo, and Dell, and it has no control over consumers and In terms of influence, it can only act as a small follower of others, because the buyer is Party A, it is Party B, and Intel only plays the role of accessory supply.And IBM has attracted high-end computer users all over the world with its brand, quality, and image. Since Apple was defeated, the best computer in the world is IBM ("Time Magazine") selected IBM-PC as the greatest product of the 20th century) . IBM controls the world's high-end computer consumers, and also controls the core of the industrial chain.

However, Intel has made great efforts and adopted a new business model, focusing on customers. From an IBM computer hardware parts supplier, it has become the new leader of the industry chain in one fell swoop. How did it do it?First, bypass all partners, spend tens of millions of dollars, and launch your own brand advertisements directly to computer users all over the world. In 1991, Intel launched the "Intel Inside" (Intel Inside) advertising campaign, which was recognized as a successful strategy to establish Intel's existing brand position.When Intel partners place advertisements with the "Intel Inside" logo, they can get a certain amount of advertising rebates provided by Intel.PC manufacturers participating in this advertising cooperation plan include international PC giants such as Hewlett-Packard, Lenovo, Sony and Toshiba.Intel tried to tell consumers all over the world through this move that it is not important which brand of computer to buy, the key is whether it has a Pentium "core". The highest value of a computer depends on the computing speed of the chip. The computing speed of the 386 processor is more than 4004 times faster.The Intel 100 microprocessor added a built-in mathematical coprocessor for the first time, separating complex mathematical functions from the central processing unit, and greatly improving the calculation speed again. As soon as the 486 processor PC came out, it directly led to the depreciation of the 486 processor PC.

Intel's move violates the traditional business model, and chip manufacturers directly promote chips to consumers.According to the conventional thinking mode, consumers don't directly spend money to buy chips, so why does it do such advertising and promotion?The purpose of this advertisement is to jump from the background and the downstream of the industrial chain to the front to exert its influence on consumers.This is the Over The Top (OTT) business model that occurred in the IT industry in the early Internet era. Intel surpassed consumer-oriented computer giants such as IBM, Hewlett-Packard, Compaq, and Dell, and put its influence and brand information And the core value is delivered to the majority of consumers.In the end, it independently recruited Compaq Computer, established an alliance, exclusively supplied it, and provided it with the most favorable price of 486 chips, helping Compaq seize IBM's customer market and rapidly increasing Compaq's market share at that time.For Compaq, it is worthless to join forces with IBM against Intel, but if it cooperates with Intel, with the help of the best chips, it can go beyond IBM.In the end, their cooperation broke up the anti-Intel alliance formed by computer hardware brand companies at the time.The cooperation model between Compaq and Intel is based on the idea that "the enemy of my enemy is my friend".

At the beginning of 2013, when the three major operators China Mobile, China Telecom, and China Unicom formed an alliance on the surface to deal with the WeChat business of the OTT company Tencent, I quickly made a judgment that "the enemy of the enemy is a friend": China Mobile is equivalent to At that time, IBM and China Unicom were equivalent to Compaq Computer, and Ma Huateng and his WeChat were equivalent to Intel chips. The final outcome must be that China Unicom, as an operator, took the lead in cooperating with Tencent to grab the users of China Mobile.

(End of this chapter)