Exploring the VIVO Brand: A Comprehensive Case Analysis
About Company
Vivo Communication Technology Co. Ltd. (titled vivo) is a China-based transnational tech firm with its central office in Dongguan, Guangdong. It blueprints and manufactures smartphones, smartphone add-ons, online facilities, and software.
Vivo designs software for its smartphones and provides it via its V-Appstore. The Chinese company has incorporated iManager in their exclusive, Android-oriented operating system, named Funtouch OS in other parts of the world, and Origin OS in Mainland China.
The company runs its operations with 10,000 workers. It has ten Research & Development hubs in Dongguan, Shenzhen, Beijing, Nanjing, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Taipei, Xi’an, San Diego, and Tokyo.
What type of company is Vivo?
Vivo is a subsidiary company.
To which Industry does Vivo belong?
Vivo belongs to the consumer electronics industry.
When did the company come into existence?
The company commenced its journey in 2009. This was fourteen years back.
Who is the originator of the Chinese phone manufacturing company?
The originator of the organization is Shen Wei.
Where is the central office of Vivo?
The main office of Vivo is in Dongguan, Guangdong Province, China.
Which area does the company serve?
The company has an international client base.
Who are the key people running Vivo productively?
- Baishan Hu (Chief Operating Officer & Executive Vice President)
- Shen Wei (Chief Executive Officer & Founder)
- Yujian Shi (Chief Technology Officer & Senior Vice President)
- Spark Ni (Chief Marketing Officer & Senior Vice President)
What are the products offered by Vivo?
The Chinese tech giant offers the following products:
- Hi-Fi
- Smartphones
- Software and online services
The different models of smartphones offered by Vivo belong to the following series:
- V Series
- X Series
- Series T
- Y Series
- Z Series
- Nex Series
- S Series
- U Series
Besides, the company offers various accessories such as headphones and wireless flash chargers.
How many employees work for Vivo?
As of 2022, 40,000 employees work for the company.
Which is the parent company of Vivo?
The parentcompanyoftheChinese consumer electronics giant is BBK Electronics.
Does the company have any subsidiaries?
Yes, Vivo has a subsidiary named iQOO.
Vivo chronology
Since the time of its inception in 2009, the company has elaborated its worldwide marketplace. It serves more than 400 million customers with its smartphone merchandise and services, to more than 60 nations and territories.
2017
This year, Vivo forayed into the smartphone marketplaces in:
- Hong Kong
- Taiwan
- Russia
- Macau
- Cambodia
- Brunei
- Sri Lanka
- Laos
- Nepal
- Bangladesh
In June this year, it participated in the smartphone market in Pakistan. Lately, the Vivo brand witnessed speedy expansion and fame in the nation.
2020
In October, Vivo proclaimed that it would commence marketing its items in Europe as well.
In December, Zeiss and Vivo declared a long-standing tactical collaboration to mutually encourage and design path-breaking conceptions in smartphone imaging expertise.
The debut “Vivo Zeiss co-orchestrated imaging setup” would be a key attribute in the Vivo X60 series. As an aspect of the joint venture pact, Zeiss and Vivo would set up the Vivo Zeiss Imaging Lab. It will be a combined R&D plan to introduce smartphone imaging engineering for the flagship brands of the company.
2021
This year, Vivo achieved ranks among the best five smartphone manufacturers, attaining a worldwide market share of 8%.
In April, 3 metal platforms of Vivo phones ignited at Hong Kong International Airport, actuating a prohibition on air transport of Vivo smartphones across Hong Kong.
2022
In June, Vivo became a participant in the globally-known Guinness Book of Records. The phone maker accomplished the feat for the “Longest Video” in which Vivo X Fold, the flagship gadget occurred to be bent on 300,000 occasions for an overall duration of eleven days and six hours or 270 hours.
Promotions
In 2015 October, Vivo turned into the championship financer of the IPL (Indian Premier League) with a 2-year pact beginning in the 2016 period. In 2017 July, the pact got stretched out till 2022.
Nonetheless, in reply to the Indo-Chinese boundary clashes in 2020, the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) faced severe disapproval in India for permitting a China-based firm to turn into the championship supporter of the contest.
There was a joint accord between BCCI and Vivo to postpone the deal for the 2020 term, with a section to start it in the following season.
In 2017 June, Vivo accomplished a funding pact with FIFA to turn into the authorized smartphone trademark of both the FIFA World Cups held in 2018 and 2022. Besides, the firm inked a pact with UEFA as an authorized collaborator of both the Euro 2020 UEFA and Euro 2024 UEFA competitions. It was also a championship financer of the Pro Kabaddi League in India.
Vivo has a funding pact with the National Basketball Association in China, with Stephen Curry, a Golden State Warriors team member. He supports the label in the Philippines and China.
Disputes
1) IMEI and fabrication number dispute in India
In 2020 June, the Meerut Police cybercrime unit disclosed that over 13,500 Vivo phones running in India featured the same IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) number.
This IMEI number is a fifteen-figure code that is intended to be singular to every smartphone equipment communication authority. They might utilize it for chasing outlaws or thieved smartphones.
Through the application of the identical IMEI number for various gadgets, the phone maker could have hindered police from chasing outlaws or snatched equipment. TRAI (the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) in 2017 released a report that all smartphone gadgets would be necessitated to have a distinctive IMEI number.
Non-compliance to perform this would result in interference and could lead to a fine or captivity of up to 3 years.
The occurrences resulted in the police lodging a case against the company and also its service center. The slip allegedly got disclosed once a policeman handed his smartphone to the personnel at the e-crime division for inspection. The gadget was not functioning appropriately notwithstanding being mended at a Meerut-based Vivo service center.
The cybercrime division observed that the IMEI number of the gadget was separate from the one stamped on the container. Subsequently, they advanced the IMEI number to an undisclosed Telecom services provider for the telephone set and demanded the pertinent info.
The Chinese phone maker communicated that since September 24, 2019, the identical IMEI number was operational on 13,557 smartphones in various states of the nation.
Consequently, the Meerut police department served a notice to Harmanjit Singh, the nodal officer of Vivo India under CrPC Section 91. Besides, it filed a lawsuit under Section 420 of the Indian Penal Code.
2) Charges of tax evasion in India
In July 2022, the DRI (Directorate of Revenue Intelligence of India) searched the bureaus of Vivo and charged the firm with tax evasion. The organization purportedly forwarded approximately 50% of its gross revenue beyond India.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) froze the bank accounts of the firm to stop additional money laundering as well.
The government bureau also detected that some high-ranking Vivo managers who are Chinese by origin had registered twenty-three shell firms in India. Nitin Garg, a Chartered Accountant assisted them in doing so.
There are observations that these twenty-three firms have channelized massive sums of money to Vivo India. Additionally, out of the overall revenue earnings of Rs 1,25,185 crore, the company forwarded Rs 62,476 crore, or around 50% of the gross sales outside India, primarily to China. The Enforcement Directorate corroborated this in an official report.
What is the source of confidence of Vivo?
Vivo sources its technical confidence from the research and development network it has developed over 14 years. While assembling and nurturing the best local skills to render brilliance, it gets assistance from a research and development network in Dongguan, Shenzen, Beijing, Nanjing, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Xi’an, and other cities. It concentrates on the growth of forward-looking customer technologies, such as artificial intelligence, 5G, photography, industrial design, and other flourishing technologies. As of now, the company has more than 380,000 worldwide offline sales and after-sales service centers. It serves more than sixty nations and territories with over 400,000,000 customers. It has established an intelligent manufacturing network (comprising those certified by Vivo) which has a yearly manufacturing capacity of almost 200 million smartphones. It believes in design-oriented value addition, constant learning, user preference, and teamwork. It tries to create a win-win situation for its collaborators and generate outstanding products for its customers.
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