132: Chapter 132 Thunder, Shen Xiangyue

"Xiaomi Smartphones are available for pre-order starting today, with official shipping beginning at the end of April."

April?

The Mi Fans in the audience looked at each other, confirming they hadn't misheard—it was the end of April.

Shipping wouldn't start for two months.

Extremely confused, a Mi Fan in the audience shouted, "Why do we have to wait so long?"

Lei Jun didn't shy away; he proactively answered the question.

"Because the yield rate for the MSM8255 chip is still climbing, this product can only officially begin pre-sale.

You can pre-order for free on the Xiaomi official website. If you want to be among the first to receive the phone, you can pay a 500 yuan deposit.

We will release it to you as soon as possible at the end of April."

"We don't want to choose inferior chips just because of time constraints, which would affect your experience.

I hope everyone understands."

Some Mi Fans nodded in understanding, but many more sighed.

The product was good, but this pre-sale, combined with it being a new company, felt a bit unreliable.

Although Honor next door had also done pre-sales, they were generous—they would compensate 10 yuan for every day of delay, even if it was capped at 200 yuan.

But... something is better than nothing.

Seeing that the reaction wasn't great, Lei Jun served them another bowl of chicken soup for the soul.

"Besides the chip issue, we are also negotiating with the foundry. Because Xiaomi doesn't want to sacrifice quality just to rush the schedule."

On stage, he sighed silently, putting on an extremely hesitant expression.

"I have thought about everyone's questions, but I want to ask you all: is it worth waiting a month or two to get a phone that is truly great to use?"

The Mi Fans in the audience were completely convinced and shouted in unison, "It's worth it!"

Lei Jun smiled.

"Then let's wait together and let the Xiaomi launch leave an important mark in the history of Chinese technology."

...

After the press conference ended, Lei Jun returned backstage.

Lin Bin was already waiting, an uncontrollable smile on his face.

"Old Lei, thank you for your hard work. The press conference was very successful, and I am very confident in the Xiaomi brand now."

"Stop keeping me in suspense, tell me how many?" his friend said. Lei Jun had great expectations and even reached out to punch him on the arm.

"The official website traffic has already exceeded 100,000. Free pre-orders have exceeded 50,000, and paid pre-orders have also exceeded 500 units."

Lei Jun looked at the results with a wry smile. After a moment of silence, he sat on the sofa and let out a long sigh.

"Brother Bin, although these results aren't great, we've made it."

Both men were quiet for a while, digesting the numbers.

The free pre-order ratio was 2:1, and the paid pre-order ratio was 200:1.

After all, there was no actual product yet, so it was normal for people to have some concerns, especially since this was just the initial stage.

The ratio should increase.

With 50,000 pre-orders, Xiaomi's first shot had been fired.

...

Three minutes later, the Xiaomi official website officially issued the first pre-sale announcement for the original Xiaomi phone.

"Thank you for the support of all Mi Fans. In the 10 minutes of the original Xiaomi pre-sale, the number of pre-order customers has exceeded 150,000.

The Mi Fans family has grown once again. Thank you for your support. Let us be born for fever together."

"Can it really ship at the end of April?"

"Free pre-orders, only this much in 5 minutes, but it's not bad.

Of course, I admire those who are willing to spend 500 yuan even more; they haven't even seen the product, yet they've already handed over their money. It's truly admirable."

"To the person above, do you think everyone looks down on your 500 yuan? If you aren't willing to pay, don't show off your sense of superiority here."

#Original Xiaomi product pre-orders exceed 150,000#

#Another domestic Smartphone has succeeded#

...

Shortly after the official Weibo post went out, Lei Jun's phone suddenly vibrated backstage at the press conference.

Lei Jun picked it up and saw a text message from an unknown number:

"Mr. Lei, the press conference was very successful. When shall we have a drink? — Shen Fei."

He looked at the text and fell into deep thought again.

Last year, when Dami Company was first established, he had requested to meet Shen Fei multiple times, but the other party had always made excuses.

He thought the other party was truly busy and didn't take it to heart, until the Honor press conference gave him a big surprise.

The two companies could be considered to have formed a grudge.

He didn't know how to reply...

Lin Bin leaned over: "Who is it?"

"Shen Fei."

Lin Bin was also stunned for a moment: "This is your private number; how... how did he get your number?"

Lei Jun shook his head.

"It's not a big secret; if he wants to find it, he can always find it."

Lin Bin looked at him: "Are you going to reply?"

Lei Jun stared at the line of text on the screen, falling into memories once again.

The way Big Mouth Yu presented the product was just too similar; it was completely different from the style of the Mate series press conference.

It was completely out of place!

At that time, he felt his path had been stolen; 1999 had been snatched away, and the Internet thinking had been used by someone else.

But now, the horn for 1998 had sounded, and the reputation of the flagship phone with high price-performance ratio had already been established.

150,000 people had already pre-ordered; Xiaomi was already standing at the starting line.

He hadn't lost.

He wanted to see what this "thief" was really like.

Lei Jun started typing: "Mr. Shen, I'm going to Yangcheng next week to discuss a partnership. Let's set a time."

Send.

He looked at the busy Xiaomi employees and suddenly remembered the meeting in 2000 when Qingshan held a conference at Xiangshan, and Qiu Bojun asked everyone: "The Internet is here, what should we do?"

He didn't have an answer then, but he did now.

Furthermore, he wanted to see what the person who had beaten him to the punch was thinking now—whether they had stolen his plan through special means, or if they truly possessed Internet thinking.

If it was the latter, then Xiaomi's future path would probably... probably be a bit difficult.

[Shen Fei: Compared to Internet thinking, I am more accustomed to technological crushing, but unfortunately, I understand all the paths you plan to take...

So it's hell difficulty.]

...

Yangcheng, Transsion headquarters.

Shen Fei looked at Lei Jun's reply on his phone screen and smiled.

Zhang Mingzhu, who had entered her internship stage, asked from the side: "Who is it?"

"Lei Jun." Shen Fei handed her the phone to look at, "Discussing future layout with him."

Zhang Mingzhu glanced at him, carrying her inherent mindset: "Why are you meeting him? He's purely your imitator; technically, he's only good at marketing or brainwashing."

Shen Fei looked at her earnest smile and smiled again.

It was indeed imitation, but it was him imitating Lei Jun.

"Even if it is imitation, another person means another perspective. I'd like to see what other new ideas there are."

...

March 2, 2010, Kyoto.

Originally, Lei Jun was prepared to come to Yangcheng, but the semiconductor investment fund had something urgent come up, so they invited Shen Fei, the boss, to come over instead.

The meeting was finally set at a private club in Kyoto.

This club was hidden in an inconspicuous courtyard house.

There was no sign at the entrance, only two stone lions crouching there, as if guarding a door to another world.

It had the authentic, classic old Kyoto flavor.

In his previous life, this was his base of operations, but he wasn't particularly interested in this kind of private culture.

So, although he had heard of this place, he had never been here.