113: Chapter 113: Speech at Kyoto University, introducing the concept of rice noodles.

The first PPT slide appeared on the big screen, containing only one line of text: "The Smartphone is the next gateway to the Internet."

"In 2007, Apple released its product.

I watched the launch event while I was at Kingsoft, and I told President Qiu that the computer might be dying."

There was laughter from the audience.

For a Smartphone to replace a computer—what a ridiculous joke.

That little brick, while convenient, was too weak in functionality; even if you gave it 30 years, it wouldn't be able to replace a computer...

After all, it was iterating, but computers were also iterating.

"Later, I found out it didn't die." Lei Jun laughed himself. "But the mobile phone came alive."

He switched the PPT.

"Last year, the Android system was officially released. When I was doing angel investing, I took a liking to dozens of mobile Internet projects.

This also led me to discover a phenomenon..."

When it came to investing, many students in the audience became interested.

After all, it was far removed from their daily lives, and the fact that a big shot was willing to share was truly a fortunate thing; their faces were filled with anticipation.

Lei Jun didn't keep them in suspense for long; after a brief pause, he gave them the answer directly:

"All successful projects are inseparable from the mobile phone.

Mobile games are on the phone, social networking is on the phone, and e-commerce is also moving to the phone.

The entire Internet industry is rapidly converging toward the mobile phone."

He looked at the students in the audience.

"But the phones themselves still belong to Nokia, Motorola, and Samsung. They don't understand the Internet..."

The logos of Nokia, Motorola, and Samsung appeared on the big screen and then slowly turned gray.

"They sell phones as hardware. They make money on every single unit sold!"

He took a step forward, getting closer to the edge of the stage.

"But the Internet is what?"

People in the audience started chiming in: "Free," "Traffic," "Users."

Lei Jun smiled.

"Correct, those are the points."

He switched the PPT, and a simple formula appeared:

Hardware Profit → 0

Internet Services → ∞

"If there were a mobile phone where the hardware made no money, or even lost money, but it had the best games, the best apps, the best social networking, and the most convenient life on it, would you buy it?"

Someone in the audience shouted: "Yes."

Another shouted: "How much?"

Lin Wei, sitting in the audience, heard this and suddenly felt a sense of familiarity; it seemed exactly like what someone often said in her ear.

She pulled out the internal version of the Mate that Zhang Mingzhu had given her yesterday; she had bragged about it for quite a while back then.

Although the appearance of this phone hadn't changed, the battery had been increased to 3700mAh, and the fast charging had reached 18 watts, further upgrading the experience.

As soon as she got her hands on it, she threw her original Mate phone to her dad...

She looked at the phone and listened to Lei Jun speak for a few more moments, then confirmed it again and again. It was the same path.

Looking at her best friend, who was busy taking notes and diligently learning from the experience, she silently shook her head.

"Silly girl, stop taking notes!

Isn't this exactly what your Shen Fei is doing? You've nagged me about it so many times, have you forgotten now?

This guy is just a follower; if you have the time to write all this down, you might as well talk to your man... That would also help him better."

Zhang Mingzhu looked at the information recorded in her notebook, then revealed a clear yet... expression, and said in a robotic tone: "It seems to be the same.

This guy isn't even as sincere as Shen Fei."

As for why two students from the social sciences department could appear at the School of Technology and snag front-row tickets that many technology students hadn't been able to get—naturally, they had pulled out all the stops and relied on their "fathers."

... On the stage, Lei Jun didn't answer.

Waiting for the scene to quiet down, he slowly said: "We are planning to price this phone at 1999."

Although Honor had already released a product at 1999... this number was being spoken by Dami Company founder Lei Jun in public for the first time, on December 3, 2009, at the Peking University Memorial Hall!

After hearing this number, the 1000 people in the audience felt their excitement instantly diminish.

Although Lei Jun was their idol, Dami Company really couldn't pull off this price point; after all, Honor had already set the template, and no matter how fast a copycat starts, they can't catch up to the original!

Lei Jun looked at the students in the audience, his attitude unchanged.

"I know that not long ago, our competitor released a product at a similar price. But their specifications don't compare to ours.

Dami Company's 1999 can offer a 1.2 GHz Snapdragon processor, 1GB of RAM, a four-inch 720 resolution screen, and an 8-megapixel camera."

Every time he announced a parameter, there was more commotion in the audience.

This configuration was indeed more conscientious.

The honor play 1 was indeed a good product, but the five-inch 480 resolution screen still had very obvious graininess...

"This configuration would sell for over 4000 on an international brand. It would sell for 3000 yuan on a domestic brand."

The back images of Apple and the Mate appeared on the screen again, along with some of their specifications.

For example, the Mate series had 512MB of RAM...

"You can see that our core hardware price is more generous than all our competitors, yet Dami only sells it for 1999."

Finally, someone in the audience couldn't help but ask: "How is that possible?"

Lei Jun didn't answer directly.

"I have been working in the Internet industry for so many years, having done software, e-commerce, and investment.

I have summarized one principle..."

He looked at the young people in the audience who had not yet entered society and said calmly: "Traditional companies sell products; Internet companies sell users."

"A traditional company makes 2000 on one phone, sells 1 million units, and makes 2 billion. Then they switch to the next generation and start all over again."

"Dami Company, if one phone only makes 200 yuan, or even makes no money, and sells 5 million units, how much money is made?

From a revenue perspective, not much money is made, and they might even lose money."

He spread his hands and smiled helplessly. A buzz of discussion broke out in the audience.

But Zhang Mingzhu understood everything at this moment, though she quickly shook her head again; he wouldn't succeed.

"But these 5 million people, using Xiaomi phones every day to watch videos, play games, and buy things—the data traffic consumption they generate is where the real money is made."

A new word appeared on the big screen: Mi Fans.

"We want to turn these 5 million people into a group of friends."

Lei Jun's voice had warmth for the first time, and many students in the audience felt a sense of closeness.

"They use the same phones, talk about the same topics, and share the same happiness. They are not users; they are fans."

He looked at the audience. "Because of Mi Fans, there is Dami Company."

After the lecture ended, the originally scheduled Q&A session couldn't even take place because the students in the audience had surged forward, surrounding Lei Jun completely.

"President Lei, when will the Xiaomi system be in beta testing?"

"President Lei, with such conscientious product configurations, will Xiaomi phones be out of stock when they launch?"

"President Lei, can we take a photo together?"