34: Red Star's charging patent

[An Old Fish]: A bet?

[Old Zhang Talks Tech]: If the Kunpeng mobile phone sells more than 200,000 units, I'll eat shit on a livestream!

"Haha, this Old Zhang is looking for a free meal again. Screenshot taken; I'll save a big one for you when the time comes."

"@Old Zhang Talks Tech, the Kunpeng mobile phone has a unibody design, so you can't swap the battery."

"But I think Old Zhang has a point. The Kunpeng mobile phone might not be able to justify such a high starting price. Huawei has made several high-end models, and their starting price was only 2,699, never even crossing 3,000."

Yu Chengbei: Finally, someone remembers that I've also made a few high-end models.

"Whatever you guys say, I'm planning to buy the top-tier Kunpeng mobile phone online. Not for anything else, just to see if its charging speed is really that fast."

[The Rise of Domestic Phones: Kunpeng mobile phone!]

[Domestic processor Lingxiao S2 + domestic 1080p screen, truly Made in China!]

[Domestic Flagship: Starting at 3,499!]

[Shocking! A domestic phone actually...]

Just like the differing opinions of An Old Fish and Old Zhang Talks Tech, the views of many netizens online regarding the Kunpeng mobile phone were roughly divided into two camps.

One camp felt that Red Star couldn't justify a price of 3,499 and that this Kunpeng mobile phone would definitely flop.

Regardless of the online debate, the hongxing 2nd generation and the Kunpeng mobile phone finally had their first launch. Before the launch, pre-orders for the hongxing 2nd generation had already reached over 1.9 million, while the Kunpeng mobile phone had over 700,000.

As the clock struck ten, the Red Star official website opened its purchase channels right on time. To everyone's surprise, the Kunpeng mobile phone sold out in just a few seconds.

The hongxing 2nd generation also sold out completely within one minute.

"Wait, President Chen, just how much stock did you prepare? Why was the Kunpeng mobile phone gone in the blink of an eye?"

"Didn't everyone say they weren't going to buy this phone? I specifically chose the most expensive version, and I still didn't get one!"

"Snatch? You actually have to snatch the Kunpeng mobile phone? Look at my screenshot. [Image: Kunpeng mobile phone 4+64 Silver, payment successful.]"

"The guy above is shameless. Seriously, did Red Star only release a few thousand units this time? It feels like nobody got one."

In fact, Chen Chen had prepared quite a bit of stock for the Kunpeng mobile phone, with the first batch consisting of 50,000 units. He hadn't expected netizens to be so enthusiastic about this model.

As for the 300,000 units of the hongxing 2nd generation, selling out in a minute was just standard procedure!

Look at Xiaomi; they sell out in a single second.

Whether there were actually 200,000 units is hard to say.

[Thank you all very much for your support of Red Star. The next batch of the hongxing 2nd generation and Kunpeng mobile phone will go on sale next Friday.]

Shenzhen.

Huawei Headquarters Laboratory.

"Well? Have you figured it out?"

In the lab, Yu Chengbei looked at the Kunpeng mobile phone that had been completely disassembled on the test bench and asked anxiously.

"We're currently testing it. Please wait a moment, Mr. Yu."

Suppressing his restlessness, Yu Chengbei pulled over a stool and sat down to wait.

As soon as the Kunpeng mobile phone was released, Yu Chengbei obtained one through other channels. He was desperate to know the secret behind this phone's charging.

Currently, the charging power Huawei could mass-produce was only 12 watts. Even in the lab, it was only 15 watts, failing to even catch up with Xiaomi's 18 watts.

The prototype for the mate series had already come off the line, but the release of the Kunpeng mobile phone had put him on high alert again.

They have 40-watt charging power. If the mate series only provides consumers with 12 watts, despite both being flagship phones targeting the high-end market, Yu Chengbei didn't want such a large gap.

He decided to stay in the lab to see if they could discover the fast-charging technology through disassembly.

"Mr. Yu, we've got it."

At the technician's shout, Yu Chengbei stood up quickly.

"Mr. Yu, it's just as Chen Chen said. Their Kunpeng mobile phone and hongxing 2nd generation both use the charge pump technology he mentioned at the press conference, and they've added a charging control IC on the charger side."

"I don't care about that. I just want to know if we can use this technology to increase our charging power as well."

The technician sighed and said, "Mr. Yu, I just checked. Red Star has applied for patents for their charge pump technology. Not just for single-channel charge pumps, but also for dual and triple-channel technologies; they've applied for various patents."

"Then can we bypass these patents and develop Huawei's own fast-charging solution?"

Yu Chengbei didn't care about patents. If there were patents, they'd find a way around them; if that failed, they'd talk to Red Star.

Didn't Red Star want domestic chips? They must lack certain communication technology patents. They could do a patent cross-licensing deal.

"Bypassing is certainly possible, but it takes time. Also, on the traditional Micro interface, we'd need to heavily modify the port because Micro only has 5 pins, while the type-c interface has 24 pins. This interface is naturally designed for fast charging. Otherwise, even if we port this technology, we won't reach Red Star's power levels."

Hearing that it would take time, Yu Chengbei became anxious. The current mate series was precisely short on time. He wanted to ride the wave of Red Star's so-called high-end domestic flagship and launch Huawei's mate series directly.

The high-end market only consists of a small group of people. If Red Star takes the lead and establishes a foothold in this market, it will be exponentially harder for Huawei to compete.

As for what people online were saying about the Kunpeng mobile phone not being worth such a high price, Yu Chengbei thought it was all nonsense. In his view, the Kunpeng mobile phone was extremely competitive and could very well be the first domestic model to succeed in the high-end market.

"If we use their patents and port this technology, how long will it take for us to reach the Kunpeng mobile phone's power levels?"

The technician considered it for a moment and replied, "If we use the type-c interface and their patents and solutions, we could probably break the 18-watt mark within a month."

"How much? Break 18 watts?"

"Yes, Mr. Yu. To reach Red Star's 40-watt power, I'm afraid we still have a long way to go."

"I'll talk to Red Star about the type-c interface. Since Chen Chen wants to promote this interface, I don't think he'll mind domestic manufacturers promoting it together. As for this charge pump solution, you guys hurry up and see if you can find a new way to bypass Red Star's patents."

After saying that, he hurriedly left the laboratory.

Inside, the technician shook his head. Bypassing it was easier said than done.