IPhone in the early hours of the day before yesterday? Many people inside and outside the digital circle have seen the 12 conference. However, after the end of this year's Science and Technology Spring Festival Gala, it was a "thirteen incense" that resounded through the whole network.
Indeed, thanks to the increasingly rigorous intelligence network in the supply chain and Apple's conservative attitude, this autumn's Apple conference can be said to be "no surprises, only confirmed bad news"-
The chip has been upgraded, 5G has come, but the price has gone up; There is a mini with a small screen, but the battery has shrunk; Finally, I stopped clinging to the 5V 1A turtle speed charging set, but the charging head and headphones were also cut off.
Just like waiting for the replacement model you like, I found that although the power has been upgraded, the fuel tank is smaller, the noise and jitter are bigger than before, and the price has also increased by the way.
In this analogy, we also found a little difference-if car companies do this, they will face the abuse of target consumers and turn to competing models; When Apple does this, the target consumers often choose to "hold back".
This is an interesting question: Why can Apple PUA consumers, but car companies often have no confidence and qualifications?
One,
Probably Jobs never dreamed that one day the topic that people discussed most about the iPhone would be "iPhone will not send charging heads and headphones this year".
Yes, iPhone? 12 cancels the original charging head/cable and wired Earpods, and there is only one mobile phone and one Type-C lighting cable supporting PD fast charging protocol in the box. If consumers need it, they have to buy additional original charging heads and headphones.
At the press conference, Apple gave Wei's reason that environmental protection is greater than the sky.
Apple said that there are already 2 billion official charging heads donated by Apple around the world. In order to protect the environment, this year's charging head (and earphone) will not be sent, which can reduce unnecessary packaging and make a significant contribution to reducing carbon emissions.
The company with the highest market value in the world has spared no effort in environmental protection, and people cannot but applaud.
But when I touched the ancestral 5V 1A charger I bought from iPhoneX Apple, I realized that something was wrong-this is to connect the old head (USB-A standard) to the current line (USB-C for lighting)? If it doesn't meet the standard, it can't be answered.
This also means that even if you are an old Apple user, if you haven't bought a USB-C charger before, are you buying an iPhone? 12, extra diplomatic money. Faced with such a simple apple, consumers are not calm.
In major social networks, there are many remarks mocking Apple's "hypocrisy and lofty". In the name of environmental protection, it is really generous to others to cut off the rights and accessories that consumers should have and do environmental protection at the expense of consumers' interests.
It has also been analyzed that Apple no longer comes with its own charging head and headphones. In fact, it is because the new model comes standard with 5G module and+OLED screen, which raises the cost of the whole machine. To take care of the iPhone? 12 You can see the past selling price and high profit margin, and the charging head and earphone are forcibly turned on. Make money without knocking.
That's the point. Due to the decline in performance last year, Apple, whose market value has reached $2 trillion this year, is actually facing greater profit pressure from shareholders. A set of data can show that in 20 18, Apple's revenue was $265.6 billion, its net profit was $59.53 billion and its net interest rate was 22.4%. In 20 19, Apple's revenue was $26,065,438 +0.7 billion, and its net profit was $55.26 billion, and its net interest rate dropped to 2 1.2%.
IPhone every year? Under the premise that the shipment of 12 is expected to reach 10 million units, it is indeed a good idea for Apple to use charging heads and headphones as charging accessories to improve the profit margin (even if the official accessories are not sold much, according to Apple's information, the mobile phone packaging box can improve the freight efficiency by 70%, thus saving a lot of transportation expenses).
It should be mentioned that in the Android mobile phone camp, there are actually many operations to cancel the charging head and headphones, just for the cheap models, try to keep the price low. However, this wave of Apple does the opposite, cutting off the charging head and headphones in the name of environmental protection, and not reducing the price, it seems that it just wants to stand and make money.
Although consumers continue to vomit and express their dissatisfaction with the playful "Thirteen Incense", which generation of iPhone has escaped the law of true fragrance? After all:
Second,
Driven by environmental protection (and the profit appeal hidden under it), Apple, which "drives backwards" in product accessories, immediately reminds people of car companies that have pushed three-cylinder engines in the past few years. ?
Of course, car companies are much more passive than Apple in taking the initiative to raise the banner of environmental protection. Because the emission regulations of the world's major automobile markets are becoming stricter and stricter, many automobile companies are forced to embark on the road of developing three-cylinder engines.
To explain the background, compared with the mainstream four-cylinder engine on the market at present, the three-cylinder engine can meet the requirements of important emission indicators such as nitrogen oxides and carbon dioxide in China, the United States and Europe without reducing the dynamic performance of the engine cylinder and vehicle.
Because it can reduce costs and meet emission regulations, three-cylinder engine is recognized as the future technical trend by most car companies. Among them, some car companies are particularly active in promoting three-cylinder engines, such as GM, Ford, BMW, Link and so on.
BMW put three-cylinder engines into 1 series and X 1 models as early as 20 16, but the market response was not satisfactory.
In 20 18, when the first car Ke Ling 03 went on the market, it was equipped with a 1.5T three-cylinder engine.
In 20 19, Ford introduced the three-cylinder engine into the two main sales models of Focus and Forex.
The three-cylinder deep charging like GM is to completely introduce the three-cylinder engine into the low-end models of Buick and Chevrolet brands. The most typical example is that GM directly uses Buick brand sales lever Yinglang as a test field for three-cylinder engines, and only provides 1.0T and 1.3T three-cylinder engines on 20 18 and 20 19 Yinglang models.
However,? Because the three-cylinder engine does not have the natural layout balance of four cylinders, the torque of the three cylinders of the engine is unbalanced, which leads to chattering and noise during operation. Because the three-cylinder machine in the early market did not handle this problem well, the impression that the three-cylinder machine vibrates and makes noise has always remained in the impression of consumers. In particular, domestic consumers who have higher requirements for NVH really don't like three-cylinder engines, and they don't recognize the reliability and life of this new technology.
Consumers who are unwilling to give up demand for the environmental protection goals of car companies have voted with their feet. Soon, the negative effects of car companies launching three-cylinder engines appeared.
The original monthly sales volume was stable at more than 30,000 vehicles, and Yinglang, which competed with Volkswagen LaVida and Nissan Sylphy for the top three sales of mid-level cars, once fell below 20,000 vehicles after replacing the three-cylinder machine. This year, Buick made the four-cylinder engine come back quickly on Yinglang, but Yinglang's sales volume is hard to return to its former glory.
After Chevy Knight replaced the three-cylinder engine, the monthly sales volume was halved from about 65,438+0,000, and now the monthly sales volume has been hovering around 3,000 for several months.
Lectra learned the lesson in time, made up the four-cylinder model after the launch of Lectra 03 three-cylinder model, and stabilized its position with the growth of the new brand.
It can be said that the results of car companies trying to launch three-cylinder engines in China are unsuccessful, especially the choice of all departments? In 2000, enterprises in China suffered heavy losses. In February this year, Reuters quoted people familiar with the matter as saying that GM China, which originally planned to put three-cylinder engines on 70% of its models, gave up the plan of using only three-cylinder power on key models.
Obviously, in the face of consumers, car companies do not have the capital as proud as Apple.
Third,
Just today, Taiwan Province Electronic Times quoted people in the supply chain as saying that iPhone? 12 shipments may reach 80 million units by the end of the year.
This has to be sighed. It is also to let consumers transfer some benefits to achieve higher environmental protection/profit goals. Why did Apple do it confidently and unaffected, and the car companies were finally beaten back by consumers?
Brand effect obviously plays an important role in it. A report by Aurora Big Data last year showed that the user loyalty of iPhone exceeded 60% (that is, more than 60% of iPhone users would continue to choose iPhone when changing phones), ranking first in the mobile phone market in China.
Digging down, the high user loyalty of iPhone mainly comes from three aspects:
First, the "rules" of the iPhone's powerful hardware and software ecology have brought excellent comprehensive experience, which is still difficult to be surpassed;
Second, the closed iOS system is not only difficult to use, but also makes users pay a high migration cost when switching to Android system.
Third, the irreplaceable experience brought by the "ecological opposition" of Apple's whole family barrel makes it easier to retain users.
The life of car companies is obviously not so good.
Compared with Apple's unique position in the smart phone industry, GM and Ford are more like the Android camp in the automotive industry-the competition is highly intense and homogeneous, and basically any model can find a high benchmark and experience. Substitute competitive products.
In contrast, BMW, as the leader of luxury brand camp, encountered some setbacks in promoting three-cylinder machines, but not all of them were adopted? In's attitude, combined with its own brand influence and user loyalty, has better resisted the negative impact of the water testing three-cylinder machine.
Although in front of consumers, car companies are always in turmoil when they can't get it, and Apple is "all favored people are fearless", they have the same internal motivation-whether car companies push three-cylinder machines or Apple no longer gives away traditional charging heads and headphones, they all have the purpose of guiding consumers to new technology consumption and shaping new consumption habits.
For car companies, the upgrading and evolution of their traditional power often has a cycle. At present, only by promoting the three-cylinder engine as early as possible and cultivating consumers' habits can we occupy the market as soon as possible and constantly optimize the technology in the market feedback. Although it may be painful at present, it can better prepare for the next technical cycle of internal combustion engine and take the lead in the next technical cycle.
In Apple, instead of giving away traditional charging heads and wired headphones, users are asked to switch to fast charging devices and the newly launched MagSafe wireless charging device on iPhone 12, and switch to wireless headphones AirPods/AirPods? Dear consumption. In this way, Apple will not send the charging head and EarPods, which not only saves the cost of two sets of accessories, but also pushes users to the inexpensive MagSafe accessories and AirPods, killing two birds with one stone by reducing expenditure and opening up sources. ?
The above comparison between Apple and car companies profoundly shows that a leading company that can provide irreplaceable product experience can strongly influence or even "guide" users' consumption behavior (even in an arrogant way). In the past few years, we have witnessed how Tesla, who is learning from Apple, has become the overbearing president of the automobile industry.
PS: From the user's point of view, whether buying a car or a mobile phone, please consume rationally according to your own needs. Facing the high level of technology and configuration of new products, beware of enterprises intentionally or unintentionally consuming PUA.
This article comes from car home, the author of the car manufacturer, and does not represent car home's position.