42: Technology is no longer out of reach

"Thank you all very much for coming to our Shining Brand new product launch event. I am Chen Chen."

"At today's launch event, we will be bringing you the second-generation mobile phone from our Shining Brand, the shining 2. Let us welcome the person in charge of our Shining Brand, Mr. Lu Weiqi. He will be the main speaker for this event. Thank you all."

Chen Chen's words sparked a wave of discussion in the audience, with everyone speculating about what he meant.

Hearing Chen Chen say Shining Brand instead of shining series, the expressions of several mobile phone manufacturer executives changed instantly. A series and a brand are not the same. Listening to Chen Chen now, it seemed he had completely separated the shining series to establish a new brand, rather than having it remain entirely under the Red Star brand.

As Lu Weiqi took the microphone and walked onto the stage, he first bowed to the audience, then began his introduction:

"Hello everyone, I am Lu Weiqi, and I am the person in charge of our Shining Brand. Our Shining Brand is a new brand focused on cost-effectiveness and brand quality. Last year, when our shining 1 was launched, it quickly caused a stir in the market. And today, I will bring you our shining 2."

As Lu Weiqi pressed the remote in his hand, the large screen began to scroll through renderings of the shining 2's appearance.

"In terms of appearance, we have continued the relatively square design of the shining 1, but we have redesigned the back cover material and the feel of the device body. Compared to the previous generation, our 2 will be more drop-resistant, wear-resistant, and have a better feel."

"Regarding the screen, we have adopted a 4.5-inch 720p resolution IPS display. This screen can be said to account for a very large portion of the entire device's cost. Many flagship phones nowadays only use 720p resolution screens, and yet our shining 2, as a model under 1,000 yuan, is equipped with such a screen, capable of giving you a flagship experience."

"No way, are they really that ruthless? A sub-1,000 yuan phone is actually equipped with a 720p screen? Does the screen not cost them anything?"

Yu Chengbei in the audience looked shocked. Even if the quality of this screen was definitely average, no matter how average, it was still a 720p resolution screen.

"It's probably China Star supplying them with screens at a low price. I heard that China Star recently renovated several production lines specifically to produce small-sized panels."

On stage, Lu Weiqi waited for the noise below to die down a bit before continuing his introduction:

"Besides the screen, the processor is also a very important component. Our shining 2 is in deep cooperation with MediaTek, having jointly tuned their latest quad-core processor—the MT6589. This processor is also built on a 28nm process and possesses very strong performance."

"The maximum frequency of the four cores reaches 1.6 GHz; it is an out-and-out flagship processor. Yet, we have still placed such a powerful processor into our sub-1,000 yuan shining 2, all to bring everyone a better experience."

Lei Jun knew about this processor that Lu Weiqi mentioned, because Xiaomi was also working on polishing this processor to adapt it for their own hundred-yuan level phones, but the progress was not particularly ideal.

MediaTek processors, those who know understand; they are like wild horses that need to be tuned and tamed, otherwise, no matter how powerful the performance is, it cannot be utilized.

It's just that he didn't expect Red Star to actually pull MediaTek in to work on the adaptation together. Lei Jun really hadn't considered this. It seems that when he goes back, Xiaomi can also try contacting MediaTek to have them send an Engineer to work with Xiaomi on polishing it.

"Regarding the camera, we have equipped the shining 2 with an 8-megapixel rear camera. This camera also possesses impressive resolution capabilities, and with the tuning and algorithms from our Red Star camera department, it can be said that the photo-taking experience is not inferior to those flagship phones with tens of millions of pixels."

"As for the battery, we at Red Star have thoughtfully equipped it with a large 2200mAh battery. In terms of charging, Red Star is currently in a world-leading position, so naturally, we must equip the shining 2 with faster charging speeds."

At this point, Lu Weiqi paused, and the audience below was also looking forward to seeing how many watts of charging power Red Star would equip the shining 2 with.

It couldn't possibly be 5 watts. If Red Star dared to include 5 watts, even if this machine cost 499, they wouldn't consider it, because Red Star would lack sincerity.

They clearly possess higher charging technology, yet they are unwilling to trickle it down.

"Our charging power is 18 watts. Regarding this aspect of charging, I talked to CEO Chen many times. Our shining 2 has a removable battery; if it runs out of power, just swap in a new one. There's no need to use such high charging power; it only increases costs. You have to know that this whole charging solution cannot be done for less than a few dozen yuan."

"And 5-watt and 10-watt charging power basically don't have much cost, but CEO Chen overruled me. He mentioned two words: sincerity. Since we at Red Star have higher charging technology, why not use it? If the shining 2 were really equipped with 5-watt charging power, how would consumers view our Red Star?"

"In the end, I was convinced by CEO Chen, so our shining 2 has a charging power of 18 watts, and it also uses a type-c interface. Since Red Star has better technology, better interfaces, and better screens, even if it is a hundred-yuan level phone, we must use them."

"For memory, we have provided 1GB of RAM and 8GB of onboard storage, while also supporting 32GB of memory expansion."

"Regarding the price, we at Red Star went through several rounds of discussion and repeated negotiations with suppliers. In the end, we decided to continue with the pricing—799!"

"There is nothing hidden or tucked away. Our shining 2 still wants to make friends with everyone; it is absolutely not about making money. 18-watt charging power, a 4.5-inch 720p resolution screen, MediaTek quad-core MT6589, 1GB+8GB memory combination, 8-megapixel camera deeply tuned by Red Star—we are still at 799."

As the large screen displayed the memory configuration and price of the shining 2, Lu Weiqi took the microphone and continued emotionally:

"In my view, technology is no longer out of reach; technology must serve every single person. Therefore, Red Star's goal is to make high-quality technology products that everyone can afford."

This passage from Lu Weiqi earned him a round of enthusiastic applause.

Lei Jun in the audience was even more deeply moved; when he founded Xiaomi, wasn't he holding the exact same idea?

"We at Red Star have also prepared a gift for every audience member who came to the scene: one unit of our latest shining 2 for everyone!"

"Whoa!!!"

"Thank you, CEO Lu!"

"CEO Lu is awesome!!"

As Lu Weiqi said he would give everyone a shining 2, this short launch event was brought to a climax by him, and the audience on site cheered very enthusiastically.

"Now that you mention it, this Lu Weiqi is actually quite handsome."

"You bet, as long as they are giving away phones, they are all handsome!"

After saying this, they continued to cheer.

Lu Weiqi also struck while the iron was hot and said, "Our first batch of shining 2 will be launched tomorrow morning at 10:00 AM on QQ Zone. Users who successfully purchase one can also receive one month of Yellow Diamond for free!"

"Thank you everyone. This launch event ends here. Remember, tomorrow is the first launch on QQ Zone, and there are Yellow Diamonds to claim."

After Lu Weiqi finished speaking, he walked off the stage, but the audience was still cheering, "We'll remember!"