Customized components raise the threshold

Since Samsung introduced the GalaxyGear smart watch, domestic manufacturers have been unable to hold back, and have quietly laid out in the wearable device market. Following the grand fruit shell electronics, Shenzhen Ying Qu Technology took the lead in introducing domestic smart watches, the domestic smart phone brand Cool has also launched its first smart watch. In addition, on a smart wearable device product SHOW, the reporter also saw wearable devices such as smart watches, wristbands, smart shoes, smart rings, etc. displayed by many companies. However, the immaturity of the industrial chain, the unclear business model, and high prices have made wearable devices untouchable.

The upsurge of wearable devices, the introduction of cool smart watches, or the imagination of mobile phone companies, after all, the fiercely competitive mobile phone market has already become the Red Sea. The emerging market area of ​​wearable devices may be the next blue ocean. However, to enter the wearable device market is not an easy thing, at present there is no successful product and business model can learn from, the industry chain is not yet mature, everything is still being explored.

Yu Yuqing, deputy manager of the Yulong Cool Research & Development System's pre-research department, pointed out that the core problem of wearable devices is that the relevant upstream and downstream industry chain support is not in place. Whether it is a platform vendor, a display manufacturer, or an application vendor, it is clear to plan the wearable device market in 2014. Are very few. In addition, currently wearable devices launched by Google and Samsung all use custom devices. For example, Google uses TI-customized chips, and Samsung uses its own dedicated processor chips. Therefore, the average manufacturer now wants to make some real experience with good wearable devices with certain difficulties.

“The nuggets of the wearable device industry is a complex and systematic problem that requires the entire industry chain to cooperate with operations. However, the current industry chain is not yet mature, so large-scale commercialization will still take some time, such as chips, screens, and batteries. It is necessary for these raw material manufacturers to develop a number of products specifically for this industry.” Shenzhen Harbin Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd. Zheng Yi also expressed the same view.

There is no doubt that the immaturity of the industrial chain and the customized components have virtually increased the entry barrier for wearable devices. In addition, wearable devices are still far from the scale of mobile phones, and their development and mobile phone development are also very different. Wang Xiaobin, chairman of Shenzhen Yingqu Technology Co., Ltd., said that first of all, the volume problem, because hardware has its own size, so no matter what kind of wearable device, considering its performance and available services, it must be Taking into account the volume, which makes manufacturers must seek a balance between performance and size; In addition, wearable equipment, "wear" is an important reference factor, therefore, in the industrial design than other equipment requirements Higher, because not only should it be practical, but it must look good, but it must be easy to match the line, and so on. Of course, the real need to cut into the wearable device market, the preparatory work is essential. Wang Xiaobin said that first of all, it is necessary to clarify its own product positioning and then consider the feasibility. This requires that a team must understand the hardware and be familiar with the software while having its own experience in industrial design.

Zheng Yi also said that, unlike mobile phones and flat-screens, wearable devices are something that we usually wear. They must have a stylish personality design that really makes consumers like it, and they need the consumer’s cognition and consumer habits. . In addition, there is a need to have product industry chain integration capabilities, and the bottleneck of battery and charging technology also hampers the development of wearable smart devices. It is also very important that wearable devices need to be guided by the correct business model in order to truly “take off” sales. In his view, these are the thresholds for entering the wearable device market. Zheng Yi told reporters that doing wearable devices requires investing a large amount of R&D funds to perform product function upgrades and process improvements. It also requires the media to cooperate with a large amount of publicity. This is what Harper is doing.

Zhu Jizhi, executive vice president of Cogobuy, believes that the threshold for doing wearable device products lies in two aspects: First, it is very difficult to do a good job of the user, and it is very difficult to make the user experience. Second, it is difficult to make a good business model.

Due to the immature industrial chain, companies are still exploring the stage, which indirectly increases the price of wearable devices. Zheng Yi said that wearable devices are generally worn on the body, usually small size, including watches, wristbands, clothes clipped on tools, and glasses, etc. These devices integrate sensors and even display screens, which can communicate via WiFi or Bluetooth. Other devices, mobile phones, receive information from other smart devices. The smaller these products are, the higher the cost is, and many electronic components need to be customized. The difficulty of integration is relatively high, and the cost pressure brought by the introduction of differentiated design, the introduction of third-party services, and strong marketing can be realized. Want to know.

Wang Xiaobin also expressed his point of view. “Wearable devices can't be done simply by taking mobile phone parts. Many devices are suitable for fitting, such as screens and batteries, as well as previous development costs. In the process of exploration, new technologies and new software need to be constantly tested.” For example, before shipment of inWatch One, it was only the dozens of attempts made by the band's videotape that had virtually increased production costs. .

In Zhu Jizhi's view, the current reason why the price of wearable devices is still relatively high, the key lies in the amount of support. "The amount of the early period is relatively small, and the industrial chain is not yet mature. After the batch production, the price will surely drop." He said, "At present, the user's acceptance of wearable devices is limited, and the user experience of the product is not good enough. This causes the user to feel that the price is lower. expensive."

Zhu Jizhi believes that for the wearable device industry, the current cost is not the most important issue, and the lack of batteries and application software is not the most important constraint factor, but the problem of the entire business model and the issue of time. "The emergence of killer applications has a premise that the form of the product itself has been determined, there are a lot of good products coming out, and at the same time the entire service system and application scenarios are determined, naturally there will be a lot of people thinking about the application software." He said. “At present, the development time of the wearable device industry is still too short, and it takes 3-5 years for an industry to develop. The wearable device industry is still at a preliminary stage of development and is far from mature.”

For the wearable device industry, the immaturity of the industrial chain, customized components, and unclear business models are certainly a barrier to the development of this industry. But for local manufacturers, it is more important to jump out to make mobile phones. Routines. At present, many domestic manufacturers have introduced smart watches that mostly use Android systems and dual-core 1GHz or above processors. Such a combination of configurations seems to be bloated on smart watches, so that the battery life problem is doomed to be insurmountable. Whether it is a smart watch or other wearable device, it requires a targeted platform and integrated solutions. Wearable devices are a new market. For any vendor, everyone is on the same starting line. The key is to reconstruct watches or other wearable devices based on user needs. After all, the user experience of the product is a top priority.