With the expansion of Tiantong satellite communication business, it is predetermined to integrate Tiantong satellite communication into smartphones and create a satellite phone for daily use.
The Tiantong satellite is distributed 36000 kilometers above the equator and can cover the world. Due to the following reasons, its appearance can only be made into a large brick shape: firstly, the mobile phone signal needs to be stably transmitted to satellites 36000 kilometers away, and the antennas of satellite phones generally use four wall spiral technology, which is large in size and high in cost; The second is the extremely high requirement for heat dissipation, as the power at the moment of signal transmission is very high, and the phone space must be enlarged. Previously, satellite phones were mainly used in outdoor exploration, emergency operations, border defense work, and other scenarios.
Therefore, the industry is well aware of the difficulty of making brick sized satellite communication devices the size of mobile phones while ensuring stable and smooth performance. "Many companies were hesitant to take on the bid from the beginning, and in the end, three companies participated in the bidding. The other two were leading companies in the industry. However, in the final score, we were more than 30 points higher than the second place, and I vividly remember that we successfully bid on February 14th." Dai Qingping shared that Jingshu Technology had done a lot of preparation work ahead.
For example, in order to ensure communication security and autonomous control, this phone must be equipped with the domestically produced 5G chip T820 from Ziguang Zhanrui, while Jingshu Technology's previous phones used the previous generation 4G chip from Ziguang Zhanrui. That is to say, Jingshu Technology is familiar with the supply chain of this mobile phone, which is one of them.
Secondly, Jingshu Technology has a 16000 square meter standard factory in Nanjing, with 3 SMT production lines and 5 assembly lines, with an annual output of 2.7 million units and a maximum annual output of 4.5 million units. Self research and production are the guarantee of quality.
Thirdly, the most important aspects of a mobile phone are the CPU and operating system. Software and hardware must be compatible, and talent is the key. Jingshu Technology expanded its team in February 2023 and introduced technical talents from companies such as Huawei and Xiaomi. Coincidentally, during the epidemic, some startup companies were unable to persist, and many talents with deep industry experience were attracted to us.
Fourthly, Jingshu Technology has a deep accumulation in the field of security and has produced a large number of customized electronic products. Dai Qingping himself graduated from the National University of Defense Technology and has led a team to produce customized products for the party, government, and military multiple times before.
Under the above conditions, Jingshu Technology has made every effort and is far ahead in the bidding, mass producing a satellite phone that focuses on communication security. The phone was officially launched on November 10, 2023, just 9 months after the successful bidding.
In addition to integrating satellite communication networks with ground 5G networks, this mobile phone focuses on developing various security functions: equipped with national level certified security chips, certified by Chinese finance, supporting remote data management, quantum cryptography, and features such as burn after reading.
"Nowadays, there are more and more network applications, and there are many places where mobile phones can leak information, even charging wires can leak information. People's awareness of information security is becoming stronger, and this market is not small." Dai Qingping said that this phone is the only 5G smartphone on the market that combines satellite communication and information security.
I couldn't have made this phone one or two years earlier
The development of the industrial chain and the growth of internal teams are the key to success
"A year or two ago, this phone couldn't be made because some accessories couldn't be made, such as satellite chips, which were accumulated by a professional communication company for a period of time before mass production," Dai Qingping shared.
There are a lot of spare parts for a mobile phone, taking chips as an example, there are about 100-120, and the parts need to be compatible with each other. "We are more like doing integration, responsible for everything from design to production, rather than just doing OEM like Foxconn. We have the ability to customize and research independently." In Dai Qingping's view, doing integration on the basis of our own technology does not mean low technological content, and Apple is also an integrator.
He gave an example that the phone is equipped with the Ziguang Zhanrui T820 chip, which requires compatibility with other software and hardware. It took a lot of time to simply adapt to the Oufei camera. "This process is very difficult, changing to a new main chip requires the entire supply chain to be adjusted accordingly."
It is precisely for this reason that Huawei faces the greatest challenge after being sanctioned - the entire supply chain has to adapt to new chips. Finally, the self-developed Mate60 broke through the technological blockade and was launched, but so far there has been no official announcement about how many nanometers the Mate60 uses or whether it supports 5G.
Jingshu Technology has placed its headquarters in Zhangjiang Science City, which is directly related to its proximity to the supply chain. In 2012, Dai Qingping and his team established a security studio in Zhangjiang, Shanghai. After more than ten years of accumulation, Jingshu Technology has established a multifunctional operational network nationwide: the Shanghai headquarters is responsible for core technology and architecture, the Nanjing production base utilizes local labor cost advantages, Wuhan mainly develops password and security products, the Beijing R&D center is responsible for visual research, and pushes the company's products and services to a broader market, while the Changchun R&D base focuses on software development.
With the support of the team, Jingshu Technology has connected all upstream and downstream industrial chains from front-end software and hardware design, hardware research and development, to back-end production. The bidding was successful on February 14, 2023, and in just 6 months, the phone was successfully developed. "When we were busiest, we didn't sleep much for a week, and some guys just slept in the office." Dai Qingping believes that Jingshu Technology's ability to customize one-stop services is an important competitive barrier.
After overcoming technological research and development issues such as satellite antennas, heat dissipation, signal transmission and reception, and information security, achieving mass production at low cost and high efficiency is also an extremely difficult task. Dai Lixin, Chief Operating Officer of Jingshu Technology and former Global Vice President of Sany Heavy Industry, personally manages and monitors the Nanjing factory until qualified and satisfactory products are produced.
Dai Lixin, who has over 20 years of senior management experience in large enterprises, is proficient in cost control and expense management in factories. After the factory streamlined the process, the head of the production department wrote "to be a benchmark enterprise for customization" on the table. "It only took more than two years to build a factory, and in the face of the epidemic, it is not easy to do so much in such a short period of time." Dai Qingping shared that the successful launch of a technologically innovative mobile phone requires too many internal and external conditions to support it.
Focus on two cards: "Customized" and "Safe"
Launching self owned brands during large-scale post selection opportunities
"Based on our experience, for domestic large enterprise clients, as long as the cooperation goes smoothly, there are still orders to be placed in the future." Dai Qingping said that one of the reasons why Jingshu Technology defeated top companies in the bidding is that Jingshu Technology is doing its best to serve every customer.
In addition to this phone, Jingshu Technology has launched three or four other products this year, including mobile phones, PADs, watches, and other products. "We still focus on customizing products around to G and to B, and our goal for 2024 is to order over 300000 units," Dai Qingping shared. For small and medium-sized enterprises, survival is the most important issue, and currently, the order volume of Jingshu Technology is stable.
Before joining Jingshu Technology, Dai Qingping and his team had gone through several entrepreneurial experiences and developed resilience to stress, as well as extreme sensitivity to survival issues. "The first issue that entrepreneurs need to consider is survival. Most companies go bankrupt within three years, and only a few can survive."
Many novice entrepreneurs only see opportunities in their eyes and do not carefully consider risks. Dai Qingping, who has gone through multiple entrepreneurial experiences, understands that companies need to have a vision on the other side, but they also need to know how to navigate the past.
After years of sedimentation, Jingshu Technology has formed a strategic core of 1+3+1: based on security technology; Dedicated to software system customization, hardware terminal customization, and trusted identity system applications; To provide a highly reliable data security solution that combines software and hardware for government and corporate clients (To G/B).
In Dai Qingping and his team's planning, the company will first make external customized orders, laying a solid foundation and accumulating resources in this process. "So many talents are willing to join, the fundamental reason is still optimistic about the future of Jingshu Technology." In the information security special session of Zhangjiang High tech 895 Entrepreneurship Camp (Season 13), Dai Qingping spoke in a low-key manner, but his eyes always shone brightly when talking about the company's blueprint.
"We have a small goal internally, and there will be a historic breakthrough in three years," Dai Qingping said at the end of the interview. They have already felt the acceleration of the company's development.