Tech Giants: Starting from Bankrupt Companies

362: Chapter 362 Comprehensive Coverage of Consumer ElectronicsNovember in Shenzhen was still as warm as spring.

In front of the Shenzhen World Exhibition & Convention Center, the crowds were surging.

Fans who had rushed in from all over the country formed a line hundreds of meters long; some held up homemade light boards, some wore Xingchen t-shirts, and a few young people even spread picnic mats on the ground, preparing to queue overnight.

Security personnel held hands, struggling to maintain order.

Inside the massive exhibition hall, all 15,000 seats were filled.

This was the largest press conference in Xingchen’s history, with attendees from over fifty countries around the world.

The stage was designed with a futuristic style, surrounded by a massive circular LED screen, with blue and purple laser beams interwoven in the darkness, while heavy electronic music thumping from the subwoofers made people’s chests vibrate.

On the giant screen, the countdown numbers began to pulse.

Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one—

In the holographic projection, a giant character ”Star” burst into countless points of light, showering the entire venue.

The audience reached out, as if they could truly touch those points of light.

A spotlight fell on the center of the stage.

Zhang Yang rose from the center of the stage.

The 40-year-old president of Spark Consumer Electronics wore a simple black T-shirt and jeans, forming a sharp contrast with the suited executives in the audience.

He held no script, only a remote control in his hand.

”Everyone, over the past three years, Spark has released mobile phones, drones, action cameras, and watches.”

He paused, his gaze sweeping across the audience: ”Today, we are releasing nine new products. They will cover every corner of your life.”

The three thousand audience members cheered.

The giant screen lit up, and the product matrix slowly unfolded.

First wave: Wearables + Audio/Visual

Xingtong 2nd Gen VR Smart Glasses

Resolution: 4K per eye (Apple Vision Pro is approx. 3.5K per eye)

Weight: 180g (Apple Vision Pro is approx. 600g)

Field of View: 120 degrees

Refresh Rate: 120Hz

Price: 4,999 rmb

The gamers in the audience went crazy.

Someone stood up directly and shouted: ”Holy crap! Apple’s is 25,000, and this is 5,000? And it’s two-thirds lighter than Apple’s?”

A friend next to him pulled him down: ”Calm down, there are still eight more products to be announced!”

Xingtou 2nd Gen Portable Projector

Brightness: 3000 lumens

Auto focus + auto keystone correction

Built-in battery: 3-hour battery life

Price: 2,999 rmb

Xingmu Pro Max OLED TV

Size: 88 inches

Resolution: 8K

OLED self-lighting

Price: 39,999 rmb

Comparison data popped up: LG OLED of the same size, US price approx. 8,000 USD.

Someone in the audience whistled.

Xingguang 3rd Gen TWS Earphones

Noise cancellation depth: 45dB (Apple AirPods Pro is approx. 35dB)

Battery life: 72 hours (including charging case)

Spatial audio

Price: 999 rmb

10:00 AM, second wave: Mobile phones + Imaging.

Huaxing 3rd Gen Phone

chip: Xingchen Flint-5 7nm

Screen: 2K 120Hz OLED

Camera: 100MP main camera + 50MP ultra-wide + 50MP telephoto

Battery: 5000mAh, super lithium battery

Fast charging: 100W wired, 50W wireless

Price: 7,999 rmb - 12,999 rmb

In the audience, those reporters holding iPhones fell silent.

Lingmou No. 5 Action Camera

Performance improved by 50% over the previous generation

8K 60fps recording

Image stabilization: Xingchen HyperSmooth 3.0

Waterproof: 10 meters (naked device)

Price: 2,999 rmb

Xingguang 4th Gen Smartwatch

Blood oxygen, ECG, blood pressure monitoring

Battery life: 14 days

Price: 1,999 rmb

11:00 AM, third wave: Computers + Drones.

Xingguang Laptop

14-inch / 16-inch models

Xingchen 7nm chip

Performance 50% higher than Intel / AMD at the same price point

Price: Starting from 5,999 rmb

Xingguang Tablet

11-inch / 13-inch

Supports Xingchen Stylus

Price: Starting from 3,999 rmb

Xingguang Desktop

Mini PC / High-performance workstation

Price: Starting from 4,999 rmb

Spark No. 6 Drone

On the giant screen, nine drones were unveiled simultaneously.

Professional Edition: 4K lens, 60-minute battery life, 4,999 rmb

Agricultural Edition: Spraying system, 40-minute battery life, 29,999 rmb

Surveying Edition: LiDAR, 1cm accuracy, 59,999 rmb

Power Grid Edition: Infrared thermal imaging, automatic inspection, 89,999 rmb

Logistics Drone: 10kg payload, 50km range, 69,999 rmb

Plant Protection Drone: 20kg payload, 100 mu/hour efficiency, 89,999 rmb

Heavy-duty Logistics Drone: 100kg payload, 200km range, 399,999 rmb

Industry Custom Edition: Price negotiable

Flagship Edition: 8K lens, 90-minute battery life, omnidirectional obstacle avoidance, 119,999 rmb

In the audience, the representative from the State Grid began taking notes quickly in their notebook.

The representative from SF Express immediately picked up their phone and walked to a corner.

At 12:00 PM, Zhang Yang walked to the center of the stage.

”All nine new products are equipped with the Spark 7nm chip and the Xingchen OS.”

He paused: ”Huawei has HarmonyOS, Xiaomi has HyperOS. Xingchen has—Xingchen OS. All three ecosystems have their own advantages. But consumers now have more choices.”

The applause from the audience was thunderous and lasted for a long time.

At 2:00 PM, the product experience area was packed tight.

There was a line over a hundred meters long for the Xingtong 2nd Gen experience area.

A young man wearing glasses finally made it to the front, put on the glasses, and was instantly stunned.

He took off the glasses and said to his friend next to him: ”Holy crap, 4K resolution, not a single bit of graininess. I’ve tried the Apple one; it’s heavy as hell. This 180g one feels like I’m wearing nothing at all.”

His friend also put them on to try, then asked the staff:

”When can we buy them?”

The staff smiled: ”Pre-orders start today; shipping begins next month.”

In the drone experience area, Wang Qiang, the logistics director of SF Express, was watching the demonstration of the heavy-duty logistics drone.

The drone with a 100kg payload took off smoothly, flew along the preset route, and landed precisely at the designated spot.

The entire process took less than ten minutes.

He said to his assistant next to him: ”399,000 per unit, cheaper than a truck, faster than a truck. SF Express wants one hundred units.”

The assistant quickly noted: ”Director Wang, one hundred units is 400 million.”

Wang Qiang nodded: ”400 million in exchange for a nationwide rural logistics network is worth it.”

Cupertino, California.

Apple headquarters is a massive circular building known as the ”Spaceship.”

At this moment, in the CEO’s office on the top floor, Tim Cook sat behind his desk, with the full video of the Xingchen press conference on the computer in front of him.

The 58-year-old Apple CEO wore his signature dark blue shirt, his standard attire for countless press conferences.

But at this moment, his expression was not as composed as usual.

On the screen, product parameters were still scrolling: Xingtong 2nd Gen: 4K per eye, 180g, 4,999 rmb

Huaxing 3 Phone: Starting at 7,999 rmb, performance 15% higher than A13

Xingguang Laptop: 50% higher than MacBook

He picked up the phone and dialed the number of the Vice President of Product.

”Postpone tomorrow’s press conference.”

There was silence on the other end of the line for three seconds.

”Postpone until when?”

Tim Cook’s voice was hoarse: ”At least a week. We need to re-evaluate the parameters.”

9:00 PM, emergency product meeting.

In the conference room, over a dozen executives sat around a long table. The atmosphere was so heavy it felt like it could drip water.

Vice President of Product Greg Joswiak stood in front of the giant screen, holding a remote control.

The 55-year-old Greg had worked at Apple for twenty years, rising from a designer to Vice President of Product, having experienced countless product launches.

But today, there was not a trace of a smile on his face.

”Our Vision Pro weighs 600g, has a resolution of 3.5K per eye, and costs 3,499 USD.”

”Xingchen’s Xingtong 2 weighs 180g, has a resolution of 4K per eye, and costs 4,999 rmb—which is about 700 USD.”

Someone gasped.

Greg flipped to the next page: ”Our iPhone 11 Pro costs 999 USD and has an A13 chip.”

”Xingchen’s Huaxing 3 costs 7,999 rmb and has the Flint-5 chip. We tested it; the overall performance of the Flint-5 is 15% higher than the A13.”

The conference room fell into dead silence.

Greg continued: ”Our MacBook Pro 13 costs 1,299 USD. Xingchen’s Xingguang Laptop costs 5,999 rmb, with performance 50% higher than ours.”

Tim Cook finally spoke: ”Is there anything we can do?”

Greg smiled bitterly: ”It’s too late to modify the product parameters on short notice. Our supply chain cycle is eighteen months; Xingchen’s is six months.”

Tim Cook was silent.

Greg finally said: ”Tim, we can’t catch up.”

Tim Cook closed his eyes for a long time.

Then he opened his eyes and looked at everyone present: ”Then don’t catch up. Do what we can. Maintain the high-end market. If Xingchen wants to do high-end, let them.”

Greg smiled bitterly: ”The problem is, their performance is better than ours. If we can’t improve performance, we will lose the market.”

The conference room fell into dead silence.