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　　core reading

　　Recently, many passengers have reported that in the past few months, the fare of online car-hailing has increased a bit. The online car-hailing platform said that the basic fare has not been raised, and the subsidy has indeed been adjusted, but it is also to ensure the success rate of car-hailing, and the price is transparent and voluntary. Experts point out that under the pressure of funds, the low-price marketing strategy cannot be sustained. However, we should also pay close attention to whether there is any sign of monopoly in online car-hailing, and take countermeasures to protect the rights and interests of consumers.

　　Recently, many passengers have reported that Didi, Uber and other online ride-hailing fares have risen, but subsidies have become less and less, and morning peak fares must be doubled. What is the situation of price increases? What is the reason for the price increase? The reporter conducted an investigation.

　　Passenger: Shenzhen, Beijing has risen, but Shanghai does not feel obvious

　　At 8:40 a.m. on September 20, on Meishan Street, Futian District, Shenzhen, the reporter opened his mobile phone to call Didi Express. The app showed that the original fare of more than 20 yuan had increased by 1.2 times to nearly 50 yuan. If you don’t agree to double the fee, you can’t call a car.

　　The reporter agreed to double, but no driver took the order for a long time. Just as he was in a hurry, a taxi happened to pass by, so the reporter gave up calling for the express train and took a taxi instead. After half an hour, it only cost 33 yuan to arrive at the destination, which was more than 10 yuan cheaper than the express train.

　　"The price has gone up too fast." Ms. Chen lives in Xixiang Street, Baoan District, Shenzhen, and often uses Didi and Uber to commute alternately. "In March and April this year, Uber carpooling cost more than 30 yuan, and Didi carpooling cost more than 50 yuan. In July and August, Uber carpooling cost more than 80 yuan, and Didi carpooling cost more than 70 yuan. Now, Uber carpooling costs 91 yuan, and Didi carpooling is 93 yuan."

　　The increase in fares is closely related to the reduction in subsidies. "In the beginning, the amount of vouchers was large, and it was very common to have 60% off car vouchers. But now, it is usually more than 10% off," said Mr. Zhang, a Shenzhen resident. "Generally, you can only get a discount of two or three yuan, which is pitiful."

　　Passengers in Beijing are also facing price increases and reduced subsidies. Mr. Yang, a Beijing resident who works in Chaoyang District, often takes an Uber to return to his home in Tongzhou District during Friday night rush hour, a journey of about 16 kilometers. In June, taking People’s Uber cost about 35 yuan, but there was a 10 yuan coupon. Now there are no coupons for the same trip and time period, and the actual payment fee has increased.

　　Are all the extra fares paid by passengers given to online taxi drivers? In this regard, Master Lian, who has been a full-time Didi driver for more than a year, said: "Our income has decreased." He said that a year ago, the monthly income could exceed 10,000 yuan, but now it is only 5,000 or 6,000 yuan. "You have to run 25 orders a day to get an 80 yuan reward, not even one less order."

　　However, there are regional differences in the price of online car-hailing, and the price increase is not obvious in some cities.

　　In Shanghai, reporters have taken Didi Express or carpooling and People’s Uber many times in the past few days, and the distance is usually 5 kilometers to 10 kilometers. With subsidies, the fare is as low as two or three yuan, and as much as less than 30 yuan, and there is no obvious pressure to increase the price. If you take a taxi, Didi and Uber are still much cheaper.

　　The reporter also learned from Shanghai Uber that the price of People’s Uber has not increased recently, but has instead dropped, including a comprehensive reduction in basic fares.

　　Enterprise: The basic fare has not increased, and the subsidy is dynamically adjusted

　　Didi Chuxing said that the specific subsidy and reward standards in various places will be adjusted according to market conditions.

　　"Didi Express is in Shenzhen. Since April this year, the price has not changed. The pricing rule is still 1.8 yuan per kilometer and 0.5 yuan per minute." Li Mei, the public relations department of Didi Chuxing, said that the current pricing rules are detailed in the Didi mobile app. "The price is very transparent, and passengers have an estimated price before each order."

　　Uber China Shenzhen market manager Zhang Jiahao also made it clear that Uber has not raised the basic fare recently, and the price per kilometer and per minute is consistent with Didi.

　　As for subsidies, Li Mei responded that subsidies are a marketing activity that will be adjusted according to market conditions. "City travel itself is dynamic, so subsidies for drivers and passengers should also be dynamic. Future subsidies will be intelligently adjusted according to time, location, order conditions, and supply and demand, with the ultimate goal of improving the success rate of users’ ride-hailing," Li Mei said.

　　"In the last two weeks, we reduced passengers by 4 yuan, and this week we reduced them by 6 yuan, and the discount is even stronger." Zhang Jiahao said that Uber will issue coupons to all users through text messages, self-media and other channels.

　　For the doubling of morning peak fares, Li Mei explained that the system will match a reasonable price increase multiple for each order based on real-time supply and demand conditions. "Dynamic price adjustment may not only be used during peak periods, and in areas with tight transportation capacity, prices may also increase during off-peak hours. Dynamic price adjustment is not mandatory. If you don’t mind waiting, you can choose not to increase the price." Li Mei said.

　　Except for Didi, the prices of other online car-hailing companies seem to have changed little. The relevant person in charge of Yidao told reporters that from November last year to the end of June this year, Yidao has maintained a preferential activity of recharging 100 yuan and getting 100 yuan back, which is equivalent to users can take a taxi at half price.

　　Facts also prove that the competition is far from over. On September 22, Shenzhou Special Car, which has always adhered to its own vehicles and adopted the B2C model of heavy assets, announced that it launched the "U + open API" and promised never to take a cut. Shenzhou’s involvement in the C2C model and the practice of not taking a cut of driver income will make the direction of the market more uncertain.

　　Lu Zhengyao, chairperson and CEO of Shenzhou Youche, said that the "U + open API" is the same as the price charged by Shenzhou’s own vehicles, which is higher than the price of cruise cars and express cars. But Shenzhou has also launched a new round of promotion plan of "charging 100 to get 50 back", and the actual price after discount is similar to the price of cruise cars.

　　Enterprises generally believe that changes in market prices are closely related to the evolution of the future competition landscape. The relevant person in charge of Yidao said that the online car-hailing industry does not have the gene of monopoly, and anyone can use price leverage to enter the market at present.

　　Didi Chuxing also said that mobile travel is an emerging market with huge incremental space. At the same time, the industry competition is still very fierce, and new companies continue to join. For a long time, as one of the marketing activities, red envelope subsidies for passengers and driver rewards will continue to be distributed.

　　Expert: normal business conduct, but need to be vigilant against monopoly

　　What is the reason for this round of online car-hailing price increases represented by Didi and Uber? How should we view it?

　　In the opinion of Su Kui, a transportation research expert in Guangdong, there are many factors behind Didi’s price increase: First, after Didi merges with Uber China, effective competition will decrease, and the price is fundamentally determined by market competition. If there is no price competition pressure on the platform, the price will naturally be higher. Secondly, since Didi has a large number of users at both ends of the driver and passenger, it cannot increase the scale of subsidies by much, which means that the marginal effect of subsidies is very low, and it is a normal business decision to reduce or even cancel subsidies. Furthermore, the drivers of the special car platform have been a large number of full-time, and the cost of each transportation has little to do with the way of leasing. The price will eventually be closer to the traditional cruise taxi, reflecting the cost more. Finally, reducing subsidies is also related to the possible financial pressure on the platform in the future, or investors’ desire to make profits as soon as possible.

　　Experts say the price increase is largely due to a change in the previous low-price marketing strategy.

　　"As a means of promotion, companies can use low prices to acquire users, but it doesn’t mean that companies have to keep low prices all the time." Fu Weigang, a researcher at the Shanghai Institute of Finance and Law, cited the example of e-commerce as an example. "Everyone is used to the annual’Double 11 ‘carnival, but if there are consumers who think that e-commerce must maintain the same price as’Double 11’ for 365 days, it is a big mistake."

　　"In the past two years, ride-hailing companies have attracted a lot of users through various means such as discount coupons and vouchers. But it is unrealistic to think that this low price will last forever. Because in addition to discount coupons, they have their own price system." Fu Weigang said that low prices can be regarded as a marketing strategy, but should not be taken for granted. "After all, Didi and Uber are not obligated to subsidize consumers’ travel with losses forever."

　　Regarding the current competition landscape in the market, Su Kui judged that the threshold of the online car-hailing market seems to be relatively low, but it is actually relatively high, mainly due to the high capital threshold. Therefore, in the future, there may continue to be some regional platforms emerging in various places to compete and restrict the existing platforms. But at the national level, the online car-hailing market pattern will not change much in a considerable period of time.

　　So, will Didi’s merger with Uber China create a monopoly? Su Kui believes that due to the uniqueness of its service features (such as mobile phone hailing, electronic payment, etc.), the online car-hailing market is to a certain extent independent, but there is a certain substitution for traditional cruise taxis. "Whether it involves monopoly depends on two points: first, whether the cruise car can be improved and developed in the future, especially whether the policy can moderately loosen the restrictions on the cruise car, so as to form checks and balances on the platform; second, during peak periods or special weather, when supply and demand are unbalanced or when supply and demand information is asymmetric, due to insufficient effective competition, how to prevent the platform from abusing its market dominance."

　　Regarding the second point, Su Kui further stated that due to the particularly obvious tidal nature of the transportation market, abuse of market dominance is most likely to occur during peak periods and special weather. Relevant platform companies can promise the society that the dynamic price increase at peak times shall not exceed a certain multiple to protect consumer rights and interests.

　　Peng Chen, a member of the Shenzhen Municipal Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, has been paying attention to the topic of transportation. She suggested that the government should pay close attention to whether there are signs of monopolization in online car-hailing and use the Antimonopoly Act to supervise in a timely manner. In addition, for online car-hailing to charge double fares during peak periods, Peng Chen suggested that the tax on the premium part should be collected separately from the normal fare. "The early rush hour of online car-hailing has exacerbated the congestion on urban roads. The government can use this part of the tax to subsidize urban public transportation."

　　(Lv Shaogang, Liu Zhiqiang, Shen Wenmin, Chen Yuzhu) (Chen Feixue participated in the collection and writing)

Text | Jinjiao Finance, Author | Dongli

With the official announcement of the Xiaomi 14 series mobile phone conference on October 27, Xiaomi 14 immediately boarded the hot search. In this regard, Lei Jun responded enthusiastically: "Don’t worry, this product is very strong!"

One day later, Lei Jun announced that Xiaomi’s self-developed new operating system Xiaomi 澎湃 OS will be launched soon, and Xiaomi 14 series will be the first mobile phone equipped with the new system, and MIUI, which has served for 13 years, will gradually fade into the dust.

In fact, Xiaomi 澎湃 OS is not only an upgrade and replacement of MIUI, but also a brand-new ecological operating system, and it is also ready for the upcoming car system. As Lei Jun said, this is "a key leap towards" people and cars ".

With the increasing involution of the mobile phone track in recent years, and the mobile phone becoming the connection entrance of intelligent hardware including automobiles and home appliances, the mobile phone with "no volume" in hardware has finally come to the software arena by the express train of the Internet of Things.

Xiaomi has always pursued the development model of "soft and hard combination". Even the first product of Xiaomi is the operating system software like MIUI. Coupled with the self-developed system of Apple and Huawei, "Zhuyu is in the front", Xiaomi really has no reason not to develop its own operating system.

Nowadays, MIUI, which has been with Xiaomi users for 13 years, is about to retire, and the OS, which has been dormant for 9 years, has finally come to the sun, becoming a key hub to help realize the ecological closed loop of Xiaomi’s "people and cars".

At such a critical moment, Xiaomi automobile failed to show up, and the current new energy vehicles have been seriously involved. It is not easy for Lei Jun to realize the ecological closed loop of "people and cars".

As Xiaomi 澎湃 OS takes the stage, MIUI will gradually retire.The operating system developed by Xiaomi twice has different development stages and missions.

Looking back at the birth of MIUI, on August 16th, 2010, MIUI, as the first product of Xiaomi, was officially launched, and it was constantly updated and iterated at the pace of one shift every year. By last December, MIUI had evolved to MIUI 14.

For more than ten years, MIUI has only four commonly used functions from the first edition, and has gradually become the underlying deep framework of cross-end interconnection; The radiation scope of MIUI has also expanded from the earliest 100 "dream sponsors" to 1.175 billion cumulative users worldwide.

The birth of MIUI means that when Xiaomi chose to cut into the market at a low price with a cost-effective advantage in the early stage of its business, it neutralized the low-end and cheap atmosphere when Xiaomi’s hardware equipment was not dominant, adding the charm of quality and making Xiaomi’s mobile phone stand out.

For example, they are all customized systems developed based on Google Android, but MIUI is more beautiful and refreshing, perfectly supports the display of Chinese fonts, and even includes alarm clock functions for the lunar calendar and weekdays.

Even so, MIUI, after all, is a third-party mobile operating system based on the deep optimization, customization and development of the Android system under Xiaomi, so it can’t get rid of the drawbacks of the bloated, stuck and unstable Android system.

At the same time, in the era of Internet of Everything, with the growing ecological chain of Xiaomi, and the release of Xiaomi car is in sight, the complexity and huge number of operating system branches involved in various devices, as well as the ecological connection gap between different systems and protocols, have become challenges that cannot be ignored.

At present, MIUI obviously can’t afford such a large-scale interconnection. The biggest problem caused by all kinds of accumulated disadvantages and inconveniences is to push up the cost of development and maintenance, and even discourage users because of the unsmooth experience.

The birth of Xiaomi 澎湃 OS is precisely to solve this problem. Its goal is to build a unified and extensible operating system framework to support all kinds of smart devices of Xiaomi, thus breaking down the barriers between different devices and different systems.

According to public information, when Xiaomi’s Internet of Things business began to take shape in 2014, Xiaomi had already started exploratory development and verification of the operating system. In 2017, Xiaomi officially started the research and development of a new operating system. And in 2020, it launched an operating system specially built for IoT devices — — Xiaomi Vela。

The word Vela comes from the Latin word "sail", which is a "real-time operating system" (RTOS) made by Xiaomi based on the foreign open source project "NuttX". The main target hardware is smart speakers, smart light bulbs, water meters and meters.

With the increasing number of "smart homes" connected by Xiaomi, what Xiaomi Vela has to do is to provide a unified platform for these smart home devices to manage and open up fragmented Internet of Things application scenarios.

Xiaomi 澎湃 OS inherited the Vela system. By "integrating the deeply evolved Android and the self-developed Vela system, it completely rewrote the underlying architecture and made a public base for the future tens of billions of devices and tens of billions of connections."

In other words, Xiaomi 澎湃 OS has carried the mission of the underlying base of the Internet of Everything since its establishment, and it has also become a powerful tool for Xiaomi to solve the current weak growth of the mobile phone market and start new growth with "the whole ecology of people, cars and homes".

A cruel reality in the mobile phone market is that only by expanding outward can we seize the future.On the one hand, Xiaomi makes efforts to build cars and home appliances, and broadens the ecology of Mijia. On the other hand, it deeply integrates them through innovations such as operating systems to stabilize the core position of the mobile phone business.

As the core entrance of the Internet of Everything, mobile phones are deepening the penetration of other business ecosystems of Xiaomi.

In addition to the TV business that was recently merged into Xiaomi’s mobile phone department, in the last three years, Xiaomi also split the notebook business and tablet business and merged them into the mobile phone department; According to many insiders, Xiaomi’s wearing department, which was established in 2020, was previously included in the R&D system of the mobile phone department.

According to Xiaomi insiders: "In the mobile phone ×IoT strategy, the mobile phone is 1, and the others are all behind 0."

On the one hand, mobile phones are still the basic disk of Xiaomi, accounting for more than 50% of revenue for many years; On the other hand, Xiaomi’s mobile phone business is under obvious pressure. The data shows that Xiaomi’s smartphone business revenue in the second quarter was 36.6 billion yuan, down 13.4% year-on-year; In the second quarter, smartphone shipments were 32.9 million units, down 15.8% year-on-year.

Compared with the low speed or even negative growth of mobile phones, Xiaomi’s IoT business has shown greater growth potential.

According to Canayls data, in June 2023, the number of active users of MIUI worldwide reached 606 million, a year-on-year increase of 10.8%; As of June 30, 2023, the number of IoT devices (excluding smartphones, tablets and laptops) connected to Xiaomi’s AIoT platform has increased to 655 million, a year-on-year increase of 24.2%.

Xiaomi started the layout of smart home ecology in the early stage of its business. In 2013, it started the ecological chain plan, and planned to "invest in 100 ecological enterprises in five years", and formed a unique Mijia ecological chain, among which there are many outstanding people in the segmentation field. For example, mi band is the product of cooperation between Xiaomi and Huami. Behind Xiaomi headphones is Wanmo Acoustics, and behind smart homes are enterprises such as Green Rice and Smart Rice.

The aggregated business with rich products and higher competition barriers such as "Family Barrel" has also attracted a number of mobile phone manufacturers.

For example, in recent years, Huawei has successively released many products including watches, tablets, headphones, whole house intelligence, etc. OPPO also started with TV to lay out smart home products, and made rapid progress.

Visible,In recent years, the "involution" of the mobile phone industry has been completely not limited to the mobile phone itself, but in ecology.

Today’s mobile phone camp, the two brands of Apple and Huawei, which are firmly stuck in the high-end market, have their own operating system, and at the same time, they have established the "Apple Family Bucket" and "Huawei Family Bucket" with exclusive applications, services and products.

In a practical sense, the self-developed operating system can not only promote the cause of the Internet of Things, but also help optimize the brand image and win the high-end market. At the same time, through the self-developed operating system to reduce costs and increase efficiency, we will build a moat of technology and services, get rid of dependence on Android, and reduce all aspects of research and development costs and the risk of "stuck neck" sanctions.

Before Xiaomi, Huawei’s HarmonyOS system and Apple’s iOS were worthy of reference. For example, Huawei’s unified naming of "HarmonyOS" made Huawei’s entire ecosystem have a higher degree of recognition, and the self-developed ecosystem extended more exclusive applications, services and products, which not only improved users’ stickiness, but also boosted shipments of other product lines.

Nowadays, the involution of mobile phone manufacturers seems to be concentrated in the operating system, and they all hope to build their own smart terminal "family bucket". The competition faced by Xiaomi is still not small.

In addition, from the perspective of ecological chain, Xiaomi has established a wealth of products and accumulated a huge user base, but in a short time, Xiaomi still can’t get rid of Android.

If you don’t rely on Android AOSP, most applications on Xiaomi devices need to be redone according to your own development requirements, which is unrealistic at present. Even HarmonyOS system has gone through many iterations to achieve independence.

Therefore, Xiaomi can’t pose a direct threat to iOS, Android, HarmonyOS and other ecosystems in the short term just by developing its own operating system.

Whether Xiaomi’s operating system can finally win in the market competition depends on the effect of core functions and experience, which will have to be announced by Lei Jun at the press conference on October 27th.

With the car landing in the Internet of Everything, a differentiated ecosystem in the future may become the core competitiveness of mobile phone manufacturers to strive for cooperation with car companies. butXiaomi’s car-making business, which has attracted much attention for a long time, has gradually become a key link in Xiaomi’s "people and cars" ecology.

In 2021, seeing that the growth of the entire mobile phone market is about to peak, Lei Jun decisively chose to cross the border to build a car. "Smart cars are the current outlet and an indispensable part of the smart ecology in the future. Together with personal mobile devices and home environment, they form a complete smart life scene."

On March 30 of that year, Xiaomi announced that it had officially entered the field of smart electric vehicles. The initial investment is 10 billion yuan, and it is estimated that the investment will be 10 billion dollars in the next 10 years. Lei Jun said, "This is the last major entrepreneurial project in my life. I am willing to put all my reputation in life and personally lead the team to fight for Xiaomi Automobile. "

Two years after it was put into production, it was recently reported that Beijing Yizhuang Xiaomi Automobile Factory had started construction this year, and mass production was imminent. On October 13th, Guo Ming Fufa, an analyst of Tianfeng International Securities, said that the first Xiaomi car is expected to be sold in 2024, with an estimated shipment of 50,000-60,000 units. The key selling points are autonomous driving, software ecology and 800V fast charging and power configuration, and the estimated price is less than 300,000 yuan.

In addition, according to market rumors, Xiaomi’s new car will adopt the 澎湃 OS system, and will be equipped with Qualcomm’s latest flagship chip and wireless charging technology; At the same time, it also supports 800V high-voltage fast charging, charging for 10 minutes and battery life of 300 kilometers.

In terms of autonomous driving, Lei Jun once said that Xiaomi Automobile will enter the first camp of the industry in 2024. Therefore, Xiaomi has formulated the strategy of full-stack self-research, and the automobile R&D team has expanded to 2,300 people in 2022, and has applied for 956 patents as of October 18.

From the perspective of supply chain,The mass production of Xiaomi automobile in 2024 may be just a good time, that is, just avoiding the bottleneck period of the industry, sitting on the sidelines when the major car companies are rolled up and flying, and entering the market when the industry completes the reshuffle.

However, with the popularization of new energy vehicles, the domestic competition market for new energy vehicles has become a red sea. BYD, Ideality and Huawei have occupied the dominant market position, and Tesla, which continues to reduce costs, has great momentum to fight the price war to the end, while Weimar and other automobile manufacturers, which were in the early days, have even ended up in bankruptcy.

Compared with Lei Jun’s announcement to build a car, the retail sales of new energy vehicles in China accounted for only 8.49%, and the market of new energy vehicles is growing and the competition is becoming increasingly fierce. According to the data of China Automobile Association, from January to September 2023, the production and sales of new energy vehicles were 6.313 million and 6.278 million respectively, up by 33.7% and 37.5% respectively, and the market share reached 29.8%.

In such a cruel and saturated market,The most likely way for Xiaomi to succeed is to rely on Xiaomi’s brand awareness and integrate the upstream and downstream of the industrial chain to reduce costs and dislocation competition as much as possible.

Since the official announcement of the car, Xiaomi has invested in the upstream and downstream of the industrial chain in the name of Xiaomi Zhizao Fund, Xiaomi Production and Investment Fund, Shunwei Capital and Xiaomi Private Equity Fund Management, and almost invested in the upstream and downstream of the new energy automobile industry chain.

Through investment, we can establish deeper links with enterprises in the upstream and downstream of the automobile supply chain, which is surprisingly consistent with Xiaomi’s logic of making mobile phones in the past.

Making good use of its own resources in supply chain integration, 6.5 billion loT equipment worldwide, 600 million monthly MIUI users, and tens of thousands of retail stores across the country may be the key to Xiaomi Automobile’s latecomers.

reference data

• Titanium media "MIUI or curtain call, Xiaomi tells the story again"
• Zinc Finance "Domestic mobile phones get together and develop their own systems, and it has become a trend to fight against Android"
• Radar finance "MIUI retired, 澎湃 OS" upper position ",Xiaomi should take the road of Huawei? 》
• Interesting business "Xiaomi makes a car: can the" price butcher "still wield a knife? 》