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Increasing demand worldwide Oil price close to $ 100?

Status: 23.06.2021 3:10 p.m.

Oil is more expensive than it has been in two years. Experts warn of a supply crisis: The prices for crude oil and thus also gasoline, kerosene and heating oil could soon rise much higher.

From Angela Göpfert, tagesschau.de

Oil prices hit new multi-year highs this week. For the first time in two years, a barrel (159 liters) of the North Sea Brent cost more than $ 75 again. For a barrel of the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) variety, more than 73 dollars were paid on the market – the highest amount since October 2018. Rising oil prices – something that businesses and consumers may need to get used to. According to some experts, the new multi-year highs in oil prices, which many consumers are already feeling painfully at gas stations or when buying heating oil, are just the beginning of a longer upward trend in the oil market.

Analysts predict rising oil prices

The experts at the US investment bank Goldman Sachs expect the Brent price to rise to $ 80 this summer. But that is not the end of the story. An oil price of $ 100 is a “real possibility”. Alex Sanna, top oil trader at Glencore, the world’s largest commodity trading group, also said, according to the Financial Times, that an oil price of $ 100 is becoming increasingly likely.

The experts at JPMorgan even see a new oil super cycle looming and recently renewed their forecast of an oil price of $ 190 in 2025.

Demand congestion as a price driver

Francisco Blanch, raw materials expert at Bank of America, may not look quite that far into the future. For this he has the most precise 100-dollar forecast ready: the oil price could crack the round mark as early as 2022. The market hardly changes on the supply side – and this in turn is offset by an immense backlog of demand. It is easy to explain where this backlog of demand comes from: Just as many private households restricted their consumption during the pandemic, so too many companies put the necessary investments aside. Now that the global vaccination campaign is gaining momentum, at least in the major industrialized countries, consumers, companies and economies have a lot to catch up on.

Delta variant is a risk factor

The more relaxed Corona situation and the awakening global economy are leading to higher demand for crude oil, gasoline, diesel – and kerosene. Oil expert Blanch sees the rising travel industry as a major price driver.

The delta variant of the virus from India, which could lead to a further tightening of the corona measures, is currently also posing a risk to the economy.

Signal of a shortage of supply

In search of signs of whether demand is actually exceeding supply at the moment, it is worth taking a look at the market for so-called oil futures. Current oil futures contracts are quoted there higher than contracts with delivery at a later point in time. Such a constellation, referred to by experts as “backwardation”, is rather unusual and a clear indication of fear of scarcity – “and thus for further rising prices”, as market expert Robert Rethfeld from Wellenreiter-Invest emphasizes.

A price corrective called fracking

The rising prices should actually make re-entry into the oil market attractive for the US shale industry. In the past, the US frackers acted as flexible price correctors on the oil market: If prices rose, more shale oil was drilled in the short term, supply increased, prices fell again.

As a reminder, the last time oil traded above $ 100 was in 2014, when a rapidly growing supply from the US fracking industry brought an abrupt end to the last oil super cycle.

Sustainability trend slows US oil industry

But this mechanism doesn’t seem to work that well anymore. This is due on the one hand to the new US President Joe Biden, who imposed a stop on oil and gas drilling on state-owned land in January, and on the other hand to the global trend towards sustainable investment.

“The number of active US oil wells is increasing only slowly,” emphasizes wave rider expert Rethfeld. “The investors do not want to see an expansion of the production capacities at the moment, but instead demand investments in renewable energies.”

Iran as a risk factor

The production countries of the OPEC + oil cartel, especially Saudi Arabia and Russia, could benefit from the West’s climate policy. It remains to be seen how willing they are to expand production to fill the void left by the US oil industry.

Especially since there are supply risks on the part of OPEC: “After the election of an ultra-conservative cleric as the new president, Iran will have a hard time overturning US sanctions and increasing oil exports,” said Eugen Weinberg, raw materials expert at Commerzbank .

Inflation Risks Before Revaluation?

Should the oil price actually rise further towards 100 dollars, this would inevitably lead to a reassessment of the inflation risks in the financial markets, since the oil price is one of the main drivers of consumer prices.

Just yesterday, Jerome Powell, head of the US Federal Reserve (Fed), told the House of Representatives budget committee again that the Fed was considering the current high inflation rates a temporary phenomenon considered. However, market expert Rethfeld emphasizes: “Any oil price above $ 100 would suggest to the public that Powell is wrong.”

Growing industry Billion dollar business with environmental protection

Status: 23.06.2021 10:45 a.m.

Environmental protection is increasingly becoming an economic factor, especially in manufacturing. According to the Federal Statistical Office, sales are increasing and hundreds of thousands of jobs have been created in Germany. Environmental and climate protection are increasingly proving to be a lucrative business for industry and service providers. As the Federal Statistical Office announced, the industry achieved sales of 73.6 billion euros in 2019, 3.1 percent more than in the previous year.

Three quarters of this was achieved in the manufacturing sector, first and foremost in mechanical engineering (22.1 billion euros), followed by electrical equipment (6.5 billion euros) and the manufacture of cars, trucks and buses – and parts for them (5.8 billion euros) Euro).

The construction and maintenance of apparatus for air pollution control has grown particularly strongly. Here sales climbed by more than a third to 10.5 billion euros. These were mainly products for exhaust gas and exhaust air treatment, such as catalytic converters. In the area of ​​electromobility (limited to cars, trucks and buses), sales of 2.5 billion euros were reported in 2019, 24 percent more than a year earlier.

Over 300,000 employees

Energy-saving drive and control technology, the construction of onshore wind turbines, the thermal insulation of buildings, and the renovation and construction of sewer systems also ensured business worth billions.

The growing importance of environmental protection for the German economy is also leading to the creation of new jobs, so-called “green jobs”. The number of employees who contributed goods or services to the industry was 305,000 in 2019. Compared to the previous year, the number rose by almost 16,000. More than two thirds of the employees in the sector were employed in manufacturing companies

Increasing number of passengers The US airlines lack pilots

As of: 22.06.2021 10:05 a.m.

The number of air travelers in the US is rapidly increasing again. In the meantime, the remaining pilots at some airlines are no longer sufficient to carry out all the planned flights.

By Torsten Teichmann, ARD studio Washington

The US airline Delta is looking for staff again. 1000 pilots are to be hired in the coming months. A year ago, in the middle of the corona pandemic and with constantly falling passenger numbers, the airline threatened to fire 1,700 pilots. In the end, the airline forced the unions to accept indirect wage cuts. Now Delta could even have to pay more for new employees in order to find staff again.

American Airlines is canceling flights as a precaution

American Airlines has similar problems. Especially on weekends, the number of pilots who have already been trained and tested is apparently not enough. In the event of delays and bad weather, flights are canceled because pilots would otherwise exceed their working hours and there is no one who can take over the shift. Now American canceled almost 1,000 flights for July as a precaution. The staffing level is so tight that the airline has been overwhelmed by rising demand and its own ambitious plans. The Wall Street Journal reports that there is also a frequent lack of ground crews to refuel aircraft.

Vacation trips partly at pre-crisis level

The number of vacationers in the US could return to pre-pandemic levels this month for some airlines. Delta expects the restrictions on transatlantic traffic to fall in the second half of the year. So far, travelers from Schengen countries such as Germany are still banned from entering the USA. US President Joe Biden has not yet announced that he will change anything

Raw material for batteries Is nickel still in short supply?

Status: 15.06.2021 3:55 p.m.

First a lack of chips, then a lack of wood, soon a lack of nickel? E-mobility also devours resources. Due to the increasing demand for batteries, the demand for nickel is likely to increase strongly. The sufficient supply of the metal nickel could become critical in the next few years. The German Raw Materials Agency (DERA) warns of this in a current analysis. The background to this is the increasing demand generated by the turnaround towards electromobility. “We assume that, depending on the scenario, global nickel demand will increase from around 2.4 million tons today to around 3.4 million tons in 2025,” explains Dr. Michael Szurlies, nickel expert at the Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR). “Overall, the nickel market is facing a turning point in terms of demand in the coming years, which will lead to a significant shift in market shares within the areas of application.” As a special department of the BGR, DERA advises the federal government, business and NGOs on raw material issues, for example on security of supply and the ecological consequences.

02/18/2021

Nickel is used for batteries

So far, nickel has mainly been used in steel production: around 85 percent is currently used in the manufacture of stainless steel and alloys, as DERA writes. The use in batteries currently accounts for around five percent. That will change in the near future. Because nickel is now a “key raw material” for the transport and energy transition, according to the study. Due to the strong demand generated by the global expansion of electromobility, the experts expect that by 2025, depending on the scenario, the share could be up to 21 percent. This would make batteries the second largest area of ​​application.

07.03.2021

Most of the nickel comes from Indonesia

Indonesia is the world’s largest supplier of nickel. The experts write that the vast majority of the new global production and refining capacities for the metal are expected there by 2025. This leads to a significant increase in the market concentration for nickel – and also has the consequence that the power of the main suppliers increases. Whether prices can also be expected to rise in the future due to rising demand depends on whether supply also increases. It is not excluded. In order to reduce the dependency on international suppliers, consideration is being given to extracting important raw materials – including nickel – in Europe. Experts emphasize that a European supply chain could make economic sense. In January, Peter Buchholz, head of DERA, said it would be good if Europe also built up its own capacities. The projects just have to be cost-competitive.

background 10/27/2010

Recycling is becoming more important

The automotive industry in particular, but also machine builders with a focus on solar or wind power, steel manufacturers or the IT and medical technology industries are dependent on a continuous supply of basic materials such as nickel. This also applies to so-called rare earths – elements such as cobalt or lithium, which is usually the central raw material for batteries in pure electric drives. The authors of the study also have the issue of sustainability in mind: “In view of the goal of reducing emissions of climate-damaging carbon dioxide through electromobility, in future, apart from questions of availability, the most environmentally friendly and sustainable extraction and processing of nickel will be more important.” One has to ask how more nickel and nickel compounds can be recovered at the end of the life cycle of the products and how less environmentally harmful and at the same time more socially fair promotion can be achieved. On the one hand, there are technological developments towards greater efficiency and fewer emissions. On the other hand, the increasing mining in tropical regions is a problem due to the large amount of land required.

Nationwide electricity generation Coal is overtaking wind power again

Status: 06/11/2021 1:53 p.m.

A spring without storms has led to a decline in wind energy. Coal grew to become the most important energy source in the country in the first quarter. At the same time, the demand for electricity is increasing, says Minister of Economic Affairs Altmaier. Electricity production using coal in Germany overtook wind power again in the first quarter of 2021. According to the Federal Statistical Office, a “windless spring” resulted in almost a third less electricity from wind power. According to the authorities, the gap has been filled by increasing electricity generation from coal and natural gas power plants. From January to March inclusive, a total of 138.2 billion kilowatt hours of electricity was generated and fed into the grid. According to preliminary results from the Federal Office, that was 2.6 percent less than in the first quarter of 2020.

Coal, gas and nuclear power dominate

While the electricity in the same period last year came mainly from renewable energy sources such as wind power, biogas and sun (51.4 percent), coal, gas and nuclear energy dominated at the beginning of this year (59.3 percent). With a share of 28.9 percent of the total amount of electricity fed into the grid, coal was the most important energy source for electricity generation in Germany in the first quarter of this year. The amount of electricity generated in coal-fired power plants increased by more than a quarter (26.8 percent) to almost 40 billion kilowatt hours compared to the same period in the previous year. The amount of electricity from natural gas increased by 24 percent to 22.5 billion kilowatt hours. In contrast, there was a strong minus of almost a third (32.4 percent) in wind power: The feed-in of 33.5 billion kilowatt hours was the lowest value for this energy source for a first quarter since 2018. In the two previous years, there was wind power significantly higher values ​​achieved due to strong spring storms.

Altmaier sees increased demand for electricity

Meanwhile, Federal Minister of Economics Peter Altmaier admitted that his department had so far underestimated how much the demand for electricity in Germany is likely to increase in the course of the energy transition. “Due to the more stringent climate targets in Germany and the EU, we have to assume a significantly higher electricity demand than was previously assumed,” said the CDU politician to Wirtschaftswoche. “My house will submit new calculations for this.” Altmaier said that more energy must be produced, “from all available renewable sources: wind power and photovoltaics”. Altmaier said that he would present specific proposals on how offshore wind power on the high seas and other renewable energies could be expanded more than previously planned. For “green hydrogen” for use in the steel industry or the expansion of electromobility, many experts believe that significantly more electricity will be required in the coming years, which should come from renewable energies.

SPD puts pressure on

The SPD criticized Altmaier: “For months now, the SPD and the entire German industry and energy sector have been calling on the Federal Minister of Economics in vain to anchor realistic electricity requirements and a correspondingly ambitious expansion of wind power and photovoltaics in the EEG,” said parliamentary group vice-president Matthias Miersch of the dpa news agency. If Altmaier now announces new proposals, which can only then be implemented by the next federal government, it is “poor” and unworthy of a federal minister of economics, according to Miersch. The SPD had already submitted proposals months ago which, based on realistic electricity consumption, determine the associated expansion paths for green electricity up to 2030 and contain funds for acquiring space and accelerating it. “We could implement this next week,” said the politician.

Increasing influence How China is entering Europe’s ports

Status: 10.06.2021 12:33 p.m.

Piraeus, Rotterdam, Antwerp and soon possibly also Hamburg – China has its own terminals in 14 European ports or holds shares in port operators. Critics warn of the consequences of the urge to expand. From Lothar Gries, tagesschau.de The listed Hamburg port operator HHLA is currently negotiating with the Chinese state shipping company Cosco about a possible participation in one of its container terminals – with the telling name of Tollerort. HHLA recently announced that a legally binding agreement has not yet been reached. However, the publication of such a release indicates that the talks are on the home stretch. Trade with China is by far the most important business for the third largest European seaport. Ships of the Chinese shipping company Cosco have been calling at Hamburg for almost 40 years. Two years ago, China’s Vice President Wang Qishan also visited the Tollerort terminal. With its four berths on a quay wall a good kilometer long, 14 container cranes and a five-track rail connection, Tollerort is one of a total of four container terminals in the Port of Hamburg and the second largest at HHLA.

Important loophole

According to experts, by entering Hamburg, China would close the largest gap in its maritime Silk Road. Even more: through a partnership with HHLA, Cosco could also get privileged access to the Italian Adriatic port of Trieste. The Hamburg port operator had taken over the majority in a new terminal there last year – with the express approval of the government in Rome, which wanted to block the way for the Chinese who were also interested. Because a majority stake by Cosco in the largest container terminal in Trieste would have been tantamount to a sell-out from the perspective of the Italians. Now the Chinese could still gain access to Trieste via Hamburg. That would be a decisive move in Beijing’s expansion strategy, since Trieste is the northernmost port in the Mediterranean and therefore particularly important for Central and Eastern Europe. HHLA is also involved in terminals in the Ukraine and Estonia.

“Loss of Sovereignty”

Cosco and its sister company China Merchant already have their own terminals in a total of 14 European ports – or at least shares in the port operators. All the major seaports on the continent are included, from Rotterdam and Antwerp to Le Havre, Bilbao, Genoa, Valencia and Marseille. According to calculations by US experts, more than two thirds of the 50 largest container terminals in the world are already controlled by the Chinese or at least supported by holdings. “Europe has thus lost some of its sovereignty,” complained the former French Prime Minister and China expert, Jean-Pierre Raffarin. The sell-off began in 2016 when Greece, which was practically bankrupt at the time, was forced by the troika made up of the monetary fund, the EU and the ECB to privatize the port of Piraeus. The Chinese were happy to take it and were given complete control of the strategically located port for a bargain price of 280 million euros. Today Piraeus is number four in Europe, behind Rotterdam, Antwerp and Hamburg. The port is the end point of the maritime Silk Road, from China across the Indian Ocean to the Red Sea. Beijing also controls its entrance for onward travel through the Suez Canal, with a naval base in Djibouti on the Horn of Africa.

Silk Road project – anything but a marketing gimmick

The example of Greece shows the political effects of China’s increasing influence in some countries, says Günther Oettinger, the former EU Commissioner and Prime Minister of Baden-Württemberg. “Before the European Union imposed symbolic sanctions on China in March, Greece liked the role of delaying and watering down resolutions against China. A rogue who thinks evil”, said the CDU politician in a guest article for the “Tagesspiegel” “. China’s expansion can no longer be stopped. “We cannot blame the Chinese for being smart. We can only blame ourselves for being so stupid,” said French President Emmanuel Macron, referring to China’s strategy, which is an increasingly large one in Europe’s economy Role to play. In fact, the EU countries watched China’s shopping spree for a long time with takeovers of technology companies such as the German robot manufacturer Kuka. “When China’s leadership launched the ‘New Silk Road’ project in 2013, many in Europe believed it was a marketing gag,” said Günther Oettinger. President Xi Jinping was very serious, as can be seen from the trade network that has now been established. In Europe, China prefers to help those states, such as Greece or Hungary, that are poorer than Western Europeans. These countries are to be tied closely to themselves by investing billions in infrastructure in order to create a “China-friendly Europe”, as a high-ranking EU diplomat of the “world” said.

No concerns from Berlin

The most recent decision by the EU Parliament, which Suspend discussions on the investment agreement reached with China at the end of last year . Among other things, it was supposed to regulate the access of European companies to the Chinese market, but met with growing opposition in the European Union. Critics complained that the agreement did not set any limits to China’s expansionist urge. This is unlikely to prevent the Chinese from entering the Tollerort container port in Hamburg. The negotiations are after NDR- Information well advanced and coordinated with the federal government. There are no concerns from the Chancellery, the Ministry of Economics and Transport, or the Foreign Office.

The move comes nearly two months after the submarine KRI Nanggala sank off the island of Bali during training and China increased its activity near the Natunas. According to analysts, the frigate deal with Italy highlights Jakarta’s concerns after being “intruded into its territorial waters” by Beijing’s ships. An Indonesian navy ship leaves to rescue the sunken submarine Kri Nanggala. Photo: Xinhua News Agency SCMP cited a leaked document revealing that the Indonesian Defense Ministry is expected to propose a budget of 124 billion USD, to be divided over 5 years. This is three times more than five years earlier ($38.8 billion). At the same time, the website of Fincantieri Shipbuilding Company (Italy) confirmed that Jakarta has signed a contract to buy 6 new FREMM multi-purpose frigates and 2 used Italian MaStrale frigates. The two MaStrale ships will be delivered after the Italian navy retires them. “The agreement underscores the importance of strengthening cooperation between the two countries in the strategic Pacific region,” Fincantieri said. “The destroyer agreement shows that European countries are increasing their engagement in the Indo-Pacific region,” said Muhamad Haripin, a researcher at the Political Research Center of the Indonesian Academy of Sciences. European countries increasingly respond to the foreign policies of US President Joe Biden, against the rise of China in the region. According to Mr. Haripin, Indonesia is in need of more patrol boats to monitor the 54,000 km long coastline and vast waters. “Indonesia is concerned about China’s growing assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific region. It realizes that the rivalry between China and the US can affect regional stability but does not want to interfere. attend directly,” said Mr. Haripin. China claims to have fishing rights in the North Natuna waters and sends fishing boats and coast guard to the area, but Indonesia objected.

Because of taxes and bans How tobacco companies are realigning themselves

Status: June 8th, 2021 4:00 p.m.

The big tobacco companies still make billions in profits with cigarettes. But after decades of success, BAT, Altria & Co. are slowly turning around in the face of increasing bans and rising tobacco taxes. They are still running an extremely lucrative business. But the revenues and profits of the large tobacco companies are likely to come under further pressure in the coming years. New restrictions could reduce profits, higher taxes are supposed to increase government revenues in the Corona crisis and will further increase the prices for the “blue haze”. The first increase in tobacco taxes since 2015 is due in Germany. In the spring the governing parties CDU, CSU and SPD agreed on the framework conditions for tax increases . This should generate additional revenues of 11.3 billion by the end of 2025. A good half of this should be collected more through the classic tobacco tax, e-cigarettes should generate tax revenues of three billion euros and less harmful products in the industry should also contribute almost two billion euros. These include tobacco heaters that manufacturers had brought onto the market in recent years. The tax increases are to start gradually from 2022.

“Smoke-free Germany” called for

This is another turning point for tobacco companies after the sale of menthol cigarettes was banned in the EU in mid-2020. But the tax hike does not go far enough for health organizations. Significantly higher taxes are necessary to get people to stop smoking, according to a statement from the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ). On the occasion of World No Tobacco Day on May 31, the non-smoking alliance and the German Society for Pneumology and Respiratory Medicine (DPG) called for a “smoke-free Germany” by 2040. There should still be a long way to go until then. Tobacco consumption fell by around 30 percent between 2011 and 2020. However, just under a quarter of adults in Germany still smokes.

Billions in income from cigarettes

The tobacco companies, for which Germany is an important but not a decisive market, have been changing direction for years, but Altria, Philip Morris International and British American Tobacco (BAT) continue to make good money with traditional cigarettes. BAT, for example, earned around £ 6.4 billion net last year, a large part of which was paid out to shareholders in the form of a dividend. And the current business forecast for the first half of the year, which was published today, does not read badly from the company’s point of view: The group expects growth of more than five percent for the current financial year. This also exceeds the previous forecasts. According to BAT, products of “new categories” such as e-cigarettes and tobacco vaporizers are more important. According to earlier information, the tobacco giant intends to win around 50 million customers for the vaporizer in the next ten years; the total customer base is currently 150 million. Big competitors Altria and Philip Morris are also well represented in the e-cigarette and tobacco vaporizer business. But without writing off the classic cigarette. Philip Morris Germany, for example, recently increased production at the Dresden plant. Due to temporarily closed borders in the pandemic, the demand for cigarettes from domestic production even increased. The company also saw higher demand for “fine-cut” tobacco. It is used for rolling cigarettes – smokers are increasingly looking for inexpensive alternatives to cigarettes from the pack.

Tobacco vaporizers and cannabis products

The coming years will show how quickly the tobacco companies can change course strategically. Some of the manufacturers want to offer new products without nicotine, but with caffeine. They also work on cannabis products. Further legalization of cannabis could open up new billion-dollar revenue streams for them. However, the pressure on the classic cigarette from the state is likely to accelerate and at the same time burden this process of change on the part of providers. This applies above all to the world’s most important sales market for tobacco multinationals, the USA: According to media reports, the new US government under Joe Biden wants to reduce the nicotine content of cigarettes to such an extent that they should no longer be addictive. In addition, menthol cigarettes could also face a ban in the USA.

With many different boycott content, but which of course includes mixed opinions about this popular tourist resort, most recently, participants suddenly received a warning from Facebook when join this group. Community Violation Notice from Facebook Specifically, the message: “This group has allowed posts that violate our community standards. Please review this group before joining” will appear to new members, when clicking join the group. Despite being warned to violate Facebook’s community policy, the Dai Nam Boycott group is currently continuing to increase in number of new members joining the group. Compared to the time of May 25, there were more than 800 members, as of May 29, it increased to 2.4k members and today (May 30) it has increased to 3.2k members (calculated at the time of screen capture). Figure). And it seems that the number of members joining this group has not shown any sign of stopping at the present time. The number of members of the group is still increasing Previously, the review content of Dai Nam resort was also posted on this group and received a lot of attention from the members. Of course, in the boycott group, it is not unusual that the majority of comments expressed dissatisfaction about this resort. The opinion that they will not come back again because most of the people who have gone (some have gone several times) say that they will not come back again. However, it is worth mentioning that there are netizens who have not yet gone but boycotted (?!). However, there are still some actual review comments that are quite “contemplative” when actually recounting their experiences in Dai Nam with fair comments. There are compliments, there are clear criticisms and at the same time give some advice on experience for those who intend to go to Dai Nam. Most of the comments were criticized for many different reasons. However, there are still people who insist that they will still go after the epidemic is over.

Tourists wearing traditional ao dai and masks to prevent the epidemic take pictures in front of Ngo Mon Gate, Hue Imperial City (Photo: Do ​​Truong/VNA) The Department of Tourism of Thua Thien-Hue province said that during the holidays on April 30 and May 1, an estimated 100,000 visitors came to visit and relax in the province. The prevention of COVID-19 has been seriously implemented by the province to tourist attractions, accommodation facilities and visitors to ensure a happy and safe holiday. According to industry statistics Thua Thien-Hue Tourism , before entering the holiday season, estimate the proportion of visitors booking rooms in accommodation facility over 80% in the province. Although after that, the situation of COVID-19 epidemic developed complicatedly in some localities, the number of arrivals during the 4 days of public holidays remained almost stable, only 3-5% of guests canceled their rooms at some hotels . Trends of tourists on arrival Hue Currently, not only focus on staying in Hue city, but many people choose to stay in hotels, coastal resorts, Lang Co Bay (Phu Loc district) where the climate is fresh, the beaches are beautiful and rich in nature. seafood cuisine. Faced with the complicated developments of the situation COVID-19 epidemic In some provinces and cities, on May 3, Thua Thien-Hue Province’s Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control decided to suspend bar, karaoke, discotheque, games, and massage service activities. 12 o’clock on May 3. Thua Thien-Hue also requested functional sectors to strengthen inspection of the implementation of the set of criteria for assessing the safety level of COVID-19 epidemic prevention and control for tourism activities; severely punish those who do not strictly comply with regulations on epidemic prevention and control such as not wearing masks, making dishonest medical declarations, etc. to propagate and raise awareness of epidemic prevention and control in the community. Visitors watch the changing of the guard ceremony at Ngo Mon Gate, Hue Imperial City. (Photo: Do ​​Truong/VNA) Thua Thien-Hue is entering the peak tourist season. Therefore, in addition to doing well in the prevention and control of the COVID-19 epidemic, the province also focuses on improving the quality and diversifying tourism products. A representative of Laguna Lang Co Resort, in Phu Loc district, said that in order to attract tourists to visit the resort during the summer tourist season, the resort has reduced room rates and attached services such as dining, spa, etc. golf, leisure activities… Because current customers are mainly domestic, many Vietnamese dishes have been added to the menus of restaurants. The resort also introduces many sports activities on the shore and water and team building activities to attract more guests in groups, in the form of MICE tourism (business tourism). According to the Department of Tourism, in addition to the province’s policy, a 50% reduction in entrance fees will be made from March to August 2021 for tour operators that take guests to attractions in the Complex of Ancient Capitals. In Hue, many tourist facilities also offer their own attractive stimulus packages to attract tourists. The units also strictly implement regulations on disease prevention and control to create a sense of peace of mind for visitors.

A new survey conducted and published by the Central Institute for Economic Management showed that 24.4% of enterprises recorded having had a dispute with a buyer, seller or both in the past time. Goods received that are not the same as advertised is one of the typical violation trends in e-commerce in Vietnam. Illustration: KT In particular, the trend of disputes in the online trading environment is increasing. Currently, there are 4 popular dispute resolution methods in Vietnam including negotiation, conciliation, arbitration and court. 57.8% of businesses and individuals choose the negotiation method; 46.8% chose to resolve disputes through the courts, while 22.8% conducted mediation and the rest needed arbitration to handle disputes. Notably, although Vietnam has a Law on Electronic Transactions, the trend of applying technology in resolving online disputes has not been applied much due to the incomplete legal framework and not many people know about it. ./.

The percentage of women buying electronic and electronic products online is increasing. Men are still considered the main buyers of electronics and electronics, but these attitudes and trends in consumer behavior have somewhat changed in Vietnam according to a comparative analysis of more than 1 million. views in the first 3 months of 2020 and 2021 electronic and electronic goods according to the product search engine and iPrice price comparison. THE RATE OF WOMEN BUYING ELECTRONICS, ELECTRICAL PRODUCTS INCREASES According to iPrice’s survey, the percentage of women who buy electronic and electronic products online is equal to that of men. If in the first quarter of 2020, the percentage of women shopping for these items was 38%, in the first quarter of 2021, the percentage of women shopping on e-commerce sites in the industry was 43%, an increase of 5. % compared with the same period last year. Although men are still the main shoppers in the portfolio when accounting for 57%, this figure has decreased compared to the same period last year (62%). The report also shows that there is a change in the shopping age group of women. Although there was no sudden growth, however, women in general and women between the ages of 35 and 64 in particular paid certain attention to electronics and electronics in the wake of the Covid epidemic- 19 seems to be cooling off. They also began to approach more electronics and electronics purchases on e-commerce platforms. Specifically, in the first three months of this year, the percentage of women aged 35-44 and 45-54 who purchased items in this category increased by 4% compared to Q1 / 2020. In addition, the older age group from 55 to 64 also had a slight increase of 2%. Percentage of online purchases of electronic products between men and women Meanwhile, the group of younger female consumers aged 25-34 has a sharp decrease of 10% compared to the first three months of 2020. Research experts say that this change may be due to the impact of the pandemic. Covid-19 in early 2020, when most people prioritize social separation and work from home. Therefore, the proportion of consumers in general and office women in this age group in particular tend to purchase electronic and electronic products to serve the needs of working and daily living at home. . The trend of changing shopping behaviors of Vietnamese consumers has also been partly shown in the e-commerce report just announced when there are two names specializing in electronic and electronic products business. Mobile and Dien may Xanh are in the top 10 high-traffic websites in Southeast Asia. This shows that the electronics and electronics market in Vietnam has been receiving a lot of attention from consumers on e-commerce websites. SHOPPING AND PAY MORE ON Mobile The survey also showed that shopping on mobile devices grew 4%. Consumers are more likely to purchase electronic and electronic products on mobile devices than on computers and tablets. Up to 80% of consumers decided to shop on mobile devices in Q1 / 2021, compared with 18% and 2% for computers and tablets. These rates in the first quarter of 2020 are 76% on mobile, 22% on desktop, and 2% on tablet. According to data from the Digital 2021 report of We Are Social, up to 61.4% of users decide to pay online via mobile devices. Thus, “mobile first” (mobile first) will still be one of the trends that will continue to take place in the “new normal” period for enterprises trading in electronic and electronic products. Trends of users are increasingly performing more tasks such as finding out, shopping, and paying on their mobile phones. Specifically, there are more than 154 million mobile subscribers, of which 64% of accounts are connected to 3G, 4G and 5G networks. Internet traffic from Android devices continues to lead with 64.6%, higher than the same period last year 2020 (61%), iOS decreased from 37% to 34.5%. According to We Are Social’s Digital Vietnam 2021 report, mobile application groups that are used a lot by Vietnamese users in 2020 include: messaging, chat (94.7%), entertainment and video viewing (83 , 4%), listening to music (58%), playing games (57.2%), shopping (68.5%), finance and banking (40.1%) … In general, these numbers are not too different from those of the same period in 2020. Only shopping apps recorded a higher usage rate, up from 55% (2020) to 68.5%. (2021). The report emphasizes that Vietnamese users are increasingly prioritizing purchases on mobile apps. Regarding shopping, except for travel, travel and accommodation services, down 40.5%, the groups of fashion, digital equipment, food, personal care, games, online music all there are signs of a sharp increase in spending. On average, user spending on these industries increased by over 30%.

State President Nguyen Xuan Phuc attends the Opening Session of the Summit on Climate (Photo: VGP). At the invitation of US President Joe Biden, on the evening of April 23, State President Nguyen Xuan Phuc delivered an important speech on the topic “Economic benefits of Climate Action” at the Summit on Climate Post, held in the online form for two days April 22-23. State President Nguyen Xuan Phuc affirmed that as a country heavily affected by climate change, especially in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam commits to take drastic action to respond comprehensively to climate change. including 9% reduction in total greenhouse gas emissions by domestic resources and up to 27% reduction with bilateral and multilateral international support. According to the President, Vietnam will continue to drastically reduce coal power, rapidly increase the share of renewable energy to 30% of the total primary energy supply by 2045, and domesticize international commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to organize and implement the program to plant 1 billion green trees by 2025. The President also shared views of many countries on the benefits of a transition to a green economy, zero emissions, especially on job creation, ensuring energy security, and improving. competitiveness and sustainability of the economy, but also emphasized that developing countries still face many challenges in their transition due to difficulties in capital and technology. The State President emphasized that the transition must be fair, inclusive and equal in terms of opportunities and benefits of the people, so that no one will be “left behind”; urges developed countries to continue to lead the way in reducing emissions and increasing financial, technology, and green energy support, and building efficient, high-quality infrastructure associated with creating more jobs. developing countries, including Vietnam. The State President believes that the implementation of the logistics objectives is appropriate to the conditions of each country and integrated into the national development strategies and plans. During the two days of the conference, senior leaders of 41 countries and the Secretary-General of the United Nations made a speech, emphasizing that climate change continues to be the biggest challenge for humanity and showing determination. accelerate efforts to respond to climate change. Some major economies such as the US, China, Japan … have made a strong commitment to reducing emissions by 2030, declaring zero emissions by 2050 or before 2060. Many countries call on the international community to promote green growth, invest more in renewable energy projects. The United States and a number of countries are committed to increasing their financial contributions to the climate. For their part, many developing countries reaffirm the historical responsibility of developed countries, the principle of common but different responsibility, calling on developed countries to fulfill the obligation to make financial contributions and support. to assist developing countries in building capacity to adapt and mitigate to climate change.

Each year, the electricity industry invests nearly 1,000 billion VND to invest, renovate and upgrade the power grid for the city. Danang Continuously invest in and upgrade the power grid to supply electricity stably and continuously for businesses According to Director of Electricity of Da Nang – Mr. Le Hong Cuong, in recent years, the PC of Da Nang annually invests 400 billion VND to invest, renovate and upgrade the power grid to ensure power supply for the city. Including the investment of Central Power Corporation (CPC) and Power Transmission Company 2, the total investment each year is about 1,000 billion VND. City grid. Da Nang has many good functions as a smart grid. Da Nang PC is also the first unit in the country that will basically complete the automation of the grid, the substation without any personnel on duty …. In particular, Da Nang PC is always interested in ensuring to improve the quality of electricity for industrial parks (IZs) and High-Tech (CNC) zones. Currently, in Da Nang there are main industrial zones, stable electricity supply from 110kV substations in the area including: An Don Industrial Park (power supply via An Don 110kV substation), Lien Chieu Industrial Park (Lien Chieu Station), Industrial Park Hoa Khanh (Hoa Khanh 1 Station, Hoa Khanh 2), Hoa Cam Industrial Park (Cau Do Station), High-Tech Park and Information Technology Park (Hoa Lien Station). Notably, the high-tech park and the IT zone have great potential for expansion, attracting many domestic and foreign enterprises to invest in production. In recent years, the Company has invested in building a power grid according to N-1 criteria to improve the reliability of power supply for this area. In the year 2021, the Company continues to invest in implementing key projects: Installation of 2 more substations 110kV Hoa Lien (40MVA); Exploit 22kV transmission line from Hoa Khanh 2 substation to high-tech park and other projects to improve reliability of power supply. After completion, projects will ensure safe and continuous power supply for businesses and the ability to expand the scale of the High-Tech Park in the coming time. Along with that, Da Nang PC is also implementing many power grid projects in parallel with the construction progress of a number of key projects in Da Nang to be ready for power to serve when the project is completed and put into operation as Construction works of 22kV lines along Bach Dang-Nhu Nguyet street with the scale of 3.5km underground cable, 10 RMU cabinets, serving power supply of Software Park No.2 (ICT Building Block 01 will complete the power supply in October 2021 and by August 2022, completing the whole project); 22kV Exploitation Project after 110kV Khue Trung substation with expected scale of 3.7Km underground cable, 05 RMU cabinets for power supply in Hoa Xuan urban area and Hoa Xuan creative space. The completed works will contribute to the city’s development goals, especially the development of information technology, electronics and telecommunications industries in the industrial era 4.0. Manufacturing in high-tech industries requires very high reliability of power supply High-tech industries require very high power supply reliability Mr. Pham Truong Son – Head of Management Board of Da Nang Hi-Tech and Industrial Zones, said that in 2017 and 2018, the Management Board regularly received recommendations from businesses related to power outages and power supply. Stable in production. Da Nang Department of Industry and Trade is assigned by the City People’s Committee for state management in electricity development; Based on receiving feedback from businesses, the Management Board and the Department of Industry and Trade of the city, Da Nang PC has closely coordinated to resolve difficulties and problems for businesses related to electrical connection as well as other problems in the power supply such as troubleshooting for the business; installation of electronic relays…. Thanks to that, in the past 2 years, the supply of electricity to serve the production of enterprises in industrial parks and hi-tech zones has been very good. Compared with the common ground there is more progress, the power quality is relatively. However, according to Mr. Son, in the coming time, CNC production and supporting industries require very high power quality and greater stability of electricity. Therefore, it is necessary to have measures and solutions to support investors and manufacturers to ensure the quality of electricity supply. “Power outages and power outages in the past have been greatly strengthened. However, in the coming time, with industrial development, the power source is a very important issue. Especially in the high-tech zone, production needs very high and stable power quality, requiring Da Nang PC to provide reliable power ”, Mr. Son said, at the same time proposing that Da Nang PC will have criteria in the near future. and an underground roadmap for the power transmission system to serve the industrial parks and the city’s high-tech zones to ensure aesthetics, aesthetics, and facilitate maintenance. Commenting on this issue, Secretary of the Da Nang City Party Committee – Mr. Nguyen Van Quang said that one of the contents that investors are always interested in when investing in high-tech zones is the ability to meet the quality. electricity of the city. “Calling for investment in the city is not only favorable land conditions, but electricity quality is a very important factor. Therefore, the Industry and Trade industry is concerned with Da Nang PC and CPC to ensure a stable, constant and quality power supply for production ”, Mr. Quang emphasized.

Books to serve readers in the CAND more and more and more abundant. According to the Department of Party Affairs and Political Work, the Ministry of Public Security in the period of 2018 – 2020, 100% of the units were provided with and supplemented with documents, with nearly 100 books equivalent to nearly 15,000 books / 3 years. . The police of units and localities have received the books and put them into effective use to serve cadres and soldiers, ensuring the need to enjoy the cultural and spiritual enjoyment of CAND officials and soldiers. The latest statistical results show that the total document capital of libraries, reading rooms, bookcases, especially the document capital of academies and CAND schools is rich and diverse in types and quantity. including books, printed materials, digitized documents and electronic documents. Library centers have focused on building databases, digital documents and electronic documents. The number of readers going to the library and reading room has increased over the years. Nine out of 12 school units in the Public Security have the average number of readers going to the library by over 40%. There are 45/63 local police increased the number of readers going to the library and reading room. In which, the number of readers going to the Phu Yen Public Security library increased by 159% in 2018; the number of readers going to Hoa Binh Public Security Library increased by 40%, Phu Tho Police increased by 30% … Some police units and localities have focused on investing in upgrading, renovating and building libraries, reading rooms, bookcases, investment in equipment. In addition, libraries and reading rooms have been equipped with computers and some modern equipment for readers. Specifically, the computer system and the server have 1,222 machines. 100% of the school libraries have copiers, scanners, printers and other modern equipment. In the academy, the CAND school blocks 100% of the library applying library and database management software….

A series of old apartments in Ba Dinh district (Hanoi) will be planned in the direction of increasing height. Photo: PV Reduce population density Hanoi City has just announced 6 urban subdivision planning projects: H1-1A, H1-1B, H1-1C, H1-2, H1-3, H1-4, the rate of 1 / 2,000 in Hoan districts. Kiem, Ba Dinh, Dong Da and Hai Ba Trung; The main requirement is to control population in 4 counties. The projects aim to reduce the population from 1.2 million people (2009) to 672,000 people. Notably, in the urban subdivision planning project H1-2 in the administrative boundary of Ba Dinh district, the renovation of old apartment buildings and apartments will reduce the construction density, increase the height, and to prioritize the addition of urban infrastructure systems, public works, green spaces, and improve the environment. Urban space is established mainly as low-rise buildings. High-rise buildings in accordance with architectural management regulations along belt roads, radial roads, urban reconstruction areas, urban highlight areas such as: around Giang Vo lake, digital land 29 Lieu Giai, 148 Giang Vo, the areas around the urban railway station … Architect Dao Ngoc Nghiem – Vice Chairman of Vietnam Urban Planning Association said, in the zoning plans and management regulations has identified existence and change. If we had stretched people in the past to only solve the housing problem, this time there was improvement in space. Specifically, in the past, Hanoi was just a city with one central pole, now Hanoi is a cluster of cities, including satellite towns. Currently, the city only focuses on Hoa Lac urban development. If the remaining urban areas are developed further, the land potential will be solved. When there is an ecological and favorable environment for people, they will naturally become attached to a new place. Mr. Nguyen Do Dung (General Director of EnCity Consulting Company – the unit that won the first prize for the planning idea of ​​Thu Duc City) commented: “One bright spot of the project is clearly defining development priorities. In spite of the general policy of population control and restriction of tall buildings, the project does not “take it easy” but encourages high-density development along major roads and near urban railway stations. . This is very reasonable because we still need to renovate the urban area and effectively exploit the newly invested transport infrastructure ”. It is necessary to realize and manage well the plan Mr. Nguyen Do Dung said that high-rise buildings are not synonymous with high population density because they depend on construction density and the distribution of land use functions. The advantage of high-rise buildings is that it is easy to arrange green spaces and community facilities because the construction density is not more than 50% of the land fund. Meanwhile, the tube house model often occupies 80% – 100% of the land fund, so there is no room for green space. “Limiting high-rise buildings is only a situational solution when we do not have an effective mechanism to convert a huge number of low-rise houses into high-rise buildings,” Dung said. Commenting on the population relaxation progress, Mr. Nguyen Do Dung proposed, the city should have a more complete tax regime for real estate like in developed countries. The city can benefit from the rise in real estate prices due to public investment (opening roads, building parks) and having the resources to accelerate the acquisition of land for infrastructure construction. For public offices and facilities, many of which are under the management of central agencies, have to be relocated outside of the historic inner city, there is a need for regulations to allow partial conversion of land funds to do public works for the city instead of converting the entire land bank for other purposes such as commercial or residential, leading to population growth and continued pressure on infrastructure. Architect Tran Huy Anh (Hanoi Architects Association) emphasizes the element of resources to realize the project. The same planning is the completion of a system of regulations from management, ownership to technical regulations for this type of work. That is the basic resource for synchronous development, avoiding the situation of planning hanging. Another concern is that the local planning adjustment is quite arbitrary. Originally planned 20 floors, but after a few adjustments to “create a highlight”, it can be up to 30, even 40-50 floors. So does increasing a building increase the already painful traffic pressure? Architect Anh said that this not only depends on the quality of the initial planning, but also greatly depends on the ability to realize the plan and manage the plan. In fact, in Hanoi, there have been many high-rise projects that have sprung up causing traffic congestion, but it is still described as “fully meeting the planning targets”. The reason is that a series of roads and infrastructure are drawn beautifully, but mostly on paper. Meanwhile, the high-rise projects continue to be approved by the city in the direction of “appropriate planning”.

“Core Tips”

Domestic mobile phone manufacturers have seized the high-end market and successively launched high-end series of mobile phones, with prices soaring. The high-end route is still taking pictures, endorsements and making chips, all of which are the paths that Huawei has taken. It is an insurance approach, but it also lacks new ideas. Huawei’s high-end route is already 5 years ago, and the Chinese mobile phone market needs new tricks.

Author｜ Ma Hui

Edit｜ Zhang Yang

The high-end war of domestic mobile phones has entered a white-hot state.

On March 11, OPPO released FindX3, which attracted the endorsement of Wenqing master Jiang Wen, which enriched OPPO’s temperament. Ten days later, OnePlus released the 9 series in a high profile, and the hot search on Weibo couldn’t stop. After another 5 days, Xiaomi held its first spring conference, and brought Mi11UItra and a folding machine to screen the circle of friends.

Everyone is doing the same thing: hitting the high end.

The domestic high-end mobile phone market has been dominated by Samsung and IPhone for a long time. Domestic mobile phone manufacturers can only fight in the quagmire of low prices. After Huawei rushed out for a short time, it was suddenly hit by technical sanctions and was forced to withdraw from the competition in the high-end market. This leaves a window of space for the high-end market.

This time, domestic mobile phone manufacturers seized the opportunity for upward assault. At the end of 2020, OPPO announced that it would take the All For One product route and break the game with FindX3. OnePlus announced that Shigekura’s offline channels are “no longer small but beautiful.” Lei Jun accelerated the launch of Mi 11, and domestic mobile phone manufacturers are all betting on high-end.

High-end products have become more expensive, more cameras, and higher pixels. The practice of raising the brand’s grade is nothing more than cooperating with well-known camera manufacturers, looking for big names to endorse, and making chips.

It seems that domestic mobile phone manufacturers are just copying Huawei’s old way of hitting high-end, and they have not made new moves.

1. Propaganda by the boss, endorsement by big coffee

The impact of Huawei’s core shortage will be apparent at the end of 2020. In the fourth quarter, shipments fell sharply by 42%. In the first half of the year, Huawei also occupied 44.1% of the high-end mobile phone market in China, surpassing Apple’s ranking first.

Huawei’s contraction leaves behind a large high-end market, while the space for China’s high-end market continues to grow. According to IDC data, the market share of China’s high-end smartphone market in the second quarter of 2020 is close to 40%.

With the growth of the high-end market, Huawei has withdrawn from the competition, leaving domestic mobile phone manufacturers with the best opportunity for high-end. At the end of 2020, Xiaomi, Huawei, OPPO and VIVO respectively launched 4 new models, all priced at three or four thousand yuan.

In the New Year’s speeches, mobile phone manufacturers have raised high-end to unprecedented heights.

OPPO Chen Mingyong announced that he will be among the first echelon of high-end flagship phones and break the game through FindX3. Chen Mingyong clearly recognizes that 2021 is the battlefield for high-end flagship aircraft, because the voice of opponents is not low.

At the end of the year, OnePlus, which had always kept silent in the country, increased its propaganda efforts at the end of the year. In his internal letter, Liu Zuohu asked employees to be ambitious and determined. After the release of OnePlus 9 in March, Liu Zuohu frequently appeared in public places, intensively mentioning that he would be a market upgrader and hit the top of high-end mobile phones.

The founders shouted and invited big-name celebrities to the platform to enhance the brand’s tone. OPPO took the lead in launching FindX3 with Jiang Wen. On Weibo start-up pages, subways, and bus stations, you can see Jiang Wen’s gentle face wearing tortoiseshell glasses with a smile on the corners of his mouth. Inviting Master Wenqing to bless, OPPO’s attempt to tear off the label of “factory sister machine” is very obvious.

OnePlus invited Hu Ge and Zhou Xun to endorsements. Netizens said, “It feels like OnePlus’ mobile phone is suddenly’up to the next level'”.

Domestic mobile phones abandoned their fascination with traffic stars. OPPO once signed more than 10 big-name celebrities such as Yang Mi, Di Lieba, Li Yifeng, TFboys, and Yang Yang. VIVO’s celebrity endorsements are among Lu Han, Peng Yuyan, Cai Xukun, and Lisa, and they have changed soup without changing medicine for many years.

Abandoning the merchandising logic of who is hot and who is the endorsement, domestic mobile phones take advantage of the strength of the big coffee, hoping to build a high-end brand awareness.

Xiaomi invited the original Kenza to design a new logo, changing Xiaomi’s impression of “cost-effectiveness” from the outside to the inside, creating a sense of technology and a sense of the future, and doing a thorough brand upgrade. At the Xiaomi press conference, Xiaomi took the opportunity to sell Xiaomi 11Ultra starting at 5,999 yuan, and also announced Xiaomi’s decision to build a car.

It can be said that battles in the high-end mobile phone market are one after another.

In addition to publicity, each company has also made corresponding adjustments in its products. VIVO confirmed the three thousand yuan and four thousand yuan files for X and flagship NEX. OPPO reorganized the product line, upgraded the R series to Reno and Find to FindX, and determined the parallel route of the two products.

After going through the chaotic Note and Max era, Xiaomi saved the digital series in the mid-to-high-end cost-effective way, and Mix explored upwards.

From the inside out, to the transformation of the product side, domestic mobile phones are all working towards the high-end.

1. Taking photos is easy to learn, cultural output is lame

It is a consensus in the industry that heap hardware cannot be high-end, but high-end configuration is essential.

If you look at the vivoX60, OPPOFindX3, OnePlus 9, Xiaomi 11Ultra recently released by mobile phone manufacturers, three of them are flagship phones with standard Snapdragon 888, and the performance and selling points are similar. The most important imaging system has 100 million pixels and 50 million wide-angle. , X times digital zoom, even microscope mode, professional periscope telephoto, the camera changes from one to four, and easily 1 billion colors, 60w or more fast charge, pan-tilt anti-shake has become standard.

The rest is design, feel, and even labeling. For example, who can be the first to put the title of “Android Machine King” on himself. Similar labels include “Video Machine King” and “Android Light”.

When the technical parameters had already been internalized and could not be self-certified, mobile phone manufacturers began a cross-border alliance, VIVO teamed up with Zeiss, OnePlus and Hasselblad.

This kind of high-end advanced route that seems to add points is actually not a new practice.

In 2016, Huawei succeeded in getting Mate7 out of the circle through a cross-border joint method. On the camera, Huawei invited Leica to work with Leica to polish the “Leica lens” and install it on a Huawei mobile phone. This is the first time that a mobile phone has the camera’s aperture and blur function, and it has taken advantage of the trend of “Young People’s Number One”. “Taiwan Leica” marketing slogan.

This successful endorsement enabled Huawei to take advantage of its camera technology, coupled with the precise high-end positioning of the Mate and P series, the gradual maturity of Kirin chips, and the output of soft marketing, Huawei has established itself in the high-end market in 5 years.

Put Huawei’s high-end road aside and compare it with the current high-end practices of domestic mobile phone manufacturers. Whether it is from cross-border friendship, playing camera cards, or changing endorsements, the once successful Huawei has become a target of “plagiarism.”

However, it is not special to pull old-brand cameras to do endorsement. No matter which domestic mobile phone manufacturer is, it is difficult to break through just by pulling the endorsement of the camera manufacturer and refreshing the parameters like the original Huawei.

And what really dominates the user’s mind is the soft output. In contrast to Apple, this mobile phone company, which never takes parameters as a selling point, dominates the minds of users with high standards of quality and geek spirit. In 2015, Huawei began to create the “Huawei Dream”, created a short piano girl “Dream It Possible” overseas, laid out “ballet feet” advertisements, and invited the ball king Messi to endorse, telling the cultural foundation of Huawei’s struggle and battle. It laid a solid foundation for Huawei’s high-end development.

The same is soft output. Huawei has created the “Jazz Life”, “The Gentleman Rulan”, and “The Years Are Like Water” series of business propaganda films, which accurately encloses the elite group for Huawei. This is precisely the fact that the manufacturers who have been fighting for many years in the low-priced market have not made up for it. Qi’s shortcomings.

The road to high-end domestic mobile phones requires more exploration than taking pictures.

1. It’s not so easy to make chips

The hardware configuration is getting mature day by day, but in terms of core technology, each company is still struggling.

Especially under the predicament of global core shortage, even if Xiaomi announced the first release of the Snapdragon 888 chip, the price-performance ratio of Xiaomi 11 outperformed the late OnePlus 9, but it still has to face the problem of core shortage.

According to an industry insider, in the global shortage of cores, mobile phone manufacturers not only need to place an order first, but also need to grab the goods if they want to get the components. The amount of goods distributed by each company is variable and limited.

Huawei is the chip to achieve a breakthrough. For domestic mobile phone manufacturers, the chip is a must for high-end.

However, there is a price to pay for making chips. In 2014, Huawei’s first chip, K3V2, was applied to a variety of models, but it would freeze within two months. Huawei also left the impression of “Giga” at that time.

K3V2 also accumulated experience for later Kirin chips. In 2015, Huawei P9 equipped with Kirin 955, becoming Huawei’s first flagship machine with sales exceeding 10 million. Kirin chips slowly developed, reaching the top Kirin 9000 in 960, 970, and becoming the core competitiveness of Huawei’s high-end flagship Mate and P series.

Behind this is huge R&D investment. Huawei started to make mobile phone processors in 2009. According to Huawei’s 2020 Intellectual Property White Paper, in the 10 years from 2010 to 2019, Huawei has invested a total of US$90 billion in research and development expenses. According to the ranking of enterprise R&D investment released by the China Business Industry Research Institute, Huawei ranked first with 131.7 billion yuan in 2019, surpassing Alibaba, China Mobile, Baidu and JD.com.

Huawei has launched a HiSilicon in 10 years. It is a bottomless investment to make chips. Mobile phone manufacturers have to work hard on chips when they are hitting the high-end.

OPPO has established a semiconductor company and hired grassroots engineers from Spreadtrum and Huawei. In the spring and autumn recruitment of fresh graduates in 2020, OPPO spends a lot of money to recruit people, and the salary is 2 times higher than the average salary. This makes semiconductor insiders nervous and expecting, “It’s better to be willing to spend money than not to spend it.”

However, the industry is holding a wait-and-see attitude on whether OPPO can successfully make cores. Because the engineers recruited came from different companies, OPPO was reported to be incompatible with the team. On a professional website in the semiconductor industry, suspected internal engineers caused controversy on the internal posts of OPPO core manufacturing, mainly due to the division of labor.

Xiaomi started to make chips in 2014 and only produced a small chip in 2021. The hardship is self-evident.

What’s more cruel is that when Huawei originally developed chips, Apple and Samsung were still using third-party chips. Now Apple uses self-developed chips. Samsung will restart its self-developed chip project plan in 2020. Domestic mobile phone manufacturers want to improve performance, Surpassing them in experience is more difficult than Huawei.

High-endization can not be easily achieved by combining a big name or asking a big coffee to endorse it. The R&D and value output behind it are all a long-term process. Domestic mobile phone manufacturers seem a little anxious, and they have not yet made the path of Huawei’s high-endization. rely.