153: Chapter 153, after numerous delays, is finally online.

April 10th, South Korea.

Lei Jun met with the senior management of Samsung Display, but the negotiations were very difficult.

The people from Samsung were very polite in their attitude, but they absolutely would not budge.

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It wasn't that the other party looked down on him; how could a 200,000 unit order possibly command a major client price?

"Mr. Lei, our production capacity is limited. Apple and HTC are our long-term clients, and we must prioritize ensuring their supply.

For small batch orders, we really are powerless."

Seeing the other party stand up, Lei Jun also stood up and grabbed him, a flash of pleading in his eyes: "Xiaomi can pay more."

Even so, the other party still shook his head.

"It's not a price issue; it's a production capacity issue.

A 200,000 unit order isn't enough for us to even set up a production line. Unless Xiaomi changes the order to 3.5-inch or 3.7-inch mainstream products, otherwise, you need to add a zero to the end of the order."

Adding a zero meant 2 million units, but Dami Company didn't have that much liquid capital on hand right now...

He hesitated for a moment and asked: "If we pay more, how long do we have to wait?"

The other party thought for a moment. The HTC order would be produced until June, and the Apple order until August...

"The earliest would be July. At that time, we can take advantage of the production line adjustment to produce a batch for you."

A bitter smile appeared on Lei Jun's face again. July. That was still 3 months away.

In three months, how many times could the market change?

But he had no other choice...

In the end, he left helplessly. He would have to change suppliers first.

Japan should be okay.

...

April 11th, after finalizing the screen supply, Lei Jun did not return to Kyoto. Instead, he strolled around Huaqiangbei alone to conduct some market research.

He saw many shops selling mobile phones, and in the most conspicuous places, fake Xiaomi phones were displayed.

Many young people walked into the shops to ask about prices and eventually paid to buy them.

Seeing this scene on the roadside, he suddenly felt very tired...

[Lei Jun looks haggard]

Why was everyone snatching his plan?

His phone rang; it was Lin Bin calling.

"Old Lei, when are you coming back?"

Lei Jun said: "Tomorrow."

Lin Bin gave an "uh-huh" and continued excitedly: "The chips from MediaTek have arrived. It's 500,000 units of the MTK6576 directly, and the suffix of the name is also written as Xiaomi Custom Edition. We have face now.

The performance also has a certain improvement; it should be a specially selected version. We really owe a big favor this time."

Lei Jun was stunned: "So fast?"

"It is said they rushed it out overnight. If we need more, we can continue to add orders."

Lei Jun suddenly regretted it; choosing Qualcomm might not really have been the right choice.

"President Tsai is a man who can be dealt with. If the Mi 1 Phone Youth Edition sells well, we'll do it this way in the future."

...

April 12th, Dami Company urgently announced that the first batch of Xiaomi phones had officially been shipped.

Lei Jun personally posted on Weibo: "A notification to all Mi Fans.

The first batch of Mi 1 Phone, 40,000 units in total, has been sent out today. Sorry to have kept you waiting for so long.

Good food is worth the wait, but even better is that you can eat it now.

Production capacity is really limited, so we can only supply this much.

To let everyone experience the collaborative capabilities of MIUI, we have also designed the Mi 1 Phone Youth Edition, which will officially go on sale starting tomorrow.

The Mi 1 Phone Youth Edition is equipped with MediaTek's latest mobile flagship platform, the MTK6576. This is an exclusive chip designed for 3G Smartphone, with performance improved by about 5% compared to the MTK6575, completely getting rid of the previous 'shanzhai chip' label.

This phone costs only 1699...

Recently, fake Xiaomi phones have appeared on Huaqiangbei and JD.com platforms. Currently, Dami Company is collecting evidence to sue the relevant illegal companies.

Please recognize the genuine Xiaomi phones; the experience of fake and genuine products is absolutely different."

Excited Mi Fans arrived at the scene in an instant.

"Finally shipped."

"Met President Lei in Huaqiangbei yesterday, he looked so haggard... Pushing down the price of domestic mobile phones is indeed very tiring and offends people."

"Waited for so long, finally waited until today."

Some Mi Fans also asked: "Only 40,000 units? What about the rest?"

Lei Jun replied: "On the way."

"Fake Xiaomi phones are really too detestable. My friend was fooled yesterday. That shop assistant was completely impersonating Dami Company. President Li must sue them."

"No wonder I swiped through so many videos complaining about the first generation of Xiaomi phones; it turns out they were all fake products."

"The person above might also be a hired internet troll from someone."

Meanwhile, the legal personnel commissioned by Dami Company, after tracing the source, discovered that the companies producing fake Xiaomi phones were not just one company, but multiple companies.

They were all 'three-no' manufacturers (no production qualifications, no professional production equipment, etc.).

Suing them was very difficult.

...

Yangcheng, Transsion headquarters.

Shen Fei swiped to Lei Jun's Weibo and laughed.

The first generation of fake Xiaomi phones really wasn't his idea. Those people were indeed smart. Lei Jun's move of preselling products in advance was really stupid to the extreme.

MediaTek, on the other hand, did have his intentions.

Ever since the news of Taishan 900 came out, Tsai Ming-kai had become nervous.

After all, the two companies could cooperate amicably now because, firstly, Transsion's technology was strong enough, and secondly, Transsion's own chips hadn't been produced yet, so they could only cooperate amicably.

Mutual utilization. Once the other party's chip was successfully mass-produced, then what would happen next...

So on March 29th, Tsai Ming-kai took the initiative to come to Transsion headquarters. After complaining about his hardships for a long time, he finally said that MediaTek's funds had some problems... and they needed to introduce a strategic shareholder.

They probably needed to raise 10% in financing, and the valuation wasn't based on the normal 16 billion USD, but 14 billion.

This was proposed by Tsai Ming-kai himself, not forced by him, Shen Fei.

The agreement was naturally signed.

Huang Tianya looked at the procurement plan from Dami Company, as well as the MediaTek equity document that had just completed settlement.

"President Shen, our plan has succeeded."

"Within expectations. Lei Jun is being forced into a corner. The MSM8255 shortage could still be endured, but the fake Xiaomi phones were the last straw that broke the camel's back. Now he can only use MediaTek's chips to fill the gap.

The price of 1699 is indeed ruthless..."

"Selling one unit means losing at least 300 yuan. It's completely a loss-making strategy to capture the market. As for software profits..." Shen Fei put down the statistical table in his hand and shook his head slightly.

Ruthless enough.

Huang Tianya also shook his head. Software profits might be earned back, but this cycle would be very long.

"By the way, regarding MediaTek, President Tsai even specially called me. Dami Company agreed to use their chips for the next generation."

"I know, this was my suggestion."

"Boss, then next... he will be completely led by the nose by us."

"Why do you say that?" Shen Fei looked at Huang Tianya with a smile.

"Lei Jun is a very capable person, but he has a weakness."

"What weakness?"

"Too sentimental.

Being sentimental is actually not a qualified entrepreneur. If one day, high-level executives within Dami Company leak information, do you think Lei Jun will handle it internally, or fire them directly?"

Shen Fei smiled, thinking of the man nicknamed 'The Emperor' by netizens.

However, this reminded him of something. Lu Weibin now...

He is also a capable person, should he be packaged?

"Alright, let's stop discussing this for now. Let's focus on the first domestic sale of our transsion s2.

I'm going to the propaganda department."

...

April 13th, Yangcheng.

In the Transsion Auto test field, a disguised car was running laps.

Wang Mengyang, Chen Jianping, Li Hai (CEO of Transsion Auto), and others were in the control room, staring at the data on the screen.

"Battery temperature is normal."

"Motor temperature is normal."

"Electronic control system is normal."

"Current range: 823 kilometers"