Why are mobile phone manufacturers still in a state of indecision when car making scandals continue?

near On the other hand, Huawei, which "does not build cars", disclosed two important patents, namely, the patent of "electric vehicles and the method of charging between electric vehicles", and the patent of "a method of safe communication of the Internet of Vehicles". A few days ago, Xiaomi, who had announced that he was going to build a car, was told by the media that he was stepping up preparations to build a car while denying it. However, in fact, compared with the enthusiasm of domestic real estate, upstream of the industrial chain and capital for car building, mobile phone manufacturers are extremely calm and have been hesitating outside the door of car building. Mobile phone communication companies that are not short of money, fame, talent or even land resources should pay attention and think about why they are so hesitant and unwilling to leave.

Car making scandals continue

A few days ago, Huawei was reported to be planning to build cars and be contracted by Chang'an Automobile and BAIC BJEV. But soon, this news was denied by Huawei, Chang'an and BAIC Bluevale respectively. Huawei once again firmly declared publicly that it would never build cars. This is not the first time that Huawei has been reported to build cars. Although Huawei always replies that it will not build cars, it still cannot stop the heat of the topic of Huawei's car building. The fundamental reason is that Huawei has the strength and ability to build cars from the outside world. Just as Huawei's car making was once again popular, it also disclosed two important patents, namely, the patent of "electric vehicles and the method of charging between electric vehicles", and the patent of "a method of safe communication of the Internet of Vehicles". Huawei is producing more technical achievements in the process of the development of automobiles towards electrification and networking.

Coincidentally, the news of Xiaomi's car building is also being heated. On February 19, it was reported by the media that Xiaomi Group had decided to build cars and regarded it as a strategic decision. People familiar with the matter said that Lei Jun, the founder of Xiaomi Group, may lead the team personally. Xiaomi Group responded to the media about the rumor of car building, saying "wait and see, not yet", and did not respond to more news. In fact, Xiaomi has long been bound up with car making. Lei Jun, the leader of Xiaomi Auto, has deeply "participated" in the new forces' car building for many years, and has had experience with Weilai Auto and Xiaopeng Auto investment 。 According to incomplete statistics, Lei Jun, Xiaomi Group and Shunwei Capital investment Enterprise in automobile field near 30. In 2019, Lei Jun, as a deputy to the National People's Congress, also publicly expressed his support for driverless driving and submitted proposals for the development of driverless driving and the Internet of Vehicles. Lei Jun's enthusiasm for car building is considered to be the vane of Xiaomi's entry into car building. This is not the first time that Xiaomi has been exposed to the news of car building. Compared with the previous firm reply of no car building, this time Xiaomi seems to be loose, and it is also considered as a good time for mobile phone manufacturers to join in car building.

Different from the hesitation of domestic mobile phone manufacturers in building cars, the car building plan of Apple, the most concerned international mobile phone manufacturer, seems to have entered the stage of substantial progress. After the concept car was exposed to the public last year, on February 3, South Korea's East Asia Daily reported that Apple planned to send a report to South Korea's Kia Automobile Co., Ltd investment 4 trillion won (about 3.6 billion US dollars), as part of the cooperation with Korean automobile manufacturers to produce electric vehicles. This makes the industry and the outside more suspicious of the hesitation of domestic mobile phone operators.

The most powerful cross-border car maker?

The key to maintaining such high expectations of mobile phone manufacturers both inside and outside the industry is that they seem to be the most powerful cross-border car makers. Especially after Geely joined hands with Foxconn to enter into automobile OEM, mobile phone manufacturers have no dream of using the OEM model of mobile phone manufacturing to build cars. As we all know, mobile phone manufacturers generally use the OEM model to manufacture smart phones, while automobile OEM has been controversial before, but when the software definition of cars becomes the general trend of automobile development, automobile OEM will also become a major booster for cross-border car makers. Wang Qing, the deputy director of the Market Economy Research Institute of the Development Research Center of the State Council, stressed in an interview with the reporter of China Auto News that in the era of software defining cars, there is great potential for automobile OEM, and global automobile manufacturing may enter a new competitive pattern. In this change, the entrants with software advantages can completely choose OEM production to better complete automobile manufacturing.

At the same time, the technical strength accumulated by mobile phone manufacturers in terms of electrification and intelligence has laid the foundation for their entry into the market and is considered to be the most powerful cross-border car maker. Take Huawei as an example near The disclosed patents have strong technical advantages in electrification and intellectualization respectively. It is worth noting that since 2021, Huawei has disclosed a number of electric vehicle related patents, including a brake booster system and braking method, electric vehicles, pedestrian detection methods, devices, computer-readable storage media and chips, silicon carbon composites that can extend battery life and their preparation methods, lithium ion batteries, and new energy vehicle reducers Powertrain and vehicle related patents. It is not difficult to judge from the contents of these patents that they have accumulated certain technical achievements in new energy vehicles and intelligent connected vehicles. The strength in core automotive technologies can not only support Huawei to become an important supplier in the field of automotive intelligence and electrification, but also enable Huawei to build cars.

What are you worried about besides "burning money"

Although mobile phone communication companies are considered to have the strength to build cars across borders, and it is also considered to be the best window period to enter the market, in fact, these mobile phone manufacturers are generally in a state of indecision, as Xiaomi said in his latest statement, "wait and see, not yet". It is worth thinking about why they have been slow to make up their minds.

"It is hard to say that this is the last window period, and car building is indeed a matter of careful consideration. It is not advisable to enter the office blindly without a clear plan." A senior industry observer expressed understanding of the hesitation of mobile phone manufacturers. First of all, from the perspective of capital, although these manufacturers have accumulated relatively strong capital strength, car building is a very "money burning" thing after all. Although China's Weilai, Ideals and Xiaopeng have launched one or two mass production vehicles after spending 20 billion yuan and showing a good momentum of development, 20 billion yuan is not the threshold for car building. Taking Dyson as an example, it had to announce the termination of its car building project after spending 21.8 billion yuan. There are also many cross-border car makers who have fallen behind in mass production of vehicles in China. Many of them are outstanding in existing fields, but they have to terminate their car building projects due to financial problems. Before making cars, the funds accumulated by Xiaomi and Apple are far from enough. The rapid changes in the capital market also make these mobile phone operators have to be cautious about car building.

The biggest uncertainty beyond capital is whether the incoming car manufacturers can make enough profits like mobile phones, which is probably the key reason why mobile phone manufacturers hesitate. In the field of smart phones, these enterprises have quickly achieved success and made a lot of profits, while the car manufacturing cycle is longer and there are also greater risks. In the face of automobile manufacturing, no one is absolutely sure of success. Even mobile phone manufacturers with certain technical and capital strength have to face a huge test. "Automobile manufacturing is a complex project, which not only requires the entrants to have certain technical and capital strength, but also requires them to have a strong ability to control the supply chain." Chen Quanshi, a professor of Tsinghua University, stressed the complexity of automobile manufacturing in an interview with China Auto News nature It is hard for outsiders to imagine the requirements of the entrants. There are many losers in every careless move. There have been many painful examples in this regard, whether it is the dismal end of the household appliance manufacturers or near Two years after Red Star and other parts suppliers entered the office to build cars, they ended up with no results. All this shows that even if we have achieved great success as a supplier, we may not be able to easily control automobile manufacturing after entering the market. In this regard, Huawei's firm "no car building" is perhaps the most representative answer of the enterprise. While becoming an important part of car building as a component supplier and obtaining considerable profits, mobile phone manufacturers are actively involved in high-risk car building nature Naturally not high. (China Auto News Online Wang Jinyu)

key word: Car making scandal Mobile phone manufacturer