Does every advertisement you come across make mobile phones cheaper to sell?

Some time ago, Tony attended an offline event in Beijing hosted by a foreign mobile phone manufacturer, which is the brand Nothing that has been very creative in the back shell design and expansion accessories of mobile phones.

I personally like this mobile phone manufacturer very much, but unfortunately, their mobile phone products have never had a Chinese mainland version...

Obviously, someone at the event had the same thought as me, because that person directly asked Nothing a question: "Will you launch a Chinese mainland version in the future?"

Nothing's response was also quite interesting. "In the profit structure of domestic mobile phone manufacturers, Internet services account for a large proportion. Currently, Nothing doesn't have many Internet services, and since Nothing doesn't plan to adjust its business model for the time being, it won't consider officially selling mobile phones in the Chinese mainland in the short term."

Only earphone products are available for sale in Nothing's official JD.com store.

Does this sound a bit confusing? It doesn't matter if you don't understand. Tony will translate it into more straightforward language for everyone -

Currently, the prices of domestic mobile phone manufacturers are extremely competitive. Selling mobile phones themselves doesn't make much profit. To survive, manufacturers have to find other ways, such as pre - installing apps on mobile phones, implanting advertisements in the system, and exploring paid membership services.

Indeed, domestic mobile phones are very affordable. They are sold at half or even one - third of the price of Apple and Samsung phones. At the same time, the battery capacity of mobile phones is approaching 8000mAh, and features like hundred - watt fast charging, eye - protecting screens, and periscope telephoto lenses have long been popular. With such intense competition, it's inevitable that manufacturers can't make much money...

But we all understand the principle that there's no such thing as a free lunch. The money that manufacturers lose on hardware, they will try to earn back from consumers. While domestic consumers can get "more for less" when buying mobile phones, what else are we forced to accept?

To put it simply, the Chinese mainland versions of mobile phones are used to stuffing app jump - in links and invisible advertisements in the corners of the system, making it difficult for you to have a "plug - and - play" experience -

For example, each manufacturer provides apps like "lock screen wallpaper" in the system. Every time you slide the screen, the lock screen wallpaper will change. On the surface, it's a beautification tool that keeps your phone fresh, but in fact, there's a "soft advertisement" inserted every few lock screen wallpapers.

Some manufacturers' systems even enable apps like "lock screen wallpaper" by default when the phone is shipped. But if users aren't careful, they may accidentally click on the link in the corner of the wallpaper and be directly redirected to the corresponding article or short video. Even flagship phones that cost six or seven thousand yuan from various manufacturers aren't spared, and this situation is quite common...

Or, in the drop - down search box on the system desktop, the search box on the negative first screen, as well as the desktop widgets and cards on the negative first screen, there will basically be the latest hot news or system - recommended apps, aiming for "quantity over quality"...

The most excessive one is actually the system - built - in weather app. Not only can you see advertisements in it, but you can even casually browse Toutiao and watch short videos.

Moreover, in some mobile phone manufacturers' systems, the information flow in the weather app can't be turned off at all...

Let's put it this way. Every time Tony goes home on vacation, he has to "fix" the mobile phone systems of the elderly at home. Or when he gets a new phone, he has to spend at least half an hour in the system settings to turn off system advertisements and push notifications -

Because the off - switches for many advertisements are very hidden, buried in all kinds of convoluted options. And sometimes you also have to weigh which functions are really useful and which are unnecessary...

The impression that domestic mobile phone systems give Tony is that while this approach does make it convenient for you to access information and provides customized services, it also seems to be chasing the daily active user KPI, trying to increase your phone usage time as much as possible.

It's no joke. Tony checked the privacy policies of various mobile phone manufacturers, and it's very likely that manufacturers share your app stay time and behavior data with third - party service providers to achieve more targeted advertising.

In other words, you can regard the domestic system ecosystem as a product of targeted marketing and data monetization...

So now you know why there are so many app jump - in links and advertisement display slots in the system? There's bound to be one that you'll click on by accident. The final number of advertisement clicks and displays can all bring indirect benefits to manufacturers.

Besides these hard - to - notice invisible advertisements, the more common "hard advertisements" for users are probably third - party apps pre - installed at the factory, such as Baidu, Himalaya, and Dianping.

According to a previous report by 36Kr, in fact, for each app pre - installed in the system, manufacturers can charge a "platform fee" ranging from 0.8 yuan to 5 yuan. And the number of pre - installed apps actually depends entirely on the manufacturers' conscience.

But for some picky users like Tony, more than half of the third - party apps pre - installed by manufacturers need to be uninstalled. Everyone actually hopes to have a clean and simple system desktop after turning on the phone.

Foreign mobile phones, basically, apart from Google's first - party suite and necessary tool software, won't "smuggle" other apps into the system. Just in terms of pre - installed apps, you still need to adapt to the Chinese mainland versions for the time being.

Besides inserting soft advertisements and implants in the system, domestic manufacturers have also come up with other ways in software to subsidize hardware.

For example, the game centers in mobile phones will cooperate with game manufacturers to set up separate channel servers for games. For instance, there are "Xiaomi servers" and "Huawei servers" for games like Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail. Mobile phone manufacturers participate in the profit - sharing of game top - ups to make money. The revenue - sharing ratio of some mobile phone manufacturers can even be as high as 50%, which is much higher than the 30% "Apple tax"...

Moreover, for users, the more troublesome part is that once players choose the channel server, they are basically locked to the corresponding mobile phone brand. Changing the phone means transferring the account and changing the server, which is very troublesome. Not to mention the many complaints from users about the different treatment between channel servers and official servers.

So, when using a Chinese mainland version of a mobile phone to play games, users also need to think carefully about whether to choose the "channel server". Otherwise, they may happily "spend money" in the game, only to find that all their real - money spending over the years has gone to waste...

Not only do you need to be careful when playing games, but even in the "wallet" app used to bind access cards and pay for public transportation, there are actually entrances for credit and financial services, and they can't be hidden at all. You may accidentally click on them. This can be regarded as one of the "inventions" of the Chinese mainland version of the system...

The reason why foreign users don't have such troubles is that, on the one hand, mobile phones themselves are more expensive, and part of the price is to ensure hardware profit. On the other hand, regulations in regions like the EU have strict rules regarding pre - installed apps. This has led to the difference in the system ecosystem between Chinese mainland versions and international versions.

To put it bluntly, in China, you can indeed buy more affordable and feature - rich mobile phones, which is really a good thing for consumers. But the price is that you have to spend some time adjusting the system to make it more user - friendly...

Logically, the story could end here -

Anyway, from the consumers' perspective, everyone always has only one demand, which is to buy affordable and high - quality mobile phone products.

But for mobile phone manufacturers, there are many more things to consider.

The domestic mobile phone market is becoming increasingly competitive. Each manufacturer can only try to cut costs and make up for the profit from other businesses. This has led to a different business model for domestic mobile phones compared to foreign ones.

Is this model healthy and sustainable? It's really hard to say.

However, although we can understand mobile phone manufacturers in this regard, Tony still thinks that manufacturers should make some improvements in terms of user experience.

For example, the management of the system's default app store -

Among the top - ranked apps in the search results, there are quite a few "fake" apps that can easily deceive users. Sometimes, users have to scroll down several pages to find the app they really want to download. If you don't pay attention to the download volume of the app to distinguish, you may accidentally use a pirated app.

Finally, Tony wants to say that as enterprises, shouldn't mobile phone manufacturers also take on some social responsibilities regarding users' troubles with mobile phone usage and mobile phone advertisements?

Even if there isn't a function like "one - click purification" that allows consumers to easily clean up pre - installed apps and turn off system advertisements, at least they should do less of this kind of annoying stuff...

Source of pictures and materials:

Nothing, Baidu Tieba

This article is from the WeChat official account "Cha Ping Hardware Department". Author: Levi. Editors: Miro, Guo Tiao, and Mian Xian. It is published by 36Kr with authorization.