Chinese phone brands are very fond of creating sub-brands. Xiaomi has two: Poco and Redmi; Oppo has OnePlus and Realme; Huawei is respected for selling the brand; And Vivo also has IQ, which means "I search and start".
Surprisingly, sub-brand phones are almost always inferior to major brands. After all, a sub-brand is a younger brother, so to speak.
Apparently IQ didn't get the memo either. In the past, its releases have come very close to undermining bigger products, and that could happen this month. The IQU 12 is a phone with specifications that fall well into the high-end region with high-end silicon - the upcoming flagship Vivo X100 Pro (this phone also uses the latest MediaTek chip, which is Qualcomm (the chip is not as well not- known) as similar to the manufacturer). The IQU 12A has a screen refresh rate of 144Hz compared to just 120Hz on Vivo's flagship. This is very unusual in the mobile space. For example, I don't remember a Redmi phone having a better processor than its flagship Xiaomi.
I've used both phones and the Vivo X100 Pro has a better zoom camera system, better value than the IQO 12 for most people. In fact, at $650, the IQU 12 is the best value phone in my opinion (for example, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip won't debut in the US until January in Samsung's Galaxy S series flagships, which cost a lot more than $900. ) .
I spoke briefly with Torres Zhou, IQU's overseas marketing manager, about the brand strategy. Zhou, who joined Vivo in 2015, previously helped successfully launch Vivo in India, a key growth market for the phone brand due to its large population and growing middle class. In 2022 he joined IQ and got the same.
The Indian phone market is highly competitive, with a customer base that values brand recognition and value. IQ can provide the latter, but the former must be built.
"One of the things I learned [from Vivo's launch in Southeast Asia] is that consumers in the region are very into mobile gaming, so IQO phones have shifted to gaming priorities," Zhou said.
This includes using Qualcomm's latest silicon - the IQU 12 is the first phone released outside of China to use the latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 - and also giving the phone a bigger battery.
First, the IQU 12 uses a new "supercomputer chip" called the Q1. IQO-tuned, the chip essentially uses interpolation to increase frame rates, running games at 60 or 120 fps to 144 fps on the IQO 12. The IQ is also 12A higher than competing phones.
To solve the branding problem, IQU partnered with BMW M to release "legendary" versions of IQU gear. While it may look like nothing more than slapping a BMW M logo and color scheme on the back of the phone, it adds brand cachet to the Southeast Asian market.
Although IQO itself has not disclosed market share figures, overall Vivo (including IQO) is now the second largest phone brand in India with a market share of 18%, higher than Samsung's 20%. Zhou claimed that IQO was "number one in customer satisfaction" according to the 91 Mobile website.
I'm usually skeptical of these reviews, but I've used the iQOO 12 myself, and I can say that it's truly one of the best-performing phones of the year — and it's a $650 phone, not a $1,100 one not.
