Internet enterprises: "The end" to promote the "cloud"

Baidu, Ali and other Internet companies involved in terminal hardware, Samsung, Huawei to expand software applications. The convergence of the two is the logic behind the cloud convergence, that is, through vertical integration to improve the user's comprehensive performance, thus deeply binding customers. Zhaojunling/Wen

May 2012, Baidu's own-brand mobile phone officially released, the price is lower than the thousand-yuan smartphone carrying "Baidu Cloud" system, will also become a contract for China Unicom procurement. One months ago, Tencent launched the Android 4.0 system based on the custom mobile phone rom "Tita", a new generation of "Aliyun" Smartphone Hornet also officially on Taobao pre-sale. In addition, Qihoo 360 chairman Zhou also said that the plan and international and domestic manufacturers to launch a variety of 360 user special machine, officially into the smartphone. Many internet companies have become the Forces nouvelles in the smartphone industry.

On the other hand, in May, Huawei announced that it would gradually open its terminal cloud platform, which includes basic capabilities, communication capabilities, user access and liquidity, and would pay up to 70% per cent of its partners in monthly terms. Samsung also launched a cloud service called S-cloud in March, less than a year after Apple launched icloud.

Internet enterprises to enter the hardware terminal, hardware enterprises to apply software, the two boundaries are increasingly blurred, the logic behind it?

In the era of mobile interconnection, the "cloud" platform based on application software and content services has gradually become a personal center, and various terminals serve as entrances to personal centers. For Internet enterprises, software to provide services through the terminal, the control terminal to reflect their own ideas, the advantages of the PC burning to mobile devices. For hardware vendors, a more convergence of hardware configuration, both advantages are easier to catch up, and secondly, software applications and services can not only bring derivative revenue, but also help to improve user stickiness. For both, only vertically integrated "cloud" and "end" two areas can improve the overall performance and enhance customer experience to bind customers deeply.

Internet enterprises: "The end" to promote the "cloud"

According to Credit Suisse's research report, internet giants are developing their own-brand handsets and operating systems, whose main goal is not to generate a lot of revenue through handset sales, but to profit from app stores and other value-added services. This statement through the Millet Technology CEO Lei was confirmed, he said the goal is the hardware does not lose money, through Internet applications and services to profitability. Millet mobile phone hardware and software are the Department of Millet Technology in person, do not enter the traditional stores, only through online booking and operator contract machine two channels of sales, in 2011, the mobile phone market set off waves of ripples. Baidu also said that the new private-label mobile phone will make Baidu and Google's competition is no longer limited to the search area, but to expand to users to manipulate their mobile devices in the software sector.

Before entering the terminal market, traditional internet giants have used the accumulated user base and successful products, the advantages of the PC side to copy to the phone, launched the corresponding application software, Tencent mobile phone QQ, micro-letter, Baidu mobile phone search, mobile map, Alibaba's mobile phone taobao, mobile phone Alipay, Grand Bambook, cut off, Sina's mobile phone microblogging, etc., in the mobile Internet domain occupies a place.

Now, internet companies are again piling into the mobile phone market, through the terminal to further enhance their competitiveness in the mobile Internet area is very obvious. In order not to become a carrier and mobile phone brand merchants to do wedding clothes, before entering the terminal or at the same time, the Internet giants are launched its own operating system, millet, Ali, Shanda, Baidu and Tencent have joined their own brand Android custom ROM army. Rom refers to storage of mobile phone firmware code, such as mobile phone operating system, application such as games. These Internet enterprise's own operating system is usually based on Android system depth optimization, binding its own applications, such as the grand "Music ROM" integrated in the Cloud Bookstore, Marcum Chronicle, Shanda Network disk, such as a number of royal application software. Tencent in the "Tita" before, although not its own ROM, but also through the QQ service packaging their own mobile applications, deeply implanted into the mobile phone manufacturers of the handset terminal. Only, mobile phone operating system development and application is an integrated industrial chain process, the need for operators, application developers, chip manufacturers and other links to cooperate with each other, whether the success and industrial ecological scale is closely related to the Internet giant independent research and development of the operating system can be widely recognized by the market is still unknown.

Moreover, the Internet enterprises through the mobile phone terminal extension of service, there is no successful case. Amazon's tablet Kindle Fire, which relies on a huge application and content ecosystem, has had a brief period of brilliance in the early stages of its release, and sales have been iPad2, but after the latter's price, the Kindle Fire shipments have plummeted from 4.8 million units in the four quarter of 2011 to less than 750,000 in the first quarter of 2012, down 84% per cent and global market share from 16.8% to 4%. If not, Apple's proposed 7-inch ipad will be a fatal blow. In addition, although millet clamor to profit by software services, but its mobile phone gross profit margin has reached 30%, essentially still mobile phone manufacturers. It is no easy thing for internet companies to try to pull up value-added services such as application software through control terminals.

In the Mobile Phone China Alliance Secretary-General Yanhui, internet companies in mobile phones and other terminal products do not have the advantages and characteristics, difficult to rival Apple, Samsung and other configuration experience outstanding mobile phone manufacturers, if sales do not go, the end of its services to pull very limited. At the same time, the service of the Internet enterprises do not need to bind terminals can be favored by users, service is not good, even if the binding hardware will be discarded by users. However, because the domestic foundry and design costs are relatively low, internet companies into the mobile phone field threshold is low, so most of them would rather try to avoid missed opportunities for development.

Hardware enterprise: To the "cloud" closer

Today, "Hardware + Software + Internet applications and services" has become the mobile internet era of smart phones standard. Whether it's hardware or software, the mobile internet era, "cloud" service is the ultimate source of high value for mobile terminals, all kinds of terminals just play the role of "media." In view of this, in the internet giant mobile phone terminals at the same time, the traditional terminal enterprises are constantly expanding software and services to build their own "content cloud."

The fate of being eliminated is inevitable by the advantages of hardware or software alone. Nokia by virtue of high hardware quality of the mobile phone era of supremacy, but in the mobile internet era slow one step, operating system and the ecosystem by Apple, Google and other enterprises to catch up, and finally can only see the territory by the big powers divided but powerless. As Nokia's sales fell sharply, Moody's, the credit-rating firm, slashed its credit rating to junk-grade margins in April 2012.

By contrast, Apple, one step ahead of the cloud system, including iOS, ITunes and App Store, is still exerting its "soft business" to challenge Google head-on. In 2009, Apple spent 300 million dollars acquiring Quattro Wireless, which specializes in providing accurate advertising to mobile phone users, into mobile advertising and developed its own location monitoring system. In the May 2011, Apple launched a "cloud service" ICloud connecting various terminals. In Mr Jobs's view, the "cloud" is the real personal center of the mobile-interconnected era of multiple terminals. Whether it's a home TV, ipod, IPhone, ipad, or MacBook, it can be connected through icloud, creating a multiple terminal receiver for the user, a personal center around the cloud.

Apple Bead Jade Before, many traditional terminal manufacturers also followed. Samsung launched a cloud service called S-cloud in March 2012, with products such as handsets, tablets, laptops, cameras and televisions that can be interoperable and compatible under a unified cloud service standard. 2011, Huawei launched the cloud service platform and the first cloud phone vision (vision). In an effort to speed up the software sector, Huawei has also worked with the Mango network to launch the app "power state". Huawei Terminal President Wan Yu even told the media before, Huawei will bid farewell to the identity of pure hardware manufacturers, formally become a hard software and cloud services platform for the "internet company."

However, for Huawei's Android Android system, the current cloud system is just a framework for creating content that is as rich as Apple, depending on the sales of its terminals. Their current strategy is to bind consumers through highly configurable, high-performance and Low-cost terminals, and then to attract other eco-system participants to develop applications that will help them expand cloud pools.

In addition, Samsung, Huawei and other terminal giants not only the mobile phone and tablet computers have also entered the home terminal area, through the television, personal computers and other terminals of interconnection, and "cloud" integration, thus providing comprehensive services to improve user stickiness. In the future, the cloud integration in the home Terminal field will become a trend. Whether from the "End" to "cloud" expansion, or from the "cloud" to the "end" extended to provide a better customer experience is the survival of the market participants.