In the field of domestic smart homes, the outline of the two camps headed by Xiaomi and Haier began to become clear.
On January 20th, home appliance giant Haier and mobile phone maker Meizu jointly announced that Haier U+ (ie U-Home) platform and Meizu formed a united front in the smart home, and Meizu joined the U+ industry alliance. This is also the order of the second mobile phone and integrated household electrical appliance enterprise.
The two camps are staking their positions and establishing and improving their own ecosystem. However, many companies interested in joining the smart home ecosystem have been caught in a dilemma.
Two camps emerge
According to information released by Haier and Meizu, Haier will open a U+ platform software tool kit to Meizu, and Meizu will develop a built-in application based on the Meizu mobile phone system, providing system-level permissions beyond the APP to Haier, making the Meizu smartphone Control the smart devices on the U+ platform without installing an APP.
At the same time, Haier will also provide related financial services support for Meizu dealers through an online supply chain financial platform. Meizu dealers can only pick up the goods with a pre-payment deposit. In addition, Meizu will also cooperate with Haier’s Sunshun Logistics, and both parties will jointly build a warehouse logistics center.
The U+ platform established by Haier aims to develop an open-brand cross-brand smart home platform similar to Android. On the U+ platform, mutual recognition between brands and categories can be realized. According to public information, there are currently about 40 third-party manufacturers on the platform, and about 50 products are involved. But before Meizu joined, there was a lack of influential third-party smartphone manufacturers on this platform.
"Haier's alliance with Meizu means that following the alliance between Xiaomi and Midea, another domestic smart home camp has basically taken shape," said a person with a long-term focus on smart home development to the China Business Daily.
In his view, in essence, smart homes are actually integrating some smart devices with Internet capabilities into one platform for unified management. Smartphones are currently regarded as an important entry point for the overall management rights of smart homes, and home appliances, which have many categories and occupy an important position in family life, are currently the most likely smart devices to be imported. Therefore, the combination of comprehensive household appliance companies and smart phone companies has important implications for the development of smart homes.
In mid-December 2014, Xiaomi invested RMB 1.266 billion in the strategy to invest in Midea, setting a precedent for “smartphones + integrated appliances†in the field of domestic smart homes. Moreover, unlike Xiaomi’s practice of investing in capital in the ecological chain, this time it is directly the main body of Xiaomei Technology’s equity participation in the United States, which means Xiaomi’s emphasis on cooperation with the United States.
According to the reporter's understanding, although the cooperation between the United States and Xiaomi has only been for more than a month, the cooperation process has been unusually rapid. According to sources inside the United States, smart air-conditioner products cooperating with Xiaomi are expected to land in one or two months. Moreover, smart home air conditioners are only part of smart air solutions. Others include humidifiers and air stewards. In addition, refrigerators, washing machines, etc. are also expected to cooperate with Xiaomi.
“It seems that the two camps led by Xiaomi and Haier have already seized the opportunity in this round of smart home crazes.†The aforementioned sources said that although Jingdong’s Jingdong+, Baidu’s ihome, etc. have also been doing smart home platform However, considering comprehensive consideration of product structure, brand influence and scale, it is difficult for domestic companies to compete with Haier and Midea for comprehensive household electrical appliance enterprises. Resource decentralization will increase the difficulty of integration.
Ecological competition
On January 18, at the GeForce Park GIF Innovation Conference, Xiaomi co-founder Lin Bin released a smart home package that includes a multi-function gateway, human sensors, door and window sensors, and wireless switches, and said it will enter soon. Public beta. Through the combination of patch-type sensors and intelligent gateways, the smart suite has realized the intelligent transformation of the convenience of traditional homes.
However, in this regard, Xiaomi still fell behind Haier. As early as November 2014, Haier released the SmartCare smart home package consisting of intelligent gateways, door and window magnetic sensors, smart sockets, flood sensors, and multi-sensor devices. Moreover, this package is hatched on Haier's U+ platform. It is also hatched by the U+ platform. There is also a Smart Home Appliances "Ricardo" smart oven.
The hatching function is a major focus of the smart home platform competition. In contrast, the millet platform's hatching function seems to be even better. In October 2014, Xiaomi released a smart 4-piece set including the Xiaomi Smart Control Center, the small ant smart camera, the millet smart socket, and the millet smart bulb. The smart home package released this time is exactly the green rice technology from Xiaomi's ecological chain company.
Xiaomi's ecological chain strategy, in addition to reflecting the incubation function of the millet platform, but also reflects the financing function of the millet platform. Through Xiaomi itself and affiliated companies such as Shunwei Capital, Lei Jun and Xiaomi invested in many smart home ecosystem companies including Midea, Green Rice, and Purple Rice. In this regard, Haier is not far behind. Not long ago, Haier Home Appliances announced a strategic cooperation with Evergrande Group, and it has harvested Evergrande's strategic investment of 30 billion yuan in one breath. Moreover, Haier Financial can be seen in both Evergrande and Meizu, and Haier Financial is becoming Haier's weapon to build a smart home ecosystem.
In the home improvement business, which is an important entrance for smart homes, Xiaomi and Haier have all come up with surprises.
Lei Jun’s Shun Wei Capital led a $60 million injection of “Love Spaceâ€. "699 yuan / square meter ultra-low-cost" "a dollar design fee" "20 days to complete" "mobile phone supervision" "construction staff maintenance," known as "home of millet" "love the space" as soon as admission, they show The gameplay completely different from traditional home decoration immediately caused a loss in the home improvement industry.
However, Haier's layout in the field of decoration earlier than millet. Haier's online decoration platform has a live network, as early as September 2014 has been established, in addition to home improvement, but also for Vanke, Evergrande, Long Lake and other major domestic real estate developers to provide renovation solutions. According to the briefing, there is a live network for only three months. In the first period, there are 3,000 apartment home improvement business appointments. At present, 600 sets have been completed. Moreover, the decoration prices of these houses are lower than “Love Spaceâ€. For 599 yuan / square meter.
Open and Closed Dispute
Lao Lai was a bit tangled recently. His company developed a smart lock and saw millet's actions in the smart home continue to find a door to see if they can cooperate. It was almost impossible to find out in a chat. “Millet’s responsible person also appreciates our smart locks. It is a good thing to identify them, but they cannot enter their ecosystem.†Lao Lai told reporters that the core issue lies in positioning.
The market price of Lao Lai's smart lock is more than 1,000 yuan. In his view, it is the price of high-end mechanical locks. But in millet's system, this price is unacceptable. Millet smart home positioning based on their user base, and Xiaomi's user base is also accumulated through the millet phone, that is, what the outside world said.
According to Lao Lai, one of the problems with this positioning is that the resulting low value-added and low-end brand image has made many traditional household companies that are longer than their products unwilling to start intelligent connection with them. “It is said that it is an overt subversion for the layman, but the product must really solve the user's pain point, and it does not accumulate or can't do it. By patch-type sensors, only accidental alarms can be achieved, and a real sense of smart locks should be made. It must start with the lock itself."
According to Li Nan, vice president of Meizu, the biggest difference between Haier U+ platform and Xiaomi is the openness of the ecosystem, not the closed alliance. Haier has always emphasized the openness of the U+ platform. Through the open interface protocol, various categories of smart devices and service content are integrated into the platform to realize mutual recognition of brands and categories. In contrast, Xiaomi's smart home ecosystem is achieved through its own ecological chain development and is relatively closed.
On the basis of openness, as a result of diversified choices, the positioning of users will be much broader and more flexible. Users who value prices can choose low-end products, while those who pursue quality can choose high-end products. However, the problem that this brings is that the user base is not clear, and the difficulty in diverting related products and services through the platform is also much greater.
In fact, the problem of user import is the biggest disadvantage of Haier U+ platform relative to millet. In early January, Lei Jun announced that Xiaomi's mobile phone sales in 2014 amounted to 61.12 million. In addition, there are some other brands of Android users to brush millet's MIUI system, public data show that MIUI in May 2014 the number of global active users has exceeded 50 million. Users of Haier’s traditional home appliances have not been able to import too many users for the U+ platform because of lack of interaction. Meizu announced that its mobile phone sales exceeded one million units in December 2014. This estimated that the total number of users in 2014 was less than 12 million. It's a far cry from Xiaomi. It can be seen that Meizu's users of U+ platform are not very optimistic.
"I am also considering whether it is to join Haier's system to try their luck, or to make a low-end brand to enter the ecological circle of Xiaomi. Or, how many legs to walk? We haven't thought about it yet." Lao Lai said.
On January 20th, home appliance giant Haier and mobile phone maker Meizu jointly announced that Haier U+ (ie U-Home) platform and Meizu formed a united front in the smart home, and Meizu joined the U+ industry alliance. This is also the order of the second mobile phone and integrated household electrical appliance enterprise.
The two camps are staking their positions and establishing and improving their own ecosystem. However, many companies interested in joining the smart home ecosystem have been caught in a dilemma.
According to information released by Haier and Meizu, Haier will open a U+ platform software tool kit to Meizu, and Meizu will develop a built-in application based on the Meizu mobile phone system, providing system-level permissions beyond the APP to Haier, making the Meizu smartphone Control the smart devices on the U+ platform without installing an APP.
At the same time, Haier will also provide related financial services support for Meizu dealers through an online supply chain financial platform. Meizu dealers can only pick up the goods with a pre-payment deposit. In addition, Meizu will also cooperate with Haier’s Sunshun Logistics, and both parties will jointly build a warehouse logistics center.
The U+ platform established by Haier aims to develop an open-brand cross-brand smart home platform similar to Android. On the U+ platform, mutual recognition between brands and categories can be realized. According to public information, there are currently about 40 third-party manufacturers on the platform, and about 50 products are involved. But before Meizu joined, there was a lack of influential third-party smartphone manufacturers on this platform.
"Haier's alliance with Meizu means that following the alliance between Xiaomi and Midea, another domestic smart home camp has basically taken shape," said a person with a long-term focus on smart home development to the China Business Daily.
In his view, in essence, smart homes are actually integrating some smart devices with Internet capabilities into one platform for unified management. Smartphones are currently regarded as an important entry point for the overall management rights of smart homes, and home appliances, which have many categories and occupy an important position in family life, are currently the most likely smart devices to be imported. Therefore, the combination of comprehensive household appliance companies and smart phone companies has important implications for the development of smart homes.
In mid-December 2014, Xiaomi invested RMB 1.266 billion in the strategy to invest in Midea, setting a precedent for “smartphones + integrated appliances†in the field of domestic smart homes. Moreover, unlike Xiaomi’s practice of investing in capital in the ecological chain, this time it is directly the main body of Xiaomei Technology’s equity participation in the United States, which means Xiaomi’s emphasis on cooperation with the United States.
According to the reporter's understanding, although the cooperation between the United States and Xiaomi has only been for more than a month, the cooperation process has been unusually rapid. According to sources inside the United States, smart air-conditioner products cooperating with Xiaomi are expected to land in one or two months. Moreover, smart home air conditioners are only part of smart air solutions. Others include humidifiers and air stewards. In addition, refrigerators, washing machines, etc. are also expected to cooperate with Xiaomi.
“It seems that the two camps led by Xiaomi and Haier have already seized the opportunity in this round of smart home crazes.†The aforementioned sources said that although Jingdong’s Jingdong+, Baidu’s ihome, etc. have also been doing smart home platform However, considering comprehensive consideration of product structure, brand influence and scale, it is difficult for domestic companies to compete with Haier and Midea for comprehensive household electrical appliance enterprises. Resource decentralization will increase the difficulty of integration.
Ecological competition
On January 18, at the GeForce Park GIF Innovation Conference, Xiaomi co-founder Lin Bin released a smart home package that includes a multi-function gateway, human sensors, door and window sensors, and wireless switches, and said it will enter soon. Public beta. Through the combination of patch-type sensors and intelligent gateways, the smart suite has realized the intelligent transformation of the convenience of traditional homes.
However, in this regard, Xiaomi still fell behind Haier. As early as November 2014, Haier released the SmartCare smart home package consisting of intelligent gateways, door and window magnetic sensors, smart sockets, flood sensors, and multi-sensor devices. Moreover, this package is hatched on Haier's U+ platform. It is also hatched by the U+ platform. There is also a Smart Home Appliances "Ricardo" smart oven.
The hatching function is a major focus of the smart home platform competition. In contrast, the millet platform's hatching function seems to be even better. In October 2014, Xiaomi released a smart 4-piece set including the Xiaomi Smart Control Center, the small ant smart camera, the millet smart socket, and the millet smart bulb. The smart home package released this time is exactly the green rice technology from Xiaomi's ecological chain company.
Xiaomi's ecological chain strategy, in addition to reflecting the incubation function of the millet platform, but also reflects the financing function of the millet platform. Through Xiaomi itself and affiliated companies such as Shunwei Capital, Lei Jun and Xiaomi invested in many smart home ecosystem companies including Midea, Green Rice, and Purple Rice. In this regard, Haier is not far behind. Not long ago, Haier Home Appliances announced a strategic cooperation with Evergrande Group, and it has harvested Evergrande's strategic investment of 30 billion yuan in one breath. Moreover, Haier Financial can be seen in both Evergrande and Meizu, and Haier Financial is becoming Haier's weapon to build a smart home ecosystem.
In the home improvement business, which is an important entrance for smart homes, Xiaomi and Haier have all come up with surprises.
Lei Jun’s Shun Wei Capital led a $60 million injection of “Love Spaceâ€. "699 yuan / square meter ultra-low-cost" "a dollar design fee" "20 days to complete" "mobile phone supervision" "construction staff maintenance," known as "home of millet" "love the space" as soon as admission, they show The gameplay completely different from traditional home decoration immediately caused a loss in the home improvement industry.
However, Haier's layout in the field of decoration earlier than millet. Haier's online decoration platform has a live network, as early as September 2014 has been established, in addition to home improvement, but also for Vanke, Evergrande, Long Lake and other major domestic real estate developers to provide renovation solutions. According to the briefing, there is a live network for only three months. In the first period, there are 3,000 apartment home improvement business appointments. At present, 600 sets have been completed. Moreover, the decoration prices of these houses are lower than “Love Spaceâ€. For 599 yuan / square meter.
Open and Closed Dispute
Lao Lai was a bit tangled recently. His company developed a smart lock and saw millet's actions in the smart home continue to find a door to see if they can cooperate. It was almost impossible to find out in a chat. “Millet’s responsible person also appreciates our smart locks. It is a good thing to identify them, but they cannot enter their ecosystem.†Lao Lai told reporters that the core issue lies in positioning.
The market price of Lao Lai's smart lock is more than 1,000 yuan. In his view, it is the price of high-end mechanical locks. But in millet's system, this price is unacceptable. Millet smart home positioning based on their user base, and Xiaomi's user base is also accumulated through the millet phone, that is, what the outside world said.
According to Lao Lai, one of the problems with this positioning is that the resulting low value-added and low-end brand image has made many traditional household companies that are longer than their products unwilling to start intelligent connection with them. “It is said that it is an overt subversion for the layman, but the product must really solve the user's pain point, and it does not accumulate or can't do it. By patch-type sensors, only accidental alarms can be achieved, and a real sense of smart locks should be made. It must start with the lock itself."
According to Li Nan, vice president of Meizu, the biggest difference between Haier U+ platform and Xiaomi is the openness of the ecosystem, not the closed alliance. Haier has always emphasized the openness of the U+ platform. Through the open interface protocol, various categories of smart devices and service content are integrated into the platform to realize mutual recognition of brands and categories. In contrast, Xiaomi's smart home ecosystem is achieved through its own ecological chain development and is relatively closed.
On the basis of openness, as a result of diversified choices, the positioning of users will be much broader and more flexible. Users who value prices can choose low-end products, while those who pursue quality can choose high-end products. However, the problem that this brings is that the user base is not clear, and the difficulty in diverting related products and services through the platform is also much greater.
In fact, the problem of user import is the biggest disadvantage of Haier U+ platform relative to millet. In early January, Lei Jun announced that Xiaomi's mobile phone sales in 2014 amounted to 61.12 million. In addition, there are some other brands of Android users to brush millet's MIUI system, public data show that MIUI in May 2014 the number of global active users has exceeded 50 million. Users of Haier’s traditional home appliances have not been able to import too many users for the U+ platform because of lack of interaction. Meizu announced that its mobile phone sales exceeded one million units in December 2014. This estimated that the total number of users in 2014 was less than 12 million. It's a far cry from Xiaomi. It can be seen that Meizu's users of U+ platform are not very optimistic.
"I am also considering whether it is to join Haier's system to try their luck, or to make a low-end brand to enter the ecological circle of Xiaomi. Or, how many legs to walk? We haven't thought about it yet." Lao Lai said.
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