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Son Zhengyi wrote a letter, saying that he would arrive in Tokyo tomorrow afternoon.

On this day, Zhou Buqi went to the SoftBank operator and met with Yoshino Hitoshi to learn more about the current situation of the Japanese mobile phone market in order to find a breakthrough around Toshiba's mobile phone business.

Accompanied by Hitoshi Yoshino, Zhou Buqi visited three SoftBank operator-operated stores and also observed the process of several users purchasing mobile phones on the spot.

“Why is everyone buying feature phones?”

"Yes, everyone is accustomed to the convenience of feature phones, mainly from brands such as NEC, Sharp, Sony Ericsson, Fujitsu, Toshiba, Sanyo, and Panasonic."

"Are those two young men just now college students?" This was what surprised Zhou Buqi the most. "How come they also bought functional phones?"

Hitoshi Yoshino said: "The functions of smartphones are still lacking."

Zhou Buqi was even more surprised, "There are few functions?"

Yoshino Jin bowed, "Yes, for example, mobile payment. Many young people like the convenience of mobile payment, but smartphones are not yet able to do it."

"Oh, you have i-mode!"

Zhou Buqi suddenly realized.

In the early days of smartphones, many functions had yet to be developed and were still in development. Feature phones are different, especially Japan's feature phone industry. With i-mode, it can be called the world's best 3G wireless network system, with powerful functions and everything you need.

i-mode is a bit like the Apple Store on the iPhone. It has been developed for more than ten years and has various functions.

Tang Binchen also told Zhou Buqi about this.

Ucgram is currently not widely promoted in Japan, mainly UC Beauty, because Ucgram has added a picture social function, the structure is more complex, and it is not easy to adapt to i-mode.

Hitoshi Yoshino: "i-mode is rich in functions and can meet all the needs of mobile phone users. Because this system is too powerful, it is particularly difficult to transform."

Zhou Buqi said: "Well, the ship turned around due to disaster."

Europe and the United States also have similar operator systems, but they are not unified. It is not as good as i-mode, which covers all mobile phone users in Japan. They are all small boats, so it is easy to turn around.

It's easier in China. It's a blank market and you can start painting directly without erasing past paintings.

Zhou Buqi asked again: "Can't smartphones join the i-mode system?"

Yoshino Jin said with a smile: "Yes, at my suggestion, both iPhone and Aster have joined, so these are the two best-selling smartphones. Several mobile phones sold by other operators, including Sony's first mobile phone launched last year This Android phone also suffered a serious failure due to poor compatibility with i-mode."

There is some suspicion of self-promotion, and there is a lot of moisture.

Zhou Buqi nodded and asserted: "i-mode, a platform that revolves around operators, is destined to have no future. Technology is developing so fast, and the hardware conditions of smartphones are getting better and better, and they can adapt to more powerful product functions. , richer gameplay.”

Yoshino Jin bowed slightly, "Last year, the sales share of smartphones was 12.6%. This year it will reach 25%, and it will only be more next year. The general trend is like this."

Zhou Buqi smiled and said, "One more question, are there too many styles of mobile phones you sell?"

"ah?"

Yoshino Jin was slightly stunned, not quite understanding.

Zhou Buqi said: "There are too many categories and it is difficult to choose. It will greatly waste the time of the shopping guides in repeated introductions. At the same time, it will also increase their training time. As far as I know, Japanese aesthetics pursues simplicity."

Yoshino Jin leaned forward and said: "We have been cooperating with these mobile phone manufacturers for many years."

Zhou Buqi said: "I'm not talking about functional phones. The designs of functional phones are colorful and full of personalization. There really need to be more categories. But there is no need for smartphones. Didn't you say that the other day, the homogenization of smartphones? Seriously, they are all copying each other. That’s right. I think there are also smartphones from HTC, Nokia, and LG, but it’s actually unnecessary.”

Yoshino Ren understood what he meant, but couldn't give a response.

This kind of matter is too big and needs to be decided by higher levels.

Zhou Buqi's identity is unusual. He didn't just come to SoftBank's operator business to investigate. He is a director of SoftBank Group.

Such decisions really have to be handed down from the board of directors.

The next day, Son Zhengyi came back.

Such people are accustomed to a continuous working style and are unimaginably energetic, so they don't need jet lag at all. In the evening, I treated Zhou Buqi to a meal in a very quiet Japanese restaurant.

Zhou Buqi got straight to the point, "Aisda is in a little trouble now."

Son Zhengyi said: "Well, I heard that Samsung's Android phones are doing quite well. In the Japanese market, they have a relationship with NTT."

NTT is the largest operator giant in Japan, with a market share of more than 50%. SoftBank is only ranked third, with a market share of less than 20%. Fortunately, SoftBank still holds the exclusive rights to sell the iPhone.

Zhou Buqi said: "Not only Samsung, Apple and Google are increasingly different in the field of operating systems. Apple is becoming more and more dissatisfied with the imitation of Android phones. At the same time, Google also wants to cultivate Samsung to counter Asda's dominance in Android. Excessive market share in the machine market.”

Being accustomed to big business, Son immediately felt the sword and sword behind this.

It’s not easy!

Aisda was beaten!

No wonder he called him back so eagerly.

Just fighting against Samsung is a little less stressful. Now we have to fight against the three technology giants Samsung, Google, and Apple at the same time.

Sun Zhengyi's expression became serious, "Is there any way?"

Zhou Buqi took a sip of sake and was calmer than him. "What we can do is to take it one step at a time. Stabilize Asia's basic market first."

This is his consistent way of doing business.

First have a relatively stable basic market, and then plan for expansion. This is how Ziweixing got started. Now that Aisda has been hit, she has to prepare for the worst.

Masayoshi Son's eyes were complicated, "Astar's basic market is Asia, and Samsung's basic market is also Asia."

Zhou Buqi said with a smile: "Don't worry about our country's market, Samsung won't be a success. In the Korean market... I have also found cooperation with Hyundai."

"modern?"

"Yes, in the next few years, Aster will be OEMed and sold in South Korea under the name Hyundai."

"This is really like your style." Son Zhengyi couldn't laugh or cry, "Yes, in the Korean market, only Hyundai can compete with Samsung."

Zhou Buqi said: "The Southeast Asian market is basically under the influence of Chinese culture, so there is no big problem. Next is the Japanese market. Don't compare with Apple, only compare with Samsung."

Son Zhengyi said solemnly: "Samsung has reached a cooperation with NTT, and Samsung's smartphone sales have increased significantly."

Among the three major operators in Japan, NTT is first with a market share of 53%, KDDI is second with a market share of 25%, and SoftBank is third with a market share of 19%.

Japanese mobile phones are basically contract phones sold by operators. Samsung has a market guarantee due to its relationship with NTT. This is much more powerful than the cooperation between Asda and SoftBank.

Zhou Buqi said: "So we have to find a way to solve this problem."

"any idea?"

“I designed a ‘TT strategy’ for SoftBank’s operator business.”

"TT strategy?"

Son was confused.

Zhou Buqi said: "It is the Two-Top strategy, which means that operators only recommend models from two leading manufacturers to users and provide corresponding subsidies. One is iPhone and the other is Aster."

Son had already heard Yoshino Hitoshi’s report before and didn’t find it strange.

Such a decision makes sense.

In the retail industry all over the world, simplicity is becoming popular. Speaking of which, this is a trend started by Japan.

In the past, stores were filled with a dazzling array of products, with dozens or even hundreds of choices for each category. The most typical representatives were Wal-Mart and Carrefour.

However, Japan has less land and more people, especially Tokyo, which is the most densely populated city in the world, and every inch of land is at a premium.

Many small convenience stores don’t have that much space to store many items.

Just choose carefully.

Only leaving two or three of the best categories can help consumers filter out too many brands that are not of good quality, and can also save consumers from the pain of difficulty in choosing.

This greatly shortens the average shopping time of consumers.

The crowding problem in the store has also been solved, and more customers can be accepted per unit of time. At the same time, it also greatly reduces the inventory and turnover cycle of convenience stores, and also reduces the difficulty of complex supply chain management.

The benefits are many!

Back then, 7-Eleven was an American company. Japanese businessmen thought it was very good after seeing it, so they introduced it to Japan. After decades of development, 7-11 in the United States could no longer survive. The Japanese branch turned around and acquired the American headquarters. 7-11 became a Japanese convenience store chain giant.

As a admirer of Japanese philosophy, the iPhone he launched actually followed this line of thinking. Other mobile phone manufacturers are eager to release more than a dozen new products every year, playing with mobile phone tactics, of various types and styles.

The iPhone is different. There is only one type every year, divided into basic version and Pro version, and at most one Plus version, which does not give consumers too much room for choice.

It not only saves the company's design costs and management costs, but also greatly saves after-sales maintenance costs.

Another example is Tesla. Traditional car companies have a lot of models, but Tesla only has three models in total. Another example is Costco, which also became very successful because of this concept.

Zhou Buqi said: "The principles are actually the same, just like the history of painting art. It starts out very simple, and then slowly becomes complicated. After it reaches the extreme level, it starts to return to simplicity, then starts to be minimalist, and then develops towards complexity. . The current operator system is too complicated. I went to a SoftBank store and saw that there were 70 or 80 mobile phone models on sale. This is too much! It’s time for extremely simplified reforms!"

"A very challenging change."

Sun Zhengyi showed a very cautious attitude. Based on his understanding of the boss Zhou, this layout may not be simple.