426: Chapter 426 Qualcomm: We Need More Money

Lei Jun's anger was certainly not faked, and the others didn't look too happy either.

Especially Lin Bin, after all, when he said that, the 4G network hadn't truly been fully opened up yet...

Several mobile phones were placed on the table: a large-screen xiaomi note 3, a transsion s5, and a Huawei Mate8, all three running speed tests simultaneously.

However, the probability of Xiaomi failing was higher than they had imagined, because the download speeds of the other two had reached 148Mb/s, but Xiaomi, seemingly due to continuous testing, was currently displaying a gray 'E' (2G network) at the top of its screen.

After Lei Jun finished venting his anger, the meeting room fell silent again, and Lin Bin coughed softly, beginning to analyze the situation for everyone.

"The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has just issued the licenses, fully opening up 4G."

"Tariffs have also been adjusted, and most people can experience the basic plans."

"The S5 and Mate8 can both use it, and the carriers are pushing it too."

Lin Bin's voice was full of difficulty at this moment; the company was once again a step behind in its 4G layout.

Why were the carriers so fast? 4G had just been popularized; shouldn't they have harvested the leeks for a while longer? Even if the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology demanded it, couldn't they have pushed back, saying that the cost of building the base stations was too high?

Why did it have to be this way...

Of course, what angered him even more was that their xiaomi note 3 could not find a 4G signal.

Although the Fire Dragon supported some frequency bands, the ones they bought were completely crippled, and it wasn't just as simple as TD-LTE.

Lei Jun picked up the redmi note 3 once again; this phone was still excellent when it wasn't overheating, and at the very least, its performance wasn't outdated for a boss's daily driver.

But... it overheated, and it would be scalding to the touch after just a short while.

At this moment, Lei Jun felt the malice of the world. After a while, he put down the phone and asked again:

"What does Qualcomm say? Can they provide a 4G solution?"

"Mr. Lei has already called to ask!"

"Qualcomm says the Snapdragon 801 fully supports 4G, the baseband is integrated, and the signal will be a bit stronger than the Fire Dragon 800."

"But there is one problem..."

While speaking, the secretary nearby also delivered the results of the conversation between Lin Bin and Qualcomm to Lei Jun.

"Need to pay more!"

Lei Jun looked at the report, and his brow furrowed instantly. At this moment, he felt that the malice toward Xiaomi wasn't just from China... but also from Qualcomm.

It was the first time he felt those three words were so jarring.

"The 4G version and the 3G version of the 801 are $13 apart. Although Transsion is conscientious, it is still a huge cost for us."

"And they also said that previous orders cannot be changed. We have to continue using the batch of Snapdragon 801s we already ordered. If we want to upgrade to the 4G version, we need to place a new order."

Everyone in the meeting room looked at Lin Bin in shock.

"Mr. Lin, is what you said true? Let me see!"

Zhou Shouzi hurriedly stood up in a panic and took a conversation summary from the side...

It left his face full of disbelief.

"Who gave Qualcomm the nerve? Don't they know that their two flagship processors, the 800 and 801, have failed consecutively?"

Li Wanqiang also threw the report directly onto the table. As one of the few domestic-oriented members within Xiaomi, he... could only say he had tried, but ultimately failed.

Lin Bin was also very angry, but he had no other choice.

Of course, there were still some problems facing them now.

There were still 780,000 Fire Dragon 800s and 1.5 million 3G Snapdragon 801s in the warehouse.

If the xiaomi note 3 and the Xiaomi digital series didn't continue to use these 3G versions, the cost of this batch of stock chips would be completely wasted.

But if they continued to use them, their phones wouldn't support 4G, and they would be at a disadvantage in public opinion.

After all, at a time when 4G was fully open, the other two companies were also crazily hyping up the 4G gimmick; who would still spend over 2,000 to buy a phone that could only use 2G and 3G?

Most importantly, the overheating problem of these two chips hadn't been solved, and the meme of "ceramic hand warmer" was still circulating online.

How could they sell a phone like this?

"How about lowering the price to clear the stock?" Li Wanqiang thought for a long time and finally came up with this result: "Lower the note 3 to 1,800, and we continue with the price-performance strategy!"

"Turning a flagship phone into a mid-range price... even Honor wouldn't feel good about that."

Zhou Shouzi shook his head. He was in charge of finance and understood the numbers in all aspects very well.

"If we lower it to 1,800, we might lose a few dozen yuan per unit. If we clear the stock, we would have worked for nothing this year."

"But what if we don't lower the price?"

Li Wanqiang asked back. After all, it wasn't a question of how much to earn now, but about clearing the stock and losing less!

"Mr. Li, I know what you mean, but this problem has to..."

After saying this, he looked toward Lei Jun again; after all, he couldn't be the one to bring up the price cut...

Lin Bin was even more troubled. At this moment, many distributors were urging him: When would Xiaomi release a new phone? Especially a 4G phone.

After all, regardless of whether it worked well or not, the gimmick was very strong...

As everyone's attention shifted to Lei Jun, and all the burdens were pressed onto him, he still didn't speak and continued to pace back and forth in the office...

In his mind, he repeatedly thought about the problems of the xiaomi note 3, the "ceramic fairy"... and eventually the complete failure.

This wasn't Xiaomi's problem; it was Qualcomm's problem. Qualcomm hadn't earned a penny less, but all the infamy went to Xiaomi. One could only say that they...

"For the Snapdragon 801, order 500,000 units of the 4G version first, but the price must be pressed down. We can afford a maximum of five dollars in costs for 4G."

"Then what about the stock of Fire Dragon 800s?"

"Two choices. Either modify the note 3, add an external indoor baseband, and redesign the motherboard and cooling solution."

"Sell it as the xiaomi note 3 4G version. This time, remove the back cover and replace it with ordinary glass. Set the price at 1,599 to clear the stock."

"Or just delegate it directly to Redmi. Even with low costs, we must defeat our rivals."

When Lin Bin heard these two plans, his hand stopped instantly.

He looked at Lei Jun with an expression of disbelief. Calling these two plans—wasn't it actually just one plan?

After all, an external baseband would increase power consumption; this was an industry consensus. The Fire Dragon 800's overheating was already absurd to what degree, and then adding an external...

This was really wanting to treat users to charcoal-grilled pig trotters!

"Later, let the design department design a Redmi model. Use the Fire Dragon 800 for the standard version to drive down the price and boost the gimmick. Once the stock is cleared, stop selling it."

"Then use the 3G version of the Snapdragon 801 for the high-end version to continue clearing the stock."

After this plan was proposed, no one raised any objections, because this was the best plan.

After all, they could wield the knife on Redmi and cut out some less important things, but they couldn't do that with Xiaomi.