On January 6th, according to a 36Kr report, an internal email from NIO revealed that Yin Shuijun, the person in charge of the mobile phone, will resign, and the mobile phone related business will be handled by Bai Jian, the vice president and hardware manager of NIO.
Interface News reporters have sought confirmation from NIO regarding this matter, and as of the time of publication, there has been no response. However, on the afternoon of the 6th, Bai Jian posted on his personal Weibo account that he had taken over the mobile phone department and expressed his determination to "do a good job in connecting drivers and making mobile phones.".
Bai Jian expressed that he has been "a bit busy" these days, or implied that he is busy with work handover. He first affirmed Yin Shuijun's work, saying, "When Shuijun first arrived at NIO, smartphones were within the scope of intelligent hardware. I watched him build his team step by step while fighting. Now, they have formed a combat capable and organized team." At the same time, he stated that the mass production of the first generation NIO smartphones was a "successful comeback.".
Bai Jian's statement did not directly respond to rumors of Yin Shuijun's resignation, but he made it clear that he had taken over the mobile phone business.
Bai Jian pointed out that there are two important development directions for NIO smartphones in the future: first, the combination of smartphones and cars will be closer, "the cabin and entertainment media related (non safety) parts will become increasingly complex, and performance and iteration will become more mobile"; The second is the imaging ability of NIO phones. He stated that the team's existing mobile imaging foundation is "very good", and NIO has self-developed ISP capabilities. "These are all in the field I am responsible for, and I am very confident and looking forward to what 'chemical reactions' will occur after further integration.".
In February 2022, it was reported that NIO plans to enter the mobile phone industry. A year and a half later, on September 21 last year, NIO CEO Li Bin officially launched the flagship smartphone NIO Phone at NIO IN 2023 NIO Innovation Technology Day.
The hardware configuration of the first generation NIO Phone is basically the same as that of flagship phones on the market. As an important medium for human vehicle interaction, NIO Phone has injected many software level interaction shortcuts.
For example, the phone is equipped with UWB ultra wideband technology, which can replace car keys and support no electrolytic lock for up to 48 hours. On the left side of the body, the NIO Phone is equipped with a NIO Link car control key, which can directly access 30 driver connectivity functions with one click, including quick viewing of vehicle status, parking position, and unlocking and locking the vehicle.
Yin Shuijun is the person in charge of NIO Phone at NIO and completed the product development of the first generation NIO Phone during his two-year tenure at NIO. Earlier, Yin Shuijun served as the President of Meitu Mobile.
After Yin Shuijun resigns, the development progress of the next generation NIO Phone may not be greatly affected. According to reports, Li Bin had previously revealed that NIO phones will continue to iterate in the future, and its phone development cycle has basically formed a "fixed pattern". The second generation NIOPhone has entered the research and development stage.
As of now, Yin Shuijun's personal Weibo account name is still "Yin Shuijun NIO Phone", and his personal introduction is "NIO Phone Business Manager".