Mobile phones have become an indispensable item for everyone every day, but the process of their creation and manufacturing remains distant from us. Due to the strict confidentiality requirements in the R&D and manufacturing processes of the mobile phone industry, this topic is rarely reported on. Recently, Sina Mobile contacted a domestic mobile phone manufacturer and interviewed several relevant individuals at their design and research center, observing the birth process of a mobile phone.
Demand Research: The Process from Nothing to Something
The process of creating a mobile phone from "nothing" to "something" is far more complex than imagined. An important product isn't something a genius can come up with off the top of their head.
From project initiation to final production, the entire cycle lasts one and a half to two years, involving countless revisions to plans. The product that ultimately appears before users can be aptly described as "refined through countless trials." A product can be considered a project, and during its initial phase, it often undergoes a 1-2 month demand research and consolidation process. Where do these demands come from? What factors are used as benchmarks for consideration? Most manufacturers can summarize them into three points: "users," "technology," and "market." Researchers will consolidate some demands, such as who the target audience is and how it is positioned. For manufacturers with numerous product lines, segmenting these demands is crucial, directly determining the final appearance, parameters, functions, market placement, and price of a mobile phone. Additionally, resource allocation ensures that products do not overlap within the market.
Many high-end phones today position themselves as flagship products, but what defines a flagship phone isn't something a designer can casually sketch out. At this stage, manufacturers conduct extensive research, combining the mentioned demands to decide the size of the screen, resolution, whether the appearance should be round or square, etc. Numerous staff members carry an "imaginary phone" to visit targeted user groups. For example, if corporate executives and business professionals are the targeted user group, this group (including users of previous generations of large-screen phones) will propose some of their own needs. If it's a product developed in collaboration with carriers, a batch of phone designs might be submitted to the carrier for joint discussion on appearance and style.
After consolidating opinions and considering the current level of hardware (such as 1080P versus 720P, quad-core versus dual-core, Qualcomm versus NV processors), they determine the configuration of the phone.
All of these considerations lead to the form. No, more accurately, the imagined form, and by this point, about half a year has usually passed since the project initiation.
Research and Development: Multiple Versions Running Concurrently
In an era when flagship phones appear daily in the mobile phone market, no one can guarantee that the product under development will still be competitive upon release. Therefore, given the complexity of the market and the intense competition, a product isn't just one version. Although we currently only see one product in the market, during the demand consolidation and even the R&D phase, multiple teams often handle multiple versions concurrently.
This is a competition between teams, and the final outcome will be the most suitable one.
"Most suitable," rather than "best," the final product that hits the market is always the result of compromises between technology and the market. Technologies that are too advanced, leading to limited acceptance or excessively high costs, which cannot be accepted by the current market, won't be selected.
However, these products and related teams aren't failures. Their achievements are equally important as those of the winning team and are preserved accordingly. They might shine brilliantly at a future opportune time. This is a manufacturer's "technological accumulation."
Additionally, to stay ahead in the competition, manufacturers fully consider the significance of "getting ahead." When asked about the next generation of products, relevant personnel usually respond, "Can't reveal too much," but we have no doubt that when the fourth generation of Daguang was just launched, the fifth generation had already entered the secret R&D phase, and we'll see it at the right time.
Not just Coolpad, other manufacturers also do the same.
Industrial Design: The Battle Between Artists and Engineers
What people generally refer to as mobile phone design actually encompasses various tasks such as Industrial Design (ID), Structural Design (MD), and Hardware Design (HW).
Industrial design is a "hated" job; they determine the appearance of a product, often led by a group of passionate artists who travel the world or attend exhibitions to draw inspiration for their designs.
The biggest difference between ID designers and painters is that, from the start of designing a product, they must consider its commercial value. Simply put: if it looks good, people will buy the phone. This is the biggest difference between industrial designers and painting or sculpting artists. Industrial design is the source that determines the final form of a product. Painters can wait; their works may become more valuable after decades. However, factories can't wait. In the fiercely competitive mobile phone industry, it's impossible to cancel the release of a product just because there isn't a perfect design.
Modern industrial design rarely involves "going it alone," but it’s possible for one person to provide inspiration and then have a design team complete the work together.
Industrial designers are "generalists," needing to know a little bit of everything. They can sketch, understand material science, need both intuition and rationality, because ultimately, they aim to present a mature and functional product to the world, not just a dreamy draft that may never be realized.
The emergence of the iPhone has caused all existing phones to adopt the "large screen + touch" form, and the addition of Android has made their control interfaces look alike. Is designing phones in this era easier or harder? Many designers have been asked this question by Sina Mobile, and the answer is that it will be more challenging in the short term because the form of phones has become relatively fixed. Their form will remain stable for the next three to five years until new technologies and materials advance, and a fitting design integrates them.
In the design studio of a phone, we can see various shapes, colors, and material prototypes. After going through multiple rounds of selection, a few schemes enter the next phase, where feedback from project managers, collaborating carriers, or surveyed users improves the product.
Currently, the concept of "series" is popular in phone product lines. After releasing a flagship phone, manufacturers expand based on its characteristics, deriving a series of products that leverage the flagship's reputation and halo effect to cover more audiences.
Structural/Hardware Design: Turning Drawings Into Reality
To bring the envisioned product to life sooner, industrial designers, structural designers, and hardware designers collaborate globally to seek new materials or new processes to turn a smart design on paper into reality. It's common for products to be designed but unable to be manufactured due to technical limitations, leaving stunning designs forever on paper.
In recent years, users have favored metal-bodied phones for their premium appearance, but in engineers' eyes, metal isn't an ideal material. Besides the well-known issue of electromagnetic shielding causing unstable signals, metals are heavy, prone to scratches without treatment, costly, color-limited, poor in shock absorption, potentially conductive, cause allergies in some people, and... extremely cold to the touch in winter.
Even though hardware design engineers list so many drawbacks of metal, if users like it, there's nothing to do but make it. In the era when Android phones seem identical, differences in design and materials have become key factors for a phone to stand out. Consumers, overwhelmed by choices, also pay more attention to design importance.
Sometimes, in a phone manufacturer's design room, ID, MD, and HW aren't clearly separated. Designers understand the risks of materials and avoid overly "risky" designs. More often, designers (or resource development departments) search for new materials and components to make a good design a reality.
Many have heard the story of Jobs and Corning Glass, but such incidents frequently occur in the tech industry. In the rapidly innovating mobile phone sector, designers often seek suitable new materials and technologies worldwide to realize their ideal creations. Every part of your phone, whether the screen, motherboard, or processor, has likely gone through rigorous selection and evaluation before being incorporated into a phone.
This is the driving force behind the continuous advancement of the mobile phone industry.
User Interface/Function Design: The Face of the Product
ID/MD/HW designers focus on the hardware, or the external part of the phone. Shaping the internal aspects of the phone is the responsibility of the UI designer.
If we were to create a flowchart for phone production, the hardware R&D process would be longer due to the production process, tightly linking each step. However, UI design can be independent of the phone hardware R&D process. It belongs to platform-level R&D, running parallel to phone hardware production.
ID designers face the challenge of making distinctive features in monotonous large-screen touch phones while considering material issues; UI designers, although not constrained by material effects, still find it challenging to make unique features on the "Android system" that everyone uses.
For a manufacturer, using stock Android is certainly feasible, but uniform systems fail to highlight uniqueness, making it hard for their phones to appeal to consumers. Also, manufacturers hope to incorporate their elements into a shared system, making users feel more comfortable. It's just as important as the phone's appearance design.
Phone UI also falls under creative design, requiring consideration of user needs, market reactions, and hardware requirements. Clearly, high-configured large-screen phones can feature more elaborate interfaces and single-hand operation functions, whereas low-resolution and weak-hardware small phones require appropriate optimization and simplification of certain effects.
As phones gradually replace PCs as internet entry points, designs previously centered around communication need improvement. People require a more modern interface and richer online experiences, incorporating feedback from old users to form the initial demands for a phone UI (or ROM).
Interface design is the first impression requirement; it's akin to fashion styles that change periodically. For instance, this year's "flat design" trend shows that phone UI designers share a common trait with fashion designers: staying ahead of trends to ensure their designs remain relevant. These shifts are much larger and faster compared to changes in phone appearance (also the typical lifecycle of a UI). Changes often spark significant controversy, but waiting for others to criticize means failure.
Production Process: Not Just Assembling Parts
When all the above processes are completed, the phone enters the trial production phase. Small-scale trial production examines the maturity of software and hardware, production processes, and testing phases.
Mass industrial production differs greatly from laboratory test models. Any defect (or potential hazard) in any component or production process could delay a phone's release or prevent it from ever reaching the market. In a company, the QA (Quality Assurance) department ensures the quality of the entire process. They act like a ruler, ensuring the development process adheres to predetermined procedures and guarantees project progress and quality.
Unlike PCs, phones cannot be assembled from standardized components. Each part of a phone is a custom product, but after packaging and design by manufacturers, it becomes a unique product bearing their mark. This is similar to cooking—identical ingredients can produce entirely different dishes depending on the chef.
Many core components of the phone industry are controlled by upstream supply chains, such as the processors we care most about. Only a few companies offer them, and choosing which solution dictates the design of the corresponding motherboard circuitry, giving rise to the phone's "core configuration." Often, choosing Qualcomm over NVIDIA, or Samsung screens over LG, isn't just about specifications but requires manufacturers to predict their product needs and establish close relationships with upstream supply chains. Upstream components aren't available like supermarket items where manufacturers take them when needed or leave them untouched. For phone manufacturers, the core competitiveness of the supply chain lies in controlling the supply chain and establishing strategic partnerships with upstream suppliers.
More netizens might first think of crowded workshops when hearing about phone production. While it is indeed a monotonous job, not every phone production factory is a sweatshop. Sina Mobile has visited many phone production factories that resemble universities. Security checks here are stricter than at airports. Entering the workshop requires wearing anti-static clothing, and no electronic devices are allowed.
Confidentiality: Things That Cannot Be Said
Some departments, though not directly involved in phone production, are essential for smooth project execution. Confidentiality is one such example.
In general, the R&D process of phones is confidential, cloaking the phone in mystery and constituting the core secrets of a company. Core R&D personnel go through phased isolation, and some core component developers might only learn the final appearance of the product during trial production.
Different manufacturers have different confidentiality regulations. Even entering just the office of the marketing department might require not bringing cameras, and laptop computers need serial numbers. USB ports are often disabled, chat software like QQ is prohibited, and even files copied from computers are encrypted, making them inaccessible without decryption.
Design and R&D departments follow even stricter rules.
Product Launch: Why Everyone Loves September?
When everything is ready, it's time for the phone to meet users. For phone manufacturers, holding a launch event in September is a good choice. In recent years, almost all manufacturers choose this month to unveil their most important products, seemingly becoming an unwritten rule within the industry.
This isn't merely to counter Apple. Typically, the distribution cycle for phones is one to two months. For foreign manufacturers, launching new products in September allows for widespread distribution during the Christmas and New Year shopping season. For domestic phone manufacturers, the so-called golden September and October are great days for selling phones, with newly enrolled students and people selecting phones during the National Day holiday forming a strong consumer base.
The grandeur of a product launch is proportional to the product's importance. Flagship products like Daguang 4 often begin preparations two months before the launch. The marketing department understands the product's positioning (what kind of phone it is and who it targets), collaborates with PR companies to formulate marketing strategies, bids for the launch event, and at this point, the phone can finally be unveiled, moving from the factory to the eyes of users.
Promotion and Channels: Good Wine Still Fears Obscurity
A phone has been officially released, but how to make consumers aware of it and purchase it is a complex issue. It directly impacts the sales of a phone and holds a significance comparable to R&D in many phone companies.
For a long time, marketing channels could be divided into two major categories: distribution channels and direct sales channels. National general agents, regional agents, etc., belong to the former, while direct sales channels mainly include self-built sales networks, home appliance chain malls (Gome, Suning, etc.), mobile phone chain stores (China Rebuy, Dixuntong, etc.), electronics malls, supermarkets, mobile operator service halls, mobile phone malls, small mobile phone specialty shops, etc.
In recent years, carrier channels and e-commerce models have impacted traditional distribution models. Don't underestimate the marketing and bulk procurement capabilities of carriers. Ask how many friends around you use prepaid phone fee gift phones, and you'll realize just how astonishing the capabilities of carriers are.
This is the birth process of a mobile phone, from project initiation to final release. A brief article narrates the hard work and wisdom of hundreds or even thousands of people condensed into this process.