282: Chapter 282 Adults Deserve Double the Happiness

Faced with the ultimatum Anil presented, Lei Jun did not fall for it; instead, he revealed the side of himself that was an old fox.

"Mr. Anil, are Bharti and Vodafone your white gloves?"

Anil's smile froze for a moment, and his previously triumphant expression vanished.

"Mr. Lei, what did you say?"

"I mean, have you already reached an agreement regarding the channels for Bharti and Vodafone?" Lei Jun looked at him without taking a single step back. "Otherwise, how could you make decisions on their behalf? Besides, 8.5% in shares is indeed too much."

Anil opened his mouth, then closed it in an instant. After swirling his red wine glass and taking a few sips, he laughed.

"Mr. Lei, you are very smart. But sometimes, smart people shouldn't ask questions they shouldn't ask."

The heart Lei Jun had been holding in suspense finally settled.

He had guessed correctly.

At least a portion of Bharti and Vodafone's channels were under Anil's influence, or rather, they had already reached a cooperation agreement.

This meant Anil not only controlled Reliance Communications, but he also used other means to influence most of India's China Telecom.

This cooperation seemed like a choice, but it was actually an inevitability.

If they chose to refuse, then Dami Company would be excluded from these channels.

Transsion Spake had already gained the upper hand; if they lost channel support as well, the journey for Xiaomi India would truly have no way forward.

"Mr. Anil, 8.5% is too much. I can give at most 2% in shares."

"Two percent? How do you expect the three of us to split that? At least 6%."

"3%, 1% each. This is the most sincerity I can offer. After all, at worst, we will withdraw our investment."

Withdraw investment! The project hadn't even started yet. The first-generation Redmi was just Lei Jun's preliminary probe; he hadn't expected the other party to be even more anxious than he had imagined.

At this moment, Anil reached out his hand.

"Deal! Mr. Lei, I believe that with our three channels, Redmi's sales this month will definitely exceed 5 million units."

Lei Jun shook his hand. He didn't show much interest in this pie-in-the-sky promise; he only felt that the hand was cold and hard.

After leaving the clubhouse, Lei Jun got into the car, where Lin Bin was already waiting.

"Old Lei, how did the talks go?"

After listening, Lin Bin's face turned livid.

"Old Lei, although this 3% stake only gives him 1% on the surface, in reality, it's all going to him. Anil is bleeding us dry."

"I know."

"Then why did you agree?"

"If I don't agree, our products won't be able to enter Bharti and Vodafone's channels. Then our sales definitely won't compare to Spake, and we'll just be an empty shell."

Lei Jun leaned back in his chair, pondering a question.

Currently, Xiaomi's most excellent technology is its marketing and the MIUI system. The Indian version of the system is called MIUI India version.

This system supports Google services.

But Lei Jun had also left himself a way out in advance; this system had been somewhat neutered compared to the domestic version.

Thinking of this, Lei Jun felt a bit better. Anil had his plans, but Xiaomi also had its own little schemes.

"Old Lin, you're right. Anil is indeed bleeding us dry, but we really can't do without him."

Lin Bin nodded.

After all, without Reliance Communications' vigorous promotion, the first-generation Redmi would still have been a hit, but sales definitely wouldn't have been this fast.

In less than a week since launch, sales approached 2 million units.

Although Anil was a bit greedy as a person, the plan provided by Reliance Communications was indeed very suitable.

In addition to the normal rebates, for every new user who signed up for a Reliance Communications card, there would be an additional rebate for Xiaomi, five USD per phone.

"However, we can't just rely on Anil. Transsion's approach in India has inspired me; we also need to find partners. We also need to get payment before delivery."

"Payment before delivery, can negotiating channels ourselves really succeed?"

"We have to try. Let's find local distributors and have them help us stock the goods, and we'll give them rebates. This way we won't rely on Reliance, and we'll have more options."

Lin Bin thought about it and realized this method was indeed feasible; after all, Xiaomi's prices were lower and generally more favored by consumers.

"Then let's hurry. Transsion's Feature phones haven't entered yet; once those products hit the shelves, they'll be the ones snatching our market."

Lin Bin was right; Transsion did indeed have a new phone on the way, but it wasn't a Feature phone...

On August 15th, Transsion held the launch event for the SpakePro, this time still at the Mumbai Convention and Exhibition Center.

Mr. Adebayo took the stage again. This time he was even more confident; after all, Transsion already had a reputation.

"Transsion SpakePro, equipped with the MTK6575 chip."

This chip was also an old veteran; from Transsion to Honor and other domestic phones, there were already dozens of phones equipped with this chip.

A detailed comparison chart had already appeared on the big screen.

The performance of this chip was even stronger than the 6576, an improvement of about 15%.

And this time, it was given a large 512MB of RAM, with a maximum optional storage of 16GB, while the battery also reached 5000mAh.

A large battery—this was a nuclear-level existence among low-end phones.

The final selling price was 349 USD.

The stage became lively once again. 349 USD, equivalent to about 20,000 Indian Rupees, could already be considered a mid-to-high-end product.

The enthusiasm off-stage was clearly much lower; after all, many people could see that Mr. Adebayo's sincerity this time was clearly not as good as the last launch event.

But in the end, Mr. Adebayo still said, "Indian users need better products, and SpakePro is a better product."

Upgrading the processor slightly, increasing the battery capacity, and supporting 10W fast charging, yet the price increased by 100 USD.

This made many Indians, after comparing, ultimately choose to buy Spake.

As for the Pro version... sales flopped, with only 80,000 units.

But this made Lei Jun feel panicked; after all, Transsion launching two products in one month showed that they really valued the India market.

Thinking of this, Lei Jun paced around his office in a panic.

"Old Lin, how much longer until our redmi note is ready?"

"Mr. Lei, currently the redmi note will take at least another month. The R&D team has already finished the design, and we are still in talks with the supply chain. We definitely cannot engage in hunger marketing here, especially under these circumstances."

Lei Jun felt a pang of heartache. How many units could Transsion's two phones sell in a month? At least several million. This was all snatching his market!

He sat at his desk and instantly understood: Transsion's strategy in India was exactly the same as in Africa—fast, accurate, and ruthless.

Fast product launches, fast channel shipments, and fast market reactions.

Xiaomi in India needed to change its approach; it couldn't be half a beat slow at every step, otherwise, it would still lose.

"Stop worrying about price-performance ratios. Raise the price a bit, but we must speed things up. Move the release of the redmi note up to half a month from now. As long as our pricing is lower than Transsion's, that will be a victory."