No longer taking China for granted
Just three years ago, Nokia's mobile phone sales operation in China hardly extended beyond a handful of the biggest cities, with sales staff further afield sometimes forced to hold their meetings in such ad hoc surroundings as a KFC restaurant.
“We were being heavily criticised by our sales staff,” admits Colin Giles, head of the Finnish giant's mobile business in China. “We were not giving them enough attention.”
But the days of relying entirely on third-party national distributors and the power of the Nokia brand in China are long gone. Now Nokia boasts that it has people in more than 300 Chinese cities as part of a retooled sales distribution system that reaches deep into the world's most populous telecoms market.
Nokia's change of approach helps explain a dramatic shift in the Chinese handset business this year that has seen foreign manufacturers halt the rising market share of local rivals and expand their grip on sales of the most lucrative models. Nokia has been among the biggest beneficiaries of the revival of foreign fortunes, with shipments by some counts now outstripping even those of Motorola, which once dominated the Chinese market.
Nokia and Motorola were taken aback by the challenge posed by the sudden emergence in 1999 from homegrown handset brands. The Chinese companies focused on building distribution networks that took them even into small cities where foreign rivals seldom ventured, an approach called by pioneer Ningbo Bird a “sea of people” strategy.
The Chinese companies also pushed clever advertising campaigns and developed product designs that appealed to local consumers with an affection for such features as “clamshell” handsets that fold open or models encrusted with fake gems and multicoloured lights. The rise of the Chinese brands was eased by outsourcing production to Taiwanese and South Korean electronics manufacturers while gradually building their manufacturing resources.
With foreign brands taking the Chinese market almost for granted, the approach was hugely successful, but, Mr Giles argues, also limited. “The things they did were short term and copy-able,” he says. “We think we are now as competitive as any Chinese company in distribution.”
In design, too, Nokia has moved to adjust to local tastes, introducing a clamshell phone earlier this year with further models to follow soon. A research and development centre in downtown Beijing has also developed China-targeted phones such as the new 6108, which sells for up Rmb2,000 ($241.50) and comes equipped with a stylus and touch pad to make it easier for consumers to write text messages in Chinese characters.
Nokia can also push advanced phones with high-definition cameras and other functions difficult for local rivals to match.
The Finnish company's approach is representative of the response of other international manufacturers to the China challenge but it says it is reaping the benefits of reforming morerapidly than rivals. “We responded most quickly,” says Mr Giles.
Authoritative data on brand sales in the Chinese handset market are hard to come by, with official figures flawed or unavailable and research companies reluctant to offend corporate clients by releasing comparative numbers.
Still, even if figures that show Nokia has become the top-selling brand by volume are contested by some, the company is undoubtedly challenging Motorola's role as the Chinese market leader.
Plenty of challenges lie ahead, however. The introduction of “third generation” mobile services in China perhaps next year should favour international producers by introducing new technical challenges. But China is still toying with the idea of introducing its own 3G standard, known as TD-SCDMA.
Motorola, which has also reformed distribution in China and changed its local product line-up, says the revamp is paying off.
“We believe we are neck-and-neck in terms of units with Nokia and ahead in value,” says Ray Yam of Motorola China. “We believe we can hold on to our number one position in China in both.”
It is also far too soon to write off the local competition. Ted Dean of telecom consultancy BDA China says that while some smaller Chinese producers are unlikely to survive, leading local companies will endure the “hard times” of recent months.
Indeed, the Chinese market will remain highly competitive a competition the best of the domestic brands plan to take overseas.
“We expect the top players, Ningbo Bird and TCL and a handful of other companies, to continue to grow over the long term and to become very large global handset makers,” Mr Dean says.
占领中国市场不再容易
仅仅三年前，诺基亚(Nokia)在中国的移动电话销售业务还只限于屈指可数的几个大城市。那些在中小城市开发新市场的销售人员连正式的会议室都没有，只能在像肯德基这种地方凑合。
“销售人员对我们埋怨得很厉害，”这家芬兰巨头的中国移动业务总裁赵柯林(Colin Giles)承认说，“我们没有给他们足够的重视。”
但是现如今公司业务的发展已经不能仅仅依靠国内分销商，以及诺基亚品牌在中国的影响力诺基亚现在引以为豪的是，公司重组后的销售体系已在中国这个全球人口最多的电信市场深深地扎根，作为该体系的一部分，公司的销售人员已遍布中国300多个城市。
从诺基亚经营策略的改变，我们可以看出，今年的中国手机市场经历了一场巨变。今年，国外制造商阻断了本土企业市场份额的上升趋势，并加大了对热销机型在销售上的控制。在这个海外公司时来运转的年度，诺基亚成了最大的受益者之一，以某些指标衡量，目前诺基亚的出货量甚至超过了一度主导中国市场的摩托罗拉(Motorola)。
1999年中国国产手机品牌突然涌现，诺基亚和摩托罗拉立时如坐针毡。中国的本土企业致力于打造分销网络，甚至打入外国品牌不太敢于涉足的小城市。率先采用这种方式的宁波波导(Ningbo Bird)称之为“人海”战术。
本土企业还推行了一系列聪明的广告宣传活动，并开发出吸引本地消费者的产品，例如可折叠的“翻盖式”手机，以及镶有假宝石和彩灯的款式。这些本土企业把生产外包给台湾和韩国的电子制造商，同时逐步营建自己的生产资源，因此，中国国产手机品牌的兴起格外迅速
由于外国品牌对占领中国市场过于自信，因此国产手机厂商趁机取得了巨大成功，但如赵柯林先生所说，它们的策略也有其局限性。“它们的做法并不是长久之计，很容易被竞争对手复制，”赵柯林先生说，“我们认为，在分销方面，诺基亚的竞争力不亚于任何中国的本土公司。”
在设计方面，诺基亚也已采取反击措施，根据本地消费者的口味进行了调整。在今年早些时候,诺基亚推出了一款翻盖式手机，而更多型号也将随即推出。公司位于北京市区的研发中心也已开发出针对中国消费者的手机产品，如新款6108手机，这款手机售价不到2000元人民币（合241.5美元），配有触摸笔和触摸板，让用户更容易用中文书写段消息。
诺基亚还有能力推出一些高端手机，如带有高清晰度摄像头和其它一些先进功能，令本地竞争对手难以匹敌。
这家芬兰公司的做法具有代表性，表现出其它国际生产商对中国国产品牌的挑战所作的反应。但诺基亚说，它的改革比其它国际厂商更快，因而从中受益。“我们的反应最迅速，”赵柯林先生说。
中国手机市场品牌销售的权威数据很难获得，官方数字要么不准确，要么不公开发布，研究公司则不愿发布比较性数据，以免得罪客户。
不过，有数据表明，在销量方面，诺基亚已成为最热销的品牌，尽管有人对此表示质疑，但该公司无疑正在动摇摩托罗拉在中国市场的领导地位。
然而，未来还存在很多挑战。中国可能在明年推出“第三代(3G)”移动服务，由此产生的新的技术挑战，将有利于国际手机生产商。但中国仍在斟酌是否要推出本土的名为TD-SCDMA的3G标准。
摩托罗拉也对其在中国的分销网络进行了改革，并调整了本地产品系列。该公司表示，改革正在取得成效。
“我们相信，在销量上我们与诺基亚不相上下，而在销售额上，我们则处于领先，”摩托罗拉中国公司的雷?扬(Ray Yam)说，“我们相信，摩托罗拉能在中国保持这两方面第一的地位。”
然而，来自本土厂商的竞争仍然不能忽视。。电信咨询公司BDA中国办事处的特德?狄恩(Ted Dean)表示，虽然一些较小的本土厂商不大可能存活下去，但领先的本地公司将挺过这几个月的“艰难时期”。
中国本土市场的竞争将继续激烈下去，而几家顶级本地品牌即将把这场战争发展到海外。
狄恩先生说：“我们预计，从长期来看，一些领先的本土厂商，例如宁波波导、TCL和其它几家公司，将会继续成长，甚至发展为规模巨大的全球性手机制造商。”
