錘子手機的情懷 賣的就是個性

HONG KONG — It looked like a classic tech product introduction: There was a room packed with fans, a huge screen lit with slick shots of smartphones, and an entrepreneur in dark clothes.

香港——乍一看，這是一場典型的科技產品推介會：現場粉絲雲集，一塊大屏幕上展示着炫目的智能手機圖片，還有一位穿着深色衣裝的創業者。

But while Apple’s Timothy D. Cook would most likely gush over the aesthetics of the new iPhone and Xiaomi’s founder, Lei Jun, would earnestly enumerate the number of cores in his latest phone’s processor, the man on stage, Luo Yonghao of the Chinese start-up Smartisan, warmed up the crowd with a comedy routine.

在這樣的場合下，蘋果(Apple)的蒂莫西·D·庫克(Timothy D. Cook)很可能會大談新iPhone的美學特徵，小米的創始人雷軍大概會熱情地介紹最新款手機的處理器有幾個內核。而台上的這名男子——中國創業公司錘子科技的羅永浩——則用講段子的方式讓現場活躍了起來。

Looking up at a slide displaying the specs of his company’s first phone, he read, “Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 quadcore processor,” and then said:

他看着幻燈片上對公司第一部手機配置的介紹，同時讀到，“高通驍龍801四核處理器，”然後説：

“As for the next few lines, frankly speaking, even though I’m the head of a cellphone company I don’t understand them.”

“下面寫了幾行字，坦率地講，雖然我是手機公司的老闆，我看不懂。”

A laugh rolled through the room.

現場爆發出一陣笑聲。

Mr. Luo, a former English teacher and well-known Chinese Internet personality, is an expert at getting attention. The product release last May was one of a series of presentations he has given over the last two years, part of a plan to build a name for his new company.

羅永浩曾做過英語老師，是中國的網絡名人，精通如何吸引眾人的關注。去年5月的這場產品發佈會是他在過去兩年主持的一系列推介活動之一，也是他的新公司的品牌宣傳計劃的一部分。

It has been working. A video of the event has more than seven million views on the Chinese video site Youku. Sales of the first batch of the company’s phones were constrained by supply chain hitches, but the company still sold nearly a quarter-million smartphones, said Li Jianye, a vice president with the company.

此舉效果頗佳。這次活動的錄像在中國的視頻網站優酷上被觀看了逾700萬次。錘子公司的副總裁李劍葉表示，第一批手機的銷售受到了供應鏈問題的影響，但仍然售出了近25萬部。

Mr. Luo’s success points to a shift in the Chinese consumer market. These days, younger Chinese consumers are looking for cool in smartphones. Rising to meet the demand are a new generation of Chinese start-ups like Mr. Luo’s that recognize they are selling an identity as much as a phone.

羅永浩的成功反映了中國消費市場的風雲變幻。如今，年輕的中國消費者想要酷炫的智能手機。包括羅永浩的公司在內的新一代的中國創業企業紛紛迎合這一需求。它們意識到，自己銷售的不光是手機，也是一種身份的認同感。

Emboldened by the staggering growth of the five-year-old phone maker Xiaomi, which in December closed a round of financing to make it worth $45 billion, these companies are taking innovation and style risks with low-cost phones to shake up the established order.

受到手機生產商小米的驚人增長的鼓舞，這些公司正在創新和風格方面進行大膽的嘗試，紛紛推出低成本的手機，希望能撼動手機行業的現有格局。小米公司創立於五年前，去年12月完成了新一輪融資後，估值高達450億美元（約合2800億元人民幣）。

Though no smaller companies can yet compare to Xiaomi, the rewards for following in its footsteps can be big. On Monday, the Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba announced a $590 million investment for a minority stake in Meizu. Once a maker of MP3 players, Meizu’s middle-range phones are popular with a demographic slightly older and more affluent than the millions loyal to Xiaomi. With the deal, Alibaba will be able to push its mobile operating system on more handsets.

儘管還沒有哪家規模不大的企業可以和小米比肩，但效仿它的回報堪稱十分可觀。週一，中國電商巨頭阿里巴巴宣佈向魅族投資5.9億美元，以獲得後者的少數股份。魅族曾經出產的是MP3。與小米上百萬的忠實粉絲相比，它的中端手機在年齡稍大、經濟狀況也更好的人羣中廣受歡迎。憑藉這筆交易，阿里巴巴將能把自己的移動操作系統推向更多的手機。

To compete with already established giants like Huawei and Lenovo, companies like Smartisan and Meizu use social media, the fame of their founders and just about any other Internet trick they can think of to build a name for themselves.

為了與華為和聯想等老牌巨頭競爭，錘子和魅族等手機公司利用社交媒體、創始人的名氣，以及他們能夠想到的其他任何的網絡招數，來為自己製造人氣。

“The big shift is the way they’re engaging their customers; all that social media interaction behind the scenes is what’s building a fierce fan loyalty,” said Bryan Ma, an IDC analyst.

“他們對用户的營銷方式發生了很大的變化；所有基於社交媒體的互動，真實的意圖是想贏得一批忠誠的粉絲用户，”國際數據公司(IDC)的分析師布萊恩·馬(Bryan Ma)説。

For Mr. Luo, who has 10.6 million followers on the Chinese social media site Weibo, every post is an advertisement, Mr. Li of Smartisan said in an interview. Emulating Xiaomi, Smartisan also takes comments from fans on official company forums and encourages them to discuss the company’s products.

錘子科技的李劍葉在接受採訪時表示，羅永浩在中國社交媒體新浪微博上擁有1060萬關注者，他的每一條發帖都是一次廣告。與小米一樣，錘子科技也會考慮粉絲在公司官方論壇上的評論，並鼓勵他們討論公司的產品。

These types of interactions are slowly creating a more personalized market.

這些互動正慢慢地營造出一個更加個性化的市場。

“In the old days, everyone wanted branded products and luxury goods,” said Ruby Lu, a partner at the venture capital firm DCM.

“過去，人人都想買品牌產品和奢侈品，”風險投資機構DCM的合夥人盧蓉(Ruby Lu)説。

“But people born later, in the ’80s and especially in the ’90s, have a new desire,” she said. “They want a product that defines them, that speaks to them. They want to reject the mainstream definition of who they are.”

“但是年輕人，80後尤其是90後，有了新的渴望，”她説。“他們想要一種能代表自己的產品，能被打動的產品。他們拒絕關於自己身份的主流定義。”

That in part is driving specialization, with different start-ups playing to different demographics and tastes.

這在一定程度上驅動了專門化的趨勢：不同的創業公司開始專門來滿足不同的羣體和口味。

One company, MFox, bills its smartphones as nearly indestructible and targets outdoor types. Yuandian, another small smartphone company, aims its products and marketing at people aged 23 to 25, even taking into account which features stand out when phone users are at nightclubs.

一家名為雲狐的公司就宣傳，自己出產的智能手機幾乎堅不可摧，為户外運動量身打造。另一家名為原點的小型智能手機公司的產品和營銷策略，則專門針對23到25歲的人羣，甚至考慮到了手機用户在夜店會需要哪些功能。

Smartisan, which features a hammer in its logo, does a lot to try to separate itself from the pack. The company hired Ammunition, a firm founded by Robert Brunner, former Apple director of industrial design, to design its phone. The phone’s software has a number of features that set it apart, including tilelike icons, a function that allows users to hide apps and a way to sort contacts by a variety of categories.

錘子科技的標識就是一把鐵錘。公司下了很大力氣，嘗試把自己同競爭者區分開開。它聘請了蘋果的前工業設計總監羅伯特·布倫納(Robert Brunner)創辦的公司Ammunition來設計手機。錘子的軟件有很多讓它有別於其他手機的特點，包括磁貼狀的圖標和一個允許用户隱藏應用的功能。此外，用户還可以對聯繫人進行多種分類。

Analysts say Smartisan’s software and hardware design at times outshines those of larger companies, but they also argue that Mr. Luo’s celebrity is equally important to the company’s success. Mr. Li of Smartisan said customers in part get behind the company because they look up to Mr. Luo as a sort of freethinker in China.

分析人士稱，錘子手機的軟件和硬件設計在有些方面甚至比大公司都更勝一籌，但他們也表示，羅永浩的名氣對公司的成功同等重要。錘子科技的李劍葉説，消費者之所以支持他們的公司，在一定程度上是因為尊敬羅永浩在中國能進行一定的自由思考。

“He tells students how cruel Chinese society can be because of the unfairness everywhere,” Mr. Li said. “He says you will face this when you grow up, but you want to keep your integrity and warm heart.”

“他告訴學生，中國社會可能會因為無處不在的不公平而變得很殘忍，”李劍葉説。“他説等你長大了，就會面臨這個問題，但你會想要保持自己的正直和熱心腸。”

It’s a lesson Mr. Luo learned well growing up in a small, impoverished town bordering North Korea and closer to Vladivostok, Russia, than Beijing.

在貧窮小鎮長大的羅永浩對這一點深有體會。那座小鎮與朝鮮接壤，並且距俄羅斯的海參崴都比離北京近。

“I was born in the 1970s in a small Chinese town on the border,” Mr. Luo wrote in an email interview. “During a time of malnutrition, I ate enough to become fat. In an environment lacking stimulation, I quit school and read my way to being an intellectual.”

“我出生在上世紀70年代初的中國農村，成長在一個邊疆的小城鎮，”羅永浩在接受電子郵件採訪時寫道。“在一個飲食營養普遍不良的時代，吃成了一個胖子，在一個精神食糧嚴重匱乏的時代，輟學後靠自己讀書成為一個知識分子。”

In his 20s, Mr. Luo moved between low-paying jobs, at one point selling kebabs. At 30 he had a sort of midlife crisis.

20多歲時，羅永浩不停地換工作，但都是收入較低的崗位，還一度賣過烤串。30歲時，他經歷了某種中年危機。

“I realized I couldn’t keep acting like a kid,” he wrote. “I needed to find a way to enter the middle class.” That was when he decided to join New Oriental as an English teacher. New Oriental, a well-known private education company, runs classes complementing China’s schools.

“我感覺不能再像一個年輕人那樣沒心沒肺地玩下去了，”他寫道。“於是決定找一份能迅速達到中產階級收入水平的工作。”正是在那時，他決定加入新東方，當一名英語老師。新東方是一家著名的私營教育公司，開設校外教育課程。

He gained some fame in the early 2000s, when several students recorded his classes and put them online. Around the same time he also became a figure in China’s early blogging scene, syndicating a number of outspoken — and eventually famous — bloggers on a website that the government shut down because of the politically sensitive nature of the posts.

本世紀初，當幾名學生把他的課錄下來並傳到網上後，羅永浩有了一些名氣。大約在同一時間，他也成了中國早期博客圈中的骨幹，將許多坦率的博客作者聚集到了一家網站上。這些人最終都出了名。後來，因為帖子的政治敏感性，該網站被政府關閉。

Eventually he struck out on his own, starting up a tutoring service that was similar to New Oriental.

最後，他開創了自己的事業，成立了一家類似於新東方的培訓機構。

A gadget enthusiast, Mr. Luo said he long wanted to start his own tech company. He was able to realize that ambition because, like other young Chinese entrepreneurs, he found it relatively easy to attract venture capital investment in China, and to find cheap and capable contract manufacturers there as well.

作為一個熱衷於電子設備的人，羅永浩説他長期以來一直想開一家自己的科技公司。他之所以能夠實現這個志向，是因為，與中國其他年輕創業者一樣，他發現在中國，吸引風投和尋找廉價且能幹的外包生產商都相對容易。

For his boldness, and early success, he has no shortage of fans who admire the self-made-man narrative he has carefully promoted. He also has no shortage of critics.

憑着大膽敢言和早期的成功，他不乏粉絲。對於羅永浩精心推廣的白手起家的故事，他們讚賞有加。然而，他也不乏批評者。

“A lot of people like him but a lot of people hate him,” Mr. Li said. “If you look online so many people insult him because he is very outspoken.”

“很多人喜歡他，也有很多人討厭他，”李劍葉説。“如果上網看，很多人罵他就是因為他心直口快。”

Some say he is merely mimicking Xiaomi’s business model, offering little that is different. Those critics have a point: Smartisan’s business model does borrow from Xiaomi. Nonetheless, analysts say the company, and other young Chinese smartphone start-ups, are onto something new, and causing real change in the domestic market.

一些人説，他僅僅是在模仿小米的商業模式，幾乎沒什麼不同。這些批評並非全無道理：錘子科技的商業模式的確借鑑了小米。然而，分析人士稱，該公司和中國其他一些年輕的智能手機初創企業都有一些新的東西，並且正在讓國內市場發生真正的改變。

Their rise has made the previous generation of electronics giants adapt to compete. Huawei, ZTE and Lenovo have started new phone brands sold and marketed primarily online. DCM’s Ms. Lu also points out that a popular new Huawei phone, the Mate 7, shows the company has stepped up attention to phone design.

他們的崛起促使上一代電子巨頭進行調整，與其競爭。華為、中興和聯想都推出了以在線銷售和推銷為主的手機新品。DCM的盧蓉也指出，華為頗受歡迎的新款手機Mate 7表明，該公司已經增強了對手機設計的關注。

If Smartisan deserves plaudits for hipness in China, it has yet to take the ultimate test and feel out foreign markets. Other young Chinese smartphone start-ups are already having modest success in those arenas.

如果説錘子手機在中國配得起引領潮流的美譽，那麼它還需要接受終極考驗，去摸清外國市場的形勢。其他一些年輕的中國智能手機初創公司，已在這些領域取得了一定的成功。

Xiaomi is selling in a number of developing markets. OnePlus, a Chinese smartphone start-up that began in August 2013, has exceeded the expectations of its founders by using non-Chinese social media, like Twitter and Reddit, to sell its phones across the globe.

小米已經打開了很多發展中國家的市場。通過在Twitter和Reddit等國外社交媒體上面向全球銷售手機，成立於2013年8月的中國智能手機初創公司一加也取得了超出了公司創始人預期的成績。

It lends credence to Mr. Luo’s prediction on what’s next for the industry.

這一點印證了羅永浩對這個行業未來的預測。

“I believe, at least in the low-cost segment, Chinese smartphone companies will dominate the world,” he wrote.

“中國的智能手機會征服全世界……好吧，至少會先征服全世界的中低端消費市場，”他寫道。