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Over the years, the battle for the entrance to smart home has never stopped. Some people say that smart TV is the entrance to smart home, some say that smart speakers are the entrance to smart home, and some say that smart locks are the entrance to smart home...
But no matter how much they compete, smart locks are at least the physical entrance to smart homes, and they are a high-frequency use smart home product that is related to the safety of users' lives and property. In addition, the penetration rate of smart locks in China is very low, and there is huge room for future growth, so it has attracted giants from various industries such as home appliances, security, IT, and communications to rush in, all wanting to get a share of the smart lock market.
According to data from the National Lock Information Center, there are currently more than 3,500 brands involved in the production and sales of smart locks in the country, which shows that everyone is very optimistic about the future market of the smart lock industry. However, at present, the market demand is far lower than the output of the entire industry, which feels a bit like there are too many people and too little porridge.
Therefore, malicious low-price competition has become a lifeline for many companies. At present, there are many smart locks with factory prices between 99 and 200 yuan, and there are also many with retail prices of 200 to 300 yuan. A manufacturer revealed that for a smart lock with a factory price of 199 yuan, he can still make at least a dozen yuan in profit, and the purpose is to make small profits but quick turnover.
On some e-commerce platforms, there are also many smart locks priced at 200 to 300 yuan. The low price means no after-sales service, and the installation is left to the user, either by himself or by a locksmith or installer. Once the smart lock fails, the merchant will pass the blame to the installer, saying that the smart lock has problems with the installation and cannot work properly because it was not installed properly, which has nothing to do with product quality.
It can be seen that because the profit margin of cheap smart locks is low, merchants do not want to spend money on after-sales service. A smart lock with a retail price of 300 yuan does not make much money, so merchants will not spend money on after-sales service. However, it is not good for smart locks to have problems all the time, so some merchants have come up with a good solution, which is to register several brands. If one brand becomes unpopular, they will immediately switch to another one and continue to sell it. As long as they can make money, they don’t care about the rights of consumers.
It can be said that China's current smart lock industry has entered the vortex of "price war", especially some small brands, small enterprises, and small workshops, which are more happy to fight price wars, because they have no other advantages except price.
Another example is malicious plagiarism. It is very difficult for companies to truly innovate and create something original. They need to invest from the appearance design. Just the appearance design alone costs about 20,000 to 30,000 yuan, and the better ones cost at least 100,000 yuan. Therefore, originality requires financial costs, not to mention structural and functional innovations. In addition, mold opening, small batch testing, and testing require a long time. For some small companies, they are unwilling to pay such time costs.
Therefore, many companies that are only looking to make quick money or have a one-shot mentality have no long-term development considerations or plans. As long as there is money to be made, they will come in, and if they can't make money, they will choose to leave. Therefore, they are unwilling to spend huge amounts of money to design and develop an original smart lock product of their own. For them, imitating and plagiarizing with a tape measure not only saves a lot of costs, but also saves a lot of time. At least it saves the cost of research and development, design, and the salary of research and development personnel;
In terms of time, it takes at least five or six months for the original manufacturer to develop a qualified smart lock product. Small businesses that copycat and imitate just to make a quick buck can launch a new product in a month at most, and the price is lower than that of the original manufacturer, which gives them a price advantage. Therefore, this not only infringes on the original manufacturer's patent rights, copyrights and other legal rights, but also disrupts the market order.
Why is it that plagiarism and infringement are so rampant in China? Because the cost of breaking the law is too low for the plagiarists, so they can plagiarize and infringe without restraint; while for the original manufacturers, the cost of defending their rights is too high, and it takes time to collect evidence. The entire process of defending rights is a long process, so most manufacturers have no choice but to turn a blind eye.
In addition, although it is said to be copied or imitated, as long as some changes are made, it is difficult to determine whether it is infringement. Therefore, although many original enterprises hate this kind of plagiarism, they can't do anything about it.
Against this background, an industry phenomenon has emerged: in order to get rid of the dilemma of single products, three or four small companies will unite to see whose products are good-looking and selling well in the market, and then copy them. One company pays for the mold of one product. If there are four companies, it is equivalent to making molds for four products. Then these four companies share these four sets of molds. In the end, each of these companies is equivalent to having four products.
From this small example, we can see how serious the phenomenon of plagiarism, imitation and homogenization is in the smart lock industry. In fact, the most terrible thing is not the act of plagiarism and imitation, but the fact that these companies only copy the appearance of others, but not the essence of others' products, so the copied products are neither fish nor fowl, and even more terrible is that the stability and quality of the products cannot be guaranteed, which damages the interests of consumers and overdraws the credit of the industry.
Now the question is, have smart locks really entered the 100-yuan era? Do smart locks that cost 200-300 yuan really meet expectations in terms of stability, quality, and security? Do low-priced smart locks really win the trust of users? In fact, homogeneity and price wars can easily leave users with the following impression: Why do two smart locks that look similar sell for one or two thousand yuan, or even several thousand yuan, while others only sell for 200-300 yuan? This misleads many users who are unaware of the truth.
In fact, whether it is a price war or plagiarism, it is not a good thing for a company.
First of all, for the enterprise itself, malicious low-price competition or plagiarism and imitation are of no benefit. After working hard for a year, you find that your profit is very thin, even lower than that of cabbage, and most importantly, you are labeled as "plagiarism".
Secondly, for peers, malicious low-price competition and plagiarism overdraw the credit of the entire industry. Copied smart locks or low-priced smart locks will sacrifice quality, thus bringing great inconvenience and security risks to users, thus overdrawing the credit of the entire industry and causing users to lose trust in the smart lock industry.
In fact, many areas in China started out by borrowing and imitating. For example, high-speed rail, which is now a national business card, initially went from technology introduction to digestion, and then to independent innovation. Now some of its indicators have even surpassed those of developed countries and regions such as Europe and the United States.
In the smart lock industry, starting from hotel locks in the 1990s and then to home smart locks, many Chinese smart lock companies also started by imitating and learning from Korean products. However, many companies digested the latest technology through learning and imitating, and then through independent innovation, some companies are no less than Korean brands in terms of quality, function, innovation, etc., and even surpass Korean brands.
But then again, if a company wants to develop in the long run, gain a foothold in the market for a long time, and always be invincible, plagiarism is definitely not a long-term solution. Only by insisting on independent innovation, insisting on self-characteristics, and improving product quality and service can it be recognized by the market and users. And with the upgrading of consumption and the improvement of people's living standards, consumers will become more and more rational. After all, they also have a scale in their hearts. A smart lock is sold at a bargain price, which is cheaper than a mechanical lock. I believe no one will joke about the safety of their own life and property.
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