3: Chapter 3 Winning Hearts and Minds

So that's how it is!

Shen Fei pondered, though he found it strange how this Africa market seemed somewhat similar to the "monster house" of the Asian market.

It seemed this system wasn't particularly intelligent, but that was actually a good thing; it would allow him to better utilize the system to develop technology!

However, the Africa market was not as simple as he had imagined. With backward infrastructure, market expansion would be quite difficult.

It was precisely because of these difficulties that only a few giants were willing to cultivate it deeply.

Moreover, their strategy was still to dump obsolete models there, without making any adaptations for African users at all.

If Transsion could gain a foothold in Africa and accumulate its first pot of gold... then it could return to the domestic market and, by seizing the opportunity of the smartphone era transition, easily become the new hegemon.

A clear strategy began to take shape in Shen Fei's mind.

"Young President Shen, Engineer Chen from the R&D department is here." The secretary's voice came from outside the door. According to his memories, this man was his father's trusted aide, who had even cleaned up his messes a few times; he was completely trustworthy.

"Please, show him in!"

The door was pushed open, and a man in his forties, wearing a wrinkled shirt with messy hair, walked in.

This was Chen Hai, the head of Transsion's R&D department. He was a quintessential engineering man and one of the few people in the company who truly understood technology.

He was a graduate of the Harbin Institute of Technology with a major in Radio Engineering and had joined the company since its inception; he was absolutely a trusted confidant.

"Young President Shen, you asked for me?"

Chen Hai pushed up his glasses, his tone somewhat reserved. After all, he had heard of the "glorious deeds" of the young master. It was said that there had been some slight changes today, but he still chose to believe in the past.

"Engineer Chen, sit." Shen Fei pointed to the chair opposite him.

"You know my father is still in the hospital, and before, I..." Shen Fei stopped halfway, then immediately continued.

"Since I have taken up the mantle now, I ask that you trust me. I want to understand our most mature product right now."

Chen Hai was taken aback; he hadn't expected Shen Fei to say such a thing, but he answered honestly: "Our current flagship product is the T100 series, equipped with the MTK6225 platform, a 1.8-inch CSTN screen, and a 300,000-pixel camera. It supports MP3, MP4, and dual SIM dual standby. The cost is about 220 yuan, wholesale price is 280 yuan, and the retail price is 399 to 499 yuan."

It was a quintessential knock-off phone configuration, but it was a phone that everyone could afford. Its monthly sales were decent, basically between 100,000 and 150,000 units.

"What about power consumption? Standby time?" Shen Fei asked subconsciously.

"It uses a 900mAh battery, with one and a half to two days of normal use." Chen Hai smiled bitterly: "Young President Shen, we are using the cheapest batteries; being able to achieve this is already quite good."

Shen Fei nodded to show he understood, but this price was still too expensive for the Africa market; he had to find a way to cut costs.

The MTK6225 platform was still too advanced; they had to use lower-cost scrap parts, and features like MP3 could be completely removed...

He had to occupy the market as soon as possible, and the High-density battery technology had to be secured.

"If... I mean if we could obtain a new battery technology where energy density is increased by 80% and costs are reduced by 30%, what kind of product do you think we could make?"

Chen Hai's eyes lit up instantly: "An 80% increase? That means for the same volume, the battery capacity could reach over 1600mAh? The standby time could be extended to four or even five days, and if we could still control the costs..."

He stood up excitedly, completely forgetting about image management: "Young President Shen, do you have a lead? Which battery factory has this new technology... Is it BYD or some foreign company? Advanced battery technology is monopolized by them. The cost will likely be very high."

Chen Hai's face immediately turned to an expression of disappointment; the domestic industry was still too backward in this regard...

"It's just a hypothesis." Shen Fei waved his hand, lying without blushing: "Engineer Chen, if I were to have you lead a team to make a special model for the Africa market, what are your thoughts?"

"Africa." Chen Hai was stunned again. "The signal there is poor, there are frequent power outages, and user income is low..."

"Exactly." Shen Fei stood up and walked over to him: "Exactly, so we need a phone with ultra-long standby, ultra-strong signal, and an ultra-low price. If we could optimize the camera for African skin tones, that would be even better."

He turned around: "Can it be done?"

Chen Hai was silent for a few minutes, then pushed up his glasses. Young President Shen was really giving him a huge problem.

"Ultra-long standby definitely requires a larger battery and lower power consumption. The signal problem is actually the easiest to solve among these; we just need to optimize the antenna and RF modules. Low price means using cheaper materials. Camera optimization... that requires algorithm support, and we don't have that technical reserve."

"I will solve the technical problems, and don't worry about the funding." Shen Fei walked back to his desk and stared at him seriously. "You just need to tell me, if these problems are solved, can you lead a team to build the product?"

Chen Hai took a deep breath and instantly understood his boss's idea. Since they couldn't survive in the domestic market, they would go to a market with less competition and cultivate it anew.

"Yes! As long as the technology is in place, we can have a prototype out within a month and mass production within three months!"

"Good." Shen Fei called for the secretary: "Uncle Li, notify all department heads to have a meeting tomorrow at 9 AM in the big conference room to discuss the upcoming strategic development."

After Uncle Li nodded, he continued to look at Chen Hai: "Engineer Chen, whether Transsion can survive depends on this. Just tell me directly what resources the R&D department needs."

Chen Hai nodded heavily. Compared to before he came in, there was now a light in his eyes.

...

The next day at 9 AM, in the big conference room.

Vice President Zhang Mingyuan, Manager Li Xiuyun, and a few other veterans had indeed not shown up. Shen Fei scanned the room; without this group of disgusting people, he actually felt much more comfortable.

Present were Chen Hai, the new head of the marketing department Li Qing, head of the production department Wang Zhikai, head of the procurement department Liu Fang, and other middle-level leaders, as well as the head of the investment department Huang Tianya, whom the system had snatched from who knows where!

"Everyone is here, let's start." Shen Fei said straightforwardly.

Others didn't make a sound; they clearly realized that Transsion had changed leadership.

"Starting today, Transsion's strategy will undergo a major adjustment."

He turned on the projector, and a world map appeared on the screen, with Africa highlighted in red.

"We are going to abandon direct competition in the domestic market and shift our focus to Africa."

There was an uproar in the conference room.

"President Shen, you're not joking, are you? Although Zhao Kai is targeting me, please rest assured, I will try my best to lobby the offline channels and will definitely win them back!"

Li Qing was the first to stand up and express his stance; after all, he had to repay the kindness of being recognized and employed.

"Exactly, with such high transportation costs, we'd lose money on every unit sold?" Wang Zhikai also shook his head.

"Never mind transportation costs, in a place like Africa, they don't even have electricity. Who are we going to sell phones to?"

"Everyone, hear me out." Shen Fei tapped the table.

"I'll ask a few questions, and if you still think it won't work, we can discuss it then!"

The conference room immediately quieted down.

"First, the Africa market has a population of over 1 billion, and the mobile phone penetration rate is less than 10%. What does this mean?"