Chapter 2892: A promising copycat phone

Zhuang Xiangrong didn't know Zhou Buqi's plan, so he told the truth: "Tianyu has also developed its Indian business. In the most recent year, it sold more than 1.8 million mobile phones in India. However, it has failed in the past two years because of the Indian ban. ”

Zhou Buqi asked: "Is it related to the IMEI code?"

Zhuang Xiangrong nodded, "Yes, it's the IMEI code. India has strengthened supervision in this area. In the past few months, it also seized a batch of domestically produced copycat phones shipped to India. There must be more than 300,000 units. , are all mobile phones without IMEI codes.”

"The loss is huge!"

"Yes, they confiscated it after it was seized. According to India's style, after confiscating it, they can resell it to domestic operators for secondary sales."

"possible."

Even if Zhou Buqi doesn't understand it, he can guess that India is really corrupt.

Zhuang Xiangrong said: "In recent years, domestic copycat phones have not been easy to make. Even Tianyu has encountered such a big dilemma. Other mobile phone manufacturers really have no way out. Even within our company, we often hear this The voice said that Tianyu will definitely die, it depends on the time. Times have changed, and the gray space is getting smaller and smaller. "

Zhou Buqi asked: "Why go into the gray area? Go directly to the Indian authorities to apply for IMEI code approval!"

"It's too difficult." Zhuang Xiangrong shook his head, "The cost of IMEI codes does not lie in purchasing from international IMEI code laboratories. This part of the expenditure can be ignored. The biggest cost is actually the public relations for various approval departments. In China, We have calculated that if you want to go through all the procedures, the price of an IMEI code can be as much as 5-8 yuan. In India, it is even more serious. If you want to approve a number segment, you have to go through so many departments, and you don’t have to pay 1 million. The U.S. dollar cannot be made.”

Zhou Buqi was a little surprised and looked at Lei Jun beside him.

Xiaomi wants to reduce costs to the extreme.

However, the IMEI code is a unnecessary and unreasonable cost investment.

Every mobile phone in the world has a unique IMEI code.

If you want to obtain this IMEI code, you need to apply to an international IMEI code laboratory. The price is actually not high. One number segment only costs 400 US dollars, and one number segment has 1 million codes.

The most difficult thing is actually the approval and standard code authorization in different countries.

For example, the United States is 01, the United Kingdom is 35, the country is 86, and India is 91.

Then the various codes are integrated to form a unique IMEI code. It is not enough to pass this step. You also need to pass the operator's level. You need to obtain a network access permit from the operator. In this way, the mobile phone will be connected to the operator's signal network.

Every step of the process costs money.

Zhuang Xiangrong saw the confusion from Boss Zhou and sighed, "After all, the copycat phone is not a regular phone. It is actually very difficult to apply for a regular code. It is not as easy as Xiaomi, Hisense, Coolpad and other major manufacturers. In addition to the same network connection fee as the operator, if you want to get approval from other departments, you have to invest more..."

Lei Jun smiled, "Aisda shouldn't have any obstacles in this regard."

Zhou Buqi is still concerned about the Indian market, "What should we do now? Are you still in the Indian market?"

"Do it, do it secretly." Zhuang Xiangrong felt helpless, "We can't just give up on the channels we finally opened."

Zhou Buqi asked: "Do you have a compliant IMEI code?"

"No." Zhuang Xiangrong shook his head, "If we follow the compliance procedures, there will be no profit, and the sellers in India are not willing. They are responsible for the arrangements and get us a batch of IMEI codes. Then we repeat Just use it.”

Zhou Buqi laughed and said, "Can you pass the customs?"

Zhuang Xiangrong said: "It may not be possible to find out. Even if it is found out, if you give the customs inspection team some money, they may let it go. But there are also special situations. Sometimes there are inspections or parliamentarians supervising, and it is difficult to get through. Sometimes You can also encounter cheaters, but there is no other way but to try your luck. You can't just waste this market. India is very poor. If everyone is liberalized, I estimate that India will be able to absorb at least 200 million copycat phones every year. ”

India's population is about the same as that of China.

And India is richer than Africa.

100 million people can afford mid-to-high-end smartphones, and 300 million people can afford low-end smartphones. More people can only buy copycat phones. Having a tool that can make calls is enough to be satisfied.

With such a big market and such a big opportunity, who can seize it?

Looking at the whole world, there are only domestic mobile phone manufacturers!

And it is a very embarrassing copycat phone manufacturer.

The cost of regular functional phones is not low either.

It's different for copycat phones. It's considered conscientious to use some off-brand products. You can use obsolete products, you can use substandard products from regular production lines, and you can even use second-hand spare parts.

Tianyu, as the crown jewel of copycat phones, has been so successful mainly because the quality of its phones is guaranteed to a certain extent and it does not use second-hand substandard products to deceive consumers. This has created a certain brand advantage for copycat phones.

Zhou Buqi then asked: "You sell mobile phones in India, how much does it usually cost?"

Zhuang Xiangrong said: "We don't sell, we sell to local sellers, and our shipping price is one or two hundred yuan per mobile phone. We can have at least a 20% profit margin, which is actually a very good business. . It’s just that India’s regulations have become stricter in the past two years, making it difficult to do business.”

Zhou Buqi asked: "Why don't you think about developing other markets? South Asia, Southeast Asia, Pakistan, etc."

"Uh..." Zhuang Xiangrong hesitated for a moment, a little embarrassed, "The technology is still not enough. We haven't developed a model that can adapt to the network of operators in other countries."

"Network format?"

"Yes."

"Yeah."

Zhou Buqi understood it immediately.

Different operators adopt different network formats.

For example, China Mobile uses TD-SCDMA and China Unicom uses WCDMA.

If a mobile phone wants to access the network, it needs corresponding baseband chips, analog baseband chips, radio frequency chips and other communication accessories to adapt to the network format of the operator. Different chips also need different processors and motherboards to match, and the internal structure of the mobile phone and the entire set of external design need to be readjusted.

This is not easy.

Domestic copycat manufacturers have little technical capabilities, and many of them are like small workshops. The reason why the industry has developed so well is that MediaTek provides a one-stop service and the entire set of boards are assembled. The counterfeit phone manufacturers buy it, make a shell, install the battery, keyboard and earpiece speaker, put a label on it and sell it.

It is not easy to develop a mobile phone that can adapt to more operators.

However, these obstacles are not a problem for Zhou Buqi.

He wants to do something big!

In the past year, the global sales of mobile phones can reach 2 billion units, including 1 billion smart phones and 1 billion feature phones. Most of those who still use counterfeit phones these days are looking for cheapness, which means that the domestic counterfeit phone industry still has a large market demand internationally.

Tianyu's little tricks are really not a big deal.

There must be a stronger person to lead this industry.

...

Zhou Buqi originally wanted to talk more about the counterfeit phone industry with Tianyu's Mr. Zhuang.

But soon, two CEOs came to visit.

One of them was Luo Yonghao, the founder of Hammer Phone, whom Zhou Buqi knew. It was a bit unexpected that he was invited.

The purpose is the same.

Everyone has heard that Boss Zhou helped Meizu a lot, allowing Meizu to get rid of the supply-side threat from Samsung.

You helped Meizu, can you help me?

This industry symposium is to discuss the fight against Qualcomm.

In fact, the threat from the supply chain is not only from Qualcomm, even some domestic suppliers have similar routines, which seriously restricts the healthy development of the domestic mobile phone industry.

It is far from enough to fight Qualcomm alone.

Zhou Buqi did not refuse, and said generously: "Help! All help! In the afternoon, at the symposium in the afternoon, we will discuss this matter!"