Ctrip Reform founder Liang Jianzhang imminent comeback

Ctrip is mired in the brutal morass of price wars. Early this morning, the veteran online travel company released its latest earnings, the price war brought about by a significant increase in marketing costs, Ctrip last year net profit fell 34%.

At the same time, Ctrip's big change signal is getting stronger. People close to Ctrip to Tencent Technology revealed that after 6 years of unfettered retreat behind the scenes, Ctrip soul characters, one of the founders Liang Jianzhang or will be the helm of reins.

Liang Jianzhang is a brilliant founder of Ctrip. 2003, Liang Jianzhang successfully will carry Ctrip to the United States Nasdaq listing, 2006, Ctrip market value as high as billions of U.S. dollars, once more than Sina and grand. At this time, Liang Jianzhang chose a "business and gifted study" of the road to the United States to pursue a PhD in population economics.

However, when Liang Jianzhang returned last year, the online tourism industry has changed the sky. Before 2012, Ctrip in line travel of the Overlord seat on the steady sitting for nearly a decade, but with the internet and mobile internet industry changes, 2012, outside, Ctrip encountered Art Dragon, where and many other users of the app streaming dilemma, internal management is also a contradiction.

Liang Jianzhang to the shot? Multiple sources said that this February, Liang Jianzhang will be the joint CEO of Ctrip, the official return to the front, and the current Ctrip CEO fan will be mainly responsible for emerging business.

Familiar with Ctrip insiders pointed out that if the CEO position change message is true, means that fan disguised as marginalization, Ctrip core management staff of the secret transition. This kind of enterprise right handover pattern déjà vu: The late December 2012 century Jia Yuan founder Gong Curtain call, the company Power Core to Wulin light, and Wu Zheng is in March 2012 as the joint CEO's status Superior.

In this connection, Tencent technology contact fan and Ctrip public relations to verify that the other party did not respond.

Meanwhile, the source said, Ctrip is preparing to make drastic changes to the company's personnel and development strategy. What is happening on the eve of this big change?

Change of senior thinking in Personnel major

"A little too fierce, too ruthless!" Our 90% of the ground sales staff were cut. "The New Year will be, as Ctrip Chengdu Division of a ground sales staff, Xiao Li in the phone line to accept Tencent technology is a little angry, after all, the Chinese new festival has always been a bit uncomfortable."

Not long ago, Ctrip in the two or three-line city of the airport, high-speed rail, railway stations, bus stations and other ground sales staff were abolished, according to the number of media reported more than 500. "Ctrip before the monopoly days too comfortable, now around embattled, the abolition of the ground sales force is forced." This is the company from offline sales to the online adjustment of the necessary process, do not rule out the 2013 will also be in other departments layoffs. "A person familiar with Ctrip said of Tencent Technology.

According to Tencent Science and technology, in recent years, Ctrip rarely make such large-scale adjustments in personnel. According to an original Ctrip executives speculate, ctrip in personnel changes generally take a top-down strategy, the abolition of the push personnel is only the prelude to personnel adjustment, follow-up will be big.

To carry out the top-down change, fan naturally the brunt.

In reality, beam replacement fan has been rumored for a long time, why the choice in 2013 officially launched? The reason or the industry trend and the two people think differently caused.

People familiar with the matter said that fan was a traditional hotel industry, thinking more traditional, belong to the role of "Shou City", 2012 is the most heavy Ctrip, Ctrip is suffering from the Art dragon, where the network and many mobile Internet products siege, and the latter is just using the internet thinking to confront Ctrip, which is also fan short board.

"Ctrip is a heavy company that wears the cloak of the internet, and where it belongs to the light Company." In the past few years, although it has realized the revolution of Internet upgrade to traditional tourism, but the revolution is not complete, ctrip, such as telephone call center and many ground sales personnel greatly increased the human cost, once the internet and mobile Internet, such as the impact of more advanced productivity, its overall use of years of management mechanism will become unsuitable. "That's what analysts are stressing.

Some media commented that, after the founders left, Ctrip's professional managers, although outstanding, did not allow the company to maintain a state of starvation, despise the industry's new changes and new opponents.

"Ctrip high-level thinking conservative, aging, the new environment reflects more sluggish, thinking not to follow, many businesses because of poor communication and delay fighter jets." 2012 Liang Jianzhang back, gave fan a year of time, but Ctrip is still not a big improvement. "said an outgoing Ctrip employee.

Ctrip certainly will not let these problems accumulate indefinitely, change handsome become inevitable.

Current: Price war comes to a climax

On the evening of January 26, 2013, many netizens who held Ctrip had experienced a sleepless night. That night, Ctrip's share price plunged 19%, and eventually closed down 13%.

The scene occurred the day after the news of Ctrip's massive layoffs. However, layoffs only affect the price of an inducement, the main reason is that Ctrip's price war into the most climax of the profit uncertainty stage.

It is worth mentioning that the price war is also ctrip in 2012 key words. In addition to conservative thinking, aging, the price war error judgment, become fan in Ctrip's career in a scar.

March 2012, Fan also said: "Group buying is not important, but a supplement, will not invest more power." "The implication is that the price war will not be fought.

But with the rapid loss of market share, especially in the low-end hotel area, fan eventually hold, to June 2012, Ctrip rushed to attack, the introduction of group buying and 500 million-dollar promotions, the center of gravity in the hotel reservation area of large space. And say, with 6 months to beat opponents. Ctrip's latest results show that in 2012 its annual sales and marketing costs were 984 million yuan, an increase of 58% compared with 2011.

Now 6 months passed, Ctrip did not win the signs, so January 2013, Ctrip will price war range from the original hotel field to expand to air tickets and other fields.

Air ticket business occupies nearly 40% of the income of Ctrip, it is included in the scope of the price war, which means that the price of ctrip into a full rebound of the highest preparedness.

Price war has always been "killing 10,000 since the loss of 8,000", the previous price war in the hotel has lowered the sales of Ctrip's net profit, the market is worried that the new ticket discount service plan will carry Ctrip's profit margin again under pressure, its share price with a large dive.

Ctrip is essentially a distribution channel, is a retailer, will certainly play a price war. But and home appliances, manufacturing price war is different, home appliances from the market began to reduce prices, the channel can be price war cost transfer to upstream enterprises, but the hotel operating costs are relatively fixed, ctrip difficult to price war cost transfer to the hotel supplier.

And the price war extends to the air ticket field is also the recent where and Ctrip again staged mouth war problem root. Because, the hotel ticket price war full bloom, will make the price flat, the price difference is not big, where to search for the significance of comparison is greatly weakened.

It can be foreseen that in 2013, no matter how the personnel structure of ctrip adjustment, price war is an extremely important link. A noteworthy detail is that last June, Liang Jianzhang on the future development of Ctrip, said to the media, the past "small profits but quick turnover" products accounted for only about 20% of the share, the future will significantly increase the proportion of such products.

This gives a signal to the outside world that the price war will continue to ferment and eventually evolve into a protracted battle.

The future: Wireless service is a big play

At present, the domestic mobile Internet is an irreversible situation swept, and Ctrip, whether the above layoffs or Liang's comeback are related to the trend of the mobile era.

In the past, Ctrip has a huge ground sales network throughout the major cities of the airport, stations and hotels, it makes up for the PC Internet can not move the defect. Nowadays, the popularity of smartphones makes it possible for people to surf the internet anytime, and the ground salespeople must be discarded in the mobile internet era.

In the past two years, tonight Hotel specials, Flight butler, hotel housekeeper and other types of independent app in the ascendant, and the original opponents to where, art dragon, Cool News also launched mobile phone, mobile app occupies a place.

In the mobile internet era, as drawsomething, Instagram, the rise of the Giants are difficult to monopolize all the ideas, and the original PC-side business model of the core competitiveness will be redefined, Ctrip's traditional advantages of the mobile Internet is difficult to continue fast.

Tonight Hotel founder Jinxin has told Tencent Technology: "In the mobile internet field, the Matthew effect is obvious, as long as the product demand, the more the application of the former growth faster, Apple and other application stores will be weighted to the new application, to encourage products, not because of Ctrip's brand preference." ”

In 2012, Liang Jianzhang returned to Ctrip with a new directive: a massive foray into mobile internet. According to the source, Liang even and fan, and almost all the executives have reached a consensus: wireless as the company's development plays, in Ctrip to the wireless interconnection as the company's two start-up.

Last year, Liang Jianzhang hope that Ctrip wireless products can be more specialized, fine differentiation, and through equity cooperation, such as the integration of Third-party tourism app, and has been responsible for research and development, IT operations and Technology Hao has been transferred solely responsible for Ctrip wireless business.

September 2012, the Internet conference, the consistent low-key fan High-profile debut, talked about is the wireless internet. At that time, Ctrip United mobile phone map manufacturers of gold, and at one breath launched 5 app Ctrip Wireless, Ctrip Special Hotel, Ctrip tourism, Donkey rating nets, Tieyu and so on, from all angles attack mobile internet. January this year, Ctrip disclosed data showing that in the hotel reservation area, its revenue from the mobile side has accounted for 10%.

Now, the online tourism industry has come to a turning point, the internet and mobile internet has brought more than half the volume, Ctrip's telephone call center as the core business model is facing challenges. But in the era of fan in power, did not see Ctrip to call center, such as the implementation of streamline plan, and wireless business has not ushered in a big improvement.

If Liang Jianzhang the CEO Scepter, offline call center and wireless services will become the most important part of the adjustment.

After all, has entered the bottleneck stage of Ctrip in the mobile Internet tide, both excited and confused, to meet the challenges of mobile Internet, must supplement the mobile Internet gene, must have beyond the original PC Internet mode and thinking. In this way, around the mobile end, from the business structure to personnel adjustment, from the product to the market, such as the changes in the various strategies to become its inevitable in 2013.

Ctrip net profit fell 24% year-on-year

Ctrip released today the fourth quarter as of December 31, 2012 and the year without the audit results. Earnings showed that Ctrip's net profit to shareholders in the quarter was 193 million yuan (about 31 million U.S. dollars), down 24% per cent, net revenue of 1.1 billion yuan (about 177 million USD), and 19% per cent year-on-year.

Throughout 2012, Ctrip operating profit of 655 million yuan (about 105 million U.S. dollars), the year-on-year decline of 39%. Excluding equity incentive payments (not in accordance with U.S. General Accounting standards), Ctrip 2012 operating profit of 1.1 billion yuan (about 174 million U.S. dollars), a year-on-year decline of 23%.

As at December 31, 2012, Ctrip's cash, cash equivalents, limited-use cash and short-term investments amounted to RMB 5.6 billion (about 899 million USD).