解析中國大陸山寨手機廠商的商業模式

Abstract

When a technology-driven industry becomes a consumer product market where technology is no longer a barrier to keep potential competitors away, how should the existing players react and how could new comers enter the market? At the end of year 2007, the Chinese government evokes the license policy for mobile phone manufactures. Prior to that, Taiwanese IC design house, MediaTek offers a ‘Turn-key’ solution which greatly reduces the technical efforts required in designing a mobile phone. This induces many previous OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) firms and distributors of leading mobile phone brands to join mobile phone production. These developers collaboratively provide so-called ‘ShanzhaiGi’ (shanzhai mobile phone) to the local market in China and they enjoy much higher growth in terms of market share than those leading brands. This study defines Shanzhai mobile phone as an indigenous innovation product supported by a group of value chain suppliers who provide good-enough products by charging reasonable prices in a rapid time frame to fulfill the needs of target customers. Through examining the business model of Shanzhai mobile phone firms, we find that the value created by Shanzhai mobile phone firms is to provide products in the benefits of countryside people for everyone to get connected. Moreover, ShanzhaiGi offers more features than premium international brands to fulfill the market demand of the mass. Shanzhai mobile phone firms capture the values, sales revenues, and market shares through cost control by utilizing Shanzhai’s value chain suppliers and innovative channel management. While contrasting the business model of Tianyu (the King of Shanzhai) with the other market leaders (Nokia and Samsung), we find that the market leaders have a relatively more developed business model than Tianyu. Therefore, we suggest that Tianyu should further its enhancement in market segment, value chain relationship, and competitive strategy.