Stronger by Paying Salaries and I Have 1 Billion Employees

This past April, Ma Liyun had wised up. He understood that with Ah Li’s influence, a thousand-yuan phone was their absolute limit.

360’s Haier W910 was a cautionary tale.

Therefore, the new generation Aliyun Phone—the Hornet W806—not only featured an upgraded 4.3-inch screen but also had its RAM increased to 1GB, all for a launch price of just 1,499 yuan.

In just one month, it sold 600,000 units.

But in May, the new 360 Mobile Phone launched at only 1,299 yuan, stealing away seventy to eighty percent of the Aliyun Phone’s customers and causing its sales for the month to plummet to 100,000 units.

Then, the Shanda phone launched in June. On the strength of its 4.3-inch QHD capacitive screen, 1GB of RAM, and a starting price of 1,299 yuan, it sold 200,000 units in a single week without even running any ads.

So, to sell these special-supply phones in 2012, value for money was the only viable path. Chen Yansen’s words were truly spoken from the heart.

”I’m not as stupid as Ma Liyun!” Ding Lei sneered, seemingly disdainful of the current top dog in e-commerce. He then took out a document and placed it gently on the coffee table.

Chen Yansen just smiled, offering no comment.

Although Ma Liyun and Ding Lei hailed from the same hometown, the enmity between them ran deep. Seven years ago, during the war between Taobao and eBay, Ma Liyun had approached the heads of the major web portals for traffic support.

When eBay found out, they offered double the advertising fees with only one condition: that the portals refuse to run Taobao’s ads. The first person to agree was Ding Lei.

From a business perspective, Ding Lei’s actions were understandable, but the grudge was set.

Last year, without notifying his investors, Ma Liyun spun off Wealth Treasure’s equity from Ah Li.

The very day the news broke, NetEase featured the story on its homepage.

He also privately lambasted Ma Liyun for his dishonorable conduct, claiming he had absolutely no integrity.

’Ma Liyun must have caused plenty of trouble for Ding Lei behind the scenes,’ Chen Yansen guessed. ’Otherwise, his resentment wouldn’t be this intense.’

He picked up the bill of materials and glanced at it. NetEase Ruiying G1: 4.0-inch IPS touchscreen, Snapdragon MSM8225 dual-core 1.2GHz processor, 1GB RAM plus 4GB ROM, supports MicroSD card expansion up to 32GB, 5-megapixel rear camera, and a 1.9-megapixel front camera.

”What’s the price point?” Chen Yansen asked casually, setting the document down.

”1,399 yuan. We’re benchmarking against the 360, Shanda, and Aliyun phones. After all, the Ruiying G1’s processor is more powerful.”

Ding Lei replied without hesitation, clearly having already thought it through.

”That shouldn’t be a problem,” Chen Yansen commented objectively. ”Add in the Aurora OS 1.3 system, and I imagine sales won’t be any lower than 360’s.”

”Hearing you say that puts my mind at ease,” Ding Lei said with a wide grin.

”How many units for the initial launch?” Chen Yansen asked.

”Two hundred thousand,” Ding Lei said, full of confidence.

A price of 1,399 yuan wasn’t high. It might not have had a major advantage over Orange Technology, 360, and Xiaomi, but when compared to Apple, HTC, and Mountain Star, that price was incredibly appealing.

Six months ago, when NetEase had merely hinted at its intention to build a phone, netizens had spontaneously created a ”NetEase Phone” online forum for Ding Lei, filling it with posts about their high hopes for the device.

In their view, a key characteristic of internet companies making phones was forgoing hardware profits to achieve the ultimate value for money.

Apple, HTC, and Mountain Star phones might be better, but the high-spec, low-price special-supply phones were the superior choice.

After listening, Chen Yansen nodded. He asked Ding Lei to send him the digital version of the files and delegated the task of signing the contract to his subordinates.

The two men made small talk over tea.

The sky outside gradually darkened. Chen Yansen glanced at his watch and invited Ding Lei to the Sky Garden downtown.

Wang Teng and Ye Qiuping went with them.

The drinking didn’t end until eleven at night. After escorting Ding Lei to a guest room to rest, Chen Yansen left with Wang Teng and Ye Qiuping.

”Be safe, Boss,” Wang Teng said, slightly tipsy as he stood by a Mercedes-Benz.

He had driven and was waiting for a designated driver to arrive.

”We’ll be heading off then,” Chen Yansen said before settling into the back seat of the Gusteau.

Ye Qiuping hadn’t driven, so she slid in after him.

Her head was bowed, and as she leaned in, a flash of her snowy-white skin caught Chen Yansen’s eye.

The visual impact of her D-cups was powerful, and a fire instantly surged through him.

”Boss, I live at Longde Garden, No. 24, Bianhe Middle Road.” After closing the car door, Ye Qiuping seemed to be speaking to Chen Yansen, but her words were really meant for the driver, Xiaoli.

”Xiaoli, take President Ye home first,” Chen Yansen instructed.

Xiaoli acknowledged with a grunt and focused on the road.

The evening breeze blew gently as the street scenes flew past. Neon lights flickered, and under the cover of night, the city of Xucheng was exceptionally quiet.

Ye Qiuping’s perfume wafted directly into Chen Yansen’s nostrils.

A dozen or so minutes later, the car stopped at the entrance to her residential complex.

”Boss, would you like to come up for a bit?” Ye Qiuping asked, boldly testing the waters. Her face was flushed, and her eyes held a playful smile.

’Come up for a bit? Or to... *do it*?’ Chen Yansen was slightly taken aback. ’She really hasn’t changed a bit,’ he thought. ’Still just as provocative.’

Since President Ye was being so hospitable, Boss Chen certainly wasn’t going to refuse and cause her to lose face.

The only thing Chen Yansen found unsatisfactory was that Ye Qiuping’s bed was too small, restricting his range of motion.

It wasn’t until the next morning that Chen Yansen took a car back to Xuyuan.

...

...

「July 23rd.」

NetEase posted the pre-order link for the Ruiying G1 on its official website.

Although it was 100 yuan more expensive than the 360 G800 Pro ”Shining,” the significant improvement in processor performance, coupled with Orange Technology’s quality control endorsement and the smoothness of the Aurora OS, allowed the NetEase phone to rack up 60,000 pre-orders in its first hour online.

Chen Yansen hadn’t even reached his office when he got a call from Ding Lei, who was already requesting an additional production run of 500,000 units.

Meanwhile, far away in East Africa, Zhou Jinling and his team arrived with improved versions of the Orange D1 and Orange C2. They were setting foot for the first time in Nigeria, a West African nation with a population of over 200 million.

This was Orange Technology’s second stop in the African Market!

”Brother Zhou, I’ve already contacted the distributors in Abuja,” Qi Liang said from the side. ”As long as our shipments are stable and our after-sales support is guaranteed, they’re willing to sell our products.”

”I’m guessing sales for the Orange F3—the improved Orange C2—won’t be very high,” Jin Xu added.

Zhou Jinling understood what Jin Xu meant; he just thought Nigeria was too poor. Shaking his head, he said, ”Even the poorest places aren’t lacking for rich people. Don’t look down on this country. Apple sells a million phones in Nigeria every year.”

”Fuck! For real?” Jin Xu asked in disbelief, his eyes wide.

”I tell you to read more and study more, and you act like I’m out to get you. All this data is on the company intranet,” Zhou Jinling snapped.

He had changed immensely during his year in East Africa. His mind was consumed by the drive to climb the corporate ladder. He worked during the day and spent his nights diligently practicing French and English. He had even read every single industry report the company provided.

Relying on his sales experience in Abyssinia and the three-tiered sales network model he’d built, Zhou Jinling was confident he could successfully break into Nigeria’s mobile phone market.

Jin Xu gave an awkward smile and scratched his head.

The group of six left the airport, hailed a cab, and headed for their hotel.

And Chen Yansen had dispatched over twenty sales teams just like Zhou Jinling’s to Nigeria in one go.

Although Africa wasn’t as wealthy as Europe and America, its strength was its massive population. It was a case of many a little makes a mickle, and the market potential was not to be underestimated.

At a conservative estimate, the continent could absorb 40 to 50 million smartphones annually.

If even Apple and Mountain Star didn’t look down on it, Orange Technology certainly had no reason to abandon such a fertile market.

Meanwhile, Chen Yansen received another private call from Ma Liyun, who wanted to discuss the preparations for Cainiao Logistics.