Recently, an internal email from NIO revealed that the person in charge of the mobile phone, Yin Shuijun, will resign.
According to public information, Yin Shuijun served as the former CEO of Meitu Mobile and officially joined NIO in 2022, mainly responsible for the implementation of the mobile phone business.
At present, Yin Shuijun's Weibo authentication is still the person in charge of NIO Phone business at NIO, and on December 23, 2023, he released a content about the NIOPhone 1.2 software version update. The last Weibo post stayed on January 4th.
After Yin Shuijun resigned, NIO's mobile phone related business is currently held by Vice President of Hardware, Bai Jian. Bai Jian joined NIO in November 2020 and is responsible for the NIO intelligent hardware team, reporting directly to Li Bin.
Before joining NIO, Bai Jian served as the former director of the Hardware Research Center at OPPO Research Institute and the former general manager of the Xiaomi Chip and Prospective Research Department.
It is reported that NIO Phone, launched in September 2023, is equipped with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Leading Edition processor and starts at a price of 6499 yuan.
The NIO phone has a "car control button" that can achieve 30 functions with one click, including: starting the vehicle, vehicle summoning, remote parking, guard mode, vehicle status inquiry, trunk control, etc.
In addition, NIO Phone also supports in car control function. As long as you sit in the NIO car with your phone, your phone can accurately identify whether the driver is sitting in the driver's seat, passenger seat, or rear seat, achieving precise control of the car.
Previously, NIO Chairman Li Bin explained to the manufacturer of mobile phones, "It's not because all mobile phone companies are making cars, nor is it because NIO doesn't make money by using mobile phones, but rather because NIO users need a mobile phone that seamlessly connects with NIO cars."
At the NIO Media Day in mid December 2023, Li Bin publicly stated that NIO phones are quite functional, very user-friendly, power-saving, smooth, and have no advertisements. But currently, I still use more iPhones myself.
A NIO Phone owner who purchased the NIO Phone commented on the NIO Phone as follows: "Non owners are completely unnecessary. If you are an older generation owner, then the NIO Phone is no different from the NIO App on your phone. If you used a flagship Android phone before, you will find that it (NIO Phone) is missing many features that Android phones should have."
An internet practitioner told a reporter from the New Consumer Daily, "At least the NIO Phone owners around me are not interested. I think NIO needs to reconsider the incremental value of continuing to make phones."
The resignation of Yin Shuijun does not mean that NIO will terminate its mobile phone business. A reporter from the New Consumer Daily found on the recruitment platform that positions related to mobile phones at NIO are still open.
An insider at NIO said, "Don't worry about the future of NIO phones, there will be three generations of models in the future."
It is reported that as early as early as November 2023, Li Bin released an internal letter stating that NIO has achieved certain results, but in order to win the qualification to participate in the finals, it is necessary to further improve execution efficiency and ensure sufficient resource investment in key businesses.
The internal letter stated that it will reduce the number of positions by 10%, and also stated that it will merge departments and positions with duplicate construction, cancel inefficient positions, and delay or reduce project investment that cannot improve the company's financial performance within 3 years.
According to the insider, the previous NIO brand, second brand Alps, and third brand Firefly have been integrated.
After streamlining its business, NIO has focused more on research and development on key technologies: NIO's latest model is the executive flagship sedan ET9. This model is equipped with self-developed intelligent driving chips such as the Shenji NX9031, 46105 large cylindrical battery, a full range 900V high-voltage architecture, and an intelligent chassis system such as SkyRide.