Stronger by Paying Salaries and I Have 1 Billion Employees

Lei Yijun was wearing a black polo shirt and gray jeans. He waved as he strode onto the stage.

A flicker of confusion flashed through his eyes.

He was feeling far more conflicted now than he had been during the first Xiaomi launch. He faced Orange Mobile Phone blocking his path ahead and 360 Mobile Phone nipping at his heels.

If the sales of the Xiaomi MI2 and Xiaomi 1S fell short of expectations, the entire project could very well fail.

The cheers from the Mi Fans below the stage quickly brought Lei Yijun back to his senses. ’Xiaomi does have its supporters,’ he thought.

”Thank you, everyone!”

Lei Yijun spoke with a thick regional accent. He froze after his opening line, subconsciously licking his lips. He was clearly nervous.

”Thank you all for taking the time to attend our new Xiaomi product launch. I especially want to thank the 1,000 Mi Fans here today, our partners from the Xiaomi supply chain, and our friends from the media who have come from all across the country...”

Lei Yijun took a deep breath and continued.

”Today, I’ll be introducing two new products: the second-generation Xiaomi smartphone and an upgraded version of the original Xiaomi phone.

”The Xiaomi MI2, featuring a Qualcomm Snapdragon APQ8064 quad-core processor and a 4.3-inch high-PPI touchscreen. First, let me show you what it looks like, and then we’ll run a live benchmark test!”

Lei Yijun said slowly.

’Benchmarks?’

Yu Chendong’s lips curled into a smirk. He shot Chen Yansen a look, as if to say, ”President Chen, this guy is ripping off your presentation format.”

Wang Teng from Orange Technology was the one who pioneered using Antutu benchmarks at a launch event to prove a product’s performance with a score.

Lei Yijun was now following his example, which showed he was very confident in the Xiaomi’s processor performance, memory specifications, and operating system.

A high-definition CG render of the Xiaomi MI2 appeared on the big screen, showcasing the phone’s exterior design, narrow bezels, and thickness from multiple angles.

Notably, Xiaomi had followed Orange Technology’s lead and eliminated the three standard Android navigation buttons, replacing them with system-wide gesture controls.

The advantage was a smaller, lighter phone with a more comfortable grip.

The disadvantage was that if the hardware and system weren’t properly optimized, it could easily lead to lag and unresponsiveness.

’They copied Orange Mobile Phone’s design again!’

Many people in the audience were silently complaining.

But for the users, all that mattered was that it worked well and was cheap. They couldn’t be bothered to care who copied whose homework.

Then, a live Antutu benchmark score rolled across the big screen, finally stopping at 13,742.

This was neck and neck with the Orange C2’s score of 13,891.

Chen Yansen let out a cold laugh. ’In terms of processor performance, the Xiaomi MI2 does have a slight edge over the Orange C2,’ he thought. ’After all, one is a new product, and the other is old.’

’If it weren’t for Aurora OS having an advantage over the MIUI system, the Orange C2’s benchmark score might not have even been as high as the Xiaomi MI2’s.’

But he wasn’t too concerned. For a phone to become a bestseller, software was just as crucial as hardware.

”2GB of RAM plus 16GB of storage, a 2-megapixel front-facing camera, an 8-megapixel rear camera, and it’s equipped with an electronic compass, a gravity sensor, a gyroscope...”

Lei Yijun added.

For every core component, he would explain everything from design and production to the final application—in such detail that it was enough to make you doze off.

But the effect was clear. In 2012, users ate this kind of thing up. And perhaps because he had watched Orange Technology’s presentations, Lei Yijun’s speech vaguely carried traces of Wang Teng’s style and shadow.

To highlight the Xiaomi MI2’s incredible value, Lei Yijun pressed the remote and changed the image on the big screen.

A chart listed a comparison between the Xiaomi MI2, the HTC One X, the Mountain Star Galaxy S3, and the Apple 4S. The comparison covered CPU, memory, battery, screen, camera, and price.

With nearly identical specs, the other phones were all priced above 4,500 yuan. Only the Xiaomi’s price was a question mark.

”So, what is the price of the Xiaomi MI2?”

Lei Yijun paused dramatically.

”1,999 yuan! How awesome is that? In reality, the production cost of the Xiaomi MI2 is 2,350 yuan.”

As he listened to the cheers from the Mi Fans after his loud announcement, the corners of Lei Yijun’s mouth turned up slightly.

Chen Yansen chuckled in disbelief. He glanced over at the excited block of fans and wondered, ”Do these people actually believe that?”

’As their contract manufacturer and a supplier of some of their components, no one knew the bill of materials for the Xiaomi MI2 better than he did. The cost was 1,600-something yuan, at most.’

’Besides, by the time the Xiaomi MI2 started shipping in large quantities, at least half a year would have passed, and material costs would have dropped even further.’

’After all, the price of electronic components always drops significantly over time.’

’The Orange C2’s bill of materials, for example, had started at 1,800 yuan, but in just three months, it had already dropped to 1,640.’

’On one hand, Senlian Capital had invested in battery and screen companies, which, combined with their large order volumes, allowed them to secure lower supply prices. On the other hand, intensified competition among suppliers and resulting overcapacity had also driven prices down.’

’A phone that launched at 1,999 yuan could sell for 1,399 a year later without losing any money. What consumers thought were clearance sales were just manufacturers lowering prices as the specs became outdated.’

’Losing money?’

’What kind of businessman willingly loses money?’

The cheers lasted for a full five or six minutes before Lei Yijun’s best efforts finally managed to quiet the crowd.

”Our next product is an optimized version of the original Xiaomi, created by our R&D team. We’ve named it the Xiaomi 1S, for Xiaomi 1 Super.”

”It has a Qualcomm S3 MSM8260 dual-core processor, a 4-inch touchscreen, 1GB of RAM plus 4GB of storage, a 2-megapixel front-facing camera, and an 8-megapixel rear camera.”

”Because the Xiaomi 1S uses the 1.7GHz clock speed version of the processor, its performance is 20% better than the original Xiaomi. We’ve also added a graphite cooling film to effectively reduce the heat generated by high-performance phones...”

Lei Yijun went through the features one by one.

’As the name suggested, the Xiaomi 1S was just the original Xiaomi phone. They had simply improved the heat dissipation and downgraded the Sharp IPS screen to a 4-inch TFT screen from Jingdongfang.’

’The price was also dropped from 1,999 yuan to 1,299 yuan!’

Lei Yijun’s strategy was simple: he intended to use the Xiaomi 1S to counter the 360 Mobile Phone. He couldn’t believe that users would still choose the 360 Mobile Phone when the Xiaomi 1S offered the same specs.

”Looks like it’s time to cut the price of the Orange C1,”

Chen Yansen muttered to himself.

After Xiaomi, companies like Huawei, Lenovo, ZTE, and Coolpad all had new phones scheduled for release. This would inevitably impact the Orange C1’s sales.

But he wasn’t concerned. Orange Technology’s current flagship products were the Orange D1 and Orange C2. Besides, the Orange F2, an improved version of the C1, was very popular in the East African market. If the sell-through rate for the C1 dropped too low, he could just offload the remaining inventory to Africa without affecting President Chen’s profits in the slightest.

The two-hour presentation finally came to an end.

When Zhou Hongyi saw the illustrated report from Pacific, he immediately realized, ’Shit, they’re coming after me!’