中国深圳——中国企业正在努力改变充当ODM、为品牌产品设计厂商代工生产的角色，这将为中国电子产业的发展谱写新的篇章，但前提是他们能成功实现这种跨越。
在以全球工厂著称的深圳，已然可以看到这种转型的苗头。
传统设计公司与白牌企业都是根据客户提供的规格来设计产品，现在则有越来越多的这类企业尝试在自己的新款智能电话与平板电脑产品上采用新的“品牌”策略。
虽然并不容易取得成功(这些行动很可能几个月后就会销声匿迹) ，但其中许多产品具有顽强的生命力，可能换个品牌再度露面。
小米是本地非常成功的一个智能手机品牌，可能属于特例。它的创始人雷军是中国互联网产业的早期重要投资者。小米向人们展示了中国的一个无名品牌，如何凭借互联网和一位卓越领导人快速成为顶级品牌，像苹果那样引人瞩目。小米主要利用互联网进行品牌营销。
小米的成功引起了中兴通讯与华为等中国电信设备巨头的注意。以前，这两大巨头一直是企业对企业市场中的主要手机厂商，罕有对手。
下面说说努比亚(Nubia)，这是中兴通讯一年前创立的一个子品牌。
中兴持有90%的努比亚股份。Nubia这个品牌在西方仍然没有什么名气。但Nubia品牌的智能手机预计今年下半年进入美国市场。
3月27日努比亚总经理倪飞在深圳总部接受了《EE Times》的专访。这是一名年轻人，身材很高，态度友好。他身穿Adidas运动服走进会议室，快乐而自信。从所有方面来看，倪飞都与中兴这样的大型中国电信企业的高管截然不同。
努比亚总经理倪飞
TJKesmc
倪飞今年37岁，在中国已小有名气。Nubia的Z5是该公司的首款智能手机，似乎是专门为倪飞这样的人设计的。据说，Nubia的“目标客户”是城市中的“高富帅”，热衷于充当时尚的首创者，看不上不太明智的iPhone或Galaxy买家。
本文授权编译自EE Times，版权所有，谢绝转载
本文下一页：中兴在B-to-B市场的成功
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中兴在B-to-B市场的成功
迄今为止，中兴在手机方面的成功业绩，主要是全球各地的运营商来销售手机。其中有些手机打着中兴的品牌，其余的则打着运营商的品牌。今年稍早的时候，市场调研公司Gartner根据2012年全球手机销量把中兴列为全球第四大手机厂商，位居三星、诺基亚和苹果之后。
中兴通讯是2012年全球第四大手机厂商
TJKesmc
本文授权编译自EE Times，版权所有，谢绝转载
本文下一页：为什么现在推出Nubia手机？
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为什么现在推出Nubia手机？
倪飞在回答为什么中兴现在推出Nubia手机时，给出了两个理由。
首先，社交媒体在消费者中迅速普及，正在把智能手机变成那些自诩为潮流开创者的必备产品。
中兴通讯2005年首次尝试通过自己的中兴品牌进入B-to-B市场，铩羽而归。但倪飞解释道，“现在的形势完全不同了。”他说，像中兴Z5这样非常重视社交媒体和拍摄的智能手机，将产生很大反响。
其次，是小米因素促使中兴推出Nubia
倪飞表示，小米凭空出世，“只用两年就成为知名品牌。”尽管中兴认为运营商市场缺乏活力，而且比较有限，但该公司难以承受新来者夺走市场份额的后果。小米以前没有涉足过运营商市场，现在则声称要进入B-to-B市场。“那是我们的地盘，”倪飞表示，“我们必须打入他们的地盘，即b-to-c市场。”
TJKesmc
本文授权编译自EE Times，版权所有，谢绝转载
本文下一页：为何如此强调社交媒体？
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Nubia Z5定价是3456元(约合550美元)，属于高端智能手机，具备一些时髦的功能特点。但有几个特色让Nubia感到自豪。一个内置了针对大量使用社交媒体的用户的软件。另一个特色是硬件设计可以让用户拍摄质量更高的照片。
至于Nubia为何如此强调社交媒体，倪飞表示：“社交媒体非常流行，是因为每个人都想得到他人的赏识。”他补充道，这实际上是人的天性，“对于许多这类用户来说，通过照片来得到赏识可能比言语更加容易。”
Z5是一款5英寸1080p安卓手机，采用高通1.5GHz四核Snapdragon应用处理器，以及1300像素的F2.2光圈主摄像头。它采用柯尼卡-美能达五片光学镜片组合，在手机上可以实现触摸对焦与触摸测光分离，并配备了一个200万像素的前置摄像头。据Nubia介绍，这款智能手机拍照功能的“专业模式”，非常适合想通过在社交媒体上面贴一张精美照片而出名的消费者。
TJKesmc
本文授权编译自EE Times，版权所有，谢绝转载
本文下一页：全球发售的时候，也将支持LTE
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Z5支持 WiFi Display和MHL输出，可以把内容投射到更大的屏幕上面。
首次持有Z5智能手机的人会注意到它很轻。其厚度只有7.6毫米，是最薄的五英寸手机之一，包括2300mAh电池在内的重量只有126克。屏幕边框只有2.67毫米。
Z5通过使用激光直接成型技术，把主天线和WiFi/GPS、NFC等各类天线都做到了手机后盖上面。
Z5中国版整合了高通的modem ，支持CDMA2000 (800MHz，中国电信)和WCDMA (2100MHz，中国联通)。当Nubia最终在全球发售的时候，也将支持LTE。
中间的是Nubia Z5TJKesmc
本文授权编译自EE Times，版权所有，谢绝转载
本文下一页：Nubia将进入美国与俄罗斯市场
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Nubia将进入美国与俄罗斯市场
Nubia推出第一年的计划(2013年)将专心在中国打造强大的Nubia品牌。“我们想尽量增强它的吸引力，”倪飞表示，“中国是一个困难的市场。但如果我们能够在中国获胜，就能在世界上的任何地方获胜。”
今年稍晚的时候，该公司将利用运营商关系试水美国市场，并通过以渠道为基础的策略尝试俄罗斯市场。在俄罗斯市场，渠道的影响比运营商大。
Nubia由一群年轻的中兴工程师创建，他们渴望按照自己的梦想打造一款手机，而不是只能根据运营商给出的规格来设计。“开始的时候大约有10个人。我们日夜工作，”倪飞表示，“我们想设计出一款令人称奇的手机，别人看到会说‘让我试一下’。”
Nubia总经理展示一种基于“群众外包”的壁纸应用，强调软件是关键TJKesmc
据倪飞介绍，现在Nubia的工程团队已有300至400名员工，80%专注于软件开发，其余的从事硬件工作。
本文授权编译自EE Times，版权所有，谢绝转载
本文下一页：Nubia-中兴协同？
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Nubia-中兴协同？
据倪飞介绍，由于Nubia手机与中兴手机(面向运营商)都基于安卓平台，所以二者共用相当数量的工程资源。他表示，实际上，中兴手机部门积累的经验、技术与知识，对Nubia帮助极大，这体现在与供应链、第三方应用开发者及高通等关键器件供应商的合作关系上面。倪飞在创立Nubia之前，在中兴手机部门工作了七年。
他说，Nubia与中兴之间的关系，对于缩短Nubia产品的上市时间以及确保关键元件的稳定供应非常重要，比如索尼的CMOS图像传感器与夏普的全高清液晶屏。
在回答Z5的后继产品是什么时，倪飞表示，Nubia尚未确定屏幕尺寸，但有意通过使用MEMS来增加手势控制等新的用户界面。他说，通过软件开发可以增加许多新的功能特点，“关键是我们必须隐藏技术复杂性。”
据说倪飞在新浪微博上面有100万追随者。他承认，不经常更新微博内容。小米与华为高管在微博上面关于智能手机的一系列热烈争论，最近引起大家关注。
一名要求匿名的业内人士表示，这可能解释倪飞为什么最近很少上微博。倪飞大力提倡社交媒体，他说：“你可以使用微博获得信息，但不能控制它。”
本文授权编译自EE Times，版权所有，谢绝转载
参考英文原文：Exclusive: China rising with branded products strategy, by Junko Yoshida
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Exclusive: China rising with branded products strategy
Junko Yoshida
Chinese companies seeking to upgrade from ODMs making non-branded boxes to designers of branded products will write next chapter in story of China’s electronics industry.
SHENZHEN, China – Chinese companies who are seeking to upgrade from ODMs manufacturing non-branded boxes to designers of branded products will write the next chapter in the story of China’s electronics industry — but only if they can make the leap.
The buds of such transformations are visible everywhere here, in a city that has come to be known as the factory of the world.
A growing number of traditional design houses and white box vendors –who design products according to customer specs – are now trying, on the side, a new “branded” strategy for their new smartphones and tablets.
While success is hard to come by (these initiatives could easily disappear in a matter of months), many are resilient enough to re-emerge again under different brands.
Xiaomi, a wildly successful smartphone brand here, may be an exception to the rule. Started by Lei Jun, a key investor in the early Internet scene in China, Xiaomi demonstrates how a no-name brand in China can quickly rise to one of the top brands – a la Apple –through the heavy use of the Internet, focused brand marketing and a charismatic leader.
Xiaomi’s success hasn’t escaped the notice of China’s telecom equipment behemoths like ZTE and Huawei, who had been content as handset leaders on the business-to-business market.
Next, enter Nubia, a sub-brand created by ZTE just a year ago.
Ninety percent owned by ZTE, Nubia is a brand still virtually unknown in the West. But Nubia-branded smartphones are expected to find their way into the U.S. market later this year.
For an exclusive interview with EE Times at its headquarters here on Tuesday (March 27), a young, tall, friendly Ni Fei, CEO of Nubia entered a conference room, suited up in Adidas gym gear, with a spring in his step. Fei is in every sense the polar opposite to the senior executive you’d expect to meet at a stodgy Chinese telecommunication company like ZTE.
Ni Fei, CEO of Nubia
Something of a celebrity in China, Fei is 37 years old. Nubia’s Z5, the company’s first smartphone, seems to have been designed exactly for someone like Fei. Nubia’s “target audience” is said to be young, rich, tall, urban, its individuals craving recognition as taste-makers and disdainful of the less hip buyers of iPhones or Galaxy handsets.
ZTE's success in B-to-B market
ZTE, thus far, has succeeded with handsets mainly by selling through operators around the world. Some of those phones are branded as ZTE, while others sport the operators’ brands. Earlier this year, the market research firm Gartner pegged ZTE as the world’s fourth largest handset vendor, after Samsung, Nokia and Apple, based on handsets sold worldwide in 2012.
ZTE is the fourth largest handset vendor in the world in 2012
Why Nubia now?
Asked why ZTE is launching Nubia now, Fei pointed out two reasons.
First, rapid proliferation of social media among consumers is turning the smartphone into a must-have device for who fancies himself a trendsetter.
ZTE’s first attempt, in 2005, to move into the business-to-consumer market — through its own ZTE brand — went nowhere. But “the situation today is dramatically different,” Fei explained. A smartphone like ZTE’s Z5, with a big emphasis on social media and photography, will have a big impact, he added.
Second, driving ZTE’s Nubia is the Xiomi factor.
Xiomi, coming out of nowhere, “became famous in just two years,” said Fei. Although ZTE sees the operator market as static and somewhat limited, the company can’t afford to lose ground to a newcomer. Xiomi, which has had zero presence in the operator market, is now talking about moving into the b-to-b market, “which is our own backyard,” said Fei. “We need to move into their backyard, namely, the b-to-c market.”
Nubia’s Z5, priced at 3,456 yuan (roughly $550), is a high-end smartphone loaded with bells and whistles. But Nubia takes a pride in a few unique features. One is built-in software geared toward heavy social media users. Another is hardware designed for consumers hoping to take better pictures with their smartphones.
Asked why Nubia is so focused on social media, Fei said, “Social media is popular because everyone wants to get recognized by others.” In essence, it’s human nature. He added, “And for many of those users, getting recognized for their photos may come easier than their words.”
Z5 is a five-inch 1080p Android phone featuring Qualcomm's 1.5GHz quad-core Snapdragon apps processor, along with a 13-megapixel F2.2 main camera. It features five-element optics by Konica Minolta, in addition to separate touch focus and touch exposure in the app, and a two-megapixel front-facing camera. The “professional mode” of the smartphone camera function is perfect for those who think they’ll become famous if they post a great-looking photo on social media, according to Nubia.
The Z5 supports WiFi Display and MHL output, making it possible to beam content to a larger screen.
Anyone who holds the Z5 smartphone for the first time will notice how lightweight it is. Only 7.6mm thick – one of the thinnest among five-inch phones, the handset weighs only 126g -- including a 2,300mAh battery. The screen comes with a bezel only 2.67mm thick.
Nubia's Z5 in the middle
Z5, through the use of laser-direct structuring, has all the antennas – ranging from primary antenna, to WiFi/GPS, NFC and diversity antennas -- on the back cover of the handset.
Integrated with Qualcomm's modem module, the Chinese edition of the Z5 supports both CDMA2000 (800MHz, for China Telecom) and WCDMA (2100MHz, for China Unicom); and when Nubia eventually launches it worldwide, it will be capable of supporting LTE as well.
Nubia goes to the U.S. and Russia
Nubia’s first-year plan [2013] is dedicated to building a strong Nubia brand in China. “We want to make it as attractive as possible,” said Fei. “China is a tough market. But if we can win China, we can win anywhere in the world.”
Later this year, the company will test the waters both in the U.S. by leveraging its operator connections, and in Russia by pursuing a strategy based on channels — which in Russia are more powerful than operators.
Nubia was born from a small team of young engineers at ZTE who wanted a phone based on their own dreams – instead of just following operator specs. “There were about 10 of us in the beginning. We worked day and night,” said Fei. “We wanted to design a phone that would make people curious and say, ‘let me try it.’”
Nubia CEO, stressing that software is the key, shows off a wallpaper app based on 'crowd sourcing'
·
Today, Nubia’s engineering team has between 300 and 400 employees. Eighty percent are focused on software development, the rest on hardware, according to Fei.
Nubia-ZTE synergy?
Because Nubia phones and ZTE phones [for operators] are based on the Android platform, there is a fair amount of shared engineering resources between the two, according to Fei. In fact, the experience, expertise and knowledge accumulated at ZTE’s handset division -- where Fei spent seven years before heading up the Nubia group -- is giving Nubia a leg up, explained Fei, in terms of partnering with the supply chain, third-party app developers and key device vendors like Qualcomm.
Nubia’s ZTE connection turns out to be also critical in shortening the time to market for Nubia’s products and ensuring a steady supply for key components such as Sony’s CMOS image sensors and Sharp’s full-HD resolution LCD screen, he added.
Asked what’s next after Z5, Fei said Nubia hasn’t decided on screen size yet but it is interested in adding a new user interface like gesture controls, by using MEMS. A lot of new features will come from the development of software, he added. “The key is that we must hide technical complexity.”
Fei, who is said to have a million followers on Sina Weibo (China’s twitter), acknowledged that he has slacked off on his Weibo blog posts. A series of heated public arguments on Weibo — between executives at Xiomi and rival Huawei about their smartphones — is getting just about everyone’s attention here these days.
That might explain Fei’s less frequent blogs lately, said an industry source who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Fei, a great advocate of social media, said, “You can use Weibo to get your messages out, but you can’t control it.”
责编：Quentin
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