Internet play of intelligent routing

"Traditional manufacturing alone cannot achieve an excellent user experience, and Internet thinking alone cannot create a good signal. Real intelligent routing requires deep cooperation and core technology sharing. Let us create the future together." 2015 1 On March 8, Fenglian Technology has been established for nearly a year, and Lu Dong, the general manager, posted his first Weibo online.

Lu Dong was previously a marketing director at Leike and has more than ten years of profound experience in traditional manufacturing. As a veteran router manufacturer, Leike has been focusing on the data communication industry since its establishment in 2000. With several changes in the development trend, in 2012, the concept of "smart routing" was pushed to the forefront and became the current development boom. There are different opinions about the positioning of smart routers: home Internet portals, home computing centers, home storage centers, home network relays, smart home control centers, and home application platforms. In order to seize the opportunity, Lu Dong led Leike to explore unknown areas, and actively cooperated with 360, Xunlei, Tencent and other Internet companies.

In January 2015, 360 announced to invest 200 million RMB to cooperate with Leike to establish a joint venture company Fenglian Technology and be responsible for the operation of 360's routing products. This powerful combination of Internet companies and traditional hardware companies has jointly created eye-catching sales results: Up to now, 360 routers have sold 6 million units, connected to 15 million user terminals, and sold 50 million units per month. Ten thousand units are growing. In just two years of development, Fenglian Technology has grown from more than 30 people at the beginning to more than 300 people now, a full tenfold increase.

However, behind these glamorous figures, the two companies have also experienced twists and turns. Lu Dong said: "Leike and 360 have cooperated and explored separately, but they have taken a lot of detours because of this. 360 feels that the traditional manufacturing industry is too deep, and Leike is difficult to keep up with the thinking mode of Internet companies. In the end, we It is found that Internet companies and traditional hardware companies have their own shortcomings in intelligent routing, and they can only complement each other when they are combined. The reason for choosing 360 is because Lao Zhou (Zhou Hongyi) is the most determined, and we feel that he is true If you want to do it, no matter how much you pay. This is consistent with Leike's idea, and we are not willing to play small games."

Users come first

We are not willing to play small games. The noisy Leike and 360 started in-depth cooperation in early 2014. According to Lu Dong’s calculations, 14 departments of 360 are currently connecting with Fenglian Technology. Specifically, 360 Company will teach some Internet companies’ operating models and ideas.

Although Lu Dong has cooperated with a number of Internet companies, according to him, he always feels like seeing flowers in the fog, and there is no way to break through. This time, in order to thoroughly learn Internet thinking, he recommended himself to be the product manager of 360 Company, and was led by Zhou Hongyi himself. After more than half a year of study at 360, he felt that he had learned a lot, and after thinking about the summary of this experience for a long time, he carefully considered every word: "Internet thinking has changed a model, changing every process from product development to sales. A link, it allows us to be closer to users."

In order to be closer to users, Lu Dong often serves as a "customer service" in person, and solves users' problems one-on-one directly online. doubt. "Old Zhou himself sometimes does customer service, and I also do customer service myself. On Weibo, some users will directly @ us to ask questions, we will see what the situation is, and then reply him directly. These practices are similar to Lei Lei. Ke's approach is very different. Now we put more emphasis on user value."

In order to maximize user value, Fenglian Technology will carefully maintain the fan base and discuss product development with fans. "360 Routing has a loyal core fan group of nearly 500 people, called 'Road Team'. Others include closed beta groups and public beta groups, with all fans adding up to about 5,000 people. Among them, the road team will be with us. Long-term close contact, Fenglian will also send them the closed beta version of the product as soon as possible, let them experience and listen to their feedback, and then continue to improve.” According to Lu Dong, it will be sold to the public in September this year. The 360WIFI extender of 360 WIFI has been open to the core fan base as early as March. After testing feedback, after 2 months of revisions, Fenglian Technology once again pushed the new version to the public beta group. During the entire research and development stage of new products, Fenglian Technology will communicate with users repeatedly, and the scope will gradually transition from the core fan group to the peripheral fan group.

Lu Dong, who has been immersed in traditional industries for many years, deeply felt the difference between Internet thinking and traditional thinking in the process of interacting with users. Lu Dong further explained: "Traditional enterprises have a great feature that, from product development to sales stage, these links are divided according to the structure, they are most concerned about the clear responsibility of the internal structure, and do not care about the user level. And the Internet It has changed this model, it has changed every aspect of enterprise operation, so that every aspect reflects the concept of 'customer first, experience is king'."

Pursuit of perfection

"Every time we make a product, we have the heart to die, and we are about to die." Lu Dong couldn't help but sigh, in order to create a product without Pickable products, Fenglian Technology always strives for perfection.

This was the case when Beelink released 360 routing P1. In order to achieve the requirement that the product signal can cover up to 200 square meters and the appearance should be exquisite and zero-defect, the team of Fenglian Technology worked hard day and night and repeatedly tested.

"Old Zhou has always told us that the product must be perfect, otherwise users will not buy it at all. Therefore, we have paid a lot of effort. Every small detail is adjusted at least 10 times, and the whole product is down. It has to be adjusted countless times. The design and production are too complicated, and more than 20 parts have to be spliced together, and the production cost is very high. Due to the complex product structure, many production molds prepared, the production process is not familiar, and the assembly is prone to problems. It was difficult to achieve mass production at the beginning." Lu Dong recalled that just under the brink of collapse, the Fenglian Technology team always gritted their teeth and finally achieved this goal. With the accumulation of many successful experiences, this model of high standards and strict requirements has continued to be used.

"It's like the iPhone, the protruding camera does feel imperfect, but sometimes you just can't break through. The hardware is different in that it has tradeoffs. If you're looking for perfection, you can Drives people crazy. This is very different from our previous experience. The traditional manufacturer's requirement is generally 'it can be used'. We don't think the appearance of these hardware will cause many obstacles to users. Some places stand out. It stands out, and the router is placed in the corner. Do you really care about that thing? However, under the Internet thinking, the user experience comes first, and the appearance of the product is completely different from the previous role. For users, These conditions are still relatively important. Therefore, we strive to demand ourselves with the highest standards, and only in this way can we truly win more users."

According to the "2015 China Smart Router Market Monitoring Report" by iiMedia Research " shows that 360 routing tops the list with 56.1% of users' preference for choosing a smart router brand, becoming the most popular smart router among users. In order to pursue product quality, Fenglian Technology's R&D investment regardless of cost has finally won the favor of more users.

Before the outbreak

According to iiMedia Research, the domestic wireless router market in 2015 was 65.2 million, down more than 10%, and home WiFi equipment entered a market saturation period. In 2015, the sales volume of smart routers exceeded 6.5 million units, and the proportion increased from less than 2% in the previous year to 9.9%. In the first half of 2016, the proportion rose to 14.8%. Intelligent routing has become a force to be reckoned with in this traditional industry.

"This year is a year of nurturing, and it is very critical. Last year was a process from 0 to 1. The original market was small, and all companies could move forward a little; next year will be a year of breaking ground. So this year is very important, this is the year of succession, and it is the foundation for building the ground for next year." Lu Dong believes that once intelligent routing accounts for more than 30% of the routing market next year, the development pattern of intelligent routing will basically take shape.

At present, in the market, traditional routing includes tplink, and intelligent routing is involved in well-known enterprises such as Huawei and Xiaomi. Lu Dong said that Fenglian Technology is still working hard in the overall competitive landscape, and he is not worried about the future development. "Our advantage is 'focus'. Leike has been in this field for more than ten years. Compared with other giants who have entered the market, we have a deeper, more professional and better understanding of routers. And the giants have more It's just a test."

According to the current situation, some tools in the 360 routing APP software will be charged, and some tools are also opening up payment channels, such as cloud disk tools. In addition, it is understood that 360 routing will comprehensively deploy the direction of smart home and start to build a smart home platform. "We can't talk about the business model yet. At present, we can only talk about hardware to make the company profitable. This requires a process of exploration. I don't think it can be messed up. We still have to do it with users a little bit." Lu Dong said cautiously.

On the other hand, with the gradual cooling of the industry in recent years, the term "smart routing" is gradually fading out of people's attention. However, in June of this year, it was officially announced that 360 Secure Routing had completed 300 million Series B financing, and the operator behind 360 Secure Routing "Shenzhen Fenglian Technology Co., Ltd." also announced that it had obtained 300 million RMB in Series B financing led by Zhongke Investment Promotion. , the company's valuation reached 2 billion yuan. This news also indicates that capital is optimistic about the trend.

Lu Dong has no doubts about the trend, and he even thinks that the silence of the industry is the precipitation of the enterprise. "Why is it not as lively as it used to be recently, because the entire industry needs time, and the outbreak of the industry cannot be achieved overnight, and everyone is quietly paving the way. This year, we have not released many products, only 4 models, but we do However, there are a lot of things. We believe that only after a certain level of accumulation can it break out. Various companies in the industry are also trying to explore in various ways. I believe that in the second half of next year, there will be voices gradually. Because of intelligent routing and surrounding intelligent equipment It is closely related to user habits, only when the era of the Internet of Things comes, intelligent routing will usher in its era.”