10: The third press conference for the first generation of rice

August 16, 2011

Imperial Capital 798 Art Exhibition Center

Dami Company was holding the launch event for their first smartphone, the mi 1, right here.

As an old Mi fan, Chen Chen naturally had to attend this extremely important launch event.

Of course, he sat in the front row as a specially invited guest.

Because Dami Company had previously engaged in a fierce battle with Penguin through Feiliao, and had gained a large number of fans through their MIUI operating system interface.

Even Chen Chen had to admit that the early MIUI system was indeed smooth and easy to use, far better than his own hastily launched Starlight OS!

Hmm~ It seems I'll have to imitate it once I get back.

Borrowing ideas isn't shameful.

It's not like I'm copying.

The entire venue was filled with Dami fans; some had rushed here from all over the country, but most were fans from near the Imperial Capital.

As for whether there were any "shills," Chen Chen wouldn't know.

After Lei Jun took the stage, the venue immediately erupted in warm applause.

Chen Chen also followed along and clapped.

Subsequently, Lei Jun began introducing their product on stage.

“This product is a work of heart from our Dami Company; it is the ultimate dream of seven old boys!”

“Our da mi 1st generation uses the world's fastest Qualcomm dual-core processor! It has a clock speed of 1.5GHz and uses an embedded GPU module, which can bring faster graphics processing speeds.”

Watching Lei Jun's strenuous introduction on stage, Chen Chen couldn't help but feel a bit bored.

Why was he bored?

He had already attended this launch event twice! This was the third time!

PS: Because the previous two books written about Xiaomi were banned, this is the third time.

PS: Note from the author on October 24, 2025: This book was also banned. I deleted and modified hundreds of thousands of words to fish it back out. If you see chapters that are wrong or inconsistent later on, that is the power of the River Crab (censorship).

Soon, the large screen behind Lei Jun displayed the overall configuration of the mi 1.

The body height was 125mm, the width was 63mm, and the thickness was 12mm.

The weight was approximately 150g.

Regarding the body design, as Lei Jun had said, there was simply no design.

The front was just a touch panel with a slightly raised wrap-around, and the entire body was made of plastic.

Even the mid-frame was plastic.

You ask why the mid-frame was also plastic?

Two words—Cheap!

It was to save costs!

The 1999 price point wasn't expensive to begin with, so they saved wherever they could.

Even in 2024, there are still many phones with plastic mid-frames.

So whether it's plastic or not isn't important.

What the consumers like is the most important thing.

After Lei Jun finished introducing the configuration of the mi 1, he began talking about some of the things that happened during the production of this mi 1.

Things like risking nuclear leaks and earthquakes to go to Japan and Sharp to negotiate for screens.

Things like not being able to find an OEM to manufacture it at all.

In short, a whole lot of things.

After introducing all this, next came the thing everyone cared about most.

The price!

There had been all sorts of rumors online before, like 2999 or 2799.

There was even a rumor that Lei Juns nickname was going to sell the phone for 999.

Anyway, opinions were divided.

“Everyone must be impatient to know the price of our da mi 1st generation, right?”

“Before announcing the price, let's first take a look at the prices of high-end flagship phones on the market.”

“Samsung's Galaxy Series is over 4300, Fruit's is over 4700, HTC's G and One series are also over 3700, and this year's domestic Red Star 903 is also over 3200 yuan.”

Seeing that Lei Jun actually brought out Red Star's failed flagship of the year for a price comparison, Chen Chen helplessly covered his face.

It was truly embarrassing; he didn't know who gave those people the courage to actually set the price at 3999!

Then, Chen Chen was startled by a huge sound effect.

No need to think, that was the sound of the four large characters '1999' dropping.

Small scene, small scene.

He didn't even know how many times he had seen those four huge gilded characters.

Without even looking up, he could guess with his toes that it was 1999.

“Lei Juns nickname is awesome!”

“Ow~ Ow~!”

The venue was silent for a full half-minute.

The audience on-site suddenly began to boil with excitement.

After all the discussions back and forth online.

No one expected Lei Jun to set the price of the mi 1 at 1999.

With such a configuration, just as Lei Jun compared, which foreign manufacturer wouldn't sell it for over 3000?

As a result, Lei Jun went straight to 1999; how could the audience not be ecstatic?

In the past, they wouldn't even have dared to think about it.

As Lei Jun left the stage, the audience also began to leave the venue one after another.

Didn't they hear Lei Jun say? This phone has to be snatched up in a flash sale.

Going back and quickly making an appointment was the way to go.

After the launch event ended, Chen Chen did not leave, but went backstage with the help of the staff.

Seeing Lei Jun walking over from a distance with his hand outstretched.

Chen Chen felt a mix of emotions in his heart.

In the previous two lives, Lei Jun had always treated him like an elder, and Lei Jun could basically listen to all of his opinions for the entire Dami Company.

In this life, since they were rivals, then... “President Lei, I wish your da mi 1st generation a great sale!”

As soon as Lei Jun approached, Chen Chen immediately offered his congratulations.

In fact, it was the truth; according to the current situation and historical patterns, the mi 1 would definitely be extremely popular.

“President Chen is truly young and promising! I saw your recently released Shine phone; it basically bloodwashed the low-end phone market.”

Then their two hands shook together.

“President Lei, I want to go to your Dami Company to learn a bit and see what kind of company an internet company really is. I wonder if it's convenient for President Lei.”

There was no displeasure in Lei Jun's eyes, and he said directly:

“Welcome, we at Dami always welcome President Chen to come for a visit and inspection.”

Lei Jun did not look down on Chen Chen because of his young age; instead, he kept a very low profile and didn't use the word 'learn,' but instead used 'visit and inspection.'

“Then let's exchange contact information. Once President Lei is finished with this busy period, I will definitely come to disturb you.”

“You're welcome anytime.”

Then he took out his phone and exchanged business cards with Chen Chen.

After all, the mi 1 had just been released, and according to Dami Company's operations, they probably hadn't even produced a single phone yet.

Next, there would be all sorts of matters and problems to keep Lei Jun busy.

Could I take advantage of the time while the mi 1 has no production capacity to hurry up and launch our phone?

Chen Chen knew that the da mi 1st generation went through a long production ramp-up period, and large-scale delivery wouldn't even start until next year.

It was only August now, which meant he still had four months to prepare.

Otherwise, once the mi 1 started large-scale delivery, even if he released a product then, it wouldn't have this kind of heat and traffic.

After all, Dami Company came with its own traffic.

Just riding the coattails would be enough.

With such thoughts, Chen Chen immediately urged the progress of the mid-range phone codenamed '1' upon returning to the company.

The '1' represented the highest priority and also signified the first generation of phones for Red Star's restart.