4: Chapter 4: Sniping and Counterattack

With the sudden emergence of "xinghuo no. 1," Spark Technology was like a giant boulder thrown into the long-silent consumer drone market, stirring up not just waves of praise, but also surging undercurrents from industry giants.

Lingyun Technology, the giant that occupied half of the global drone market, finally broke its silence. Three weeks after the "xinghuo no. 1" was released and took the market by storm, Lingyun Technology threw its first heavy punch.

In the early morning, just as Su Chen walked into his office, Lin Wan followed closely behind, handing him a tablet with a solemn expression.

"President Su, Lingyun Technology just held a press conference."

On the screen was Lingyun Technology's CEO, known for his aggressive style. With a confident smile, he announced a significant price reduction strategy for the "phantom 3" series: "To give back to our users for their long-term support and to promote the popularization of drone technology, Lingyun Technology has decided that, effective immediately, the official prices of the 'phantom 3' Standard and Advanced editions will be uniformly lowered to **3,999 rmb**! At the same time, we are launching the 'Lingyun Renewal' program, which supports trade-ins of old drones from all brands..."

A price war! Simple, crude, but extremely effective.

"Additionally," Lin Wan swiped the screen to bring up several other windows, "Starting from last night, a large number of negative posts about 'xinghuo no. 1' suddenly emerged on major social media platforms and tech forums. The content is highly similar, with users claiming their purchased 'xinghuo no. 1' suffered from unexplained 'crashes,' 'sudden signal interruptions in Image transmission,' and 'Intelligent follow losing targets.' The photos are blurry, but the language is intense."

Almost at the same time, Wang Ming hurried in with a freshly printed legal document, sweat on his forehead: "President Su, this is bad! We just received formal notices from the court and the ITC (U.S. International Trade Commission)! Lingyun Technology has filed patent lawsuits against us in both the U.S. and China! They accuse us of infringing on seven of their patents, including 'Quick-release rotor structure' and 'Vision-based target following method'! They are demanding... demanding a ban on the sale of 'xinghuo no. 1' in the Chinese market and seeking massive damages domestically!"

A price war, public opinion smearing, and patent lawsuits! Lingyun Technology's three-pronged attack came with thunderous force, intending to completely strangle this newly emerged challenger in its cradle.

The atmosphere in the office instantly dropped to freezing point. Lin Wan and Wang Ming both looked at Su Chen, waiting for his decision. This was not just market competition; it was a test of life and death.

Su Chen walked to the floor-to-ceiling window, looking at the bustling crowds on the street below. There was no panic on his face, only a cold calm. The opponent's reaction was within his expectations; it was just faster and more ruthless than he had thought.

He turned around, his gaze sharp as a knife.

"They've made their move, so we'll make ours." Su Chen's voice was steady and powerful, instantly dispelling some of the unease in the room.

"Lin Wan, notify the heads of the marketing, R&D, and legal departments. Meeting in Conference Room 1 in ten minutes."

...

At the meeting, the atmosphere was heavy. The head of the marketing department was deeply worried about Lingyun's price cut: "President Su, Lingyun's brand influence is too great. Their price drop to 3,999 will cause a huge diversion from our 2,999! We must follow suit and lower our prices!"

"No." Su Chen rejected it directly. "Not only will we not lower the price of the standard edition, but we will also launch a new version."

He looked around at everyone and issued his orders: "First, the market counterattack. Engineer Wang, lead a team immediately to launch a 'Youth Edition' based on the 'xinghuo no. 1' platform within two weeks. Remove some non-core features, such as Visual obstacle avoidance and higher video bitrates, but the core Flight control, Image transmission, and Intelligent follow must be retained. Keep the cost under 1,000 and price it at 2,499 rmb! We will use the Youth Edition to penetrate further down the market and harvest those users who are more price-sensitive but still require basic performance. Meanwhile, the standard edition will remain at 2,999 rmb, with a unified slogan: 'Cost-effectiveness is justice'!"

"Second, the public opinion counterattack. Lin Wan, you take charge personally. Contact all the reputable tech media and top KOLs (Key Opinion Leaders) we've worked with. This weekend, hold a large-scale offline user experience event at our own testing grounds! Let them fly it themselves and test it however they want! Let them convey the real performance to consumers through their lenses and pens. Simultaneously, the legal department must act immediately to file reputation rights lawsuits against those self-media accounts that are the most vocal and clearly spreading rumors. Set the compensation amount high! We will use legal weapons to make an example of them!"

"Third, technical confidence." Su Chen looked at Wang Ming, his voice full of absolute confidence. "Engineer Wang, don't fear the patent lawsuits. Our technology source is clear and completely independent. Immediately organize the most elite team of technical and patent lawyers to carefully analyze Lingyun's patent claims. I want you to come up with a new technical optimization plan within two weeks that completely bypasses their patent barriers based on our own technology! Also, prepare countersuit materials to charge that Lingyun Technology's relevant patents are **invalid** due to a lack of inventiveness!"

"Patent invalidation?" Wang Ming gasped. This counterattack was incredibly aggressive!

"Exactly." Su Chen said decisively. "We want everyone to know that Spark Technology is not a soft target that can be pushed around! We have plenty of technical trump cards!"

Su Chen's toughness and clear response strategy were like a shot of adrenaline into the hearts of the management. After the meeting, the entire company began to operate efficiently like a precision war machine.

Wang Ming led the technical team to work day and night. In just ten days, they produced a mature plan for the "xinghuo no. 1 Youth Edition" and found a clear path to bypass Lingyun's patents through technical analysis. Based on this, the legal department prepared thick countersuit materials.

The offline experience event organized by Lin Wan was an unprecedented success. Hundreds of media reporters and KOLs personally experienced the excellent performance of "xinghuo no. 1" under the guidance of professional pilots. The rumors of "crashes" and "malfunctions" on the internet crumbled in the face of countless real, smooth flight videos. The reputation rights lawsuits filed by the legal department also quickly served as a deterrent, and the wave of negative public opinion noticeably subsided.

The market gave the most direct feedback.

Despite Lingyun's "phantom 3" dropping to 3,999 rmb, its brand premium still appeared pale in the face of Spark's absolute price advantage. The "xinghuo no. 1" Standard Edition (2,999 rmb) and Youth Edition (2,499 rmb) formed a perfect price combination, meeting the needs of consumers at different levels. Especially among young students and novice photography enthusiasts, "Spark" almost became synonymous with cost-effectiveness.

The result was that in the first month after Lingyun Technology launched its ambush, the total channel sales of the "xinghuo no. 1" series did not fall but rose, breaking through **300,000 units** against the trend! Sales revenue approached the 900 million mark! Spark Technology not only firmly held the ground it had opened up but even turned around to eat into the market share of Lingyun and other second-tier brands!

The capital market's reaction was the most sensitive and direct.

The stock price of ST Spark, after experiencing brief fluctuations caused by negative news and patent lawsuits, began a jaw-dropping journey of consecutive daily limit increases as the impressive sales data was released and the company's tough counterattack posture was shown!

Each soaring red K-line was like a flag of victory, fluttering in the wind on the stock market board.

On June 30th, at 3:00 PM, the stock market closed.

The stock price of ST Spark was firmly locked at the daily limit of **3.01 rmb** by a massive volume of buy orders!

Compared to the "dirt cheap" price of 1 rmb when Su Chen first took over, the stock price had surged threefold in just a few months! The company's total market value broke through the **3 billion rmb** mark in one fell swoop!

This meant that the 80% stake in Su Chen's hands had seen its paper wealth skyrocket from 800 million to over 2.4 billion! And the cash accumulated in his personal account through system returns had reached nearly **90 million**!

Standing by the office window, Su Chen looked down. The retail investors who had once held banners in protest were long gone, replaced by financial reporters who had come upon hearing the news and small investors who were optimistic about the company's future.

The first battle was won.

He had withstood the first round of fierce ambush from the industry giant, and instead of falling, he had been tempered and made stronger in the fires of war. Spark had already become a prairie fire.

But Su Chen knew very well that this was just the beginning. Lingyun Technology would never give up, and even greater storms might lie ahead.

He tapped lightly on the window pane, his eyes deep, and whispered to himself, "The game has only just begun."