Launched self-developed ISP chips to deeply cultivate the imaging track, and vivo’s innovative methodology has become the focus

In Xiaolei’s impression, in the past, the vivo X series mobile phones were always displayed with labels such as “trend” and “fashion”. Although it is said that the popular functions on the market, such as taking pictures and charging, have a certain consideration, but relatively speaking, the main selling point Still in the “look”.

However, starting with the vivo X50 series of phones, things have changed. Whether it is the change in the design of the rear camera module, or the introduction of technologies such as “micro gimbal” and custom CMOS, it indicates that the vivo X series mobile phones are officially transformed into “image flagships”. With the vivo X60 generation of mobile phones, the vivo X series has become a well-deserved “image flagship” product at this stage, and its luxurious hardware configuration (equipped with a super-bottom GN1 sensor, a new generation of micro-cloud platform anti-shake technology, etc.) has won consumers’ attention. Unanimously affirmed, the praise rate on the Jingdong e-commerce platform exceeds 95%, and most of the comments mention the affirmation of its imaging ability.

The vivo X series mobile phones have always been the “main force” in the vivo array, and the hot sale of the vivo X series has also helped vivo to reach the top in China to a certain extent. According to data provided by IDC, Counterpoint and other statistical agencies, vivo has become the No. 1 mobile phone manufacturer in sales for two consecutive quarters in 2021, and maintains a lead of about 2% with the No. 2 mobile phone manufacturer.

Vivo’s ability to grow against the trend and become the first in the industry is composed of many factors, but Xiaolei believes that the core reason is the steady and gradual imaging strategy. On the one hand, the vivo X series has formed a differentiated competitive advantage and unique selling point with its excellent imaging capabilities, which makes consumers who are concerned about imaging capabilities “can’t stop”; on the other hand, iQOO brand products quickly fill the shortcomings under vivo’s imaging strategy , enhance the comprehensive competitiveness of products. Judging from the current results, vivo’s investment in imaging has achieved expected returns. In the future, vivo will continue to work hard and study imaging is also in line with common sense.

On August 27, vivo went a step further in the field of imaging, announcing that it will soon launch a self-developed imaging chip called “V1”. In addition, the new generation of imaging flagship vivo X70 series mobile phones will also debut in September, and it is also the first model of vivo V1 chip. The new generation of imaging flagship X70 series and V1 self-developed imaging chip, the launch of these two products will also push our expectations for the imaging performance of vivo mobile phones to a new height. What kind of height can the imaging capabilities of vivo products reach in the future?

The mystery of the “running” of vivo images

Up to 60, down to 20 (year-old), it is difficult for today’s consumers to ignore the importance of imaging capabilities when choosing a smartphone. All aspects of our daily life are related to mobile phone imaging. High-end gameplay is beneficial to mobile phone cameras for picture or video creation, while relatively low-end needs, such as video calls, recording information, etc., also require the support of mobile phone imaging systems.

Because of this, at this stage, most mobile phone manufacturers, including vivo, use improving imaging capabilities as the main means to enhance the attractiveness of their products. For example, with ultra-wide-angle/ultra-telephoto lenses, etc., how did vivo choose specific technical solutions?

For product and technological innovation, vivo has its own methodology. According to Hu Boshan, executive vice president and chief operating officer of vivo, there is an “iron triangle” concept within vivo to plan products and implement technology within 12-36 months. Vivo’s “Product Iron Triangle” model is mainly composed of three parts: product planning, technical planning and technical pre-research. It mainly finds answers by deconstructing problems.

Vivo’s “product iron triangle” is strictly a “methodology” that allows product teams to better understand user needs and find solutions for them. First, through the handshake of brand strategy and product strategy, the vivo product team can accurately find the product positioning and characteristics, and establish a general model of the product; then through the handshake of product planning and technical plan, establish the technology list in the next 36 months, Then, according to the specific situation of the relevant technology, we will find ways to implement the technology. If you need investment, you need to invest, and if you need pre-research, you need to pre-research.

Xiaolei believes that the biggest advantage of vivo’s product methodology is that the technology they develop is always closely related to consumer needs, and there will not be too much “useless work”, which will lead to cost waste. Hu Baishan has repeatedly emphasized the importance of insight into consumer needs, which may be a matter of experience. Consumer needs are always changing. Although companies must persist in the long-term, they also need to respond to short-term changes in demand. For example, imaging (camera function) is a long track that needs to be adhered to for a long time, but the current trend is that the demand for video shooting is increasing, so mobile phone manufacturers also need to follow up quickly and introduce some functions that meet the needs of video recording.

vivo’s “product iron triangle” model is suitable for short-term (up to 12 to 36 months) product planning. As for how to define products after 36 months and what technologies to develop, it goes beyond the conventional “consumer demand” level , because after three years, consumers will have new demands, no one knows.

To this end, vivo has set up institutional facilities such as the Central Research Institute and the Global R&D Center to consider some changes and trends in the industry and even the world from a macro level. The central research institute of vivo is also known as “vivo’s technology beacon”. It is mainly responsible for the attention and research of domestic and foreign technology evolution trends, research on products under future technology scenarios, platform-level capacity building, etc., which can be said to determine to a certain extent. The upper limit of vivo’s future development.

Through the strategic guidance of “one long, one short” and “one far and one near”, we have also roughly figured out vivo’s innovation methodology. A major feature of vivo’s innovation methodology is that it is very pragmatic. They have a clear distinction between different technologies, which technologies are real and valuable to consumers, and which are retreats and have little value in a short period of time. Considering the needs, proceed to deploy the technology.

For technologies/products like the vivo V1 chip, it is believed that there is also a process for its birth: first, the general direction is established through the technology beacon, and then according to the needs of users, the specific technical parameters, uses and scenarios of the chip are carried out through the “Product Iron Triangle” methodology. definition, and finally realize it through various means. From the perspective of consumers, the technologies launched by vivo using this methodology as a guide must have a stronger “people-friendly”. After all, the premise of the birth of these technologies is that “consumers have needs”.

vivo’s imaging strength: Accumulation

Now that we talk about the imaging capabilities of smartphones, someone will inevitably mention vivo’s X series. Without him, with excellent picture quality, careful adjustment, excellent anti-shake performance and the blessing of Zeiss, vivo X series mobile phones can take convincing proofs, and the comprehensive experience is also difficult to fault. But when various manufacturers are working hard on imaging, why can vivo stand out and get more recognition? Xiaolei believes that these are the main reasons.

First, it is important to find the track and stick to it for a long time. Hu Boshan mentioned vivo’s “track” concept in the interview. vivo divides technical tracks into two categories, namely “long-term tracks” and “short-term tracks”, while images are among the long-term tracks. . Why does vivo think that imaging capability is a track that requires long-term persistence? Hu Baishan said that, first of all, the imaging capability has the possibility of continuous iteration and optimization, and secondly, there is a strong demand from consumers.

Regarding the camera tradition of vivo mobile phones, Xiaolei gives an example: vivo Xshot. Released in 2014, the vivo Xshot had almost the strongest camera hardware at the time, with a 13-megapixel rear main camera, a large aperture of F1.8, and dual color temperature and dual LED fill lights, making the vivo Xshot a popular camera in 2014. The most talked about camera phone.

It is not difficult to see that the study of images is not an overnight thing for vivo, but the accumulation and exploration over many years to achieve today’s achievements. In addition, vivo also listed the three major projects of performance, design and system as a long track. Like images, they are also related to the comprehensive experience of mobile phones. They are one of the focuses of vivo’s efforts, and we can see vivo mobile phones in these four Continuous progress on the long track has finally led to the user reputation it has today.

Second, the key to finding the right track is to gain insight into users. Different mobile phone manufacturers have their own tracks, but there are also cases where manufacturers find their tracks turn into dead ends. Some tracks are clear roads, while others are dead ends. The root cause of this difference is consumer insight.

Compared with its competitors, it has to be said that vivo’s user insights are indeed first-hand. For example, when mobile phone peers are doing ultra-long-distance zoom, ultra-high pixel and other functions, vivo has come up with the “micro-cloud platform” anti-shake solution, bringing the “five-axis anti-shake” function on professional cameras to on a smartphone.

Smartphone anti-shake from scratch, from Electronic anti-shake to optical anti-shake, every improvement can greatly improve the user’s film output rate and confidence in taking pictures, and the arrival of micro-cloud platform technology not only makes static photos easier to use , The stability has been greatly improved, and it also allows the video shooting to have the guarantee of “not afraid of hand shake”, which is not comparable to the ultra-high pixel and ultra-long zoom functions at the experience level.

“Introducing corresponding functions according to user needs” is the third point. We rarely see “non-practical” camera functions on vivo mobile phones, because their function settings always fully take into account the usage scenarios of consumers.

In addition to the micro-gimbal technology mentioned above, cooperation with Zeiss and customized CMOS can improve the night shooting effect of vivo products, and the introduction of 50mm F2.0 standard lens can meet the public needs of smartphone photography, etc. Correspondence to user needs” is an intuitive example. Not only that, the V1 image self-developed chip just announced is also in response to user needs. One of the functional scenarios of this chip is night scene video. The V1 chip will be equipped with a more powerful image algorithm, under the premise of not consuming additional power. Help improve the quality of night scene video and reduce noise.

On the other hand, these technologies of vivo did not disappoint and basically met the expectations of consumers. In general, vivo mobile phones can perform in this way in terms of images, basically in the order of “insight into the demand” – “launching excellent technology” – “meeting the demand”. In addition, years of investment and research have given vivo its own insight advantage in the video track. The vivo that others have not seen will see it first, and the vivo that others have seen has done well, and the advantage will come out like this.

Lessons from market firsts

In the past two years, the smartphone market has been full of variables. The old king came to an end and the new king came to power, but you may not have expected that vivo would be the top player in the market. So, what are the things in vivo that are worth learning from peers? Xiao Lei briefly summarized a few points.

First, persistence after finding the right direction is very important. As Hu Baishan said, different mobile phone manufacturers have their own world views, and the focus of their products and the track are different. It is necessary to stick to their own track and be the top in the familiar field. The reality is that many mobile phone manufacturers do not have their own areas of expertise or their own advantages. Although products can always achieve “75 points for each item”, they rarely achieve 90 points for a certain function. Even 95 points cannot leave a clear label to the public.

But in fact, no matter whether it is design, performance, or image, as long as it is the top of the industry in a certain field, the product will naturally not worry about selling, and it will not worry about not being recognized by consumers. This kind of thinking is more suitable for use in the high-end market, because high-end consumers prefer products with individuality and characteristics, rather than mediocre “bucket machines”.

Second, the effect of actual experience should be done well. In our impression, vivo does not often publicize the parameters of its own products, but pays more attention to practical effects. In actual experience, vivo’s mobile phones rarely “roll over”, that is, the real experience and publicity are basically the same, and for most users, if the actual experience does not correspond to the product publicity, side effects are more likely to occur. The vivo brand has developed such a good brand loyalty so far, which also shows that the actual experience of the product is recognized by users.

Last but not least, any “achievement” cannot be achieved overnight. In the current smartphone circle, there are not many manufacturers who can sink their hearts to study and polish the technology. Many manufacturers want to be the first to launch new functions to “make a blockbuster”, regardless of the actual experience. However, when a technology is launched is also a strategy. No matter how powerful a technology is, it should be launched when it is mature, stable and has user demand. Only when it is matched with a “good timing” technology can it exert its full strength and be recognized by consumers.

Xiaolei feels that the development history of the imaging capabilities of vivo smartphones is also the epitome of the development of domestic smartphones. From imitation to innovation, from following to leading has become the mainstream phenomenon of domestic smartphones. Unconsciously, Chinese smartphones are becoming the global smart phone. The vane of mobile phone innovation.

However, compared with the top technology companies in the world, what domestic mobile phones lose is not technology, but methodological guidance, how to gain insight into consumer needs, how to create experience needs for consumers, etc. Some foreign technology companies have always been ahead of us. . However, from the perspective of the trend, the domestic smartphone industry is always moving forward, and good products can always be affirmed by consumers. It is more important to work hard to do well.

Editor丨Zhong Lilei

The Links:   MG200J2YS45   6MBI450U-120-02