78: How did Red Star manage to steal the prize again?

The mi 3 generation changed the rounded corner design of the mi 1 and mi 2, adopting a square and rigid design language.

Whether it resembles the Nokia Lumia 1020 is a matter of opinion.

"Two different processors, this time we're going to make a big comeback!"

Looking at Lei Jun's excited expression, Engineer Zou Guangping, who was in charge of development, couldn't help but say:

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"CEO Lei, the adaptation work for Tegra 4 is very complicated; many things have to be redone from scratch, I'm afraid..."

Lei Jun waved his hand, looking through the mi 3 generation in his hands, "It's okay, there's still a month until the release. I know the adaptation work isn't easy, so we can postpone the launch of the Tegra 4 version of mi 3."

"We'll just sell the snapdragon 800 version first."

Purchasing this batch of Tegra 4 was a decision Lei Jun made after careful consideration, completely unlike Chen Chen's guess that it was purely for cheapness.

Since the birth of Xiaomi, it has almost been tied to Qualcomm's processors. Through Lei Jun's continuous marketing and promotion of Xiaomi, many consumers learned that there was such a powerful mobile chip company as Qualcomm, and Qualcomm also ensured its shipments through Xiaomi.

And Xiaomi, relying on its relationship with Qualcomm, was able to get the first launch priority and also allowed Qualcomm to send Engineers to Xiaomi to jointly develop, debug, and adapt the processor.

This sounds like a win-win relationship.

But Lei Jun didn't think so. In his opinion, Xiaomi being too deeply tied to Qualcomm wasn't a good thing. What if they had a falling out with Qualcomm one day and they cut off chip supply to Xiaomi?

What if Qualcomm arbitrarily raised patent fees like they did with Huawei and Red Star?

Or what if Qualcomm's production capacity or products had problems?

It just so happened that Nvidia's Old Huang was promoting his chips everywhere, and the two hit it off almost immediately. Old Huang's Tegra 4 found a market, and Lei Jun's Xiaomi had a backup chip.

The key is that this Tegra 4 was indeed cheap!

After reporting to Lei Jun, Engineer Zou happened to meet Su Ling as he left, and the two nodded in greeting.

After Su Ling joined Xiaomi, she spent more time on the road than in the office, either on a business trip or preparing for one.

"Knock, knock, knock."

"Come in."

Seeing that it was Su Ling, Lei Jun immediately put down the documents in his hand and looked up, asking, "Student Su, why do you have time to visit me today? A rare guest, indeed."

Su Ling casually sat on the sofa beside them, and Lei Jun didn't mind at all. They had been friends for many years, and even in the company, they were quite relaxed and informal.

"My CEO Lei, have I had a single day of peace since I joined Xiaomi?"

"All day long, I'm either running around outside or flying on a plane. Look, I've gotten a shade darker."

Lei Jun smiled and handed her a glass of water, saying, "The more capable, the more work. This year, I'll give you a big red envelope as a bonus."

"Do I look like someone who'd be short of your small change?"

After taking the water glass, Su Ling also sat up, her expression serious. Lei Jun's heart sank when he saw her look.

Could it be that this investment trip was scooped up by Red Star again?

Not only was Lei Jun surprised, but Su Ling also found it very strange. After joining Xiaomi and taking over the company projects that Xiaomi had previously shown investment interest in, she immediately began inspecting and researching these companies. However, before her research was even complete, Red Star had already invested in or acquired those companies.

If it was just one company, Su Ling would have thought it was an accident.

After all, it's normal for a promising team or studio to be noticed by several investment firms simultaneously.

But with several consecutive companies being intercepted by Red Star, Su Ling felt it was a bit abnormal.

Some of these companies were even obscure small workshops or teams.

Especially the team called Shitou Technology, she had almost finished contacting them in the early stages. When she flew to Shenzhen, they told her that Red Star had already fully acquired them yesterday, and the contract was already signed.

"CEO Lei, this time I learned from friends in the investment circle that Red Star has acquired another sensor company called Tianguang Optical Instruments. Not only that, but this month they also invested in a company called DJI."

"It is said that the investment amount is even more than Sequoia Capital's, reaching hundreds of millions."

"DJI? Tianguang?"

Lei Jun had a slight impression of these two companies. Xiao Yuan, the chairman of Tianguang, had also approached Xiaomi not long ago and was received by Xiaomi's President Lin Bing, but their sensor prices were too expensive, and Lin Bing refused the purchase.

Unexpectedly, in such a short time, the entire company was acquired by Red Star.

As for DJI, Lei Jun only noted that they released a flying camera in January this year.

It was called DJI PHANTOM, and he had no other impression of it.

"CEO Lei, don't you think all of this is too coincidental?"

"Our power strip was just designed, and they've already released theirs, and the product is almost identical to our blueprints."

"And power banks, we just had an idea, and they've already put them on sale, including those electric fans that can be controlled by mobile phones."

"I think Chen Chen's idea is the same as yours, both wanting to build their phone's moat with an ecosystem."

At this point, Lei Jun felt a wave of powerlessness.

Every time, Chen Chen was one step ahead of him.

It was like this with phones.

Now it's the same with smart products.

He just had a clue about a smart ecosystem and brought Su Ling over, ready to make a big move.

Unexpectedly, Red Star had already invested so much.

Many of them were companies Xiaomi had an interest in.

"One step slow, every step slow. I don't know if Chen Chen's idea is the same as mine, but what's certain is that he definitely wants to develop in the smart home sector, otherwise he wouldn't have invested in so many small home appliance and electrical companies this year."

Chen Chen: That's right, I'm going to walk your path. As for how you walk it... "This time, the company I investigated, called Enlight, was also acquired by Red Star, and it was a full acquisition."

Su Ling stabbed Lei Jun's chest again.

Lei Jun's original idea was that since suitable companies for small home appliances couldn't be found for the time being, he might as well start with the simplest lighting fixtures, allowing users to control lights and switches at home with their phones, and then sell some lighting fixtures.

Gradually expanding influence.

Unexpectedly, this company specializing in lighting was also intercepted by Red Star.

"Uh... this..."

Lei Jun experienced speechlessness for the first time.

Also, how many Kunpeng mobile phones did Red Star sell? How could they have so much cash flow to acquire and invest in these companies and teams?

Red Star did not undergo financing, nor did other investors join. Having so much cash to invest in other industries, the only explanation is that Kunpeng mobile phones brought them generous profit margins, and the sales of other phones must be heaven-defying.

The sales of the entire mi 2nd generation series were tallied at the beginning of the month. Lei Jun's projected sales of 15 million only achieved seventy-eight percent, meaning less than 12 million units were sold.

The two models in the Hongmi series became the bulk of Xiaomi's shipments. From their release in April to September, in five months, the sales of the hongmi 1 model alone surpassed the entire year's sales of the mi 2 series.

It's just that the tens of millions in sales for hongmi 1 brought little profit.

This year, the top spot for sales in China will probably belong to Red Star.

With Red Star ahead, whether to pursue a smart ecosystem or not has now become a huge problem facing Lei Jun.

This kind of thing can be said to be winner-take-all; there's no such thing as a competitive second or third place.