219: Chapter 219 The Great Unjust Child Comes Knocking

He had revised this page many times. After all, Honor next door had snatched his plan and released a hundred-yuan Smartphone ahead of schedule.

They were merely followers.

The first version was: Let more people use a Smartphone.

The second version was: Let the Chinese people use a Smartphone?

The third version was the current plan: Let everyone be able to use a Smartphone.

He looked at this line of text, recalling the scene in 2007 when he first saw an Apple Smartphone in a coffee shop in Beijing.

Back then, he knew that the Smartphone industry was about to change.

In just four short years, the changes had been massive, but they weren't brought about by Apple; they were caused by a company called Transsion.

This company kept stealing his plans, creating a mental demon in his heart?

Recalling the Honor and Han Ying press conferences, many people in the audience were shouting "Huawei is conscientious" and "Transsion is conscientious."

He felt a bit bitter, but he believed that sooner or later, those voices would only change to: "Xiaomi is conscientious?"

Because he believed that Xiaomi's internet-based plan was a different path.

One that could lead to success.

On October 20th, Dami Company released a second announcement.

"The first-generation Redmi, equipped with the MTK6574 single-core processor. Even more savage performance, the new god of the hundred-yuan price point."

As for the specifications that weren't released, they proved to some extent that Lin Bin had won, and Lei Jun had ultimately chosen to compromise.

But the fans in the comments section didn't know that; they only saw the 6574...

Some experts in the comments section began to make predictions.

Mi Xian Bu Shi Mi Fen: "I originally thought Honor was already conscientious enough by using the MTK6573, but now it seems... when it comes to cost-performance ratio, you still have to look at Xiaomi. However, a word of warning: MediaTek is best at sucking toothpaste back into the tube, so everyone be cautious?"

But this comment didn't stop the celebration. After all, how could an upgraded version of a popular processor suck toothpaste back into the tube?

"Is Lei Jun crazy?"

"Losing money on every unit sold, what kind of move is this?"

"You don't understand internet-based thinking; we Mi Fans are just too happy?"

Lei Jun just smiled as he looked at those comments.

Losing money?

It was true.

Right now, he was only losing a few yuan on each unit, but he was betting that Redmi could sell 10 million, 20 million, 30 million units.

Once the volume was up, the costs would come down, and then he would be able to make money.

This was a classic internet-based strategy. First, use free or loss-making products to acquire users, then use economies of scale to dilute costs, and finally make money through value-added services and the ecosystem.

The problem was that no one in the mobile phone industry had tested this strategy yet.

Lei Jun knew he was gambling, but he also knew that if he didn't gamble, he would have nothing.

On October 23rd, five days before the Redmi launch event, Dami Company achieved a dual milestone.

Dami Company's Weibo followers surpassed 5 million, and Redmi's Baidu Index had also exceeded the Enjoy series.

At the same time, shipment volumes for the Enjoy series had fallen by 15% since Dami's official announcement; facts proved that Lei Jun was still very capable.

A single piece of news directly caused a competitor's sales to drop by 15%; he asked, who else could do that?

At the same time, the pre-order data for the first-generation Redmi at 9.9 yuan had already exceeded 3.5 million... bringing a bit of cash flow to Dami Company.

What he cared about most, however, was October 28th. That day was Dami Company's press conference, and he would know how the initial launch data looked then.

...

Just as Lei Jun was daydreaming.

Yangcheng, Transsion Panels.

Manager Chen stood in the workshop, watching the screens on the assembly line, and suddenly remembered what happened last year.

At that time, he was still working as an engineer at a panel factory in Taiwan.

His daily work consisted of staring blankly at yield reports.

At that time, the panel industry in Taiwan was already on the decline, and South Korea was suffocating them with a price war.

A Samsung OLED Screen sold for 50 USD, with a cost of only 30 USD. Using the same materials, their cost was 55 USD, and they still lost money selling at the same price.

This led to him, the original Chief R&D Engineer, being forced to go to the production frontline to supervise yield rates.

Otherwise, he would be fired!

Until one day, he received a call.

"Mr. Chen, I am Su Qin, the HR Director at Transsion Technology. We would like to invite you to the mainland to build an advanced OLED Screen factory."

At the time, he thought it was a scammer.

He had indeed heard of Transsion Technology; they sold phones in Africa and were quite famous?

But how could a company focused on volume have the money to build a screen factory? This was a heavy-asset industry that easily required tens of billions in investment.

But the conditions Su Qin offered were impossible to refuse.

Triple the salary, an apartment in Yangcheng, help with settling his whole family, and project stock options.

He was "tricked" into coming.

After arriving, he realized it was a trap, a huge trap.

The factory was to be built in a development zone; the land had just been approved, and it was surrounded by wasteland.

Equipment had to be imported from South Korea, and they were stuck for a long time.

The technical team was all new, and even the most basic technical debates had to be learned from scratch.

Fortunately, there was comprehensive technical documentation, which allowed him to see a glimmer of hope.

The OLED field was once absolutely monopolized by three companies, but now...

"Manager Chen, Manager Chen."

An engineer from the team ran over quickly, holding a report in his hand.

"The yield report is out: 87.3%, which is a 2% increase from last month."

Manager Chen took the report and glanced at it, the corners of his mouth curling up slightly.

87%?

Three years ago, he wouldn't have even dared to imagine this number.

Samsung's OLED yield rate was around 85%, and others that didn't even make the rankings were even lower; Transsion's 87% was already the best in the world.

In terms of cost, they were also 25% lower than Samsung. Who could argue with that?

From now on, Transsion Panels had officially surpassed Samsung.

"Manager Chen, it's a call from Manager Shen?"

Manager Chen took the phone and proudly reported the results to Shen Fei:

"Boss?"

"The yield rate is 87%?" The person on the other end spoke first; there was a smile and congratulations in Shen Fei's voice.

"You saw it?" Manager Chen scratched his head embarrassedly. "I was just about to tell you about the report we just released."

"Haha, screen panels are the biggest contributors to our entire team; I definitely have to pay close attention to them."

Manager Chen felt a lump in his throat and didn't speak.

"You've done well. The bonuses have arrived in your accounts, right?"

Manager Chen nodded subconsciously. The moment the project started, they had already begun calculating the profit-sharing.

It wasn't much! Just 0.5%, but the volume was huge...

"By the way, get ready for the second phase production line. A big sucker is going to visit this afternoon to inspect it; we might need to discuss this."