63: Chapter 63: Waveguide's press conference fails!

"Notify the production department to run at full capacity. As for the logistics department, stop using sea freight; charter planes instead. Get the goods stocked across all of Africa within a week. Tell Mr. Adebayo that today's launch event was a great success. Headquarters has credited him for this achievement, and the year-end awards ceremony awaits him. But by tomorrow, headquarters wants to see advertisements for the transsion s1 in the capitals of even more African countries."

"Understood."

The phone vibrated slightly again; it was a screenshot sent by Zhang Mingzhu. She was playing fruit ninja and her score had just barely surpassed Shen Fei's. It was followed by a small emoji. After a glance, Shen Fei shook his head with a sweet smile. "That little rascal," he said, before placing the phone back on the desk.

Immediately after, he opened the live stream of the launch event. Inside the stadium, Mr. Adebayo was accepting media interviews, with countless microphones thrust in front of him. This former street vendor had now become the brightest new star in the African tech scene.

At the same time, at the Port Louis Convention Center in Mauritius. Bird had chosen this location for their second mobile phone launch event; they intended to fight a decisive battle against Transsion here. However, as for the results?

The venue, originally capable of holding over 2,000 people, had fewer than 300 attendees. And most of the faces in the venue were yellow... that's right, they were just their own staff filling in the seats. Some reporters in the front row were even bored, playing on their phones, while some Mauritian distributors were whispering to each other about something.

They had originally heard that Bird was a mobile phone company a tier above Transsion and was willing to open up its distribution channels, so they had rushed to attend this launch event. After all, if a small factory like Transsion could produce such great technology, surely this Bird company would be even stronger, right? But the result was that the product had no innovation whatsoever. Many distributors were even glancing at the exit from time to time, preparing to consider leaving early.

On stage, Bird Africa Region General Manager Supply Chain Director Zhou Ming was desperately explaining the product, but the beads of sweat on his forehead already betrayed his nervousness. After all, all the preparations for Bird's launch event were done and the products had been shipped over, only for Transsion to reveal the appearance of their phone. A Smartphone vs. a Feature phone? Did they still have the advantage... But considering his job, he had no choice but to bite the bullet and carry on.

"Distinguished guests, the Bird Pro Max is a flagship product we have specifically crafted for the African market." Supply Chain Director Zhou Ming pointed to the parameters on the big screen: MTK6225, 1.6-inch screen, dual SIM dual standby, 2-megapixel camera, and most importantly, a large 3000mAh battery. Every single data point was better than the Transsion Power Max!

"This is the second mobile phone we have released in the African market. We have deeply learned from our previous experience, so we have brought you a massive 3000mAh battery. The battery life can last over 30 days; charging once a month is no longer a dream. This isn't just wordplay; it's truly charging once a month."

Scattered applause rang out from the audience, mostly coming from Bird's own employees. But just then, a reporter raised their hand: "Transsion's Power Max is only 2000mAh, and it takes a long time to charge. How long does it take to fully charge your company's 3000mAh battery?"

Seeing that someone was finally interacting, Supply Chain Director Zhou Ming finally breathed a sigh of relief, but being hit with such a question right off the bat immediately broke him into a cold sweat. He hurriedly wiped his sweat: "Well, that... it probably takes one night. Anyway, everyone doesn't use their phones at night... And we support swappable batteries; just a gentle pry, and you can quickly change the battery, so how long it takes to charge won't affect everyone's experience."

But the reporter in the audience clearly didn't let him off the hook: "Then I wonder what you think about the competitor's product, since they also have a 3000mAh large battery." "..." Supply Chain Director Zhou Ming couldn't answer this question. He had only just watched Transsion's launch event, and he hadn't looked at these detailed data points at all.

"But our battery life is longer than theirs. Some features..." After perfunctorily dealing with it, Supply Chain Director Zhou Ming continued to introduce the phone. However, the pace was much faster now. After all, having introduced the strongest selling point—the battery life—there wasn't really anything else to introduce about this phone, so Supply Chain Director Zhou Ming took out a Transsion Power Max to make a comparison.

"This product from our competitor has already been recognized by everyone, but what is their selling price? 149 dollars. As an executive of a mobile phone manufacturer, I can responsibly tell everyone that the cost of this phone is not even 50 dollars, yet they are selling it to you for three times that amount. This behavior is extremely shameful. Especially since they shamelessly keep talking about serving Africa. So, Bird's mission is to bring down Transsion's high prices. Our Bird Pro Max is priced at 79 dollars!"

The moment the price was announced, the reporters in the audience finally became interested and hurriedly started clicking their camera shutters. But just then, another distributor stood up: "Mr. Zhou, a mobile phone cannot just be judged by its cost; there are many unseen R&D costs. I see your company just promoted that it is equipped with a 2-megapixel camera; I wonder if the photo quality can lead over the Power Max. Can it gain an advantage in this aspect..."

"We... our battery is big." Supply Chain Director Zhou Ming raised his voice again. "The battery life is stronger than theirs." Faced with this answer that didn't address the question, the distributor in the audience nodded silently.

"Mr. Zhou, your phone is indeed not bad, and the price is very attractive. If you had come a while earlier, with this price, it might have become a legendary device here, but now, I'm sorry, what everyone cares about most isn't battery life, but photography." After saying this, the largest distributor in Mauritius left the venue very directly. He didn't have time to play around with them here; he had to get back to revamp his shop and strive to get approved as a Transsion franchisee!

And this sentence dealt a critical hit of 100,000 damage, slamming hard into Supply Chain Director Zhou Ming. That's right, they were too late. Who knew the African market was so good, and who knew where Transsion dug up their portrait optimization technology? They had so many tricks. By the time they were prepared to make a long-battery-life phone, Transsion's latest phone was still the Power Max, but who knew that three months later, Transsion would directly jump into the Smartphone era. He really suspected now if Transsion had kidnapped aliens.

"Director Zhou." The assistant ran onto the stage in a hurry and whispered in Supply Chain Director Zhou Ming's ear. "Just received news, the transsion s1 is about to be launched on a large scale in Africa. Some fast-acting stores have already put up marketing materials." Supply Chain Director Zhou Ming's vision went dark. He looked at the audience; the originally sparse seating area was now being vacated as some people, after picking up their phones and taking a call, walked away quickly.

Outside, however, Transsion's sales stores were truly bustling. The showroom used to exhibit the Smartphone was packed to the brim. As for the Mauritius factory, it was even livelier; after finishing the launch event in Lagos, Mr. Adebayo flew directly to Mauritius. He immediately had workers set up a large experience zone at the entrance, displaying over 50 engineering prototypes of the S1, and most importantly, he had games running on them.

"Friends in Mauritius!" Mr. Adebayo shouted through a megaphone. "The transsion s1 is available globally starting today! Purchase in the experience zone today and enjoy a special price of 339. The first 100 customers will receive a physical fruit ninja commemorative card..."