Yu Chengdong may not be happy to become chairman

Core Tips
When Yu Chengdong becomes the chairman of terminal BG, is it promotion or downgrading?

Author| Zhu Xiaoyu

Edit| Xing Yun

Yu Chengdong took the position of chairman of Huawei's "private customized" terminal BG. On the surface, it seems that he has been promoted, but the information from Huawei seems not so simple.

Recently, Huawei officials announced Yu Chengdong's job adjustment, changing from the CEO of terminal BG to the chairman of terminal BG. Not only did Huawei's official website update the above information synchronously, but Yu Chengdong's Weibo authentication also completed the change.

In the past, Yu Chengdong himself was very active on Weibo and kept updating with high frequency. At the highest level, there were nearly 10 updates a day, and he actively promoted many Huawei businesses. Before and after the job adjustment, Yu Chengdong kept silent for 11 days, and then briefly updated two articles on his microblog (two days).

According to a person close to Huawei, the outgoing CEO may not be what Yu Chengdong wants. Although Yu Chengdong was still the highest level in the department, he suddenly added a chairman and arranged He Gang to take over the CEO, Perhaps it is because the senior management wants to extend the decision-making chain of terminal BG.

The insider stressed, "This also shows that the senior management hopes that Yu Chengdong will step back behind the scenes and make way for the younger generation."

1. Yu Chengdong, unable to "lead far"

The timing of Yu Chengdong's position adjustment coincides with Huawei's recent experience of the M7 Yuncheng traffic accident. Many previous speculations pointed to the correlation between the two.

On April 26, a boundary M7 rear end maintenance vehicle in Shanxi Yuncheng section of Houping Expressway caught fire, causing three deaths, which raised questions about the safety of boundary vehicles. The Quest is the product of Huawei and Celis.

Four days later, Huawei made a new appointment internally, with Yu Chengdong as the chairman of the terminal BG. In fact, in Huawei's organizational structure, the position of chairman of terminal BG did not exist previously. It was equivalent to "customizing" a position for Yu Chengdong. For the future focus of Yu Chengdong, Huawei has not disclosed details publicly for the time being.

On May 10, Huawei's official website updated management information and announced changes to external officials. Up to now, Yu Chengdong has served as the executive director of Huawei, chairman of terminal BG, chairman of intelligent vehicle solution BU, and director of intelligent terminal and intelligent vehicle parts IRB.

Yu Chengdong's position was adjusted this time, There is talk of promotion, but there is also a voice of rising up and down.

The personnel change occurred at the time of the negative public opinion caused by the M7 traffic accident in QBE, and questions, accusations and even the whole Huawei brand were raised. Some people speculated that whether Yu Chengdong would leave the smart car business and whether his power would be narrowed?

It is reported that the insiders quoted that this time, for the purpose of normal management appointment, Yu Chengdong was promoted to chairman of the board to facilitate his exit from the mobile phone business. All In builds cars, allowing Yu Chengdong to have more energy to create boutiques for consumers.

However, both the smart car selection business promoted by Yu Chengdong and the mobile phone business supported by him are all under the Huawei terminal BG system. The former Huawei terminal BG and the chief operating officer He Gang took over as the CEO of Huawei terminal BG, which means that they should take into account both mobile phone and automobile businesses.

At Huawei's press conferences in recent years, important products such as mobile phones are often released by He Gang, while new models are released by Yu Chengdong.

According to Huawei's past practice, He Gang may go to the front of the stage in the future, and may assume the role of the keynote speaker of the smart car selection business conference, while Yu Chengdong plays the role of, Or from the former top executive to the behind the scenes commander.

At the Huawei Smart Car Solution Conference held on April 24, Yu Chengdong, who had stepped down as CEO of Huawei Auto BU in September 2023 and was promoted to chairman, did not appear. Jin Yuzhi, who was promoted to CEO of Huawei Auto BU, took on the whole conference as a keynote speaker for the first time, and distributed Huawei's brand new smart car solution brand "Qiankun", And the industry also calls Jin Yuzhi's brilliance - Car BU officially entered the Jin Yuzhi era.

Yu Chengdong has become an iconic figure and core driver of Huawei's auto business in recent years. However, Huawei's internal car building is multi legged. Yu Chengdong, who leads the "to C" smart car selection model, is too radical, and also has frequent friction and pull with the company's route. Therefore, Yu Chengdong left a message in the Xinsheng community that "In a few years, everyone will understand" and "HUAWEI asks the world" Identify events, etc.

According to a person close to Huawei, the smart car selection model has always faced the hidden danger of bearing the risk of the C-end. The car manufacturing strategy led by Yu Chengdong focuses on providing enabling support for car enterprises, rather than directly involved in vehicle manufacturing. However, in order to gain market share and ultimately assume multiple responsibilities, it is necessary to not only fulfill the role of supplier, but also face various risks brought by the terminal market.

"This accident directly exposed Huawei, which should not take risks, and aroused dissatisfaction from senior management. The purpose of mobilizing Yu Chengdong was to adjust the hidden dangers of the operation mode. He Gang's previous position was the chief operating officer of Huawei's terminal BG, which just made up for the risks of the intelligent car selection operation mode."

2. Redistribution of internal power structure

In fact, Yu Chengdong did intend to avoid the public's view, and the changes had traces to follow before.

At the hot Beijing Auto Show in the last two weeks, the auto industry leaders who knew that traffic was the king came off to interact with consumers in person. But Yu Chengdong, who has always been active and talkative, was particularly silent in this auto show, and even deliberately avoided the first two days of the hottest Beijing Auto Show and appeared at the wrong peak with other auto industry leaders.

Not long ago, it was reported in the media that Ren Zhengfei ordered to prohibit further internal mention of taking the lead, saying that he would be fined 10000 yuan each time. A science and technology blogger once said that in the field of consumer electronics, it is OK to restart after a crash, and there will be no serious consequences. Therefore, exaggeration of products in the mobile phone field will not cause major accidents, but in the automotive field, people will really die.

I'm afraid it's also based on this, Ren Zhengfei, who is pragmatic and seeking stability, said the "tight curse" for Yu Chengdong, who stepped on the accelerator aggressively in the field of car building.

As the helmsman of the enterprise, Ren Zhengfei is conservative and stable, and pays more attention to Huawei's overall development and brand image. As a professional manager, Yu Chengdong focuses more on how to make his responsible business enter the first track to a greater extent from the perspective of business development.

At the all in mobile phone race track, Yu Chengdong's radical behavior offended many peers. However, in Huawei's two legged auto business line, Yu Chengdong is going to be crazy about the first, which will inevitably arouse more internal opposition voices.

In particular, the car BU and smart car selection business lines involve many car enterprises, and the automotive industry chain behind them is more complex. Therefore, it is particularly important and urgent to make a quick decision to adjust and abandon any potential problems.

The change of Yu Chengdong, In fact, it is also the redistribution of Huawei's internal power structure.

For a long time, Huawei has been divided into two groups regarding car manufacturing: the conservative group led by Xu Zhijun insists on "Huawei does not build cars" and supports the HI model; And the radical group led by Yu Chengdong, who pushed to build cars and served as a platform for smart car selection.

In Huawei's organizational structure, although Yu Chengdong serves as the chairman of the auto BU business, there is one more top person in charge of the auto BU business - Xu Zhijun, Huawei's rotating chairman. At the same time, Xu Zhijun is also the main driver and supporter of the auto BU business. The HI mode under car BU is actually the most straightforward explanation of "Huawei does not build cars".

In other words, although Yu Chengdong is the chairman of the auto BU business, he has no real power and is not directly responsible for the specific affairs of the business line. Now, Yu Chengdong is promoted to chairman of terminal BG business again, and may face the same situation.

The above informed person said that this adjustment of the business line may mean that Yu Chengdong gradually withdraws from the front-line business in Huawei's internal power struggle, focuses on the company's behind the scenes work, and coordinates the overall situation to safeguard the interests of each sub brand. future, Yu Chengdong's strategic focus may turn to strengthening product performance, product innovation and improving consumer experience, rather than relying solely on marketing.

Perhaps it is a good thing for Yu Chengdong to hand over the two businesses he has worked hard to cultivate to He Gang. But at Huawei's press conference, "far ahead" became a thing of the past.