215: Chapter 215 The "Future Has Arrived" of Consumer Electronics

May 1st

Outside the Shenzhen International Convention and Exhibition Center · The Crowd of Tech Pilgrims

At 7:00 AM, the sky over Shenzhen was still a pale fish-belly white, but the area outside the convention center was already boiling with excitement.

The queue wound out from the entrance of Hall 1 and stretched all the way along Exhibition Avenue, estimated to be over three kilometers long. In the footage sent back by drone aerial cameras, this long dragon made of people crawled slowly in the morning light, like a giant python waking up.

Li Hao, 28, a programmer from Zhongguancun, Beijing, was in the middle of the queue. He had set out from his hotel at 4:00 AM, and when he arrived at 5:00 AM, there were already over a thousand people ahead of him. At this moment, he was holding up a selfie stick, live-streaming on Bilibili:

"Brothers, can you see this? This is the scene! This blonde uncle in front of me is a tech reporter for Germany's Der Spiegel; further ahead, that guy wearing Sony headphones is a Japanese tech blogger with millions of followers; and those people on the right speaking Korean are engineers from Samsung—they actually came too!"

The bullet chat scrolled frantically:

"Holy crap, is this a global tech circle team-building event?"

"The one wearing the Tesla T-shirt, isn't that Musk's special assistant?"

"I see the Apple people! Black suits paired with AirPods, the standard Apple style!"

Li Hao zoomed in the camera, aiming it at the entrance.

There were twelve channels there, and above each channel hovered an AR projection device. As spectators walked up to the turnstiles, the cameras automatically scanned their faces, and the AR projection immediately generated a personalized welcome message in the air:

"Welcome to the future, Mr. Li Hao. Your order history on Spark's official website: one HX1 phone, one drone. There will be a surprise today."

"Wow—" Li Hao and the surrounding audience exclaimed simultaneously.

This wasn't just facial recognition; it was an intelligent welcome that integrated the database.

The bullet chat exploded:

"This technology is so sci-fi!"

"Spark is even playing so fancy with the entrance!"

"Pure envy!"

Korean tech blogger Kim Jae-hoon was also live-streaming, saying excitedly in Korean: "Everyone! This is Shenzhen! The Spark Technology Conference! Did you see the AR projection at the entrance? Apple and Samsung don't have this kind of technology! This is just the beginning!"

His live room had 500,000 Korean viewers online, and the bullet chat was full of "Daebak!" and "Huaxia's technology is truly amazing!"

At 8:30 AM, the audience began to enter one after another.

The moment they stepped into the main venue of Hall 1, everyone was stunned.

This wasn't a stage in the traditional sense—it was a massive "Möbius strip" structure, 40 meters wide and 20 meters high. A circular LED screen wrapped around the entire stage, with a resolution reaching a staggering 16K. The screen was playing images of the sea of stars: from the nano-world of chips to satellites looking down at Earth, and then to the rotation of the Milky Way.

The music wasn't ordinary background noise; it was an electronic symphony composed specifically for this launch event. The bass vibrated through chests, the treble was as clear as crystal, and the rhythm flickered in sync with thousands of breathing lights throughout the venue—those lights were embedded in seat armrests, the edges of experience tables, and even on the audience's wristbands.

"My god..." Li Hao murmured.

His seat was in the third row of the "Phone Experience Zone." When he sat down, the screen on the armrest automatically lit up, displaying today's schedule, product introductions, and a sentence: "Please fasten your seatbelt, the journey to the future is about to begin."

Sitting next to him was an American man, about 50 years old, wearing a Google T-shirt.

"Hey, first time here?" the man greeted in English.

Li Hao nodded: "Yes. Are you from America?"

"Silicon Valley. My name is Mark, I do AI at Google." The man pointed at the stage, "Do you know why so many big shots came? Because what Spark is doing isn't product iteration, it's a paradigm shift. They've redefined what a 'tech company' should do."

"Paradigm shift?"

"It's moving from 'making a better phone' to 'reimagining the relationship between humans and technology.'" Mark's eyes shone, "Look at that Möbius strip—no beginning, no end, symbolizing the infinite cycle of technology. Spark is saying: we're not just selling products, we're creating the future."

Li Hao only half-understood, but he was deeply impressed.

He looked around. The audience seats were divided into zones by product line:

Drone Zone: Many photography enthusiasts and extreme sports players.

Phone Zone: The most people, with faces of various skin colors.

Wearables Zone: People dressed as doctors, as well as fitness experts.

Smart Home Zone: Many family users.

In the front VIP zone sat those faces only seen in the news:

Greg Joswiak, Apple's Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing, was talking quietly with an assistant, his expression serious.

Koh Dong-jin, President of Samsung Electronics, wore simultaneous interpretation headphones, arms crossed over his chest.

Ishida Yoshihisa, head of Sony's TV division, was taking notes in a notebook.

GoPro CEO Nick Woodman had his brow furrowed.

Da Jiang, founder of DJI, was instead smiling, occasionally saying something to the person beside him.

Li Hao's live-stream camera panned over these big shots, and the bullet chat exploded again:

"A collective team-building of global tech moguls!"

"Spark is awesome! Inviting all their rivals to watch them flex their muscles!"

"This psychological warfare is beautifully played: I'll release products that crush you right in front of your face."

9:00 AM sharp.

The lights in the entire venue suddenly dimmed, leaving only the circular giant screen still playing star imagery. The music faded, and a deep, powerful heartbeat sound came from the speakers—thump, thump, thump, synchronizing with the audience's pulses.

A beam of pure white spotlight fell vertically from the 30-meter-high dome, hitting the center of the stage.

Su Chen stepped out from the shadows, standing within the pillar of light.

He wasn't wearing a high-end formal suit today, but rather Spark's standard black suit, with a small flame logo embroidered on the left chest. There was no podium, no teleprompter, just a minimalist headset.

The whole venue fell silent.

In the online live-stream rooms, the number of online viewers reached a peak at this moment:

Douyin: 8 million

Bilibili: 5 million

YouTube: 3 million (English simultaneous interpretation)

Other global platforms: Totaling over 10 million

"Good morning, everyone."

Su Chen spoke, his voice carrying through the surround sound speakers to every corner, calm and powerful.

"Three years ago, in a small exhibition hall at the company, we held the first Spark Technology Exhibition. At that time, there were only three hundred people in the audience, mostly friends, partners, and the curious who were wondering 'what this transitioning company can pull off'."

The giant screen switched to an old photo from 2015. A simple booth, sparse audience, and a young Su Chen explaining the first-generation drone.

"Today, there are ten thousand people on-site and tens of millions online." Su Chen paused, his gaze sweeping across the venue, "What has changed is not just the number of people, but the change in human confidence in technology—confidence in Huaxia's technology, confidence in independent innovation, and confidence that 'we can define the future'."

Applause rang out, lasting for ten seconds.

"Some say technology makes the world more complex," Su Chen continued. "A phone has 100 functions, but we only use 10; a smart home requires installing 10 apps that aren't even compatible with each other; buying a TV involves looking at dozens of parameters, and in the end, you still don't know which one is good."

He smiled: "But true technology is not about increasing complexity; it's about making the complex simple."

The giant screen showed an electron microscope image of a chip: nano-scale transistors neatly arranged like a precision city.

"Just like our chips, creating order at the nano-scale—organizing billions of transistors to complete specific tasks."

The image switched to a visualization of AI algorithms; among massive data points, clear patterns gradually emerged.

"Just like our AI, finding patterns in chaotic data—from diagnosing diseases to predicting the weather, making the uncertain certain."

Su Chen took a step forward, the spotlight following him.

"Starting today for the next seven days, we will showcase a panoramic view from microns to outer space: consumer electronics, new energy, automobiles, materials, chips, high-end equipment, and super engineering."

The giant screen unfolded a magnificent timeline:

2018: Commercialization of recyclable rockets

2020: Completion of an independent space station

2025: Permanent presence at a lunar research station

2030: Unmanned Mars exploration

2040: Asteroid mining trials

"But the ultimate goal of all technology," Su Chen emphasized, "is not parameters, not profits, and not market share. It is to let people live more freely—to go wherever they want and learn whatever they want. To be healthier—to get sick less often, and to be cured if they do. To live longer—not just lingering on, but living vibrantly to 100 or 120 years old."

"Ultimately, it is to give human civilization enough courage and capability to step toward the sea of stars."

Behind him, the giant screen showed an image of the Earth rotating lonely in space, then the camera pulled back to show the Milky Way, and further back to show the web-like structure of the observable universe.

"Today, we start from the first stop."

Su Chen raised his right hand, palm up.

"Let the devices in everyone's hands first become the keys to the future."

The spotlight brightened suddenly, and the music climaxed.

On the circular giant screen, the words "Day 1: Consumer Electronics" appeared in massive letters, followed by a countdown: 3, 2, 1—

Applause thundered, lasting for a full two minutes.

In the online live-stream rooms, the bullet chat completely covered the screen:

"Vision! This is true vision!"

"Other companies hold launch events saying how great their parameters are. Spark says: we want to change human civilization."

"I'm crying, seriously. This is what a tech company should look like."

"Apple and Samsung are still comparing whose camera pixels are higher, while Spark is already planning for Mars."

In the VIP zone, Apple VP Greg whispered to his assistant: "Take this down: 'The ultimate goal of technology is to let people live more freely, healthily, and longer.' This sentence... is very good. We can use it for our next launch event."

The assistant was surprised: "But Su Chen said that..."

"Word it differently," Greg said expressionlessly. "In the end, tech companies aren't competing on technology, but on narrative ability. Spark's narrative is already a dimension higher than ours."