Dai Qingsong, vice president of Xiaomi TV. A Wang Chuan (co-founder of millet) said in his speech that the most difficult person to dig. The following is his self-reporting of Xiaomi TV. I believe that after reading it, you will have the same questions as the Lei Feng Net reporter: Knowing yourself and knowing each other is a good battle. But if both sides know one another, who will win this battle?
Some things I said, you still can't learn.
"This is the old foundation of traditional TV manufacturers."
Before I came to Xiaomi, I had been at Skyworth for more than 10 years, so I was clearer than anyone else in the traditional TV manufacturers.
There are "Treasures in the Town Store" among the manufacturers of the Eight Children's Books. They are not looking for quantity, but they are expensive and do the image. At the same time, they will use the lowest-end components to build a very low-cost television, not to seek profits in order to confuse the audio-visual.
Between the two, basically there will be a model for every 200 to 500 spreads. The corresponding differences are shell material, shape, wide color gamut, 3D, MEMC, CPU, memory size, WiFi specification, and so on. These are the key to information asymmetry. Too many variables can always make consumers confused, and it is very likely that they will choose a mid-price TV after weighing. "The coincidence" is that the gross profit of this price is the highest.
How to calculate this account? It can be said that the traditional manufacturer's SKU is about 50 to 200 per year, and only 10% of its product lines can be profitable. In other words, 10% of the profits must be filled in 90% of the digging pits.
However, this is far from enough. Going to home appliance stores such as Gome and Suning will have to pay, no less than 22% of the selling price. Marketing also needs money, not less than 10%. So for traditional manufacturers, if gross margin is less than 32%, they will definitely lose money. In order to achieve an overall gross profit of more than 32%, what should be the gross profit of the 10% of the best-selling models? The answer is more than 50%.
This set of millet will not learn because there is no money to spread channels and markets. Of course, we do not want to learn, because there is no opportunity to learn.
Once I secretly joked with Wang Chuan in private: "Or we spend one billion US dollars to buy one in the six TV manufacturers, and replace the logo of Xiaomi into its re-entering the mall. By then, let other brands of TV It's a joke, but it's not a word of mouth.
Not long ago, Xiaomi Mobile had settled in the Bell Tower store in Dazhong. When we were arranging products, we put the millet TV up. Their reaction was fierce: "You can easily place the mobile phone, but the TV must be removed." I understand that.
This is the old end of traditional TV manufacturers. I think they shouldn't mind me saying this, because in fact, their understanding of Xiaomi TV is not superficial either.
"This is Xiaomi's ability to control the supply chain. There is nothing to boast about."
The idea of ​​splitting is not new, and the degree of recognition in the industry is also high. Why does Xiaomi want to do this? Why does Xiaomi only do this? There are reasons.
In the foreseeable future, China will soon become the world's largest movie market. Why do people like to go to the cinema so much? In addition to social factors, nothing more than a large screen and shocking sound effects. But when it comes to TV, the latter is easy to ignore. We think this is wrong, so the sound effect is the original intention of Xiaomi TV 3 as a split body.
A shocking bass requires sufficient cavity volume, which is the physical limit of acoustics. Taking into account "ultra-thin" and "sound effects", we can't tell the truth and nobody in the world can do it. So far, split is the only solution.
We have always had a cognition: AV does not divide family (Audio and Video). So when we launched the Soundbar, we wanted users to choose the TV set (TV + Soundbar) when they purchased the millet TV. The online channel determines that it is difficult for us to tell everyone the truth. Therefore, the ratio of buying singles and suits has always been between 37 and 46.
In order not to sacrifice the experience, "splitting up and splitting up" actually takes certain risks. It is costs that need to be overcome. From the results, we have already done it. The previous generation of 55-inch millet TVs sold at 4400 without the Soundbar, and the 55-inch millet TV 3+ host had 3999.
How did you do it? Let's talk about the least technical supply chain.
Take the metal frame as an example, its product logic is very simple: After the split millet TV 3 can be made thinner, taking into account the TV's strength and appearance, metal frame is essential. However, the high-end properties determine that the metal frame cannot be lifted, and the cost cannot be reduced.
At the beginning, I was not familiar with the suppliers of the borders, but I knew the quotes he gave to Sony. After the demand for quotes was presented, the other party was a bit dumbfounded. What should I ask? My answer to him is that Xiaomi TV can make the metal frame 48-inch standard.
Perhaps the standard is too abstract, and suppliers need more specific numbers. So until we did the product, the supplier in turn gave us a sale price that Xiaomi TV 3 could sell. In this regard, I told him very seriously: "The price of Xiaomi TV 3 will be at least 1000 lower than this price."
This is the ability of Xiaomi to control the supply chain. There is nothing to boast about, because it is not difficult for us. The only difficulty is the yield, which is the ramp up of production capacity, which is closely related to each characteristic of the product.
"It's just a question of value orientation."
It can be said that finding a good supplier is only the beginning of a nightmare.
The gold part and the black part of the border are actually an aluminum frame, and the two completely different technologies come together. Secondary anodizing scraps are scrapped; milling cutters are scrapped and scrapped; excessive polishing is scrapped. In this case, the first month's yield was less than 30%.
This is not a big problem for suppliers because they are the standard when it comes to Sony. However, Xiaomi certainly cannot bear this cost. After sending people to the factory, there is actually no good way to do it. They can only touch the stones and cross the river to make adjustments from people and equipment, and do a good job on the yield rate.
There are many similar details, and the whole logic will be discovered. In fact, "ultra thin" is the root cause of all the difficulties of Xiaomi TV 3. If you say that the process is the premise of ultra-thin, then heat dissipation is the problem that arises when it is satisfied.
Both the wide color gamut and 4K will have a negative impact on brightness. The optical characteristics of the LCD screen determine its light transmittance is only about 5%, so we can only compensate by increasing the brightness and number of particles of the LED. According to the conservation of energy, 95% of light energy will be converted into heat here. When we improve the cooling efficiency in a narrow space, we have to use lasers to solder the LED to the heat sink and increase the area. More money is said.
In addition, plastic and metal thermal expansion and cold shrinkage are not the same. In extreme environments, different tensions can cause the screen to bend. To this end, we added reinforcing ribs to Xiaomi TV 3 to ensure that the bending rate is not higher than two thousandths. And taking into account the neatness of the backboard, it is done inside the fuselage. LG is the same principle as ours, except that they are trying to outsource the reinforcement bar in pursuit of the thinnest value. The difference between this and money is nothing but a value-oriented issue.
"The quality is very easy and the same as the sound quality and become a metaphysics."
Picture quality is the most important attribute of television. There is no doubt about this. However, after the unilateral "interpretation" of the manufacturers, the picture quality is very easy to be the same as the sound quality, becoming a metaphysics. Because everyone's feelings about the picture are very subjective, when the picture quality is good to a certain extent, the advantages and disadvantages are actually difficult to distinguish. Even professionals must use tools to make judgments.
Millet has no need to follow the concept of playing in this area, we are using the best chip 6A928. It is MStar's most expensive chip, more than 20 US dollars. The lower one is 828 and the cheaper is 10 US dollars. The choices and practices are very simple. Millet 48-inch TVs use 928 and do not play high and low hands.
In addition, the backlight is also the key to quality. Absolute uniformity can ensure that the picture color is not distorted; as long as the liquid crystal is under a little pressure, the transmittance of the corresponding liquid crystal will change, resulting in oppressive light leakage. Since millet TV pursues ultra-thin, the tolerance between the components and the screen has to be compressed very small, so the accuracy and the consistency of the components are all very troublesome. There is not much difference in the process between the solution and other process problems.
Last words
In my opinion, consumer electronics models and IT models have always been different. The progress of the IT industry is dominated by Intel and Microsoft, and their product driving force has prompted the entire market to upgrade. The traditional consumer electronics model is just the opposite, relying on branding rather than technology. Therefore, the IT industry is relatively transparent, and the consumer concept is turbulent.
When we use the Internet to sell television, I know that many people are simply casting votes, and of course there are many people who are black. As consumers, in fact, these two groups have a common characteristic, that is, not enough understanding of products and industries. After all, the cost of "meeting" (channels and marketing) is too high.
I certainly hope that Xiaomi TV can stand all the trust and can not stand all the misunderstandings. In any case, we will continue to adhere to the current product concepts and values. If it is wrong, then I know it.
(Deputy president of Xiaomi TV Dai Qingsong)
Some things I said, you still can't learn.
"This is the old foundation of traditional TV manufacturers."
Before I came to Xiaomi, I had been at Skyworth for more than 10 years, so I was clearer than anyone else in the traditional TV manufacturers.
There are "Treasures in the Town Store" among the manufacturers of the Eight Children's Books. They are not looking for quantity, but they are expensive and do the image. At the same time, they will use the lowest-end components to build a very low-cost television, not to seek profits in order to confuse the audio-visual.
Between the two, basically there will be a model for every 200 to 500 spreads. The corresponding differences are shell material, shape, wide color gamut, 3D, MEMC, CPU, memory size, WiFi specification, and so on. These are the key to information asymmetry. Too many variables can always make consumers confused, and it is very likely that they will choose a mid-price TV after weighing. "The coincidence" is that the gross profit of this price is the highest.
(Average TVs in shopping malls)
How to calculate this account? It can be said that the traditional manufacturer's SKU is about 50 to 200 per year, and only 10% of its product lines can be profitable. In other words, 10% of the profits must be filled in 90% of the digging pits.
However, this is far from enough. Going to home appliance stores such as Gome and Suning will have to pay, no less than 22% of the selling price. Marketing also needs money, not less than 10%. So for traditional manufacturers, if gross margin is less than 32%, they will definitely lose money. In order to achieve an overall gross profit of more than 32%, what should be the gross profit of the 10% of the best-selling models? The answer is more than 50%.
This set of millet will not learn because there is no money to spread channels and markets. Of course, we do not want to learn, because there is no opportunity to learn.
Once I secretly joked with Wang Chuan in private: "Or we spend one billion US dollars to buy one in the six TV manufacturers, and replace the logo of Xiaomi into its re-entering the mall. By then, let other brands of TV It's a joke, but it's not a word of mouth.
Not long ago, Xiaomi Mobile had settled in the Bell Tower store in Dazhong. When we were arranging products, we put the millet TV up. Their reaction was fierce: "You can easily place the mobile phone, but the TV must be removed." I understand that.
This is the old end of traditional TV manufacturers. I think they shouldn't mind me saying this, because in fact, their understanding of Xiaomi TV is not superficial either.
"This is Xiaomi's ability to control the supply chain. There is nothing to boast about."
(Mille TV 3)
The idea of ​​splitting is not new, and the degree of recognition in the industry is also high. Why does Xiaomi want to do this? Why does Xiaomi only do this? There are reasons.
In the foreseeable future, China will soon become the world's largest movie market. Why do people like to go to the cinema so much? In addition to social factors, nothing more than a large screen and shocking sound effects. But when it comes to TV, the latter is easy to ignore. We think this is wrong, so the sound effect is the original intention of Xiaomi TV 3 as a split body.
A shocking bass requires sufficient cavity volume, which is the physical limit of acoustics. Taking into account "ultra-thin" and "sound effects", we can't tell the truth and nobody in the world can do it. So far, split is the only solution.
We have always had a cognition: AV does not divide family (Audio and Video). So when we launched the Soundbar, we wanted users to choose the TV set (TV + Soundbar) when they purchased the millet TV. The online channel determines that it is difficult for us to tell everyone the truth. Therefore, the ratio of buying singles and suits has always been between 37 and 46.
In order not to sacrifice the experience, "splitting up and splitting up" actually takes certain risks. It is costs that need to be overcome. From the results, we have already done it. The previous generation of 55-inch millet TVs sold at 4400 without the Soundbar, and the 55-inch millet TV 3+ host had 3999.
How did you do it? Let's talk about the least technical supply chain.
Take the metal frame as an example, its product logic is very simple: After the split millet TV 3 can be made thinner, taking into account the TV's strength and appearance, metal frame is essential. However, the high-end properties determine that the metal frame cannot be lifted, and the cost cannot be reduced.
At the beginning, I was not familiar with the suppliers of the borders, but I knew the quotes he gave to Sony. After the demand for quotes was presented, the other party was a bit dumbfounded. What should I ask? My answer to him is that Xiaomi TV can make the metal frame 48-inch standard.
Perhaps the standard is too abstract, and suppliers need more specific numbers. So until we did the product, the supplier in turn gave us a sale price that Xiaomi TV 3 could sell. In this regard, I told him very seriously: "The price of Xiaomi TV 3 will be at least 1000 lower than this price."
This is the ability of Xiaomi to control the supply chain. There is nothing to boast about, because it is not difficult for us. The only difficulty is the yield, which is the ramp up of production capacity, which is closely related to each characteristic of the product.
"It's just a question of value orientation."
It can be said that finding a good supplier is only the beginning of a nightmare.
The gold part and the black part of the border are actually an aluminum frame, and the two completely different technologies come together. Secondary anodizing scraps are scrapped; milling cutters are scrapped and scrapped; excessive polishing is scrapped. In this case, the first month's yield was less than 30%.
This is not a big problem for suppliers because they are the standard when it comes to Sony. However, Xiaomi certainly cannot bear this cost. After sending people to the factory, there is actually no good way to do it. They can only touch the stones and cross the river to make adjustments from people and equipment, and do a good job on the yield rate.
(Comparison of frame processing between Xiaomi TV and LeTV Super TV)
There are many similar details, and the whole logic will be discovered. In fact, "ultra thin" is the root cause of all the difficulties of Xiaomi TV 3. If you say that the process is the premise of ultra-thin, then heat dissipation is the problem that arises when it is satisfied.
Both the wide color gamut and 4K will have a negative impact on brightness. The optical characteristics of the LCD screen determine its light transmittance is only about 5%, so we can only compensate by increasing the brightness and number of particles of the LED. According to the conservation of energy, 95% of light energy will be converted into heat here. When we improve the cooling efficiency in a narrow space, we have to use lasers to solder the LED to the heat sink and increase the area. More money is said.
In addition, plastic and metal thermal expansion and cold shrinkage are not the same. In extreme environments, different tensions can cause the screen to bend. To this end, we added reinforcing ribs to Xiaomi TV 3 to ensure that the bending rate is not higher than two thousandths. And taking into account the neatness of the backboard, it is done inside the fuselage. LG is the same principle as ours, except that they are trying to outsource the reinforcement bar in pursuit of the thinnest value. The difference between this and money is nothing but a value-oriented issue.
"The quality is very easy and the same as the sound quality and become a metaphysics."
(millet TV 3 scene map)
Picture quality is the most important attribute of television. There is no doubt about this. However, after the unilateral "interpretation" of the manufacturers, the picture quality is very easy to be the same as the sound quality, becoming a metaphysics. Because everyone's feelings about the picture are very subjective, when the picture quality is good to a certain extent, the advantages and disadvantages are actually difficult to distinguish. Even professionals must use tools to make judgments.
Millet has no need to follow the concept of playing in this area, we are using the best chip 6A928. It is MStar's most expensive chip, more than 20 US dollars. The lower one is 828 and the cheaper is 10 US dollars. The choices and practices are very simple. Millet 48-inch TVs use 928 and do not play high and low hands.
In addition, the backlight is also the key to quality. Absolute uniformity can ensure that the picture color is not distorted; as long as the liquid crystal is under a little pressure, the transmittance of the corresponding liquid crystal will change, resulting in oppressive light leakage. Since millet TV pursues ultra-thin, the tolerance between the components and the screen has to be compressed very small, so the accuracy and the consistency of the components are all very troublesome. There is not much difference in the process between the solution and other process problems.
Last words
In my opinion, consumer electronics models and IT models have always been different. The progress of the IT industry is dominated by Intel and Microsoft, and their product driving force has prompted the entire market to upgrade. The traditional consumer electronics model is just the opposite, relying on branding rather than technology. Therefore, the IT industry is relatively transparent, and the consumer concept is turbulent.
When we use the Internet to sell television, I know that many people are simply casting votes, and of course there are many people who are black. As consumers, in fact, these two groups have a common characteristic, that is, not enough understanding of products and industries. After all, the cost of "meeting" (channels and marketing) is too high.
I certainly hope that Xiaomi TV can stand all the trust and can not stand all the misunderstandings. In any case, we will continue to adhere to the current product concepts and values. If it is wrong, then I know it.