Really explore the Romans in the Storm: Access is strictly guarded, and guests are not allowed

Source: Tuchuang

Author | Feng Liange Pang Yu

"Thank you for your attention, I will not accept interviews for the time being." On the afternoon of July 4, as the time is approaching, Times Finance finally contacted Romes through the property of the Shenzhen headquarters building of Romes.

However, the property related personnel of the Shenzhen headquarters of Romes also confirmed to Times Finance that Romes is still working normally in the building and has not evacuated.

Recently, under the storm of power bank recall, Shenzhen Romanes Technology Co., Ltd. (referred to as "Romes") located in Building B, Building 7, Shenzhen International Innovation Valley Phase 3, became the center of the storm.

The front desk staff on the first floor of the office building told Times Finance that there are many people who have come to consult the situation of Romes in the past two days, but they need to obtain a corporate license to enter, and "may be driven out" without permission. According to the official website of

, the office address of Romes is located on the 15th to 18th floors of the building. When Times Finance visited on the afternoon of July 4, the staff in the building frequently entered and exited, and everyone needed facial recognition to enter. There was a security guard standing guard next to the access control of the lobby.

Romes office - Building B, Building 7, Shenzhen International Innovation Valley Photo by Times Finance In early July, Romans was already deeply involved in rumors of bankruptcy. Late at night on July 3, Romes publicly responded that everything was fine. On the same day, Qichacha showed that Romans had another industrial and commercial change. Lei Xingrong resigned as legal representative, director, and manager, and Lei Shexing took over. The former was changed to legal representative a few days ago.

At the morning of the next morning (July 4), there was a market news that due to the need to deal with a large number of returns and exchanges, the refund of Romes’ Taobao store has been delayed.

Universities banned and non-3C certified products are banned. The recall of 490,000 power banks has hit the 13-year-old Romans. On the afternoon of July 4, Times Finance tried to explore the Romans in the storm, but the entrance to the office building was strictly guarded, and Romans refused to see guests.

There are other visitors in addition to the media. Times Finance met a visitor from Romes near the office building of Romes. He said that he also came to discuss cooperation with Romes, but Romes told him through the property that he would "relax" and "not see each other these two days." The visitor said, "The property contacted them for me, but they seemed to be in the mood to meet anyone now."

Not seeing the visitors, perhaps because Romes had more important problems to be solved.

The first problem is the direct impact of the recall of 490,000 power banks on Romanes' cash flow.

At present, according to the announcement of Romans, there are 491,745 power banks to be recalled. If calculated based on the unit price of 80 yuan, Romans' loss will reach 39.3396 million yuan.

But the actual loss may not be that.

Times Finance noticed that on several major mainstream e-commerce platforms, Romes' official store has removed all power bank products.

Regarding the reasons for no longer selling, the customer service of Taobao, JD and other platforms gave a unanimous explanation: "In order to completely dispel everyone's concerns and doubts about mobile power products. From now on, Romes will suspend the sales of mobile power products on multiple platforms, conduct a comprehensive and thorough investigation of the products, and resume the product launch as soon as possible while ensuring safety and compliance."

was removed, many consumers reported on social platforms that when Romes applied for a power bank refund at the official store of Taobao, they could not return the goods due to insufficient balance of the seller's account. Taobao customer service responded that it was urging deposits to be paid, and it is not yet certain when the merchant can solve the funding problem.

Times Finance also called the customer service number of Romes. The number of consultations has increased recently. It is recommended that consumers directly contact customer service of Taobao, JD.com, Douyin and other platforms to solve the problem.

Regarding the specific amount of the loss, Times Finance tried to contact the company through on-site, company phone number, customer service number, etc., but failed. The second problem is that recall is not the end of this change. Romes also has to face the aftermath of fierce market competition, the 3C certification was cancelled and the battery cell suppliers were non-compliant.

Times Finance noticed that on the National Certification and Accreditation Information Public Service Platform of the State Administration for Market Regulation, the 3C certification certificates for a large number of mobile power supplies in Romes are suspended, and the effective ones are basically 3C certificates for power adapters, fast charging chargers, etc.

In the view of senior industrial economy observer Liang Zhenpeng, in the short term, Romes will need to bear the negative impact of brand trust crisis and damage to corporate image. In the medium term, strengthening supervision and supply chain restructuring are both considerable costs. In the further future, with the changes brought about by the upgrading of standards and the reshuffle of the market, the compliance costs of power banks will also increase further. "The price of power banks may rise by 10%-15% in the future," he pointed out.

Senior industrial economic analyst and founder of Ding Technology, Major General Ding also mentioned that at present, consumers are aware of cognition and "safety premium" has become a new competitive dimension. With the acceleration of the survival of the fittest in the industry, the market is very likely to concentrate on leading brands that dominate supply chain, compliance, and brand image.

The third problem is, where will Romans go under the business crisis and the trust crisis?

According to Interface News, on July 3, due to the recall of the power bank, Romans' operations were already in trouble. Several Romans employees said that since July 1, Romans has successively notified employees to suspend work and production.

But in the face of market rumors, Romes then responded on his official Weibo that "it has not gone bankrupt, thank you for your concern."

Source: Romes Weibo

The replacement of the legal representative twice within 4 days also made the outside world a little worried about how the company will develop in the future.

Qichacha shows that on July 3, Shenzhen Romes Technology Co., Ltd. underwent industrial and commercial changes, and Lei Xingrong resigned as legal representative, director, and manager, and Lei Shexing took over..

However, just a few days ago (June 30), Romes changed the legal representative, director and manager from Lei Shexing to Lei Xingrong.

In fact, on April 23 this year, the company also underwent a round of changes. At that time, the company's legal representative, manager and other senior executives changed from Lei Guibin to Lei Shexing.

Multiple legal persons have surnamed Lei, but there is no clear information to indicate their relationship at present.

Tianyan Check shows that the actual controllers of Romes are Lei Canhuo and Lei Guibin, and each holds 50% of the company's shares.

Photo source: Tianyancha

With Shenzhen Romes Technology Co., Ltd. as the core, Romes has built an enterprise group with 12 companies, and a considerable number of these companies are surnamed Lei.

Source: Tianyancha

02

Recreate Romans?

The managers of Romans have rarely spoken out to the public in recent years. Among the many "Lei Family", it seems that only Lei Guibin has a relatively clear image on the Internet.

Public information shows that Lei Guibin's entrepreneurship is a very typical "Shenzhen Dream". After graduating from university, he first sold computer accessories in Huaqiangbei in 2000. After saving his first pot of gold, he established a company specializing in the production and sales of laptop batteries. But in 2010, Lei Guibin, who had been working in this field for 10 years, felt the signs of a decline in the industry and began to turn his attention to the mobile power market that was "taken away" by the explosion of smartphone products.

Romas Power Bank has always used cost-effectiveness as its selling point since its establishment. At that time, media reported that when the price of similar products in the entire industry remained at around 128 yuan, Romes entered the market through the price advantage of 99 yuan. When the price of peers was reduced to 99 yuan, Romes directly reduced the price of similar products to 69 yuan. In terms of channel selection, the company also chose online channels with relatively low cost at the time to sell products.

In the early stage of entrepreneurship, Romes was practicing the "Xiaomi model" - cost-effectiveness, grasping user pain points, and seizing online channels.

Romes' efforts were indeed fruitful. According to The Paper, the world's first echelon of mobile power supply in 2022 are mainly Anker and Xiaomi, with a total market share of 19.93%. Romes ranks in the second echelon, and together with Samsung, ZAGG and others, it has a share of 12.48%. Data from the company

shows that in the ten years since its establishment, Romes ranked first in the online market share, ranked first in the sales of Tmall Double Eleven mobile power supply category for 10 consecutive years, and ranked first in the 3C digital accessories category on the entire network for 3 consecutive years.

Just a year ago, Romans' ambitions had expanded to "create another Roman" overseas. At that time, the company was no longer satisfied with the solidified image of "Romes = power bank", and proposed the Romes full-scene power consumption experience strategy at the new product launch conference in July 2024. At the press conference, Romes said it has successively deployed 10 major categories including power banks, energy storage power supplies, charging heads, wireless charging and car charging, and has gradually expanded the product ecosystem of the full-scene power consumption strategy.

Source: Romes

In addition to diversification, in April last year, Romes also announced its "New Decade Global Strategy" plan, hoping to build a technological benchmark for the global charging industry through technological innovation and excellent services, leading new industry standards, and defining the future development direction of the industry.

At that time, the company also announced the construction of the global delivery guarantee center - Jiangmen Industrial Park, integrating global live broadcast, customer service and cloud warehouse business, and leveraging Romes' unique advantages in manufacturing and supply chain.

However, a year ago, a company that said to "build another Romans" overseas has reached this point? Where will the future go?

In recent days, Romans has tended to close channels to speak out to the outside world. Therefore, there is no definite answer to all questions yet.