A Dialogue Between Internet Titans: A Collision of Daring Words and Actions.
Yu Chengdong, Executive Director of Huawei, Chairman of the Terminal BG, and Chairman of the Intelligent Automotive Solutions BU, had a conversation with Dong Yuhui, Senior Partner of Dongfang Zhenxuan and the person in charge of Yuhui Tongxing.
Regarding "Transfer of the World," "Chip Dilemma," and "Criticism by Ren Zhengfei," Yu Chengdong responded to the recent hot topics about Huawei that the outside world is concerned about in this live broadcast, and he rarely talked about his personal character and growth experience.
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Cars: Painful but Necessary Action to Transfer 2.5 Billion for "Ask the World"
In the live broadcast, Yu Chengdong talked about the reason for the transfer of trademarks such as "Ask the World." At the beginning of this month, Seres announced that it would acquire a series of trademarks and patents held by Huawei, such as "Ask the World," with a total purchase price of 2.5 billion yuan. Yu Chengdong said that this transfer was required by national regulations, and the brand owner and the manufacturer must be unified, so Huawei transferred "Ask the World," "Intelligent World," "Enjoy the World," and "Respect the World," all four "Worlds" to the car factory.
The brand value is at least worth tens of billions of yuan. Although the transfer price is only 2.5 billion yuan, Yu Chengdong emphasized that Huawei's investment in the "Ask the World" brand is very large, and the brand value is at least more than ten billion yuan. He mentioned: "We have invested a lot in the past for 'Ask the World,' and this brand is at least worth more than ten billion yuan." Moreover, even the name AITO has been transferred, and it is very difficult to register a brand starting with the four letters of AI globally, which is a very good name." Yu Chengdong also revealed that the fourth "World" brand that Huawei cooperated with JAC Motors is "Respect the World," not the previously rumored "Proud World."
Behind the poor sales of the Intelligent World S7. Yu Chengdong also mentioned the Intelligent World S7 in cooperation with Chery. He admitted that although the Intelligent World S7 is a good car, it is not selling well at present. The reason is that there is a significant gap in Huawei's marketing capabilities, and the Intelligent World brand has not yet been established.
Responding to external doubts about Huawei's intelligent driving technology. Yu Chengdong said that although there are criticisms, Tesla is also very excellent, but from a comprehensive ability perspective, Huawei still deserves the four words "far ahead" in the field of intelligent driving. This confidence comes from Huawei's investment in technology research and development and the grasp of the correct direction.Mobile Phones: Strong Support from Domestic Chips, Major Breakthroughs in New Screens and Devices
Yu Chengdong recalls that Huawei was once the number one in the global smartphone market, with shipments as high as over 20 million units even in the worst months. However, due to sanctions, it fell to the bottom within two quarters, with an annual shipment volume of only over 20 million units, less than the volume of a single month in the past. "As a global leader in 5G, we don't even have 5G, and our lives are very difficult and low. But I have always encouraged the team not to be discouraged."
But Huawei has made up for the shortcomings in chips. Yu Chengdong said: "Now when you disassemble a Huawei mobile phone, it is all domestic chips, made in China, rather than an integrator of Western chips."
He said that the domestic semiconductor process is not as advanced as overseas, but Huawei can improve the overall performance experience through software to compensate for the hardware, and the biggest advantage is that it is self-controlled in many areas, and will not be held back by others in the future.
According to Yu Chengdong, Huawei's next-generation folding screen has been in development for 5 years and is about to be released. "The next generation of folding screens, others can think of it, but they can't do it. We have been thinking about it for five years, and it may finally be coming out soon."
Information on the Internet shows that Huawei's first triple-folding screen mobile phone will adopt an innovative Z-shaped folding structure, with a camera on the outside of one screen, and the other two screens are designed with bumps and depressions, which may be used for screen locking. In addition, the triple-folding screen mobile phone will adopt a unique combination of internal and external folding design, equipped with a dual hinge system, and the screen is expected to reach a size of about 10 inches after unfolding.
Yu Chengdong believes that the reason why Huawei can come to this point is largely due to the founder Ren Zhengfei's adherence to the most basic spirit, such as self-criticism. He revealed that he is often criticized by Ren Zhengfei, "Although there are some misunderstandings, there are also some shortcomings in his own work. (Criticism) indicates that there are requirements for you, hoping to do better, and there are many places where I and the team are not enough."
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Satellite communication and folding screens are breakthroughs made by Huawei, and other manufacturers are only learning and copying.In the field of folding screens, domestic manufacturers in China previously hadn't even managed to master OLED screens, only able to produce samples. Only two suppliers from South Korea, Samsung and LG, were capable of providing them. In the past few years, Huawei, along with Chinese manufacturers, solved the issues of mass production and reliability, enabling the widespread use of these screens on mobile phones today.
Ensuring product quality is very important. In the past, the failure rate of mobile phone business might have been an order of magnitude higher than that of a certain American company. However, in recent years, Huawei has done a lot of work to reduce the failure rate, and now it is an order of magnitude lower than that of foreign companies.
Huawei's mobile phones are the first in the industry to support Beidou satellite messages and Tiantong satellite phones. In the past, satellite phone antennas were very large, and mobile phones did not have visible antennas. Huawei is the first in the world to achieve this breakthrough. Yu Chengdong said with a smile, "At the time of the release, many people said it was a scam, and it was impossible to achieve." Today, some other domestic manufacturers have also started to support satellite phones, and they are using Huawei's solutions to break through. Huawei, as a pioneer, has solved the problem from 0 to 1, while other manufacturers are merely copying the technology.
Yu Chengdong is reserved, but he is "hard-controlled" by technology.
Yu Chengdong said that he is a technical person and a typical science and engineering man. If it weren't for work needs, he doesn't like to hold product launches every day, speaking English with an Anhui accent. "I am a very quiet person, can you imagine? At teacher and classmate gatherings, the quietest person at the table is me, and I have returned to my comfortable state in the past. But there is no way to do this job, and I must speak because we do ToC and hold product launches every day, which are not what I like, and English is also the most difficult for me to learn."
Yu Chengdong said with a smile, "31 years ago, if it weren't for a chance to join Huawei, I think I would have become the chief engineer in the field of aerospace in China." Dong Yuhui's evaluation of Yu Chengdong is: "Once you mention technology, you speak eloquently, and your thinking is extremely active."
Yu Chengdong said that the corporate culture is like this, "Mr. Ren has educated us to strive. In the past, Huawei had a 'mattress culture', working overtime in the office at night, and sometimes not going back. More than 30 years ago, when I was working on the first generation of programmable exchanges, there was my bed behind the office. I have been in Huawei for 31 years, and in fact, except for weekends, I have three meals a day in the company, which is the spirit of a fighter."
If you slow down a bit, you will be eliminated by others. The previous era was the era of big fish eating small fish, and today's era is the era of fast fish eating slow fish. You must run faster than your opponents.
A technology can go to commercial scale, there may be a long way to go. For example, in the past, Huawei designed the NPU inside the mobile phone chip. When Huawei did this, people thought it was still in the introduction period. However, after the emergence of ChatGPT, it was found that this method could bring about a major breakthrough.
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