Time.news – In the end everyone finds their own space. When I live it has landed in Europe he seemed to have unclear ideas about what to become when he grew up. In the few months that have passed, the Chinese house has found its own identity, especially when it comes to flagships, and has decided to focus heavily on a sector in which competition is particularly tough: the photographic sector of smartphones.
In April with the V23, vivo demonstrated that it could provide customers with a high-quality camera at a more than affordable price. Now, with the latest addition to the X series – the top of the range of the company – it goes further and innovates on the front of the performances that most affect the user: the access speed, the recharge speed and the ability to keep the smartphone temperature in times of extreme use.
But, above all, it consolidates the collaboration with Zeiss, going deeper into the groove traced by other telephony giants and historical brands of photography (Huawei with Leica, OnePlus and then Oppo with Hasselblad). We talked about vivo plans with Lindoro Ettore Patriarca, marketing and retail director of the company.
Focusing on the photographic sector is a constant of Chinese brands. Why are we not looking for other spaces for innovation?
The camera remains an important element in the development of smartphones. According to a Canalys analysis, the global demand for an advanced camera configuration is increasing in 2022 compared to 2020. Especially in Europe, the demand for smartphones with four cameras is about 20% higher in 2022 than in 2020. This This figure is a clear indication of how important an advanced photographic sector is in the choice of a smartphone in Europe.
However, in addition to the photographic sector, vivo X80 Pro integrates important innovations, some unique on the market, which not only concern the photographic sector but which facilitate the user experience.
For example, the 3D ultrasonic fingerprint reader is the largest fingerprint reader with ultrasound technology integrated in a smartphone that guarantees an incredibly fast fingerprint registration process. In general, traditional in-display single-point optical fingerprint scanning requires 15-20 touches. Once your fingerprint is registered, the vivo X80 Pro offers one of the fastest unlocks in the mobile industry, in just 0.2 seconds. Thanks to the 11.1 times larger recognition area than traditional in-display fingerprint readers, the overall unlocking experience is significantly improved.
The vapor chamber cooling system covers an extended area so as to keep functionality unchanged when playing games or recording videos. The 80W Flashcharge system to charge up to 60% in 15 minutes and 50W wirelessly up to 50% in 23 min.
The collaboration with Zeiss for the first time is not just about software, but hardware. What’s it about?
The innovations designed by ZEISS Imaging Lab live are the result of ZEISS expertise in the field of optics and optoelectronics and vivo’s knowledge of engineering systems, smartphone computing and artificial intelligence.
The work of the engineers within the vivo ZEISS Imaging Lab is daily and continuous. ZEISS supports vivo in the pursuit of the best photographic quality of the X-series products co-engineered with ZEISS. The vivo ZEISS collaboration is not only about the “certification / control” by ZEISS of the technologies designed in vivo, but also starts from the development phase. With each product development, new standards are set from the outset: vivo and ZEISS jointly decide the quality objectives and define the optical design through complex simulation processes with the common goal of always guaranteeing exceptional performance.
And in essence?
Lens performance evaluation also includes MTF measurements to reduce distortion, shading and chromatic aberrations. The process also includes rigorous testing conducted within the ZEISS Imaging Lab to meet the rigorous standards set by both companies and to ensure consistently outstanding results, every new vivo smartphone must excel in more than 20 different Imaging Quality parameters – they are tested. more than 150 different camera modules and over 5,000 test shots are taken.
The unrivaled reputation of ZEISS lenses is built on over a century of innovations in optics, designed to better handle challenges such as flare, reflections, chromatic aberrations and color distortions. Through this partnership, these advanced techniques are now being used in the development of vivo’s X-series device cameras. This involves, for example, using the “digital twin” – a technique developed by ZEISS to design high-end photographic and film lenses – for the creation and prototyping of new lenses. In fact, the design of the new lenses takes place through the creation of a virtual model on which the performance of the lenses can be simulated and tested with precision, thus ensuring that the camera system can move quickly to the prototyping and refinement phases. The result is images with better resolution, contrast and fewer reflections and artifacts, all taken with the smartphone.
How much hardware is there in this collaboration?
We have integrated professional technologies into smartphone cameras. Even microscopic factors can make a big difference to high-quality shots. One example is the ZEISS certified T * Coating: an advanced solution with a nanostructure more than a hundred times smaller than a grain of sand that makes the glass surface of the lenses practically invisible and is normally used on professional lenses to reduce reflections and achieve greater sharpness, contrast and quality. To date, vivo, after obtaining ZEISS certification, has managed to integrate T * Coating into the cameras of its high-end smartphones.
The goal of the vivo ZEISS collaboration is also to bring classic photography to the smartphone. vivo and ZEISS have worked together to bring the unmistakable trait of classic ZEISS lenses into the smartphone and create – through advanced computational techniques – the characteristic shallow depth-of-field “bokeh” effects of professional lenses. We have combined the expertise of vivo engineers and optical know-how from ZEISS to find ways to accurately replicate the look of legendary ZEISS portrait lenses on the best vivo devices.
Does it make sense to push so much on the photographic sector if the majority of users then use images on social media that compress the quality? It almost seems that I live trying to build a segment of customers who are more interested in photography than anything else, but does this audience really exist?
In recent years, the habits of smartphone users have changed and in general it is increasingly evident that people use the smartphone camera not only to take pictures but increasingly for videos and animated images. Just think from 2018 to 2021 the number of TikTok users went from 21M in 2018 to 158M in 2021. As smartphone manufacturers, we cannot ignore new trends but what we can do is definitely improve the yield and always introduce new ways of shooting, video recording and more.
The vivo line up in Italy, however, is composed of 3 main segments: the X series has as its main focus the rear photographic sector, the V series the front photographic sector while the Y series is composed of several smartphones designed for those looking for the best balance between price-performance and that uses the smartphone especially in the “entertainment” mode to play games, watch films or videos. So it is true that there is an important focus on cameras but at the segment level we are able to respond to all types of users and different needs.
Vivo is one of the very few brands that has not yet created an ecosystem: is this one of the next steps in the program?
As we are a new brand in Europe we currently focus our business in Europe on smartphones. We are working on brand awareness and on an ever greater acquisition of the trust of our customers. Once these aspects have been consolidated, we will consider introducing new devices that are part of the ecosystem. Vivo’s philosophy is based on healthy and sustainable growth and this approach is also used in the choice of products to be launched on the European market. Our goal is not to continually bring new products to Europe but to launch those that truly integrate significant innovation that the user is able to perceive and understand. It is not a question of numbers but more of bringing value and innovation to an already crowded market.
Beyond the photographic sector, in the mobile experience what generally needs to be improved?
Definitely the performance, the user-experience and the design. The increasingly diversified use of smartphones by users who switch from video calls and online payments to the use of streaming platforms to watch movies or play online puts the smartphone “under stress”. The challenge is precisely to work on performance by optimizing the battery, processor and software to ensure continuous use of the smartphone given the different needs.
Product design is another area of innovation that I live in, but other smartphone brands are also continuing to work and improve. In April in China, vivo launched the first folding of the X Fold brand which integrates many innovations that were then also borrowed in the X80 Pro, presented in June, and which already represents a big step forward for the folding smartphone segment.
The biggest challenge is then to “physically” integrate all these new technologies and innovations while keeping the smartphone light, performing and manageable to facilitate the user experience that is increasingly informed and attentive when choosing the device.
How is the brand doing in Italy and in Europe? Have you made ‘adjustments’ in terms of targets?
As anticipated, vivo is a company in Europe that wants to grow steadily but in a healthy way to be sustainable over time and we are happy that our products, also in Europe, are meeting the interest and appreciation of users. Just in June 2022, we announced the opening of 11 new European markets in 2022: in the last six months we have expanded our presence in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Portugal, Slovakia and Slovenia and the Netherlands will be added by the end of the year. In total, vivo will then go on to operate in 21 countries in Europe. The latter are in fact added to the 10 markets already active with Italy which was among the forerunner countries in October 2020. X80 Pro was precisely the first product launch that also involved all the new markets, demonstrating how much Europe is a fundamental country for the development of the brand in the world.
As for the target, the customer of X80 Pro but also of vivo in general is an informed person who is looking for a highly performing smartphone that integrates innovations. He is the photography enthusiast who wants to try his hand at the X80 Pro’s numerous video and photo options and modes when needed, and who recognizes the extraordinary quality and experience of ZEISS.
If we want to take the automotive sector as an example, not only drivers buy high-performance cars but also enthusiasts who, if necessary, can have fun and take advantage of their performance.
In general, the living customer is not the one who is looking for the first price but is more a person who if he previously bought a product under 200 euros, recognizing the constructive value, performance and quality of vivo products, decides to switch to a higher end.