The craze for smart hardware raged from 2013 to 2014, with each wave getting higher than the last, making the Internet very unhappy and anxious. Last year's 3D printing, Internet of Vehicles, smart routing, and smart bracelets created a wave of hardware entrepreneurship. With the popularity of crowdfunding platforms this year, riding on the wings of crowdfunding and using a combination of software and hardware to break new ground in the field of smart hardware connections, many giants and entrepreneurial teams have plunged into this fertile soil to work hard. Think silently: The next giant of the Internet will be me.
Crowdfunding: Reliance on Hardware Intelligence
Speaking of the raging momentum of smart hardware, we have to mention: crowdfunding, or crowdfunding, refers to the release of fundraising projects through the Internet and An emerging financing model that raises funds from the general public. At present, crowdfunding platforms focusing on smart hardware have been born in China. For example, JD.com recently launched a crowdfunding platform focusing on smart hardware and pop culture. What’s more, the first domestic company doing equity crowdfunding for smart hardware has announced a shift from equity crowdfunding to smart hardware IPO, and this momentum has not weakened at all.
With the imagination of the renaissance of Internet hardware, Internet giants, traditional electronic manufacturers, traditional home furnishings, traditional medical industries, etc. have all entered this field, all thanks to the new financing method originated in the United States-crowdfunding , attracting the attention of more and more entrepreneurial teams and smart hardware enthusiasts. Because it has a low threshold, diverse content and other financing channels, it allows creative people to obtain the activity funds they need to realize their dreams, and provides unlimited possibilities for more people with dreams.
Crowdfunding can also undoubtedly solve the problems of funds, product experience feedback, communication and fan training in small team hardware entrepreneurship. Through the crowdfunding network, you can publish fundraising projects and raise funds, and you can rely on the relatively large number of people to raise funds. It is good to avoid the blind end of entrepreneurial teams focusing on technology but not the market, and the increasing popularity of crowdfunding in the field of technological life can make new technological hardware products more down-to-earth. This is a powerful catalyst for hardware intelligence, allowing more people with ideas and Enthusiastic grassroots entrepreneurs have come to the forefront of history, bringing batches of hardware products that contain software content and are closely related to people's lives into our sights.
Clothing, housing and transportation made smart by hardware
We divide smart hardware projects into the following categories: wearable (clothing), smart home (housing), Internet of Vehicles (transportation) , as well as smart medical care, cool play equipment, Internet of Things industry applications, robots, drones... The most popular smart hardware at present is in the four fields of sports wear, medical health, smart home, and automobile intelligence.
International Internet giants are already in full swing in deploying smart hardware: Google acquired Nest for US$3.2 billion, and even spent US$550 million to acquire Dropcam to enter the smart home. Apple also held the Global Developers Conference ( HomeKit smart home platform was officially released at WWDC). It is developed based on Apple's internally developed hardware products and is designed to allow iPhone and iPad users to control furniture including lights, locks, warehouse doors, etc. through applications or Siri voice control. Achieve simple control.
Relatively speaking, the three domestic BAT giants are currently less active, but they have also made many achievements: 360 established an intelligent hardware division to cast a wide net, and Baidu’s iQiyi merged with PPS to form It has comprehensive coverage of search entrances, copyright resources and distribution channels; while Alibaba attempts to occupy the video industry by investing in Youku Tudou and builds a broad territory covering software, hardware and content resources; at the same time, Tencent and mobile phones, home appliances and other industrial chains Companies from all over the world have been in frequent contact to seek cooperation. They have cooperated with Haier to promote WeChat air conditioners, which can be controlled using WeChat sensing. Tencent is actively preventing card slots at the entrance of living room-related hardware. In addition to BAT, Internet giants such as Xiaomi and Huawei are also busy deploying home-centered smart ecosystems.
1. Wearable hardware
According to foreign media reports, Silicon Valley has been predicting that wearable devices will be the star of tomorrow for many years, and in the competitive field between Apple and Google, it can be Wearable devices have become a key battleground. Milanesi said that the growth of smartphones and tablets is slowing down, and wearable devices will be "the next cash cow." Market research firm ABI said about 2.8 million wearable devices, including smartwatches, will be sold this year, compared with 300 million smartphones sold in the same period. At present, in the field of smart hardware, sports bracelets/watches represented by Google smart glasses and Apple smart watches are more prominent.
Apple may launch its own smart watch product, iWatch, this fall. Google has also sold a limited number of Google Glass to the public. It is also rumored that Google is also developing a device that can measure diabetes. Smart contact lenses for patients’ blood sugar levels. Among wearable products, sports bracelet products from Gudong Bracelet, Bong Bracelet, Lexin, Huawei and Nike are very popular.
Many companies have launched a variety of bracelet and watch products in the market, but user enthusiasm is not high because bracelets and watches usually monitor steps, calories, pulse and sleep time, and these data are very complicated. It is difficult to reflect the user’s real physical condition. Furthermore, according to the current situation, many wearable devices are more about selling a concept, and the corresponding service support has not kept up. From the perspective of users, each different device needs to install its own App, and data between each other cannot be connected, which brings about the problem of fragmentation.
2. Smart home
Smart home has not yet formed a complete system and ecology. Xiaomi routing, 360 secure routing, Ji routing, Lenovo cloud routing, etc. are based on traffic entrance or smart home The competition for the focus of the control center is becoming increasingly fierce. What is intelligent routing? To put it simply, smart routing = traditional routing, which can install application software and can be controlled remotely. Beginning in the second half of 2013, under the leadership of Jirou, the battle for intelligent routing began. Internet giants such as Xiaomi, 360, Xunlei, and Baidu joined the battle. Of course, they are still old and hot. Recently, Huawei, the leader in telecommunications equipment, and traditional routers have joined the battle. Manufacturer Leike has also joined the fray. Lenovo and the entrepreneurial team's Ruyi Cloud Routing merged to create Lenovo Cloud Smart Routing. This is a lively competition!
If we look at the market alone, the market for routers is not big and the profits are not huge. Why do the giants have to work hard to do this?
Routers are an important part of the home. The source of wireless signals from which all home devices can be connected. In other words, the commercial value of smart routers lies in smart homes. According to AVC predictions, this is the next massive market with a trillion-dollar market space. Suitable gateway products and interconnection models are important prerequisites for the development of smart homes. Smart homes in the future Curtains can be controlled remotely, but curtain manufacturers do not need to do technical things. They only need to use smart router solutions and connect their products to a home network centered on smart routing. Smart routers can also act as smart gateways, controlling all home networking devices 24/7 and controlling an important gateway for home traffic;
Recently, giants have shifted their focus to the field of smart security, with the emergence of 360 Home Defender, Baidu Eyes and Eyes, Longyan Camera, etc. are trying to link smart routing and smart cameras and drive other peripheral electronics to complete the smart home ecology and complete solutions. They hope that routers can cooperate with camera terminals.
However, the current ambition of smart routing has not been realized smoothly. Although Xiaomi Routing has proposed a smart home model, smart homes have not yet entered daily life. There are also various problems for smart routing manufacturers. Anxiety: Because smart routing enters the market with multi-functional plug-ins and a cabbage price, it is difficult to make profits.
And the biggest selling point of smart routers is smart homes. However, in actual applications, it is found that the smart home concept of smart routers is still too thin to support more heavy-duty applications. It is also far from being able to implement routing Wifi modules for TVs, TVs, etc. Connectivity and control of household appliances such as air conditioners and refrigerators. Strictly speaking, the smart home concept currently promoted by smart routers is essentially a management function extended with the help of WiFi signals, which is far from the real smart home concept.
3. Internet of Vehicles
As the name suggests, it refers to the connection of vehicles to the Internet using some kind of communication method, and it is not only understood as the connection between the car and a certain server, but also more It’s about the connection between the car and the outside world. The Internet of Vehicles became even more popular in 2014. Complete vehicle and parts companies, as well as Internet, communications, and technology companies, all accelerated their efforts to expand into the Internet of Vehicles business, aiming to establish their own sphere of influence in the field of Internet of Vehicles as soon as possible. At the same time, car consumers' understanding of the Internet of Vehicles will inevitably deepen and improve rapidly, and the number of users will also grow explosively.
Overseas, the American automaker Ford is now working with Intel to jointly promote the Project Mobii project. The two parties will interpret future personalized vehicle and Mobile Interior Imaging technology and other functions on this project, using human Facial recognition software provides improved privacy control and will make the in-car experience more secure and personalized. In addition, Volvo Cars, all Qoros 3 five-door models, GM's OnStar, Toyota's G-BOOK, BMW's connected driving, Mercedes-Benz's My Command, etc. have all joined the "Internet of Vehicles" system, which connects cars, computers, The integration of Internet technology has made cars increasingly "intelligent." On the other hand, Internet companies such as Apple, Tencent, and Baidu are also actively developing Internet of Vehicles technologies, and the Internet of Vehicles game that brings together "big players" is gradually beginning.
To be specific, there are too many barriers between the Internet of Vehicles industries, and everyone wants to be the entrance. This makes the already insufficient resources more dispersed, making it difficult to achieve the scale of tens of millions of users required for disruptive innovation. , in addition, automobiles, electronics, communications, Internet, and finance each have their own ideas and standards, making it difficult to form a joint force. The usage habits and acceptance of car owners have also seriously hindered the continued advancement of the Internet of Vehicles. In addition, how to achieve profitability in the Internet of Vehicles is also a major difficulty. How can car owners pay for products that have always continued a free strategy.
Where to go with smart hardware
Making hardware is an attitude, but we are still groping and have not found a successful model. We are still struggling with design and R&D, supply chain, hardware design, cost control, Core links such as warehouse management are areas that Internet giants are unfamiliar with or do not have advantages in. Risks in these links are everywhere.
Therefore, a complete smart technology ecosystem requires many developers and manufacturers to cooperate to produce wonderful smart products and win the future together. The cross-border cooperation of smart hardware is undoubtedly in line with the future trend, and There is a market space full of imagination. Ultimately, what we will see is that each company will build a smart hardware ecosystem through its own openness. In other words, Internet companies that are good at representative data and technology will have the opportunity to become the leading players in the smart hardware ecosystem in the future. core.