Huawei and Cool Pad, the difference in American sales strategy seen before CES

To the United States for CES 2017 coverage.The pleasure of the writer while traveling to the United States is visiting consumer electronics retailers such as Bestbuy and communication carriers.This time, I went around some stores before the time before CES started.

Recently, SIM -free terminals are increasing in the United States.The number of consumers who think that large MNOs tied up their smartphones for two years, stopped selling cheaply, and changed their terminals to the sales style of installment payments, so the number of consumers who think that SIM -free terminals do not change even if they buy it by credit card installment payment.I guess it is.

BestBuy also has a SIM -free terminal corner, but at first glance, not only products from local manufacturers such as BLUs, but also Samsung and Sony's SIM free machines are noticeable.In addition, products such as Alcatel and ZTE are seen.

Nowadays, Chinese manufacturers' smartphones are expanding in Japan, but BestBuy has no SIM -free terminal for Huawei.Huawei has a large number of products on prepaid SIM lock terminals, but the landing of SIM -free machines may still be in the future.

When I thought so, I went to the cash register to finish my shopping, and some customers bought a smartphone in a blue box often seen in Asia.If you look at the package, "HONOR", yes, another brand of Honor, another brand.Speaking of which, the SIM -free machine sales corner did not have any particular Huawei logo, but this blue package product was certainly noticeable.

When I was waiting for the cashier, the customer who was buying Honor said happily, saying, "This terminal is good, it costs $ 399 on a large screen with a dual camera."。He bought "HONOR 8", which is also sold in Japan, and the price in the United States is 399..$ 99.If the texture is not bad, high performance and the price is cheap, it will be fine.

While a 400 -dollar product of an unknown unknown unknown manufacturer (brand) sells, some Chinese manufacturers are struggling.A Coolpad, which was a top market in China a few years ago.Six months ago, I purchased "Coolpad Catalyst", which started selling in July 2016 through T-Mobile in the United States, for $ 19 at the Las Vegas shopping mall before the CES 2017 coverage.It's only 2,000 yen.

The specifications are Snapdragon 210 (1).1GHz, quad core), 5 -inch FWVGA, 854 x 480 pixel display, RAM 1GB, ROM 8GB, rear 5 million pixels, 2 million pixel camera.The price at the time of release is T-Mobile's SIM lock 99.$ 99, mainly for prepaid sales.

However, there are multiple models from other companies, and there are few reasons to choose a cool pad device.In addition, SIM locks can change the price as much as you want.The same specifications could be bought for half -price terminals for ZTE SIM rock prepaid terminals.

This time I purchased Metro PCS, a subsidiary of T-Mobile, but it may be that I changed the package and resell it because it was not sold at T-Mobile.Nevertheless, it was a bit incredible to look at the price on display that a moderate smartphone can be bought in the 2000 yen range.

China manufacturers are in a low -priced smartphone for prepaids, but they do not break the large barriers of major manufacturers such as iPhone and Galaxy on high -end terminals.Even more, because it sells low -priced SIM locks, it is difficult to sell high -end and expensive models without SIM lock.

However, HONOR has opened a dedicated web page in the United States and directly conveys the goodness of the product, such as functions, to consumers.By explaining that there is no SIM lock, the price is firmly appealing to the cost performance.

A prepaid device for communication carriers will buy a certain amount, but the appeal to consumers is only the price, and the price cannot be controlled by the price.On the other hand, SIM -free terminal sales can be done by the manufacturer from price setting to promotion.Cool pads have failed to enter the United States a few years ago, but they seem to have made the same mistakes this time.On the other hand, Huawei is conducting steady sales activities to deliver the product directly to consumers.Looking at the strategy of the two companies, I realized that I could not put it together as the same "Chinese manufacturer".