Huaqiangbei, China's premier electronics street, is known for its high value per square meter and has spawned numerous commercial marvels such as the "one-meter counter." Mr. Song Shiqiang, an expert in Huaqiangbei commercial research, is currently involved in managing investments in Shenzhen SlkorMicro Semiconductor Co., Ltd. and Shenzhen Kinghelm Electronics Co., Ltd., cultivating the brands "SLKOR" and "Kinghelm." SLKOR (www.slkoric.com) is presently among the rapidly growing semiconductor enterprises in China, having established two direct-operated stores in Huaqiangbei. Today, our destination for exploration is the second direct-operated store of SLKOR in the Huaqiang Electronic Market, where we will delve deeper into the brand alongside store manager Xian Hongmei.

Slkor's second direct-operated store in Huaqiangbei, Shenzhen, is managed by Store Manager Xian Hongmei

Xian Hongmei, a graduate of Chongqing Normal University's Early Childhood Education College, affectionately known as "Sister Xian," embodies the spirit of Huaqiangbei. In "The Past, Present, and Future of Huaqiangbei in Shenzhen as Explored by Slkor's Mr. Song Shiqiang," the essence of "Huaqiangbei spirit" is distilled as daring, innovative, and adventurous. It praises how this spirit originated as a seed among entrepreneurs in Huaqiangbei and evolved into "Huaqiangbei culture." Xian's inspiring journey mirrors a modern-day tale of courage, emphasizing perseverance. Starting with teaching and managing kindergartens in her hometown after graduation, she ventured into clerical work, gradually mastering finance and human resources management, and eventually earning a bachelor's degree through self-study. Yet, Xian "always felt unable to achieve her life goals," until joining SlkroMicro and Kinghelm, embarking on a challenging career in sales, where she found her purpose. With an unwavering commitment to lifelong learning and courageously forging ahead, Xian has truly carved her path. Her enduring 17-year journey with SlkorMicro and Kinghelm is a testament to dedication and mutual growth, marked by profound experiences and twists worth pondering and sharing.

Question 1: I heard you've been with SlkorMicro and Kinghelm for over a decade. Could you share your experience working there?

Xian Hongmei: Yes, I have been with SlkorMicro and Kinghelm for 17 years now. Throughout my tenure, I've deeply appreciated General Manager Mr. Song Shiqiang's foresight and wisdom, as well as the company's culture of humane care and mutual respect. The company provides a conducive work environment and excellent welfare benefits for all employees, emphasizing each individual's developmental needs. This fosters a sense of belonging and identification among us, motivating us to contribute our efforts towards the company's growth.

General Manager Song Shiqiang from SLKOR and Kinghelm discusses Shenzhen's Huaqiangbei

Question 2: What is the connection between SlkorMicro and Kinghelm with Huaqiangbei in Shenzhen?

Xian Hongmei: Slkor and Kinghelm both originated as enterprises in Huaqiangbei, Shenzhen. They uphold the spirit of daring to innovate and excel, a hallmark of Huaqiangbei, and have continuously advanced towards the high-end of the value chain and the core of the industrial chain. Over the past decade, these two companies have focused on product research and development, driving company growth through new materials, new technologies, and innovative products. They have since evolved into national-level high-tech enterprises with their own research and development centers, production bases, and competitive products. They have obtained dozens of patents for inventions and software copyrights through originality.

SlkorMicro Semiconductor has been awarded the certificate of "High-Tech Enterprise"

Currently, SlkorMicro and Kinghelm have relocated their headquarters to the Shenzhou Computer Building adjacent to Huawei's Bantian Base in Shenzhen. Kinghelm's Beidou GPS antenna debugging and R&D laboratory is located in Tangxia, Dongguan, with antenna production facilities in Liuzhou, Guangxi, and prominent advertising in Huaqiangbei. SlkorMicro's research and development teams are situated in various locations including South Korea, Beijing, and Wuxi, while assembly and testing are conducted in Taizhou and Dongguan. Additionally, there are two sales outlets in Huaqiangbei, with our flagship store being the second outlet.

Employees representatives taking a group photo in front of Slkor's second flagship store at Huaqiangbei

Question 3: What are the competitive advantages of Slkor's direct-operated stores?

Xian Hongmei: Companies like Slkor directly expand upstream in the industry chain. This model grants pricing power and control over the supply chain, promotes knowledge accumulation, engineering research and development, and continuous iteration of new products. It positions them at the top of the value chain in competition, with ample leverage in dealings with both upstream and downstream partners. Despite initial challenges, this approach yields long-term stable returns!

Our direct-operated stores benefit from guidance and systematic support from Slkor's headquarters. We now boast brand value, a stable supply chain, and assured product quality. With stable customer relationships and a hopeful team, our monthly sales approach nearly one million, with a reorder rate of ninety percent. Such remarkable achievements are primarily attributable to the robust support from our headquarters!

Slkor and Kinghelm's simplistic Chinese-style entrance gates

Question 4: What is the brand positioning of the direct-operated stores?

Xian Hongmei: Our direct-operated store serves as a crucial retail venue and service hub for SlkorMicro Semiconductor (www.slkoric.com) in Huaqiangbei, facilitating significant market testing for its new products.

The electronic screen advertisement of Slkor in Huaqiangbei Pedestrian Street

Question 5: What is the specific navigation location of the direct-operated store?

Xian Hongmei: Our direct-operated store is located at H1C001, Brand Electronics Zone, 1st floor, Shenzhen Electronics World, Huaqiangbei Second Store, Futian District, Shenzhen. It is right at the northern entrance of Phase III of the Huaqiang Electronics Market, adjacent to HP computers and Huawei mobile phone stores!

Model diagram of Slkor's second direct-operated store in Huaqiangbei

Question 6: What are the best-selling products at the direct-operated store?

Xian Hongmei: Best-selling products at Slkor (www.slkoric.com) include SiC MOSFETs, field-effect transistors, TVS diodes, and Kinghelm's signal connectors! Models such as Slkor's M7 (SMA), AMS1117-3.3 (SOT-223), AMS1117-5.0 (SOT-223), SS34 (SMA), SS36 (SMA), SS8050 (SOT-23), SS8550 (SOT-23), 2N7002 (SOT-23), bat54c (SOT-23), SD12C (SOD-323), ZMM5V1 (LL-34), LL4148 (LL-34), SMBJ6.5CA (SMB), SMBJ5.0A (SMB), and others are also selling well both at our direct-operated store and on major internet platforms!

Partial best-selling products at Slkor's second direct-operated store in Huaqiangbei

Question 7: How does the direct-operated store help enhance the brand image of SlkorMicro? Please provide an example.

Xian Hongmei: Let me give you an example. In 2019, the sudden rise of under-display fingerprint chips squeezed the normally unprofitable 8-inch wafer capacity of semiconductor fabs, leading to shortages of power devices such as MOSFETs. SlkorMicro (www.slkoric.com), due to its robust supply chain management and ample inventory, was able to ensure sufficient supply without raising prices at our direct-operated stores. As a result, our direct-operated store gained significant recognition in Huaqiangbei, with a substantial increase in market share. SlkorMicro also became synonymous with "domestic substitution."

The Slkor brand has gained prominence and reputation both domestically and internationally, attracting foreign customers who frequently inquire about various product information at our store. We promptly relay this information to the headquarters' international trade department. The high recognition of our brand value and product quality among customers is noteworthy.

Question 8: How do offline direct-operated stores and internet marketing mutually promote and complement each other?

Xian Hongmei: Both SlkorMicro and Kinghelm are companies driven by new product, new technology, and new material development. SlkorMicro operates two direct-operated stores in Huaqiangbei, each less than 3 square meters but stocking up to 600,000 units. These stores significantly outperform in brand penetration and efficient sampling and small-batch sales of new products like IGBT modules and power management chips.

Slkor's overseas website (www.slkoric.com) features interfaces in 104 languages, including Scottish Gaelic

Slkor and Kinghelm's overseas market distributor, Mairuid (www.instockelec.com), operates a foreign trade website that boasts impressive traffic and transaction volumes. The site has dedicated sections for Kinghelm and Slkor, fostering mutual promotion with Kinghelm's (www.kinghelm.net) and Slkor's (www.slkoric.com) overseas official websites, significantly enhancing both online and offline brand promotion and product sales.

Question 9: The Slkor AI robot has been online for some time now. What is your experience using it? Any suggestions for improvement?

Xian Hongmei: The launch of the Slkor AI robot represents enterprise digital marketing empowered by AI. Users can simply search for the "Slkor Semiconductor Leader" WeChat public account, follow it, and click "Send Message" to interact with the robot anytime, anywhere, which is beneficial for our direct store sales. Additionally, the Slkor AI robot can automatically generate male and female spokespersons, featuring a woman from around the world each day holding Kinghelm and Slkor products, adding uniqueness and creativity to attract traffic to our direct stores.

After using the Slkor AI robot for some time, I've noticed a significant improvement in its error correction capabilities and response speed. The robot's answers have become increasingly intelligent, and it even engages in light-hearted banter, poetry, and responds to questions about Huawei. My suggestion for improvement is that, given the robot requires extensive training with high intensity and large data volumes, we should allow it to make mistakes and give it time to become more intelligent. We must work together to help it achieve its ultimate goal.

The Slkor large-scale AI model robot is capable of composing poetry, answering questions related to Huawei, and engaging in artistic expression

Question 10: What is the ultimate goal of the Slkor AI robot?

The ultimate goal of the Slkor AI robot is to provide end-to-end services such as internet customer information consultation, material quoting, transaction matching, goods delivery arrangement, and customer satisfaction follow-up. In the future, it will integrate with Slkor and Kinghelm's Kingdee ERP system and Feishu KOR system, along with various other applications, to further accelerate the rapid development of Kinghelm and Slkor companies in different operational scenarios.

Introduction of Mr. Song Shiqiang 

Mr. Song Shiqiang, General Manager of Slkor and Kinghelm

Mr. Song Shiqiang, Researcher at the Economic Development Center for Small and Private Enterprises of the State Council, member of the Electronic Information Expert Database of the China Association for Science and Technology, columnist and science popularizer, business research expert at Huaqiangbei, and General Manager of Slkor and Kinghelm. Slkor (www.slkoric.com) is currently one of the rapidly growing semiconductor enterprises in China, aiming to be a leader in the semiconductor industry. Kinghelm (www.kinghelm.net), under its motto "Kinghelm Connects World," specializes in the development and production of microwave BeiDou GPS antennas, RF connectors, electrical signal connectors, and other products, embracing the intelligent era of interconnected devices. Both Slkor and Kinghelm are recognized as national high-tech enterprises, holding numerous patents for invention and software copyrights.

Mr. Song Shiqiang is widely recognized and influential in the semiconductor and RF signal connector industries in China. He has been actively engaged in research and promotion of Huaqiangbei, striving to enhance its business environment and facilitate its successful transformation amid new challenges. Mr. Song's research articles on Huaqiangbei, including "Research on Huaqiangbei," "Transformation and Development of Huaqiangbei," "Refutation of Bloomberg's Huaqiangbei News," "Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow of Huaqiangbei," and "Song Shiqiang's Insights into the Wealth Code of Huaqiangbei," have been republished by major media outlets such as People's Daily, Xinhua News Agency, Global Times, First Financial, Associated Press, and Yahoo News.