302: Chapter 302 The "Problems" of the Indian Factory: Actually, It Was Just Normal!

However, these words were too harsh, so Lin Bin casually found an excuse.

"Because our supply chain can't keep up; screens, batteries, and chips all have to compete with mobile phones for production capacity. But the capacity for those isn't enough either, so how could we have the spare capacity to make tablets? And besides…"

"And besides what?"

Although Lei Jun was asking, the flickering expression in his eyes clearly revealed his true inner thoughts; he knew, but he simply didn't want to admit it.

"And besides, the profit margins for tablets are relatively low, and they easily tie up inventory. To investors, that's an irresponsible move, which is why you, Old Lei, cut the tablet line."

Lei Jun waved his hand again, his face filled with a bitter expression.

"Old Lin, Transsion can make mobile phones, tablets, cars, and chips, yet we can't even make a single tablet. Tell me, where exactly is the gap between us and Transsion?"

Lin Bin thought for a moment; the gap was indeed significant.

They had their own core technology, "Chip Strengthening Technology," right from the start of their venture, and then they went on to do all the hardest things.

Breaking through chip blockades, breaking through process node blockades…

Meanwhile, Xiaomi was very… very "shrewd." They did whatever made money and whatever was easy. As soon as profits dipped, they immediately cut the product line.

The result was that they did the hardest things, built the deepest moats, and used technology to establish their brand's prestige, while Xiaomi could only watch from outside the river, finally muttering silently, "Heaven is unfair."

The atmosphere remained awkward for quite a while, then Lei Jun suddenly asked.

"How is the progress of the India factory?"

"The equipment has already left the port; it will arrive next month and can be installed the month after. Anil is currently training the workers. Don't worry, the instructors are all from our side."

"What about the technical team?"

"They were transferred from headquarters, all mechanical and electrical personnel. Don't worry, we'll hand over what we should, but not a single thing we shouldn't."

Lei Jun nodded.

"Nothing else. Go tell Anil; I want to see the Xiaomi factory running by February next year. We will increase our support by then."

…

Time passed quickly, and it was February 20, 2013. The annual meeting had just concluded, and Transsion had just begun to resume work.

Lei Jun urgently headed to the India market.

It wasn't because they had been ambushed by Transsion during the New Year, but because Xiaomi's market in India had gone into production less than five months after the contract was signed.

The speed was astonishing!

Anil provided the land, the capital, and the connections, while Xiaomi provided the technology, the personnel, and the management.

The Indian government's subsidies were also in place, tariff concessions were approved, and priority supply of water and electricity was granted.

Corresponding supporting facilities were also under construction, though the speed there wasn't as fast as it was here; one could only say the foundation for the power station had been leveled.

But regardless, Xiaomi's costs in India had dropped by 30%.

The price of the xiaomi note also dropped directly from $339 to $299, and sales skyrocketed!

Major online platforms were already experiencing shortages, and in some regions, scalpers were even marking up prices.

Lei Jun stood in the new factory's workshop, feeling no excitement in his heart, only a bitter smile.

For this factory to go into production, Xiaomi had paid a huge price.

Once the equipment arrived, assembly and debugging work began immediately, running three shifts, and finally, trial production started today.

But at this moment, he somewhat regretted the price adjustment; it had been done a bit too early.

This new factory, touted as the "India Speed," looked shiny and bright on the outside, but once you entered the production line, it was full of problems.

The yield rate report made his blood pressure soar.

However, because of Shen Fei's repeated targeting, Lei Jun, in terms of stress resistance, might not be number one in the world, but he was certainly among the top in China.

But now, he wanted to swallow a whole bottle of blood pressure medication.

After all, the yield rate domestically was generally stable between 95% and 99%.

The India factory was only at 65%. He wasn't sure if these figures had been embellished, but he clearly saw that half of the machines broke down as soon as they were installed.

Many Indian workers found the anti-static wrist straps too tight and secretly took them off; the motherboards damaged by static electricity were piled up like a small mountain.

As for the priority electricity supply guaranteed by the Indian government… it was prioritized, but the power grid cut out three times a day. Most of the time, they had to rely on diesel generators to tough it out, which added many more costs.

Flies were buzzing around the workshop, and in some places, one could even see yellow liquid, as well as some…

When he went to the monitoring room and checked the surveillance footage, he found the situation was even worse than he had imagined.

During the trial production over the past two days, with a lack of management, some people were just sleeping.

There was no discipline at all.

Although there was management from China, these Indians simply wouldn't listen, and their efficiency was utter trash.

A quick calculation showed that the comprehensive cost was 14% higher than in China.

But on February 18, the data reported to him from here claimed a yield rate of 98% and that costs were 15% lower than expected.

But just as Lei Jun was getting angry, he saw a few Indian engineers.

All three wore glasses and white work uniforms, with technician badges pinned to their chests.

They were gathered around a piece of equipment, and one of them was furiously writing something in a notebook.

Lei Jun's anger flared up again.

"Who hired those Indian engineers?"

He glanced at Zhang Feng, feeling a great deal of distrust toward this factory manager.

Even though he was part of the founding team of Dami Company and was in charge of one of the few factories back in China.

He had handled things terribly!

Zhang Feng followed his gaze to the screen and then smiled bitterly: "Mr. Lei, I tried, but those are Anil's people."

"He said the government changed its mind at the last minute and insists on training local technical personnel; that's one of the conditions for the subsidies!"

"Make them only operate the machines and not record the parameters. Password-protect all parameter interfaces; only French engineers should be able to see them."

"Mr. Lei, I've already set that up," Zhang Feng replied.

"A dynamic password is required for every login, and the password changes every two hours. The Indians can only see the operation interface; they cannot see the parameter interface!"

Lei Jun nodded, but he still didn't feel at ease.

He saw the application engineer with the notebook put the notebook into his pocket after finishing writing. Not on the workbench, but into his pocket.

"I am extremely dissatisfied with the factory. The quality of these workers is too low," Lei Jun scolded Zhang Feng.

"I expect the yield rate to be raised above the 80% passing line by the time I come next time. Otherwise…"

Faced with this problem, Zhang Feng only felt troubled; after all, the "quality" of the Indian workers was just too "excellent."

Lei Jun hadn't gone to the restroom yet today; otherwise, he would have witnessed the true "quality" of India…

"Mr. Lei, I will do everything in my power to boost the yield rate, but the current situation is truly too difficult…"

"Anyway, since the subsidies have come through, how about we… This could solve the problem fundamentally."