Dong Mingzhu is undoubtedly one of the most influential female entrepreneurs in China. Under her leadership, Gree has grown from a small air-conditioning factory with an annual output of less than 20,000 units to a home appliance giant worth hundreds of billions. . When it comes to Dong Mingzhu’s investment failure, Gree Mobile Phone and Yinlong New Energy cannot be avoided.
Recently, Dong Mingzhu, chairman of Gree Electric Appliances (000651.SZ), said in "Interview with Yang Lan" that Gree has 90,000 employees and must not make mistakes in its work. If you are not a god, you will definitely have deviations in your work, but you must correct them in time. The manufacturing industry must use numbers to speak, and numbers can best explain the problem.
Dong Mingzhu emphasized that he did not miss any general decisions, but his execution ability was not enough during the execution process. If employees dare not point out their own problems, it means they have no sense of responsibility.
Dong Mingzhu said for example that Gree Mobile was not wrong. If Gree chose to be a mobile phone company and collapsed, it would be a decision-making mistake, but Gree did not. It has been 6 years since Gree released its first smartphone. During this period, Gree has successively launched a number of mobile phone products, but they have always been tepid.
In addition, Internet giants such as Huawei, Xiaomi, and Baidu are building cars one after another, and Skyworth Group and Midea Group, both home appliance giants, have also joined the fray. At this time, Dong Mingzhu’s lessons from investing in Yinlong New Energy were also repeatedly mentioned.
What is the status of these two Dong Mingzhu decision-making projects now?
Making Gree mobile phones
The smart equipment sector only accounts for 0.47 of the total revenue
In 2015, during the recording of the Shenzhen Satellite TV financial program "Bai Lao Hui", we talked about When buying Lei Jun's Xiaomi mobile phone, Dong Mingzhu suddenly said: "I can make a mobile phone every minute, it's so easy" and "I will definitely surpass Xiaomi in making mobile phones."
No one expected that two months later, at the "Breakthrough Growth of Traditional Enterprises" lecture hall at Sun Yat-sen University, Dong Mingzhu suddenly announced during the interactive exchange at the end of the speech that Gree mobile phones had been made. , "I'm already using it".
Soon, Gree’s first-generation mobile phone passed official registration and appeared on the website of the Telecommunications Equipment Certification Center of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. The appearance is quite satisfactory, the color is black at the front and white at the back. The "GREE" logo is printed on the back shell. The dimensions are 139 70 8.8mm and the weight is 118 grams.
In terms of configuration, it uses a 5.0-inch, 720P screen (TFT technology), equipped with a 1.2GHz Qualcomm quad-core processor, 1GB memory and 8GB body storage (up to 32GB expansion is supported), and the camera combination is 2 million pixels. It has a 5-megapixel rear camera and runs Android 4.4.4 system.
After that, Gree launched a number of mobile phones one after another, but the configurations basically lagged behind mainstream mobile phone manufacturers such as Huami VO, and the prices were not cheap. Netizens complained about "high price but low configuration". In addition, Gree Mobile has never held a press conference. Instead, it relies on Dong Mingzhu’s voice for publicity, and there is little layout in channels.
In 2016, the second generation Gree mobile phone was released, equipped with the Snapdragon 820 processor. The configuration was improved compared to the first generation, but the price was as high as 3,599 yuan; in 2017, the Gree Color World mobile phone was unveiled, still equipped with the Snapdragon 820 processor. 820 processor, priced at 3,200 yuan; in 2019, the third generation of Gree mobile phones was released, using the Snapdragon 821 processor, which had lagged behind for a long time, and the price was still as high as 3,600 yuan.
The sales volume of Gree mobile phones has always been a mystery. Initially, Dong Mingzhu said that Gree mobile phones could sell 100 million units, but she also claimed that Gree mobile phones would not be sold on the market. Gree mobile phones were also exposed as forcing employees and dealers to buy them. In response to this, Gree Electric responded on its official Weibo saying that this was false news.
Zhuhai Gree Mobile Phone Customer Service Center Picture according to Gree Mobile Phone Official Account
In December 2020, Gree’s first 5G mobile phone was launched, and the brand was changed from Gree Mobile Phone to Dasong Mobile Phone.
Equipped with SA & NSA dual-mode 5G chips, equipped with Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G processor, 5000mAh large-capacity battery, priced from 2,699 yuan. The Gree Mall page also highlights the "smart interconnection" function of Dasong 5G mobile phones.
Although this Dasong mobile phone has been greatly improved in terms of configuration and performance, compared with competing products, sales are still dismal.
The 2020 annual report shows that Gree Electric’s smart equipment segment revenue only accounts for 0.47 of total revenue.
Questions and concerns about Gree mobile phones on the Internet have never stopped. But Dong Mingzhu insisted that Gree mobile phones must be made and must be made. She pointed out that in the future, smart homes will not be able to be completely controlled without a mobile phone.
On March 27, Gree Electric stated on the investor interactive platform that the field of communication equipment, mainly Internet of Things equipment, mobile phones, chips, big data, etc., is one of the four major industrial sectors that the company is focusing on developing. As an important connection center for the Internet of Everything, mobile phones are one of the five control entrances of "Gree Zero Carbon Health Home". The company attaches great importance to the independent control of core technologies and strives to build the Gree smart home ecosystem.
It is worth mentioning that Gree Electric has previously disclosed a design patent for folding screen equipment, titled "Foldable Screen and Folding Screen Mobile Terminal". Maybe the time for Gree to launch a folding screen mobile phone will come soon.
Invest in Yinlong New Energy
The company is stuck in the quagmire of payment arrears, declining sales, and management problems
In 2019, Dong Mingzhu was interviewed on the CCTV News Channel program When asked about the investment in Yinlong Automobile, the host asked her what she thought: "The facts during this period prove that the decision of the board of directors (rejecting the acquisition of Yinlong) is correct."
Dong Mingzhu replied that for Gree’s longer-term development, it must enter the automotive field. Gree has not been recognized in the automotive air-conditioning business for many years, but Yinlong has provided a platform for automotive air-conditioning. Through this platform, the door of Gree automotive air-conditioning has been opened. This is the real benefit.
Public information shows that Yinlong New Energy Co., Ltd. was established in 2009 and owns two major brands: Guangtong Automobile and Aoti Energy Storage. In 2010, Yinlong spent US$57 million (approximately RMB 400 million) to acquire shares of American Titanium 53.3, thus gaining the technical strength to build nano-lithium titanate batteries.
Yinlong battery products according to the official website
It was this core technology that attracted Dong Mingzhu, who was looking for new opportunities, and invested in Zhuhai Yinlong at all costs.
In 2016, Dong Mingzhu announced that Gree Electric was preparing to acquire the equity of Zhuhai Yinlong 100 for 13 billion yuan, but it was strongly opposed by the board of directors and ultimately failed.
In December 2016, Dalian Wanda Group Co., Ltd., CIMC Group, Jiangsu Jingdong Bangneng Investment Management Co., Ltd., Beijing Yanzhao Huijin International Investment Co., Ltd. and Dong Mingzhu personally entered into a dispute with Zhuhai Yinlongxin Energy Co., Ltd. signed a capital increase agreement, and *** simultaneously increased its capital by 3 billion and obtained 22,388 shares of Zhuhai Yinlong.
Tianyancha APP shows that Dong Mingzhu’s shareholding in Yinlong reached 17.46, making him the second largest shareholder.
In the next two years, Yinlong ushered in glory. In 2017, Yinlong New Energy Buses ranked fourth in the country with annual sales of 6,626 units. In 2018, it ranked third behind Yutong and BYD with 7,278 units.
However, the success of the battery is also the failure of the battery. Lithium titanate battery technology has low energy density and high cost. The current mainstream battery development routes are ternary lithium batteries and lithium iron phosphate batteries.
In 2019, Yinlong's sales fell off a cliff. The annual sales volume was only 2,708 units, a year-on-year decrease of 62.76, ranking tenth in the new energy bus sales list. The "Yinlong Effie" new energy MPV sells for as high as 430,000 yuan, and sales are dismal.
Not only is the battery technology route a problem, Yinlong’s management is also holding back.
At the beginning of 2018, it was revealed that Yinlong owed more than 1 billion yuan in payments to many suppliers; in May, Yinlong New Energy’s listing guidance was terminated, and the Wu’an factory in Hebei Province reduced production; in July, the Nanjing Industrial Park It was once sealed by the court; in November, major shareholder Yinlong Group, Yinlong Group’s actual shareholder Wei Yincang, and former executive Sun Guohua were suspected of embezzling more than 1 billion yuan in company interests.
Yinlong has also experienced 9 equity auctions, with only 3 transactions completed. The average equity price fell from the initial 35 yuan per share to 27 yuan.
The China Enforcement Information Disclosure Network shows that Yinlong New Energy has information on two persons subject to execution, and the total amount of the execution subject exceeds 50 million yuan.
However, Dong Mingzhu did not give up building cars.
Yinlong's management "Gree"; adding ternary lithium batteries and lithium iron phosphate batteries; launching a new generation of hydrogen fuel cell buses; delivering buses and municipal sanitation vehicles; Yinlong and SAIC Iveco Hongyan Commercial Vehicles signed a cooperation agreement for 2,000 lithium titanate pure electric heavy-duty trucks...
Gree also participated in FF (Faraday Future) founded by Jia Yueting; it recently disclosed a project called "an iron core punching, Stator core, motor and new energy vehicle" patent.
During the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Meeting 2021, in response to the question "whether to build a car", Dong Mingzhu said that he should not blindly follow the trend. Gree invested in Yinlong in 2017 and actually looked in this direction. , New energy is the future development direction, but whether new energy includes technical reserves, usage scenarios, and needs is a gradual process.
Whether Dong Mingzhu’s judgment is correct or not remains to be tested by time.
Editor-in-Chief Ren Zhijiang Editor Deng Lingyao
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