The "BALMUDA PHONE" released on November 26 has been an unusual anti -Android smartphone.Although it has various opinions as a smartphone, it may be surprising that the business has already been successful to some extent.
There are two main types of smartphone sales channels: the "career market" and "open (SIM) market".In Japan, the former is sold by the former mobile carrier, and in April -September 2021, 83%of the total is via a carrier (MM Survey survey).
In the Balmuda terminal business, sales of about 2.7 billion yen in the fiscal year ended December 2021 are expected to be 27,000 units for a simple calculation of 100,000 yen.Applicable to the ratio mentioned earlier, it is calculated that 23,000 Softbanks, which are exclusively handled as telecommunications carriers, selling 23,000 units and 4,000 Balmuda in -house.
Since the mobile carrier purchases a large number of terminals from the manufacturer, it can be said that it is easy for a manufacturer to prospect sales.In addition, there are many cheap models that sell in the SIM -free market of 40,000 yen or less, and models that exceed 100,000 yen are difficult to sell.According to this, most of the prospect of sales may be via Softbank.
People who like smartphones have heard that "I want the manufacturer to sell more SIM", but there are actually various difficulties.Although Balmuda seems to have a sales channel for home appliances, it is another matter whether it can sell smartphones there.
Support is also a problem.Unlike home appliances that can be used by pressing the button, smartphones have a wide variety of troubles involving hardware, software, and networks.Increasing sales volume will increase the ratio of beginners, and eventually ask questions such as "forgot your password" will fill up the support window.
In that regard, the career is built with thousands of sales networks nationwide, and a huge number of staff will undertake muddy tasks such as sales and support.For newly -entered manufacturers, it can be said that it has been successful to some extent at the time of career recruitment.
In terms of quality, the smartphone adopted by the carrier has a sense of security that has cleared a certain evaluation.Japanese careers are known for their high demands, and some overseas manufacturers are expanding to overseas markets to sell "Japanese careers".
Attention points are "Is the career recruitment continued?"
Recent SoftBank has expanded the lineup of 5G terminals.If you think that Chinese manufacturers such as OPPO and Xiaomi have been adopted, we are expanding their hands by working with luxury camera manufacturers Leica and continuously introducing Google Pixel series.
At a September recital, which introduced initiatives with Google and Balmuda, SoftBank's Vice President Jun Haruha said, "We will provide products other than smartphones under SoftBank brands with partners."
If Balmuda phone is not sold, SoftBank will have stock, but SoftBank's "sales sales, etc.", including terminals, is 560 billion yen per year, and even if it fails, the damage is limited.Is it big if you hit it?
However, even if it is a smartphone of a major manufacturer, the successor may not continue if the sales do not increase.As far as Balmuda talks, it seems that there is a response to building a relationship with a career in the long term, but I want to continue to pay attention to whether there is a career recruitment in future models.
