The art of planning hardware products going overseas: how to start product planning?

In today’s globalized market environment, the overseas expansion of hardware products has become an important strategic choice for enterprises to expand their business and enhance their competitiveness. However, the road to going overseas is not all smooth sailing, it requires careful product planning and an in-depth understanding of the target market. Starting from the definition of product planning, this paper introduces in detail the key links such as target determination, market analysis, competitive product analysis, user analysis and product planning framework in the process of hardware products going overseas.

What are the smart hardware products?

1. AI hardware such as screenless mobile phone AI Pin, personal assistant Rabbit R1, smart ring Ring Conn/Oura Ring, smart glasses Thunderbird X2, etc
2. Office supplies such as mobile phones, tablets, recording equipment, etc
3. Entertainment creations such as DJI drones, shadow panoramic cameras, VR/AR headsets, 3D printers, stringless guitars LiberLive, etc
4. Smart wearables such as Shaoyin bone conduction headphones, Apple Watch, Xiaomi Mi Band, etc
5. Smart homes such as security cameras, sweepers, lawn mowers, pet feeders, etc
6. Outdoor travel such as electric mopeds e-bikes, exoskeletons HyperShell, on-board power supplies, etc

What is product planning?

Product planning refers to the formulation of specific strategies and steps according to the current stage of business goals and the product value to be highlighted within a certain cycle, summarized into a roadmap with a linear relationship, and finally find an intersection and balance between “doing, doing, and doing”.

Certain period: Fast iteration of consumer hardware (such as headphones, power banks) has a short cycle, generally 6-12 months; High-threshold equipment (e.g., medical/industrial hardware) has a long cycle time, generally 2-3 years

Smart hardware special points: You need to reserve an authentication buffer period

Current stage: What stage of the product life cycle is it, introduction period, growth period, maturity period or decline period

After 10 years of interaction design, why did I transfer to product manager?
After the real job transfer, I found that many jobs were still beyond my imagination. The work of a product manager is indeed more complicated. Theoretically, the work of a product manager includes all aspects of the product, from market research, user research, data analysis…

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Business Objectives: The core goal of the introduction period is to verify PMF (Product Market Fit). The core goal of the growth period is to quickly seize market share; The core goal of the maturity period is to maximize profits; The core goal of the recession period is to maximize residual value and retreat in an orderly manner and pave the way for new categories.

Product value: User value such as meeting demand, market value such as localization and compliance, technology value such as battery life, and commercial value such as cost structure and gross profit margin level

Precautions: Be wary of “pseudo-demand”, avoid “technical self-hi”, and pile up some useless functions

Specific strategies and steps: Decompose macro goals (business goals/product value) into actionable actions, such as technology research and development, functional trade-offs, channel expansion, cost optimization, etc

road map: Guide the strategic visualization map from development to global implementation, including hard constraints such as products, technologies, markets, and compliance

How to do product planning?Take a simple example.

• Your identity: Short video platform product manager
• Problems found: The platform has recently had a lot of illegal content, such as edge rubbing, reactionary remarks, rumors, etc., which affects the user experience and brand image, and is not conducive to building a high-quality content ecology to feed back the platform’s valuation.
• Your goal: to create a healthy content ecosystem (product value proposition) for the platform and improve content quality and community atmosphere through half a year (product planning cycle).
• Implementation strategy: Establish a more complete video content moderation system, “AI + human + user” trinity, such as strengthening content moderation and building user feedback channels
• Implementation steps: Establish a violation analysis model (big data collection and analysis, sensitive thesaurus), add user feedback entrances, and design a manual intervention review background for violation videos

1. Goal determination

1. Current situation analysis and problem discovery

Product planning focuses on determinationProduct value proposition, and the determination of the value proposition needs to be found firstThe main contradiction of the current businessThe main contradictions of the business need to be discovered and abstracted based on the insights accumulated in the daily work of product managers. If you don’t have insight and abstract the product value proposition, then return to the user, dig out the most real and original user needs, and work hard for it.

You can use the “value proposition canvas” to trace business contradictions, list the value propositions of existing products, and improve the corresponding user information.

The business contradictions are referenced as follows:

1. Compliance threshold: For example, smart door lock companies missed the expected time to market because they ignored a certain standard certification in country X, resulting in delayed listing losses
2. The supply chain is not resilient and lacks materials: for example, a single supplier of a material is out of stock and production is suspended, or overseas warehouses are unbalanced
3. Insufficient localization adaptation and superficialization: For example, only language translation, unmodified hardware interaction logic (such as UI right-to-left switching), or ignoring the network construction of local services
4. Market misalignment: For example, copying domestic success models directly overseas, resulting in a value proposition out of focus

2. Goal alignment and business positioning

Business team members, including product teams, development teams, sales teams, marketing teams, etc., need to conduct in-depth communication and collaboration, point out the strategic goals to be achieved by the product in the future based on business direction, technical capabilities, user feedback and market performance, and clarify business positioning and product vision.

Before determining business positioning, business members need to communicate needs across departments, anticipate conflicts, and then allocate resources and dynamically adjust based on strategic goals.

After the business stakeholders communicate their needs, they need to clarify the growth direction and competitive advantages of the business in the scope of products and markets, and can use the “Ansoff Matrix” for strategic positioning of the business.

1. First, consider whether the market share of existing products in the existing market can still be increased (market penetration strategy), such as deep channel cultivation
2. Then consider whether you can develop some new markets for existing products (market expansion strategy), such as localization adaptation (hardware specifications/language/UI/certification)
3. Then consider whether it is possible to develop some new products (product development strategy) that meet the needs of the existing market, such as making hardware and providing services at the same time, and integrating single products into product series
4. Finally, consider whether you can use your technical capabilities and brand advantages to develop new products and provide them to new markets (diversified business strategy).

2. Market analysis

1. Opportunities and challenges of going overseas

The necessity of hardware products to go overseas.

In the face of fierce competition and involution in the domestic market, going overseas has become a necessity for the survival of intelligent hardware companies. Overseas markets in different regions either have high premium characteristics or low cost advantages, effectively avoiding the low-price competition in the domestic market. Through the layout of multiple production areas, enterprises can reduce the operating risk of a single market.

The infrastructure gap in emerging markets also creates rigid demand for smart hardware. In areas with unstable power supply, the market size of energy storage equipment is gradually increasing; Areas with low bank penetration have contributed to the rapid adoption of POS machines. In addition, policy dividends will also accelerate the development of the market, such as government subsidies for smart home products, strict certification implementation to eliminate non-standard white label products to optimize the competitive landscape.

The threshold for hardware products to go overseas.

The road to the sea is not easy.

First, compliance costs are steep, with varying degrees of strictness in certification standards, device transportation specifications, and data compliance in various countries.

Second, there is uncertainty in the supply chain. A shortage of a material will lead to longer product delivery times, and human conflicts such as regional strikes and protests will lead to a surge in costs.

In addition, localization faces deep obstacles, including the need to avoid cultural adaptation issues such as religiously sensitive designs in some markets.

2. Market environment

The PESTLE analysis framework can be used when analyzing business conditions (which can assist in business positioning), reaching untapped markets, launching services or products, and developing strategic teams, but the effectiveness of this method depends strongly on the quantity and quality of information obtained by the enterprise, so it is only used as a reference and not as a decision-making factor.

3. Market size

What is market size?

Market size refers to the total sales or total sales volume of a certain type of product or service within a certain market range in a certain period of time, usually measured in one year.

How to get the market size?

1. Direct queryThird-party industry informationPlatforms (free), such as iResearch Consulting, Insight Research Report, WeChat Search (enter keywords “XX year + XX industry + report/white paper”)
2. InquireData analysis tools corresponding to e-commerce platforms(paid), such as Douyin e-commerce can query “Cicada Mother” and “Flying Melon Data”, Taobao data can query “Business Advisor”, Taotian and JD.com data can query “Magic Mirror Analysis”, Shopee data can query “Shrimp Dora”, Amazon data can query “Seller Elf”

How to estimate the market size?(The simplest version is “volume × price”)

Taking the power battery of China’s new energy vehicles as an example, the market size in 2025 is estimated:

Market size = (1) New energy vehicle sales × (2) Average battery price per vehicle

• (1) New energy vehicle sales = annual sales of passenger cars in China × New energy vehicle penetration rate = 20 million units × 50% = 10 million units
• (2) Average battery price per vehicle = Average vehicle cost × Battery cost proportion = The average vehicle price × the proportion of material costs × 电池成本占比 = 20万/辆 × 80% × 50% = 8万/辆
• Market size = 10 million units × 80,000 yuan/vehicle = 80 million yuan

Other notes: The cost of battery replacement for each new energy vehicle is 146,000 yuan for Tesla’s 60-degree battery pack, 82,000 yuan for the ideal 40-degree battery pack, 167,000 yuan for NIO’s 100-degree battery pack, and 92,000 yuan for Xpeng 80-degree battery pack……

4. Competitive landscape

What is the competitive landscape?

The competitive landscape refers to the formation of resources allocation, strategic positioning, and market behavior among various participants (enterprises/brands) in a specific market or industryContrast of power。

What does the competitive landscape consist of?

Data sources: Same as direct data sources for market size, (1) third-party research reports, (2) e-commerce platform analysis tools

3. Competitive product analysis

1. Layout analysis of competitive products

The “multi-dimensional comparative analysis method” can be used to visualize the layout of competitors in the market (usually for leading brands). If the competitor has an obvious specification layered layout, a picture can represent a competitor; If the competitor does not have obvious selling point stratification, multiple competitors can be represented in one picture.

The classification reference of dimension 2 “selling points/indicators” is as follows:

1. Camera: Resolution size
2. Smart door locks: several unlocking methods (palm vein/face/fingerprint/digital password, etc.)
3. Headphones: Wearing method (in-ear / ear clip / halterneck / bone conduction)
4. Smartwatches: Demand groups (women/men/children/elderly/special groups)

2. Specifications/functions of competing products

The “comparative method” can be used to evaluate and compare the differences in price, market performance, functional features, advantages and disadvantages of different products or services. Common comparison methods are:Tick comparison, score comparison, description comparison, and list displayWait.

When analyzing dark horse-level hot-selling intelligent hardware products, it is necessary to break through the comparison of traditional parameters and focus“Unconventional Success Factors”, such as capturing “anti-consensus” needs (rings instead of bracelets to monitor sleep quality), or product micro-innovation (magnetic modules integrated into wiring harness power banks). If you want to quickly identify products with mediocre surface parameters but actually have dark horse potential, you need to focus on products that are extremely effective in 1-2 dimensions, rather than being completely mediocre.

3. The market play of competing products

First of all, understand the four types of competition logic, namelyEcological bundling, traffic monetization, technology crushing, and agent-driven, which is classified based on the essential differences in profit models and competitive barriers of different enterprises.

Then, the 4V analysis model can be used to explore the market play methods of different competitive logics to find the competitive advantages of market differentiation. The 4V marketing model is segmented into Variation, Value, Versatility, and Vibration.

For the four types of competitive logic players, there are different precise strike strategies, cracking ecological closure, interception keywords (KOC poaching), breaking through technical edge scenarios (extremely cold), and high cashback counter-agents.In the face of ecological and technical players, it is necessary to avoid its edge, and in the face of traffic/proxy players, it is necessary to make quick decisions。

4. User analysis

1. Money: The act of paying

Payment behavior directly reflects the user’s spending power and price sensitivity, which is used to accurately locate the price range and optimize payment conversion.

1. Price band scan. You can use the Helium 10 tool to capture the price distribution curve of the top 10 similar products in the target market in the past 90 days, focusing on recording the frequency of daily prices, promotional prices, and flash sale prices.
2. Payment preference diagnosis. The localization team needs to cooperate with the survey, what is the penetration rate of local consumer installment options, and the proportion of one-time e-wallet payment and cash on delivery.
3. Payment carrier exploration, credit card, payment gateway (PayPal) or third-party payment processor.

2. Scolding: Bad reviews and accusations

Negative reviews and complaints directly reflect the pain points of users and are a powerful tool to improve products.

1. Tools availableKeepa(Amazon historical negative review analysis),Fakespot(Filtering brush reviews) analyzes user reviews of online e-commerce and divides user reviews into three layers, namely vocabulary (high-frequency word statistics), scene (common problems of scenes), and emotion (who has the highest anger value).
2. Then choose the 3 who scolded the mostExtreme users (with the clearest pain points)Conduct phone interviews to uncover key information such as “why buy our products instead of XX brands” and “under what scenarios make you most want to return them”.
3. If there isChannel agents, can ask for its customer feedback, evaluate and sort the various features and needs collected, determine which features are the most urgent and important, and which can be postponed to subsequent releases.

3. Return: The return data is pushed back

Return data is the “source of truth” of user behavior, and the product issues it reflects are more objective and immediate than traditional research.

1) To systematically analyze the return data, first of all, it is necessaryCategorize and label the reason for returnfor example, similar expressions such as “will not be used” and “complex installation” should be uniformly classified as “use threshold/high learning cost” label

2) Then the return data will be on the mapVisualization by geographic coordinatesFor example, users in first-tier cities are often more picky due to their diverse choices, and the return rate may be 15-20% higher than that of third- and fourth-tier cities; The component failure rate of products in high temperature and high humidity areas may be 3 times higher than in other areas.

3) Need to be establishedMulti-dimensional cross-analysis model：

• Focus on the distribution of order value (high-priced products may have a lower return rate than low-priced products) and analyze the time interval between purchase and return (returns within 48 hours may mean that the product does not match the description).
• At the same time, it is necessary to distinguish user attributes, and establish a blacklist mechanism for suspected malicious return orders (such as frequent return and exchange users), and for the first return of high-value new customers, the customer service process should be immediately initiated, including exclusive customer service return visits, video guidance, etc., to collect in-depth feedback while solving problems.

4. Change: Social media reviews

Real user feedback on social media platforms is often more grounded than lab testing, revealing product pain points and innovation opportunities in practice.

Mainstream overseas social platforms have their own characteristics:

1. Reddit is suitable for digging into in-depth technical discussions and hardcore modding schemes
2. TikTok presents visual use cases and creative solutions
3. YouTube has a large collection of tutorial content and long-term usage reviews
4. Twitter captures real-time complaints and unexpected issues
5. Facebook groups and Instagram hashtags show social feedback
6. Snapchat’s instant content reflects the real experience of young users.

Through the systematic analysis of user content on these platforms, enterprises can establish a complete creative evaluation system:

1. When a user-made solution is frequently mentioned by multiple independent users, and the improvement cost is low and there is no patent risk, it can be directly included in the next generation product design.
2. For those niche but disruptive ideas (such as modifications that completely change the way products are used), they can be tested by AB testing for market validation;
3. Even ideas that are temporarily inapplicable can be archived into the enterprise knowledge base as a source of inspiration for future product iterations.

5. Text: Crossing cultural divides and localizing adaptation

Overseas products must have a deep understanding of the cultural taboos of the target market.Color symbolism, festive customs, and religious normsIt is the three high-risk areas, which are very easy to step on thunder, leading to unsalable products, returns and even brand crises.

1. Cognitive differences in color symbolism are the number one pitfall, far beyond the influence of language and payment habits. Pink is easily associated with the erotic industry in the Middle East, white symbolizes purity in Indian culture but symbolizes death in Japan, red symbolizes festivity in Chinese culture and good luck in Brazilian culture but may be associated with danger in India.
2. Festival marketing can explode in accordance with culture. The “cherry blossom limited edition” needs to be launched in Japan in early March (earlier than the actual flowering period), and Malaysia can dig into its “Eid” needs.
3. Ignoring religious taboos can be fatal. Cows are considered sacred animals in Indian culture, cowhide-related products may be considered disrespectful, and Brazilian regions avoid making the “OK” gesture (considered an insult).

5. Product planning (framework)

“Product planning” has been defined at the beginning of the article. Product planning refers to the formulation of specific strategies and steps according to the current stage of business goals and the product value to be highlighted within a certain cycle, summarized into a roadmap with a linear relationship, and finally find an intersection and balance between “doing, doing, and doing”.

The business team needs to be clear about the current stageStrategic goals and business positioning, and reached a consensus and then analyzedMarket size and competitive landscape, to find opportunities in the market, and then compare the head and the dark horse competitor in multiple dimensionsPerformance parameters and functional value, explore and match yourselfProduct valueHowever, we need to be wary of “pseudo-demand” and “technological self-pleasure”.

1. Benchmarking of competitive products: matrix first, parameters later

In the “Market Analysis” and “Competitive Product Analysis” chapters, through the competitive landscape, competitive product layout product line disassembly, etc., you can find market blank spots and optimize your own product portfolio, such as the product series is divided into flagship models, advanced models, and entry-level models according to the specification stratification (high-end/mid-range/low-end), and the pricing is from high to low, and can also be stratified according to customer groups (age/gender), technical routes (entry-level early adopters/professional geeks), and finally output the product matrix chart.

Then, through parameter comparison, clarify the core competitiveness and shortcomings of their own products, and write down the performance/function points to check and fill in the gaps.

2. Market strategy: 4P + S analysis model

First, define irreplaceable value through product strategy, then use pricing strategy to block the throat of profits, rely on channel strategy to achieve efficient reach, and finally use promotion strategy to ignite the growth engine.

Product strategy is the foundation: what to sell? How do you ensure product-market matching?

Including iterations and innovations of existing products, it is necessary to define basic functions, differentiation functions, and localization functions.

Price|Pricing strategy is leverage: how much to sell? How can I maximize my profits?

Strictly control the cost structure and get stuck, and you can benchmark competing products and use special meaning numbers to mark the price

Place|Channel strategy is the connector: where to sell? How to build an efficient distribution network?

Online explosion, offline experience, and agency control at the same time

Promotion strategy is an amplifier: how to push? How to efficiently convert target customers?

Establish a matrix of accurate KOLs and KOCs, create localized content, and throw promotional hooks

Service strategy is a moat: service builds long-term barriers

When a service is a derivative value of a product and constitutes a complete customer experience, it can be classified in a product strategy. At this time, the service strategy includes after-sales support (warranty, return, exchange, repair), value-added services (installation, training, subscription-based content), and user experience optimization (customer service response, user guidance), which are commonly found in the consumer electronics and software industries.

When a service directly impacts channel reach quality or end-user experience, it can be classified in a channel strategy. At this time, the service strategy includes local service network (maintenance point, door-to-door installation), agent service training (technical certification, speech standardization), and O2O service integration (online ordering + offline service), which is common in major home appliances, automotive industry and B2B equipment.

3. Product Roadmap (Framework)

Product routes include (1)Product market layout (product matrix), (2) hardware parameters/functions, (3) 4P+S market strategy。 References are as follows: