Luo Yonghao and His Smartisan T1

The smartphone industry, or the cellular phone industry as a whole, underwent tremendous changes in the last few years. Some startup companies in China have sprung up, taken shape, and rose to international fame. Xiaomi first came around in 2010 and, after three generations of Mi smartphones, launched international operations in 2013. Though relatively newer, OnePlus is another startup that has received much attention and salutation. Who doesn’t like high-end phones priced lower than most mid-range ones? One thing we need to take note is that no matter how much attention flagship phones like HTC One and Samsung Galaxy S5 get, it is their lower priced siblings that drive the quick growth of smartphones. About one-third of the smartphones sold in the past year, according to International Data Corporation (IDC), cost less than USD150. In view of such a situation, Xiaomi launched two lines of products: the high-end Mi phone, which is in its 4^th iteration this year, and the lower-end Redmi. The latter composes of two products: the Redmi 1S, costing around USD97 (CNY599), and its larger sibling Redmi Note, priced at a slightly higher USD146 (CNY899). Both do not exceed the USD150 price range.It is not difficult to see that in developing markets, people are less willing to pay for a phone with a hefty price tag. This is also the case for the biggest smartphone market, China. The pricing of a new product is key to its sales. Both OnePlus One and Mi4 are priced at CNY1999 (~USD325). Meizu’s new flagship, MX4, comes at a slightly cheaper CNY1799 (~USD292). IDC estimates that, in 2013, the average price people paid for a smartphone is USD335. Having said that, I think it must be bold for a startup to price their new device at a much higher CNY3000 (~USD488). That's what the Beijing-based company Smartisan did. In May, it launched its first-ever device, the Smartisan T1, in front of 5,000 people. The launch event was much anticipated since the company founder, Mr Luo, had touted his new phone many times, after mocking other Chinese smartphone makers for their ‘lack of taste’ and ‘bad design’.

Mr Luo Yonghao at the launch event of the Smartisan T1

A former English teacher, Luo was already a well-known personality in China. The humorous teaching style he adopted when he taught at XDF, a Chinese education corporation, had been applauded by many. His fame was greatly boosted after the student-recorded videos of his lectures were released online in 2003. Since then, he has toured around China and gave speeches at various universities. To many people, he’s a familiar figure. But to the smartphone industry, he’s a newcomer.

Luo founded Smartisan Digital Co., Ltd. in 2012. Apparently, Mr Luo used his personal fame as part of his tech company’s marketing strategy. The unique way he touts his products by emphasizing their ‘high taste’ and ‘user-friendliness’, while debasing the products of other Chinese smartphone companies, such as Xiaomi and Meizu, became viral on Chinese media. He pictured himself as the only one, after Steve Jobs, who stood at the crossroads of liberal arts and technology. I picked some of his quotes on a popular microblogging site in China, Weibo, and translated them.

‘I bought a dozen Android phones for testing. These include some popular models made by Samsung, Motorola, Sony, HTC, Xiaomi, and Meizu (all of which will be supported by our custom Android ROM). They, I shall say, make me feel assured. Allow me to quote from myself. This (smartphone) industry only had one smart guy (an allusion to Steve Jobs), but he’s not with us anymore. The rest are some unlucky douchebags who entered the wrong line of work, awaiting their downfall.’

‘I was just doing my job, trying to be a better self. Consequently, many of my colleagues (in the smartphone industry) are going to bankrupt. How tough is life!’

‘After we launch two or three generations of smartphones, it should be easy for us to take out Apple. If two generations of our phones turn out to be successful products, we will definitely launch the third in North America. I’m not contented with running a business in China. That is nothing fancy.’

Luo at the launch event of Smartisan OS. The two lines on the screen translates into ‘I came, alone, to the crossroads of liberal arts and technology, only to find the tombstone of Steve Jobs, standing solitarily.’

Luo was, without doubt, a follower of Steve Jobs. He believed he would create a momentum in the smartphone industry in a similar way as Steve Jobs. People’s opinions toward Luo and his tech company soon divided. Some continued to support him fervently, believing that Smartisan would come up with revolutionary products. Others, especially users of other Android phones, disliked his complacency and conceitedness. Nonetheless, he sparked people’s curiosity and continued to receive attention.

Smartisan’s strategy was to launch their software first, before marketing the hardware that is specially designed for the software. In March 2013, Smartisan launched Smartisan OS, a ROM of Google’s Android operating system offered for free. Though still in its beta phase, it looked different from any other Android ROM out there. Smartisan market its ROM by making the unique 3-by-3 app interface and various other user-friendly features as USPs. A more complete article on Smartisan OS features can be found here: http://www.engadget.com/2013/04/01/smartisan-os-luo-yonghao/．

Many people, including Engadget, were impressed of the features of the Smartisan OS ROM. They subsequently had high expectations of the Smartisan smartphone, due mid-2014. According to Techinasia, nearly 10 million people watched the launch event online on May 20, the day it was held.

The Smartisan T1, running Smartisan OS

Specification-wise, the Smartisan T1 has everything a flagship device should have: a 2.5GHz quad-core Snapdragon 801 chip, 2 gigs of RAM, 4.95-inch 1080p screen from JDI, a 13-megapixel f/2.0 camera, using Sony's IMX214 sensor, a Texas Instrument OPA2604 op-amp chip to boost audio performance, a 2,570mAh battery, and 3G compatibility. A detailed list of specifications is attached below.

Memory	16GB or 32GB ROM (eMMC 5.0) 2GB RAM (LPDDR3, 933 MHz)
Dimensions	Height 141 mm Width 67.74 mm Depth 8.23 mm Weight ~167 g
Processor	Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 801 (MSM8274AC) Quad-core Processor at 2.5 GHz
GPU	Adreno™ 330 at 578 MHz
Cellular Network Bands	GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz WCDMA 850/900/1900/2100 MHz
Wireless Network	802.11 a/b/g/n/ac WLAN, dual-band Bluetooth 4.0 NFC
Display	JDI 4.95 inch Pixel Eyes™ 1920 x 1080, 445 PPI 1000:1 contrast ratio (typical) 450 cd/m2 brightness (typical) Anti-fingerprint coating
Cameras	Front 5MP ƒ/2.4 aperture, 88° wide angle Main 12.7 MP, ƒ/2.0 aperture Sony Exmor RS™ Imaging Sensor LED flash Face detection, panorama, HDR, burst shot

While the phone’s hardware specification meets the definition of a flagship device, it does not stand out from today’s crowd of flagships. Luo himself admitted that specs were not the emphasis when they designed the phone. He thinks the phone’s uniqueness can be best reflected by two areas: the Smartisan OS ROM, and the glass and metal design.

A close look at the Smartisan OS

Let’s talk about the ROM first. Though it possesses many considerate features, elaborate graphical animations, and a minimalist user interface that disabled custom wallpapers, the system is far from perfect, with many noticeable bugs in day-to-day use. Users have complained about its lag in performance and instability. While a new, buggy ROM is common, it is unprecedented for a startup to raise the expectations of the public to a high level and then pound them with many disturbing bugs. Touted by Mr Luo for quite some time, the ‘gorgeous design’ and ‘considerate features’ turned out to be not so remarkable when the ROM made its first public debut in 2013, and it failed to wow the crowd again after the Smartisan T1 launched in 2014. I have to admit that beauty is subjective, but few people would buy a highly customizable Android phone just for its UI. Android users are given great freedom over the looks of their UI, including theme, icons and wallpaper. Offered to a few other devices, Smartisan OS is not so unique. There is nothing revolutionary about redesigned app icons and Moreover, all the considerate features are dwarfed by Xiaomi’s MIUI, an Android ROM that has been constantly maintained and regularly updated for years, also a subject that has been mocked by Luo for its ‘hideous design’ and ‘low taste’.

The back cover of Smartisan T1, made of Corning Gorilla Glass

It is true that the flagship devices of Xiaomi, Meizu, and OnePlus are mostly made of plastic. However, for phones with little profit margins, I don’t see the need to go for designs that may incur higher costs, only for the sake of ‘looking better’. Xiaomi and Meizu have improved their design language and refined the manufacturing process over the years, and the results are obvious. Put their newest devices alongside older ones, and you’ll see how far they have gone from their original designs.

Mi 1 (above) and its younger siblings, Mi3 and Mi4 (below)

If Smartisan placed the T1 in the same category as the Mi4 and MX4, I would probably think it has a more premium look and feel. But the truth is that the T1’s price is 1.5 times the price of Mi4. The slightly ‘better’ design does not justify the increase in price. Another important factor is that Luo promised, again, that the exterior design would be beautiful beyond imagination. After people got their hands on the phone, they found it bore a similar design language as the iPhone 4, due to its front and back glass panels, metal frame, and placement of speakers. Take a look.

A self-proclaimed believer of Steve Jobs’ philosophy, Luo managed to reenact the design of his beloved iPhone 4 on his own product. Again, this shouldn’t be a serious problem since many smartphones look alike nowadays. But Luo, who claimed to have better taste and aesthetics than others, failed to impress once more.

It’s amazing how people’s opinions toward things can be shaped or even distorted. Luo created a grand vista for his smartphone empire. Many also believed that he would come up with a brilliant device. However, based on the estimated sales number of fewer than 60,000, I can hardly say that he met his initial goal. In comparison, Xiaomi sold 26 million phones in the first half of 2014. Furthermore, Luo’s marketing didn't stop at boasting. He blocked many people online for pointing out the shortcomings of his smartphone as well as the inconveniences they encountered when using the T1.

Personally, I don't hold any resentment toward startups. Yes, they may lack experience, technological advantage, and collaborating companies, but their emergence is a signal of a growing, healthy market. What I don’t like is companies that frequently mock and attack others. Apple wasn't a startup when it launched the original iPhone. Years of experience in hardware and software design culminated in such a revolutionary product. Nevertheless, I was never a fan of Apple’s way of mocking other companies such as Dell and Microsoft, even after I became a user of the iPhone and iPad. It was humorous indeed, but I don't like it. Whether others like it or not, our opinions cannot prevent Apple from becoming what it is today.

As for Smartisan, I think they have made two huge mistakes. First, the marketing of T1 is largely dominated by Luo himself. I rarely see other members of the company market their phone in public. Whether or not Luo is a conceited person in nature, his way of marketing made many people feel that the T1 is nothing but a mediocre device with a large price tag. His blocking of accounts that posted disapproving comments further boosted his notoriety and provoked some buyers of the device. Second, the T1 was simply priced too high. A key factor of Xiaomi’s success was its pricing strategy which minimized the profit margin. Luo, however, still priced the T1 way above the range it ought to be in. In the CNY3,000 (~USD488) to CNY4,000(~USD651) range, there are last-gen flagships like the Samsung Galaxy S4, HTC ONE(M7), Sony Xperia Z1, and Galaxy Note 3, all of which are from known and trusted brands. Many current-gen high-end devices will enter this range soon later. Few with such a budget would consider an overpriced phone from a startup.

To sum up, the smartphone industry is a highly competitive and fast changing one. Long gone are the glorious days of Nokia, and some companies like RIM (who owns the Blackberry line of smartphones) are struggling for survival. Recent reports indicated that even Samsung is cutting its number of workers due to unsatisfactory sales figures of the Galaxy S5. In such a situation, building a name for your brand is not easy. Xiaomi did so after 4 years of rapid development. More importantly, it’s a company run by zealous geeks who tirelessly improve their software and compress their profit margins. I can imagine how it would be like if its run buy a braggart and offers overpriced products.