POCO is on a tear as of late. The model has launched seven telephones in 2022, with the POCO F4 and X4 GT becoming a member of the likes of the X4, F4 GT, M4 Pro, M4, and the budget-focused C40. Following the launch of the F4 and X4 GT, I talked to Angus Ng, POCO Global’s head of product advertising and marketing, concerning the model’s technique, software program initiatives, and what’s in retailer for the remainder of the 12 months.
POCO is more and more turning to MediaTek to energy its mid-range units, and that has taken on an added significance with the X4 GT; a gaming-focused system that options the MediaTek Dimensity 8100. To discuss additional about MediaTek’s function in POCO’s journey, we had been joined by Anuj Sidharth, MediaTek India’s deputy director for advertising and marketing.
Ng began off by speaking about POCO’s efficiency final 12 months, noting that it was the “most successful year” for the model when it comes to number of merchandise launched, and gross sales quantity. “We were very focused on establishing each series, so we had models in the F series, X series, and the M series. Those were key in establishing our positioning in the market.”
Gaming is the way in which ahead
POCO has been notably busy in 2022, and Ng says that is by design. With the model establishing clearly-defined product traces — C collection is aimed on the entry stage, M collection on the price range class, X collection as the worth flagship, and F collection for gaming — Ng says that this 12 months is all about “trying things out and going all-out in releasing a lot of products, and seeing which one really hit the market and learn from how the market reacts to each launch, see what works and what doesn’t.”
Gaming is an enormous focus for POCO in 2022, with the F4 GT and X4 GT permitting the model to make inroads into this class.
Based on the info, the model will fine-tune its portfolio for subsequent 12 months — that is just like what POCO did last year. Ng additionally notes that the objective is to draw a extra mainstream viewers, stating, “We still want to maintain that core userbase that is very passionate about technology, but we’ve been trying to explore ways that we can branch out a bit more by expanding our product lines.”
The gaming class is an space the place POCO is paying extra consideration lately. The F3 GT debuted a 12 months in the past with the Dimensity 1200, and an aggressive design catered to players. It had ultrasonic triggers on the facet that can be utilized and configured for in-game actions. POCO constructed on that design with the F4 GT this 12 months, providing sooner {hardware} and higher charging tech.
The positioning is smart for POCO due to the markets that the model targets — India and Southeast Asia. Both are mature with regards to cell gaming, due to titles like PUBG and Call of Duty: Mobile. Ng notes that there is additionally rising curiosity in western markets for gaming-focused units, and with POCO seeing elevated momentum within the likes of Spain, France, and the U.Ok., it has been capable of carve out a distinct segment for itself.
On that word, Ng says that POCO’s differentiated product portfolio permits the model to introduce gaming-focused telephones not simply within the worth flagship class, but in addition within the mid-tier and price range segments. “The variety of processors we’re using allows us to deliver performance-focused phones across different product lines, and it has always given us an advantage on mobile gaming in many segments, not just in the high-end.”
Ng says that MediaTek has accomplished a “sensational” job within the final two years, and that is true. The Taiwanese vendor managed to show issues round with its Dimensity collection, outmatching what Qualcomm offers on this phase.
“Three years ago, Qualcomm was in a dominant position, and it was almost like a monopoly at one point. So it’s nice to see increased competition within the industry now,” mentioned Ng. “MediaTek is starting to push out great performance; it’s not about value for money anymore. It’s actually to the point where MediaTek is able to compete at a very, very high level, or even surpass, what Qualcomm is doing in most segments. This is down to the decisions they’ve made, especially going with TSMC for manufacturing.”
Qualcomm/MediaTek rivalry is just like AMD/NVIDIA, and that is nice information for the trade as an entire.
Ng likened the Qualcomm/MediaTek rivalry to that of AMD/NVIDIA within the video card area, noting that MediaTek was capable of clear up a whole lot of ache factors for high-end units. “For a lot of high end devices in recent years, it’s not about how fast they can go, but how hot they get and managing thermals. MediaTek has delivered on that front, particularly in the $300 to $500 segment.”
POCO’s newest launch illustrates these factors effectively. The X4 GT is powered by the Dimensity 8100, and it has a few of the greatest efficiency figures within the sub-$500 class. Sidharth pointed to the work MediaTek has accomplished during the last two years to overtake its mid-range chipsets, noting that a whole lot of work went into fine-tuning the designs to ship optimum thermal effectivity.
That’s evident within the newest wave of Dimensity {hardware}, and whereas MediaTek would not have a gaming-focused design as such, Sidharth mentioned that the optimizations to its recreation engine permits the Dimensity 8100 to ship clean body charges at as much as 144Hz.
That’s one of many causes POCO went with the Dimensity 8100, as a result of the X4 GT is POCO’s first cellphone with a 144Hz panel. POCO opted to make use of an LCD panel in lieu of AMOLED tech, with Ng noting that the choice was based mostly on the truth that LCD tech is “easy to fix, good with blue light and low-light optimizations, and easier on the eyes,” and that there’s a userbase that wishes telephones with excessive refresh charge screens that includes LCD panels. Going with an LCD panel additionally saves prices, permitting POCO to problem the likes of the Galaxy A53 and different telephones on this class.
While it is nice to see a 144Hz panel on this class, there aren’t many video games that may make the most of the display tech. Ng says that POCO is speaking to recreation publishers to get some momentum going on this space. “Our focus is to work with more game developers and gaming companies, and get them to support the full potential of our phone’s hardware.”
As for making a real flagship that goes up in opposition to the best Android phones, Ng says that it’s not a precedence for the model. “We don’t have any plans to do full flagship, I think our F4 GT was really close though. The only thing that we really lacked from that phone was a true super flagship camera and wireless charging; if you added those two things on, it will take on any phone on the market really at that point. But there’s also the fact that we don’t always focus too much on camera. We use good sensors on our phones — it may not be 108MP — but our focus is to deliver phones that can take good photos for sharing on social media. Our main priority is still on the $200 to $500 category.”
Building differentiated software program
Where the model is as an alternative focusing a little bit bit extra is software program. Ng talked about final 12 months that software program was an enormous precedence for POCO, because it tries to distinguish itself from its Xiaomi siblings. Ng revealed on the time that the model will work on a POCO UI with a novel feature-set, however that is “not on the table” in 2022. Instead, the course POCO is taking is alongside the traces of a skinned interface that is constructed on a MIUI basis, altering the “design and tonality.” That’s according to how OxygenOS and Realme UI work — each interfaces use ColorOS as the muse — and it is smart for POCO to go the identical route.
POCO needs to be taught from Google on easy methods to optimize software program for its units.
The largest focus for POCO when it comes to software program is the POCO Launcher. The launcher debuted a number of years in the past, however it hasn’t acquired a lot consideration just lately, and it nonetheless has loads of bugs.
“So the first priority for us is to remove all the existing bugs. We’ve set up an internal team to tackle this, and there’s a platform where users can share what’s wrong with their devices on a software level on POCO’s forums or social media. We realized that a lot of the software problems were in the entry-level and budget phones; whether that’s a lack of performance because of taxing software, frequent crashes, or reboots. So our priority is to optimize the software for these phones. Google does a great job in this area where they’re able to optimize software for Pixels, and we want to do something similar.”
Ng mentioned {that a} new model of the POCO Launcher is coming “very, very soon,” and that going ahead, POCO will higher customise the software program on its particular person product traces. “Usually, you don’t want one general system to fit all your devices, as not all the devices can run that system as smoothly. So for our budget-focused M and X series models, we might look into creating new features targeted at those devices, and cutting back some features that may slow the phone down in a year or two years’ time. Not all users want or use all the features in MIUI, and we want to tailor the software accordingly so that our budget models don’t slow down after extended use.”
In an analogous vein, Ng says that POCO is trying to create “new and interesting features” for the F and X GT fashions. “MIUI by itself has a lot of features, and we have to figure out what features will make a difference.” And as for software program updates, POCO remains to be guaranteeing quarterly safety patches and two years of platform updates for its portfolio. The problem for the model is to make sure it will probably do this for all of the fashions in its portfolio; POCO launched over a dozen units within the final 12 months, and that places further pressure on engineering assets.
Clever positioning and specializing in worth has allowed POCO to carve out a distinct segment for itself within the intense $300 to $500 class, and it is clear that the model’s objective for the foreseeable future is to ship performance-focused telephones on a price range. If it will probably do this and tailor software program options for particular person product traces, POCO has the potential to make first rate inroads in world markets.