Stronger by Paying Salaries and I Have 1 Billion Employees

”President Chen, the manufacturing order for the 360 Mobile Phones has been sent to Cai Jingming at the Luzhou Factory.”

Zhou Hongyi’s voice was laced with unconcealed delight as he spoke. He paused, then added, ”President Chen, thank you.”

He knew full well that with only 360’s and Huawei’s strength, it would have been difficult to sell 50,000 units in stock and secure 86,000 pre-orders on launch day.

Cloud Speed Express’s pre-positioned warehouse distribution model, coupled with the Aurora OS and its battery management system, allowed the 360 G800 Pro to quickly make a splash in the market. It also greatly mitigated the common Android problems of lag and overheating.

Orange Technology’s supply chain quality was also significantly superior to Haier’s.

At least the black screen issue hadn’t reappeared!

”Congratulations, President Zhou. What’s the total number of pre-orders now?” Chen Yansen asked casually, detecting the smugness in Zhou Hongyi’s voice.

The more 360 Mobile Phones sold, the more money Orange Technology made.

No one dislikes someone who makes them money!

”114,000 units. Adding the 50,000 units sold from stock, I estimate the total sales for two days will surpass 200,000,” Zhou Hongyi replied with a smile.

This result still lagged behind the Orange Mobile Phone, but it was by no means inferior when compared to Xiaomi.

The 2012 phone market was just that surreal. Faced with the ultimate in cost-effectiveness, users simply didn’t care about brand or system compatibility issues.

If it was cheap, they dared to buy it!

Even phones like ”Big Pineapple” and ”Big Banana,” with their four SIM slots, quad-standby, and flashing lights, could become all the rage for a while. It was no surprise that the 360 Mobile Phone could sell 200,000 units.

There’s no such thing as a product that can’t be sold, only a price that can’t be sold at.

After all, a few years later, even the photo-editing-focused phones made by Meitu XiuXiu would go on to sell millions of units.

Chen Yansen chatted with Zhou Hongyi for a bit before hanging up ten minutes later.

He casually opened his email and, sure enough, found a message from Cai Jingming that had been CC’d to him. The content stated in no uncertain terms: Manufacturing Order Quantity: 1,000,000 units!

’Zhou Hongyi certainly has confidence in himself. He’s not afraid of getting stuck with the inventory.’

Chen Yansen scoffed, but he didn’t dwell on it. This order would bring 160 million in revenue to the Orange Phone Factory.

He wished there were more people like Zhou Hongyi.

「At the same time.」

The success of the 360 Mobile Phone also clued many others in to a business opportunity.

First, there was Chen Yansen, and now Zhou Hongyi.

The mobile phone industry at this time gave off the illusion of ’dumb money, come quick’.

A crowd of people was getting restless, including Ding Lei from NetEase, Ding Xiuhong who had just founded Da Kele, Wang Xiaoyan from Xiaolajiao, and Luo Yonghao, who had publicly announced his desire to make a phone.

Logically, making phones had little to do with a former teacher, but Luo Yonghao didn’t see it that way.

’Chen Yansen was a college student who started in e-commerce, and Zhou Hongyi got his start with the 3721 rogue software. If those two can do it, there’s no reason I can’t.’

Especially after his trip to Xiaomi Headquarters last November and his conversation with Lei Yijun, he felt even more strongly that making phones wasn’t difficult.

So, on May 2nd, Luo Yonghao made a high-profile announcement on Weibo: Hammer Technology was officially established. They would first develop a custom Android system, then make a phone.

The subtext was, ’I have no money, so any potential investors should hurry up and get in touch.’

When Lei Yijun found out, he was stunned for a moment, then shook his head helplessly. He hadn’t expected the smartphone race to become so fiercely competitive in just one short year.

Last year, he had invited Luo Yonghao to visit Xiaomi, intending to leverage Luo’s influence in the internet and tech circles to generate buzz for the Xiaomi Mobile Phone.

But Luo Yonghao had misunderstood, thinking Xiaomi wanted to bring him on board.

As a result, Lei Yijun ended up sitting in his office, listening to Luo Yonghao drone on about his views on the phone industry and advising him to adjust Xiaomi’s product plan: ”When you make a phone, you have to focus on design and user experience.”

Lei Yijun had wanted to get up and leave right then, but to maintain his composure, he patiently listened to Luo Yonghao’s grandstanding.

But he soon regretted it, thinking he should have ended the pointless conversation much sooner.

’If we made phones according to Luo Yonghao’s ideas, the material costs alone would be 1,700 to 2,000 yuan. What would we set the retail price at?’

’3,000 yuan? Or 4,000?’

’What kind of fucking bullshit is that?!’

Lei Yijun only wanted to make high-performance, cost-effective mid-to-low-end phones. As for whether to make high-end phones, or if they even could, that was a question for at least two or three years down the line.

They would revisit it after Xiaomi had established a firm foothold in the industry.

After Luo Yonghao returned, he thought about it all night and concluded that his philosophy didn’t align with Lei Yijun’s. Rather than join Xiaomi, he might as well make his own phone.

What Lei Yijun didn’t know was that his attempt to recruit a director for Xiaomi’s branding department had not only failed but had also created a potential rival for Xiaomi, inadvertently igniting Luo Yonghao’s dream of making a phone.

”President Lei, preparations for the Xiaomi MI2 and Xiaomi 1S are complete. When should we hold the product launch event?”

Li Wanqiang from the Market Department pushed the door open, interrupting Lei Yijun’s thoughts.

”Have you also coordinated with President Chen from Orange Technology?” Lei Yijun asked slowly, snapping out of his reverie.

”Yes, the product designs, technical specifications, bill of materials, and quality standard documents have all been sent to them,” Li Wanqiang said, pulling out a chair and sitting down directly.

”The total sales for the first-generation Xiaomi phone haven’t even reached 5 million units, which is a far cry from our initial expectations. According to the original launch plan, the Xiaomi MI2 and Xiaomi 1S wouldn’t have been pushed to market this early.”

Lei Yijun sighed, his voice full of reluctance.

All in all, the first-generation Xiaomi phone had only been on sale for eight months. Once the new products were launched, it would most likely be discontinued.

In the mobile phone industry, an eight-month life cycle isn’t considered short. Even the golden sales period for an Apple phone is typically only a year.

But the key issue was that the Xiaomi Mobile Phone’s sales volume was too low, averaging just over 500,000 units a month. Compared to the Orange Mobile Phone, it was five to six times less.

”President Lei, the market is changing too quickly. If we’re too slow, we’ll easily be overtaken by our rivals. Besides, the specs and price of the 360 Mobile Phone are having a huge impact on the sales of the first-gen Xiaomi. Yesterday’s total online sales were only 10,000 units.”

Li Wanqiang advised.

The longer they delayed the new product launch, the more disadvantageous it would be for Xiaomi.

”Set it for May 8th. It’s an auspicious date! I hope these two new products can bring a brand new turning point for Xiaomi.”

Lei Yijun’s brow furrowed slightly. After a long silence, he gave his answer.

”Alright, President Lei. As for our ’friend-competitors,’ should we invite President Yu from Huawei?”

Li Wanqiang continued to ask.

During the Weibo flame war the day before yesterday, although Yu Chendong didn’t personally get involved, he still took a lot of heat and sarcasm.

There was no major conflict, but meeting in person would still be a bit awkward.

”I’ll handle it.” Lei Yijun prepared to personally call Yu Chendong to apologize and smooth things over.

In truth, the Lei Yijun of 2012 was still a Huawei fan. He often interacted with Yu Chendong on Weibo, praising Huawei’s products.

Just like how Luo Yonghao was a ”Mi Fan” at this time. Even though he felt his business philosophy differed from Lei Yijun’s, it didn’t stop him from liking Xiaomi’s products.

The next morning, Luo Yonghao received an invitation to the Xiaomi 2 product launch. The venue was, once again, the Yanjing 798 Art Center.

He didn’t overthink it and immediately decided to attend as scheduled.

On one hand, Luo Yonghao wanted to get a close-up look at Xiaomi’s new product. On the other hand, he could also build up more supplier contacts at the event to prepare for Hammer Mobile Phone’s next steps.

「On the other side.」

Chen Yansen put down his phone and, after a moment of thought, decided to head to Yanjing.

Compared to the Xiaomi 2 launch event, the more important purpose of his trip was to inspect Gaode and Byte.

Although Xiao Jun and Zhang Yiming were subordinates he had handpicked himself, people’s loyalties could change. Managing subsidiaries required not only financial control but also strengthened on-site supervision and strategic oversight.

Chen Yansen understood that just sitting in an office looking at reports would never reveal a project’s true operational difficulties. The hidden conflicts and tendencies toward team dissent lurking behind the data could only be perceived by being there in person.

He planned to spend two days holding in-depth talks with middle and senior management. Then, he would use the company’s internal forums, office software, and email to establish a real-time feedback mechanism with the rank-and-file employees.

He needed to be in control the moment any subsidiary showed signs of trouble, so as to prevent any sudden crises from disrupting his business plans.

In the following days, everyone at Pinbei was busy preparing for the 618 Grand Promotion, while Orange Technology was also planning its autumn product launch.

Chen Yansen boarded a plane and once again flew to Yanjing.