Stronger by Paying Salaries and I Have 1 Billion Employees

Chapter 149: Chapter 139: 1999 Yuan? You Don’t Want to Make Money, but Don’t Ruin Business for Everyone Else

「August 6th, 9:15 AM.」

In front of the Sky Garden Hotel in the Xucheng City District, a fleet of luxury cars was gathered, and the entrance was teeming with people.

A banner hung in the first-floor lobby: Orange Technology New Product Launch Conference - Let Technology Change Lives!

The attending reporters raised their cameras, snapping photos of the promotional materials at the entrance while privately speculating about the slogan’s meaning.

If it was meant to change the lives of ordinary people, the Orange Mobile Phone would likely be priced under 3,000 yuan.

If it targeted a smaller demographic, then the Orange Mobile Phone was probably positioned as a flagship device, with a price tag most likely at 3,499, 3,699, or 3,999 yuan.

Chen Yansen, Wang Teng, and Wang Zihao stood in the first-floor lobby, greeting the friendly competitors, suppliers, media, and academics who had come to attend.

”Brother Sen, Principal Tang is here!”

Wang Zihao nudged Chen Yansen, who was talking with Huang Zhang, and whispered a reminder.

”Mr. Huang, my apologies, but please excuse me for a moment. Zihao, please show Mr. Huang to the banquet hall.”

Chen Yansen instructed Wang Zihao.

With that, he turned and walked toward the entrance, with Wang Teng following behind.

Wang Teng felt that as the product director of the R&D department, he shouldn’t be doing work meant for the brand or Market Department. ’But the boss arranged it,’ he thought, ’so I have no choice but to stand guard here.’

”Teacher Tang, I didn’t expect you to arrive so early. Let me take you upstairs.”

Chen Yansen said with a smile, putting on the air of a good student as he went to greet Tang Qingshan.

”You go on with your business. A few of us teachers are just here to join the excitement. Don’t worry about us.”

Hearing Chen Yansen call him ’Teacher,’ Tang Qingshan grinned from ear to ear.

Who wouldn’t be happy to have a student as successful as Chen Yansen?

Nowadays, whenever he attended meetings and the topic of university student entrepreneurship came up, he would always mention Chen Yansen as a source of bragging rights.

Chen Yansen saw that the people with Tang Qingshan were the deans of various departments, so he insisted on escorting them to the banquet hall.

But Tang Qingshan, afraid of delaying his important work, repeatedly waved his hands in refusal. Guided by a hotel staff member, he bypassed Chen Yansen and walked straight into the elevator.

He often came to the Sky Garden Hotel for meals, so he was very familiar with the place.

Chen Yansen smiled and didn’t insist further.

A short while later, Chen Yongming of OPPO strode over with his assistant.

As Wang Teng watched Chen Yongming approach, he felt a daze come over him. Six months ago, he was just a product manager at the OPPO Research and Development Center; now, he was the head of product at Orange Technology.

”President Chen, thank you for coming all this way. This way upstairs, please!”

Chen Yansen stepped forward, shook Chen Yongming’s hand, and greeted him warmly.

Chen Yongming smiled in return, secretly sizing up Chen Yansen and sighing to himself, ’Young people nowadays are so much more aggressive when it comes to entrepreneurship than us old-timers.’

In reality, Chen Yongming was only in his early forties, which was considered quite young among entrepreneurs.

The two exchanged simple pleasantries at the entrance, after which Chen Yongming headed for the banquet hall under Wang Teng’s guidance.

Just then, Wang Zihao returned to the first floor after seeing Huang Zhang from Meizu settled.

A commotion arose from outside the entrance. It turned out to be Lei Yijun and Li Wanqiang of Xiaomi, who had just walked in one after the other.

”President Lei, welcome to Xucheng! Let’s have a good chat after the press conference.”

Chen Yansen shook Lei Yijun’s hand, appearing very familiar with him.

A nearby reporter hurriedly snapped a picture, privately wondering, ’These two are competitors, but they seem to be on pretty good terms.’

Seeing Chen Yansen’s enthusiasm, what little hostility Lei Yijun had felt immediately dissipated.

’One more or one less competitor doesn’t seem to matter much. No need to give him the cold shoulder!’

Besides, Lei Yijun secretly felt that the Orange Mobile Phone’s ultra-narrow bezels and all-virtual keys were too big of a leap. ’I’m afraid users will have a hard time accepting it,’ he thought.

”President Chen, why did you choose to build your own factory?”

After coming to a stop, Lei Yijun asked curiously.

At that time, aside from OPPO, which had toyed with the idea of building its own production base, companies like Xiaomi, Meizu, and Coolpad all chose to partner with manufacturers like Innolux, BYD, and Foxconn.

For one, management costs were lower. For another, contract manufacturers had extensive supplier resources, allowing for better control over procurement costs, quality, and delivery schedules. Finally, the cost of a mobile phone production line was exorbitant, requiring hundreds of millions in capital for the initial equipment investment alone.

Although Lei Yijun was wealthy, he didn’t have the confidence to build a mobile phone factory before Xiaomi went public. The cost was simply too high.

If production line technology was updated too quickly, they would have to purchase new equipment. What mobile phone manufacturer could withstand that kind of pressure?

It wasn’t until six years later, when Xiaomi had ample capital, that it built its own factory in Yanjing’s Changping district with an annual capacity of 10 million units. Even then, its low- to mid-range models were still outsourced to contract manufacturers.

”The cost of a self-built factory is a bit high, it’s true, but it allows us to control the production schedule and ensure stability in quality and output.”

Chen Yansen replied with a smile, casually making up a reason.

Lei Yijun nodded. Although what Chen Yansen said made sense, he felt it wasn’t the real reason.

But he didn’t press the issue. If the other party didn’t want to say, it would be pointless to ask.

Chen Yansen had Zihao escort the two of them upstairs.

By 9:40, the guests attending the launch conference had all gradually arrived.

Having greeted dozens of people at the entrance in one go, Chen Yansen deeply felt that an occasion like this truly required a brand department manager who understood people and knew proper etiquette.

Unfortunately, Ye Qiuping wouldn’t be starting until mid-August at the earliest.

”Brother Sen, it’s about time. The host is getting antsy.”

Wang Teng came downstairs and walked up to Chen Yansen to remind him.

”Let’s go.”

Chen Yansen acknowledged, followed Wang Teng into the elevator, and went straight to the top-floor banquet hall.

Unlike his last visit for the annual meeting, this time the hall was filled with rows of chairs instead of round dining tables.

The first three rows were occupied by supplier representatives from Qualcomm, Sharp, and Sony; mobile phone manufacturer representatives from Xiaomi, OPPO, Meizu, Coolpad, and others; and the principal and deans from Xuyuan.