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In early 2024, Penny resigned from his engineer position at an autonomous driving company in Beijing and returned to Shenzhen to take over his home’s headphone factory.
At that time, the concept of “AI headphones” began to rise. Penny took advantage of the trend and joined the new wave of technology, witnessing and participating in how the category regarded as the next trend was being introduced to the market at an alarming speed.
Here, the dialectics of survival and innovation becomes naked and clear.
The business model is unclear? Is the software function imperfect? It doesn’t matter, sell it first and talk about it. You can’t wait. — This is the living culture she sees that is completely different from that in the workplace in Beijing.
While international brands are still discussing what “AI native” hardware is, Huaqiangbei has already completed domestic and foreign market education with orders of millions of units.
“Although I didn’t think it through completely, it didn’t stop others from daring to sell.”
People here all understand the survival rule on the shipment list: “Get on the bus first and watch while walking.”
She felt that technological life needed to be reproduced savagely rather than raised delicately. Whoever can help it occupy the market faster can reap the dividends of evolution.
While young people complain that the dividends of the times have almost disappeared, there are still some channels for growth here for ordinary people.
Penny has seen a software solution team, a small team of two or three people, relying on making apps for headphone brands, selling them overseas, and buying luxury cars in a year. In Penny’s own factory,”some of our college graduate colleagues catch up with the popularity of a certain AI headset and earn a commission of 30,000 yuan a month.”
This place does not follow the white-collar logic in the office of Beijing Dachang. Penny is also adapting to the new rules of “grassland”.
A sample of an AI sleep headset manufactured by Penny’s factory “Kai Chuanghui Acoustic”| Photo source: Penny
“Some suppliers have a direct showdown: either accept the defective product, or I will refund your design and resell your design.” This almost rogue game actually forces a unique balancing technique-not only to block the bottom line of the product, but also to learn to soothe the anger. After all, the 100,000 headphone shells waiting to be assembled on the assembly line cannot withstand the delay of finding a supplier again.
More changes are also taking place.
In the past, people would say that Huaqiangbei often copied big brands, but now there are more and more shadows of Huaqiangbei on the big brands. For some categories, Huaqiangbei’s supply chain has been iterated for two or three rounds before some major domestic brands have just begun to enter the market. This industry has changed and is no longer transmitted from top to bottom as before. It can be jokingly said that Huaqiangbei’s production line changes faster than the PPT page in the office of a big factory.
Countless grassroots factories are rushing wildly and are weaving a giant web that supports the “next big Xinjiang”.
However, the AI wave has not only brought new wealth, but also brought crises to traditional manufacturing. “In this wave of AI, many colleagues may be swept away.” Penny observed.
AI technology is not easy for the older generation of factory stewards to understand, whether in terms of technology implementation or business model. Penny judged that AI will occupy an increasingly important position in hardware products, and the impact of AI on the hardware industry has just begun.
She is also thinking about the significance of AI technology, how to establish new business models, and how manufacturing can seize the AI wave, rather than watching the industry be weakened.
From Beijing to Shenzhen, after more than a year of struggling in the market, Penny provides us with an overview of how new technologies are reaching the public from the perspective of the source factory.
The following are Penny’s 10 feelings when making AI headphones, which we collate and present from a first-person perspective:
01、AI headphones explode, young people counterattack
In Huaqiangbei, it is difficult for us to recruit an ordinary first-degree, second-degree, or an English student who has passed CET-4 or CET-6.
The quality of personnel in our industry is not as good as that in the technology and Internet industries. People with a little ability will develop rapidly in it.
There was a supplier who made a mold that was far from meeting our requirements, and then directly showed a showdown,”Either accept the defective product, or I will refund your design and resell your design.”
It’s really annoying, but what you need to do at this time is not a claim. The cost of time is much higher than the loss of money, and new products that come out two weeks late may be overwhelmed by similar products. Therefore, we can only learn to swallow our anger and continue to accompany each other to polish.
If you can connect your work clearly, everyone will feel that you are already a very excellent practitioner in the industry. For example, some of our colleagues who have only graduated from an ordinary college for a few years are responsible for docking after the customer places an order. One of the headphones he connects has sold out, and the monthly commission is more than 30,000. The customer is very satisfied with him because he can connect and implement the things he has been told clearly.
Factories are not very attractive to young people, but for ordinary people, there are indeed opportunities for grassroots counterattack.
02、Get in the car first, watch while walking
Huaqiangbei’s small brands, like big brands, are accumulating data and exploring how to adapt to the current users ‘AI consumption habits.
AI headsets are very popular now. Some small brands have launched AI headsets that are equipped with AI assistants on apps, claiming to support users to use them for free. For example, they will preset hundreds of minutes of free AI assistant voice usage time. However, the tokens of AI models need to be renewed after they are used up. Many brands may not have figured out how to renew them.
Although I didn’t completely think it through, it didn’t stop others from daring to sell.
Many brands get on the bus first and watch while walking.
Maybe this matter has no impact on them. Maybe it’s just that users don’t renew their free AI assistant after running out of time. Some manufacturers are also betting that users of the headset may lose it and replace it with a new one if they don’t use it for a year; or perhaps they will give users a new pricing plan based on changes in model traffic charges in the future.
Everyone’s style is very consistent: start running first, not wait.
03、Fast is everything
Huaqiangbei’s thinking is fast and flexible, with few rules to follow. The salesperson’s goal is not to complete the task, but to get rid of the customer.
For example, when we send samples to customers or suppliers, we place great emphasis on efficiency. If you deliver goods in the morning, you must deliver them in the afternoon; if you deliver goods in the afternoon, you must arrive the next day. If the express delivery cannot be delivered on time, it will even be delivered directly by hitchhiking.
Once, a colleague urgently needed to deliver goods to a customer, but the packaging customization had not yet been completed. So, he took the bus and ran to the factory sixty or seventy kilometers away to urge urgent production. After waiting for the factory to be completed, he asked Lala to bring the samples back.
In this industry, there are no rules. You can’t expect to be like white-collar workers, sending emails and waiting for colleagues or partners to dock on time. As long as you can get the customer, it’s fine.
04、AI headphones are FMCG products
We make hardware. In essence, in our opinion, whether it is called AI headphones or headphones, it belongs to the headphone track. AI headphones are a marketing concept.
Just like before smart slightly such as Xiaomi and Xiaodu, the slightly has always existed and been sold. Later, AI capabilities were improved, and AI functions were also added. The same goes for headphones. It will be regarded as a fast-moving consumer product in the industry.
05、Group portrait of mainstream AI headphones: If it is cheaper, use it first
Some high-end AI headphones are sold more expensive, costing more than 1000 yuan. However, when users ‘budget for headphones exceeds 1000 yuan, the portrait of this user group becomes very different. They may have high needs for sound quality and other aspects, and are not sure whether they are willing to pay for AI.
Judging from the shipments of high-end AI headsets, there may be a small number of people who are currently willing to pay for AI.
But it doesn’t mean that consumers are not willing to try it. Many AI headsets at mid-to-low-end prices sell well and are better than ordinary Bluetooth headsets.
What the mainstream user group in this market needs more is to have it first. Many people hope to only pay 1/ 10 of the price of a big brand to try and experience the functions first. They don’t need the product to have good effects, so use it first.
Just like many people have never used Apple headphones, people may not know where the so-called gap lies.
06、Every dime is important to the factory
Shenzhen people like to talk about cost. Previously, suppliers from Beijing came over and said that they had made some algorithm improvements with some universities in Beijing. But what they avoid talking about is cost. Manufacturers here don’t like to chat with them because they don’t talk about costs. What’s the point?
If you use a particularly expensive chip as soon as you come up, no factory can afford it. We asked him, what hardware requirements do you have for this thing, how much my cost needs to be increased, and how to charge.
They don’t want to talk about this, they like to tell grand narratives. List cases of cooperation between them and universities, and talk about their team background.
We don’t want to hear any of this.
Every dime cost is very important for the highly convoluted Shenzhen factory.
If the team in Beijing can consider more business aspects, I think their technology will be implemented faster。
Corner of the production line of the source factory of “Kai Chuanghui Acoustics”| Photo source: Penny
07、Brand-name definition products, Huaqiangbei Education Market
Big brands have played an exemplary role in the market. They launch new products and lead market trends through publicity and traffic promotion. The headphone industry needs such a leader.
The followers behind them often don’t think about the meaning of a function or interaction. Everyone is just following suit and imitating, making similar products, and seizing new gimmicks.
Many low-end small brands have played a role in using lower-cost materials and software solutions to replicate the latest products of big brands and make more consumers willing to try them at low prices.
The logic for low-end brands to make products is to reduce the functions of big-name mature products, first realize the core functions that users need most, and then consider whether to add other functions based on the costs of batteries, chips, packaging, etc.
If the price is reduced by 10 times, sales may expand by 100 times, 1000 times or more. It can be said that big brands are defining products, Huaqiang North Education Market.
08、The market needs AI headsets to lead
If the AI headset market wants to grow, it needs to be a leader. Just like the iPhone is to smartphones, AirPods is to wireless headphones, and Amazon Echo is to smart slightly, they will drive the development of a market.
For an inappropriate analogy, such as AI glasses, the market may only be good if Apple carries the banner. If it were Samsung, the market may not be able to start. Everyone is waiting for Apple to do it, which is roughly what it means.
Just like some small brands rely on headphones that imitate AirPods, they can order 100,000 or 80,000 sets directly overseas. If headphones with other shapes are used, even if the quality is better and the price is lower, sales may not be good.
At present, the leader in AI headphones has not yet appeared。
09、The shadow of Huaqiangbei appears in Dachang
In the past, Huaqiangbei’s small brands did what big brands did.
Now, the iteration of Huaqiangbei’s small brands is even ahead of major manufacturers. For example, after clip-on headphones became popular abroad, Huaqiangbei immediately followed suit. After the supply chain had been iterated for two or three rounds, some major domestic brands had just begun to enter the market.
For example, several well-known mobile phone manufacturers have successively launched ear-clip and ear-hanging headphones.
In the past, people would say that Huaqiangbei often copied big brands, but now there are more and more shadows of Huaqiangbei on the big brands.
There are some Huaqiangbei brands that started out with low-end products. When they get rich, they will do product classification, launch mid-to-high-end product lines, and invest money in research and development. Two years ago, they might have been selling very ordinary products, but now, the products they see are very textured, moving from OEM to independent brands.
The industry has changed. It is no longer conducted from top to bottom like before. Nowadays, the market is no longer waiting for big brands to heat up slowly. It is a little slow, and opponents have been iterating for three or four generations and quietly seized the opportunity.
10、
Judging from the iteration of headphone products, there seem to be not many breakthroughs in technology and product form in recent years.
Judging from consumer feedback, everyone cares more about apps. Without a certain function, it seems to be much weaker than others. Therefore, brands will also pay more attention to the construction of apps.
Especially in segmented scenarios, such as AI sleep headphones, sleep headphones have a small appearance and are easy to wear while sleeping, but their core is on the App. It needs to implement functions such as white noise, sleep monitoring, and sleep advice through the App.
Small-looking AI sleep headphones| Photo source: Penny
Consumption channels have changed a lot nowadays. After the rise of Live streaming eCommerce, many demands will be unlocked. Many people may realize “It seems like I really need it.” AI sleep headphones are this.
We were surprised by the popularity of this product. Sleep is a small scene, but our domestic shipments are about 100,000 units per month.
Therefore, AI upgrades to segmented scenarios may also be a trend in the future.
