106: How can this be called suppression?

After having Shen Rou pour a cup of tea for Dr. Zhou, Chen Chen sat on the office sofa alongside Dr. Zhou, looking down to review the data.

"Mr. Chen, you were right. I've compared Lei Jun's press conference speech with their official website's promotion in detail, and it's indeed different from what we found after dismantling the device."

"At the press conference, Lei Jun said that the China Unicom Version of the mi 3 would use the MSM8974AB, the strongest processor in the snapdragon 800 platform, but our actual teardown revealed that the mi 3 Unicom Version is equipped with the MSM8274AB model."

"Is there any difference?"

Chen Chen had a relatively deep impression of the 'Chip-Swapping Scandal' from back then, but since it was so long ago, he couldn't quite remember the exact differences between these two chip models.

After all, he had bought the Mobile Version equipped with the Nvidia Tegra 4 platform back then. He only remembered that Xiaomi reacted within 24 hours, publishing an apology letter and processing refunds and returns for mi 3 Unicom Version users.

Then, after Qualcomm also issued a statement, the matter basically faded away.

"There's no difference in performance. The biggest difference between the two processors is the network standard. The MSM8274AB supports China Unicom's WCDMA network, while the MSM8974AB supports 4G networks. That's their only difference."

"What's even more ridiculous is that after dismantling and testing it, we flipped over the mi 3's packaging box, and the back of the box openly labeled it as MSM8274AB. I don't think we even need to take action on this."

"Attentive consumers will notice this parameter at a glance."

Chen Chen nodded. The chip-swapping incident for the Unicom Version of the mi 3 was actually a crisis of trust for Xiaomi, which could be suppressed through public relations.

In his previous life, on December 31, 2013—the last day of the year—the Unicom Version of the mi 3 finally went on sale 117 days after the press conference (one had to admire the mi fans of that time for being able to wait so long).

The total volume of the first batch of mi 3 Unicom and Mobile Versions was only 50,000 units. Being able to snag a Unicom Version of the mi 3 back then was truly like 'thousands of troops crossing a single-log bridge'—it was extremely lucky.

But looking at the official first-sale data from Xiaomi now, they have a full 600,000 units in stock, with the Unicom and Mobile Versions launching simultaneously. If a scandal really breaks out, it'll be enough to hurt Xiaomi to the bone.

Lei Jun: Didn't expect that, did you? There aren't actually that many.

"What about the Tegra 4 version?" Chen Chen asked again.

"The Tegra 4 version is actually the same as the snapdragon 800 version; there aren't any major flaws in the overall design of the phone. Most of the problems we found during testing were caused by temperature control."

"First, the nominal frequency of the Nvidia Tegra 4 is 1.8GHz, but it uses a method similar to Intel's Turbo Boost. In daily use, only a single core can momentarily reach 1.8GHz at full load."

"In daily use, it's very rare for all four cores to reach 1.8GHz simultaneously. Without managing the temperature, the Tegra 4 lasted only 1.67 seconds with all four cores at full load before being forced to downclock."

"The Tegra 4 is extremely sensitive to temperature. When we put all four cores under full load, the core temperature reached 71.4°C in a very short time. Then, due to thermal throttling, the Tegra 4 began to force a downclock, only stabilizing at 796MHz after several minutes."

"At the same time, the external temperature of the phone was 45.6°C. The heat was mainly concentrated near the earpiece and the back of the device at 47.2°C, while the battery temperature was 48°C."

"During the period when the processor was downclocking to cool down, the phone's usage became noticeably laggy, and some applications began to crash."

"Besides that, there's a network disconnection issue. When not connected to Wi-Fi, the mi 3 occasionally shows a full network signal, but the connection speed is extremely slow or there's no network at all."

After finishing, Dr. Zhou handed a long report on the mi 3 Mobile Version to Chen Chen.

A few minutes later, Chen Chen finally put down the report with a smile on his face and said to Dr. Zhou:

"Lei Jun is going to be busy for a while. These aren't fatal flaws, but they will affect Xiaomi's reputation and consumer trust. If I give it another push from behind, these 600,000 phones will truly hurt Lei Jun to the bone."

"I just want Lei Jun to have a headache for a while!"

At this point, Dr. Zhou looked at Chen Chen with a serious expression and said, "Mr. Chen, I don't know why you keep targeting Xiaomi. I don't understand marketing matters, but I do know that as long as we put our hearts into making good products and truly care for the consumers, our products don't need to rely on suppressing competitors to gain sales."

"I'm guessing Mr. Chen is planning to hire some internet trolls to muddy the waters online and build momentum for our red star 3 release on the 28th, right?"

"It's actually quite unnecessary. Our red star 3 has the Yangtze River Battery, our own chips, and a globally unique fast-charging technology. There's absolutely no need to rely on suppressing Xiaomi to create hype. Mr. Chen, do you still even consider Lei Jun's Xiaomi as a rival?"

Dr. Zhou's words made Chen Chen's heart skip a beat. Had he become too obsessed with this?

The current Xiaomi was no match for Red Star at all, whether in the budget phone market or the mid-range market. As for high-end phones, there was no comparison—Xiaomi didn't even have any.

In his previous life, the mi 2 series sold nearly 14 million units. In this life, it was estimated to be around 10 million, which wasn't even as high as a single series of his own Kunpeng mobile phones.

They weren't on the same level at all!

"Dr. Zhou, I understand everything you're saying, but I just can't swallow this resentment. Besides, even if I don't push it, consumers will still find out. I'm just moving the timeline forward; I'm not smearing or fabricating rumors about Xiaomi."

"Mr. Chen, as long as you have a plan in mind. I still believe that under your leadership, Red Star will definitely become a great company. We shouldn't let these things affect Red Star."

"Alright, Dr. Zhou, I have my own plans."

Chen Chen felt that for Xiaomi, this didn't count as suppression at all. He was just telling the truth—how could that be called suppression?

If you didn't give this Dami Company something to keep them busy, who knows what they might cook up against you. Moreover, Lei Jun, who in his previous life had driven Xiaomi to become third in the world and first in China in just a few years, was no pushover. It was better to keep him occupied.

After Dr. Zhou left, Chen Chen immediately said to Shen Rou next door:

"Shen Rou, here is the data for the mi 3. Immediately arrange for people to spread it on Social Media Platforms and forums. Remember, we only need to give it a slight nudge; we don't need to get involved directly."

"Okay, Mr. Chen, I'll arrange it right away."