41: Lei Jun's guess

With the arrival of New Year's Day, Red Star officially began warming up for the shining 2, directly imitating Lei Jun's approach.

It couldn't exactly be called imitation, because Xiaomi's H series was still in a difficult development phase.

In his previous life's Redmi series, Lei Jun had seen the potential of paid users and traffic in Qzone, especially those young people who had just entered society and didn't have much money; they were the perfect users for the Redmi series.

Chen Chen, of course, copied this marketing method wholesale.

Using a Qzone event during the New Year's holiday, shining 2 released posters for the warm-up; users who successfully pre-ordered even had a chance to win Yellow Diamonds.

In just a few days, the number of pre-orders for the new phone reached over 6 million.

Looking at this pre-order number, Lu Weiqi gasped.

Truly terrifying!

"How about it? Cooperating with a traffic giant like Tencent really has a miraculous effect, doesn't it?"

Looking at the smiling Chen Chen, Lu Weiqi couldn't help but give a thumbs up in admiration.

Chen Chen thought to himself, 'This marketing method has already been verified by Lei Jun, how could it not be powerful?'

After discussing the pre-orders, Lu Weiqi asked worriedly:

"Xiao Chen, are you really sure the shining 2 should still be priced at 799? There's really no profit at this price."

"Adding in marketing, logistics, and other expenses, our cost has already reached over 760. We're making less than 40 yuan in profit per phone, and that's not even counting design costs."

Chen Chen thought: 'What design costs does a hundred-yuan phone need? Just get a solution from a supplier and slap on a plastic shell, and it's done!'

"Old Lu, you still haven't fully grasped our strategy. Profit is secondary; our goal is to quickly seize users. Do you know how much profit the shining 1 made? 13 yuan per unit!"

"Remember the Ecosystem Plan I told you about? The user base of this series is a key link in our plan. Its sales won't stop at just a few million or ten million. I estimate that in the coming year, our shining series shipments should exceed 20 million units."

Chen Chen didn't dare to be too ambitious. In his previous life, the Redmi 1's sales of over 40 million units were achieved because there were no competitors. Now, Red Star still had Xiaomi as a rival.

Seeing the success of the shining series, Lei Jun would definitely follow up quickly. He certainly wouldn't wait until July to release a product; they might even be preparing right now.

"Alright, President Chen, I understand."

Watching Lu Weiqi walk out, Chen Chen scratched the back of his head. Was this Lu Weiqi born with a rebellious streak?

...Shenzhen, Huawei Company.

At this moment, Yu Chengbei was receiving praise from the founder, who stated that the mate series had done well this time. It hadn't just earned Huawei a good reputation; global shipments reached 700,000 units within a month of launch. It was foreseeable that this phone would be a absolute success.

"President Ren, Red Star is now planning to enter the hundred-yuan phone market. I also want to use our Honor brand to follow suit."

"Go ahead and do it. Since the high-end has achieved initial success, continue according to your ideas."

"I have high hopes for you."

Having received affirmation again, Yu Chengbei left the chairman's office. Although he didn't know the configuration and price of Red Star's shining 2 yet, he was certain the price wouldn't be too high, likely 899 or 999.

The reason Yu Chengbei was so certain was cost. Like Huawei, Red Star was an old manufacturer with years of experience in low-end phones, and they were very sensitive to costs.

When the shining 1 came out, Yu Chengbei had it disassembled. According to the company's professional calculations, the phone's cost plus taxes and logistics was definitely around 785 yuan.

In other words, Red Star only made a profit of a dozen or so yuan per phone. And that was based on the cost several months after launch; if calculated based on the initial launch, they were definitely losing money.

Yu Chengbei decided to wait and see what kind of cards Red Star would play before deciding how to follow. If Red Star priced it at 999, he would make a machine priced at 899 to compete.

If Red Star still priced it at 799, he would reconsider the positioning and pricing of the new phone.

At this time, Yu Chengbei didn't know that the hundred-yuan phone market was a meat grinder; the intensity of competition was incomparable to other price points.

Unlike Lei Jun's stingy online launch events in the previous life, Chen Chen held the shining 2 launch with great fanfare at the 798 Art Zone in Beijing.

The venue, which held over 500 people, was packed with media reporters and fans. Sitting in the front row of the guest section, Lei Jun felt a wave of emotion. He looked around and saw that not only had he come, but Old Huang, Zou Hongyi, and Yu Chengbei were all there as well.

"President Lei, care to guess what the price of Red Star's shining 2 will be this time?"

Sitting nearby, Yu Chengbei turned his head and asked Lei Jun.

"I think it should be 999 or 899. Any lower and there won't be any profit at all."

Before Lei Jun could respond, Zou Hongyi, sitting to the right of Yu Chengbei, answered first.

"I think President Zou is right, it should be 899. What do you think, President Lei?"

Lei Jun thought for a moment and said, "I think this Chen Chen will probably price it the same as the shining 1, at 799."

"799?"

"Still 799?"

Seeing both of them show expressions of disbelief, Lei Jun added:

"How about this, let's make a bet on what Red Star's price will be. I guess 799."

"The stake is a meal."

At this point, Yu Chengbei became conflicted.

"Then let's bet a meal. President Lei, don't try to dismiss me with a roadside stall."

"I don't believe Red Star will set the price at 799. I guess it should be 999 or 899."

Yu Chengbei was very firm in his thinking.

"Alright, then I'll let President Yu foot the bill."

Lei Jun said with a chuckle.

"President Lei, the press conference hasn't even started yet. How do you know you've won? Couldn't it be me who wins?"

"I'll start thinking about which hotel to go to."

Yu Chengbei was still a bit unconvinced. After all, the press conference hadn't even started, yet Lei Jun was certain the price was 799.

Who gave this kid Chen Chen the courage for a 799 price?

Was it Liang Cuiping?

On the side, Mr. Huang was somewhat shocked to hear their conversation. Meizu was also preparing to launch its own thousand-yuan phone series, but he hadn't expected these manufacturers to be so cutthroat, starting right at 799 or 899.

Lei Jun looked at Yu Chengbei and thought: 'None of you understand this kid better than I do. To sweep the market with low prices, you have to set the price low enough. You can even sell at a loss without making money; only then can you quickly open up the market.'

Everything Chen Chen is doing is just stuff I've already played with.