Haier computer battles the arena again

●Case Study

A business history often leaves us with more confusion than clarity. In terms of diversification, if not for diversification, today's 3M may still be selling minerals in Minnesota, and Nokia may still be looking for a way out in the forests of Finland. The question is not whether to diversify, but how you do it. On the positive side, one more "yuan" means one more way of life; on the negative side, one more "yuan" means one more pitfall. Throughout the ages, many companies have fallen into this pit.

It is biased to accuse Haier of not doing its job properly. As the "Eagle Spreads Wings" of a certain group in Fujian said: "Haier's diversified management is nothing new in the industry, and its corporate culture also has the demand for diversification."

But the problem is, success The road to diversification requires a comprehensive review of itself. Let's do some tests for Haier.

Can I imitate

When entering a new field, first of all, it depends on whether others can imitate the advantages and resources that you have. To this end, there are three points to consider. 1. The uniqueness of the product or service; 2. The brand loyalty; 3. The ambiguity of causality.

In terms of the uniqueness of the products, a "TW" netizen from a technology company in Xinjiang, who claims to be a Haier agent, commented on Haier's computer: "Haier Yulong series, within 5 months, the optical drive will be broken, and the mouse will also be damaged. Inflexible, there are big and small problems." In terms of service, the "mariahx" of an express company asked: "Why does Haier ask the dealer to send a car to pick up the goods when other companies deliver to the door?" Obviously, Haier Computers have no product advantages to speak of, nor are they unique, let alone imitated by others.

Speaking of brand loyalty, although Haier these Many attempts have been made in other fields in recent years, but the color of "home appliances" is too strong. A "psychem" from a chemical company said bluntly, "Chinese people are used to attribute computers to high-tech products, and people are still used to going to the computer city to buy computers. Haier is a computer assembler at best, and has no advantage over other manufacturers." Therefore, It is difficult for Haier Computer to benefit from the "Haier" brand for the time being.

Causal ambiguity, a concept that needs to be explained. For example, the success of a company you can attribute to its low cost advantage, you can attribute to its high quality, and so on. However, if you analyze for a long time, you just can't come up with a logic, and you can't accurately explain the relationship between these causes and effects. Toyota is an example. Its factory receives tens of thousands of visitors every year, and it stands to reason that its production process has no secrets, and even if there are secrets, it is an open secret. But why is Toyota's process advantage that other factories can't imitate, or does not imitate? The same goes for Dell computers. Everyone knows that Dell's speed is amazing, but why is there only one Dell in the world? In a word, hard things are easy to imitate, soft things are difficult. Has Haier ever thought about the ambiguity of causality that no one can imitate even if it is made a computer?

Can you continue to make products

, who will laugh at the end, rather than running a marathon at a speed of 100 meters. We can get some inspiration by analyzing several industries that General Electric (GE) in the United States exited after Welch took office. 1. Central air conditioning. After analyzing the position of GE central air conditioning in the industry, Welch believes that the market share is low, and the opponent has better distribution channels and independent contractors. Therefore, it categorically sold its central air conditioning business to Trane Air Conditioning. 2. Small appliances. Faced with the impact of Asian products, GE's small appliances have no advantages at all: high cost, industry entry barriers, and retailers are too powerful. In this way, GE also sold this business.

Broadly speaking, both computers and home appliances carry "electricity", and there are precedents for TCL's success in the industry, but we can't make simple analogies. Whether Haier's aura in making refrigerators - such as the refrigerator for washing vegetables, the refrigerator for students launched in the United States, etc. - can be replicated in making computers, at least from the case of Haier's unsuccessful entry into the field of mobile phones and color TVs. No optimistic conclusion can be drawn.

What is even more worrying is that if Haier's brand and service advantages cannot be exerted in the computer field, or even be dragged down by it, its brand equity will be eroded.

When making a product, manufacturers can ask themselves: "Can my advantages and resources be replaced?"

Based on Haier's current situation, brands and services can be as its strengths and resources. However, its brand is more recognized in the field of home appliances, while in the field of computers, this advantage does not exist at all; in terms of service, "Yingfu" from a management consulting company in Shanghai believes that according to Haier's current talent pool, For computers, "the existing human resources have to be fully upgraded."

Many netizens pointed out that the current computer manufacturers can provide decent services, unless Haier can make breakthroughs in services. Innovation, otherwise, this is not an advantage. From this point of view, Haier's advantages in the computer industry, if not replaced, are at least difficult to play a role. Who controls the ups and downs

When a manufacturer conducts industry analysis, it must first know its position. The decades of development of personal computers have proved that upstream manufacturers such as software, microprocessors, liquid crystal displays and downstream distributors occupy the dominant position of the entire industry, while for the midstream assemblers, either cost (such as Shenzhou Computer, which we discussed in "Case Study" in May 2003), or a strong channel integration advantage (such as Dell's direct sales method), otherwise it is difficult to win.

Compared with Shenzhou Computer, Haier has no advantage in independent research and development of computer boards and graphics cards. At the same time, Shenzhou Computer has nearly 1,000 franchised chain stores in various markets across the country. They bypass all intermediate links and face users directly, which greatly reduces channel operating costs. However, Haier still manages the channels according to the way of home appliances. The "Shanshui Life" of a Tianjin joint-stock company concluded: "The quick response, value and effectiveness of the channels have not been well resolved, resulting in dealers' Dissatisfaction and resistance." "Zhuhai He Yan" of a training center in Zhuhai said more bluntly: "It is very fatal to lose the heart of the channel. Even Dell has to secretly cooperate with distributors in China, so that sales can be achieved. The second failure is to hurt the confidence of the dealer."

The advantage is reflected in the comparison with others. Through a simple comparison, we can find that the homogeneity of computer products is very common at present, and "Intel Inside" abounds. As far as products are concerned, it is difficult for Haier computers to make great breakthroughs unless it has the creativity of Apple computers; competition In direct sales, it is hard to beat Dell; even compared with domestic computer manufacturers, such as Lenovo, there is no advantage at all; if you take a step back and compare with computer upstarts such as Qixi, Shenzhou and Inspur, it will not take any advantage.