Stronger by Paying Salaries and I Have 1 Billion Employees

”A one-time licensing fee of 20 million Hua Yuan?” He Dingyou asked again.

”Is President He interested?” Chen Yansen countered.

”Just supporting domestic products,” He Dingyou replied with a grin.

He had no intention of using the Android system. For ZTE’s new products, he planned to switch to the Aurora Future OS.

In his view, the fact that even a piece of work like Zhou Hongyi could sell 8 million smartphones in a year was disgusting, like he’d swallowed a fly.

Although ZTE wasn’t a veteran player in the mobile phone industry, as a telecommunications giant, it should still be much stronger than a company like 360 that just jumped into the game, right?

But unexpectedly, when comparing shipment volumes, 360 Mobile Phone was not far behind.

The specific reason for their success was simply that they had hitched their wagon to Orange Technology, sharing supply chains, production lines, and the operating system with Orange Mobile Phone.

The native Android system had too many problems. It was nowhere near as good as Aurora Future OS.

”Besides the one-time licensing fee of 20 million Hua Yuan, there’s also a 1% royalty,” Chen Yansen added.

”No problem. After the press conference, we can discuss it in detail,” He Dingyou said meaningfully.

Chen Yansen understood the unspoken meaning in his words, but he didn’t overthink it and nodded readily.

Just as He Dingyou was about to continue, his eyes caught sight of someone at the door, and a look of disgust crossed his face. The fly had arrived.

”President Chen, sorry I’m late.” Dressed in a red polo shirt with a stand-up collar, Zhou Hongyi strode forward under the escort of two assistants and greeted Chen Yansen.

Just then, Lei Yijun and Li Wanqiang also happened to walk in.

Zhou Hongyi heard the movement behind him but didn’t turn around. He glanced back out of the corner of his eye and then said loudly, ”360 Mobile Phone’s Q1 sales? President Chen, to be honest, they weren’t ideal. We only sold 3.7 million units.”

His voice was just loud enough to drift into Lei Yijun’s ears.

”...” Chen Yansen was speechless for a moment, then chuckled and cursed inwardly: ’I’m the one who manufactures all your damn phones. Do I really need to ask you about your sales figures?’

He turned to the side and waved at Lei Yijun, whose expression was extremely grim.

Because Xiaomi’s total Q1 sales were just over 3 million.

He Dingyou stood to the side with a dark expression, not wanting to speak at all.

Ninety percent of ZTE Mobile Phone’s shipments came from carrier channels. However, starting this year, the carriers’ demand strategy for custom models had shifted, and they began to reduce the number of custom phones and subsidies.

ZTE Mobile Phone’s sales had plummeted, with total Q1 sales of only 4.1 million units. Although this was better than 360, the advantage wasn’t significant.

”President Chen, how many new products are there today?” Lei Yijun asked with a smile, showing no intention of greeting Zhou Hongyi.

”If President Lei is asking about mobile phone products, then there are only three,” Chen Yansen replied.

Lei Yijun understood. ’Aurora Future OS must be a major focus of this press conference as well. Perhaps Aurora Future OS wouldn’t bring much tangible profit to Orange Technology, but the title of ”the first domestically developed mobile phone OS” was enough to make the higher-ups look at Chen Yansen in a new light. That’s a matter of national importance! No wonder the higher-ups are turning a blind eye to that kid Chen Yansen’s blatant rule-bending.’

”Then I’ll look forward to it even more,” Lei Yijun said, subtly flattering him.

”Get President Lei and President Li seated,” Chen Yansen instructed Ye Qiuping.

He was mainly worried that Lei Yijun and Zhou Hongyi would stage a real-life showdown at the press conference, stealing the spotlight and buzz from Orange Technology.

’That guy Zhou Hongyi has an unpredictable personality. If he suddenly gets the urge and starts throwing punches with President Lei, can this press conference even happen?’

”President Lei, President Li, this way please,” Ye Qiuping said, understanding immediately and gesturing with her hand.

Lei Yijun shot a sidelong glance at Zhou Hongyi and snorted.

”Not happy, President Lei? We can compete on sales,” Zhou Hongyi said provocatively, spreading his hands.

”Fine. Whoever loses quits the mobile phone market. Let President Chen and President He be our witnesses,” Lei Yijun shot back, not to be outdone.

’They’re playing for such high stakes?’

He Dingyou was slightly taken aback, then looked at Zhou Hongyi and Lei Yijun with great interest.

”There’s no need for that. Harmony breeds wealth,” Chen Yansen quickly interjected, looking at the two ”Human Dao Fire Makers.”

”Sure, but I’m afraid you’ll back out when you lose,” Zhou Hongyi said with a chuckle.

”Alright, that’s enough,” Chen Yansen warned, his face cold.

Seeing Chen Yansen’s stern expression, Zhou Hongyi immediately realized he had gone too far and said resentfully, ”Just kidding, President Chen. Don’t take it seriously.”

Lei Yijun’s eyes narrowed. He shot a cold glance at Zhou Hongyi before taking Li Wanqiang to a seat in the front left area of the hall.

He Dingyou was secretly astonished. Only now did he personally feel the extent of Chen Yansen’s influence in the mobile phone industry.

’Zhou Hongyi and Lei Yijun are so obedient, like a couple of underlings.’

Before long, representatives from rival companies like Yu Chendong from Huawei, Chen Yongming from OPPO, and Shen Wei from VIVO, as well as a crowd of supplier representatives, also arrived one after another.

As soon as it struck two o’clock, Wang Teng jogged onto the stage.

Unlike the previous chip launch events, Wang Teng was not dressed in a sharp suit this time. His attire today was extremely simple.

He was wearing a printed orange T-shirt with four words on the chest: ”Let technology change life!”

On the bottom, he wore a pair of black straight-leg jeans and a pair of white sneakers, giving him a very ordinary, pedestrian look.

At the same time, the number of online viewers on live streams from Penguin Video, YY, Youku, Sohu, and Sina was skyrocketing.

In just a few dozen seconds, the total number of concurrent viewers across all platforms exceeded 8 million.

The bullet comments were a dense flood!

”Hello everyone, I’m Wang Teng from Orange Technology. First, I’d like to thank the more than one thousand audience members here at the press conference. It’s because of you that Orange Mobile Phone exists today.”

Having been tempered by experience, Wang Teng had long shed the greenness of two years ago. He spoke at a steady pace, his demeanor calm and composed.

He paused for a moment, then continued, ”I’m sure you all know that Orange Mobile Phone achieved a great result in 2012, selling 50 million units. So, I must once again thank our 50 million users worldwide for their support.”

”Today, I will be introducing some new friends and new products. Time is tight and we have a lot to cover, so let’s get straight to the point. We’ll start with the products you’re all most concerned about: the mobile phones.”

”The first new product—the Qingcheng D2!”

As soon as Wang Teng’s voice faded, a high-definition CG image of the Qingcheng D2 appeared on the LED screen array behind him.

”Continuing the superb cost-effectiveness of its predecessor, the Qingcheng D1S, the Qingcheng D2 is equipped with a 5-inch IPS Retina display, 1280x720 resolution, and Corning Gorilla Glass 2.

It has a 3-megapixel front camera, an 8-megapixel rear camera, a 2000mAh battery, dual-SIM dual-standby, and runs on the Aurora OS 1.6 system.”

”It has 1GB of RAM, 4GB of storage, and supports facial recognition. It’s powered by a MediaTek MT6572 dual-core 1.3GHz processor and supports a gravity sensor, light sensor, proximity sensor, gyroscope, and electronic compass.”

Wang Teng stood on stage, slowly making his presentation.

But the bullet comments in the live stream chat were a uniform flood of ”999”!

Everyone was hoping that the Qingcheng D2’s price would remain at the affordable level of 999 Hua Yuan.

Facing the camera, Wang Teng slowly pulled out an Orange C3 mobile phone. He watched the bullet comments for about ten seconds, then said with a smile, ”Everyone wants a price of 999 Hua Yuan, but that’s impossible.”

The moment he said this, the live stream chat erupted with curses.

”Son of a bitch, if you dare sell it for over 1000 yuan, I’ll smash your head in!”

”Ah, Wang Teng, the love is gone after all. Trying to earn your daddy’s money? No way!”

”999!”

”999!”

”If it’s not 999, I’m definitely not buying!”

The invited fans in the audience also frowned, feeling that Orange Technology’s original mission had changed.

In their eyes, the Qingcheng series was Orange Technology’s low-end model line. Selling it for over 1,000 Hua Yuan would be going too far.

However, some users felt that a price between 1,200 and 1,500 Hua Yuan would be reasonable for the Qingcheng D2’s specs.

Wang Teng pressed a button on the controller, and the image on the large screen immediately changed.

Behind him, three conspicuous Arabic numerals plunged the hearts of all the rival companies into the abyss.

”799!”

In an instant, the tens of millions of viewers in the live stream and the thousand-plus attendees at the event were all stunned.

Chen Yongming of OPPO and Shen Wei of VIVO subconsciously glanced at each other.

The core sales channels for their two companies were offline, where customers weren’t as sensitive to specs and prices. This created a kind of staggered competition with the likes of Orange, Xiaomi, and 360.

But Orange Technology was also building its own offline sales network. Although it currently had only a few hundred directly-operated stores, more were being added every month. If Chen Yansen started selling the Qingcheng D2 offline, how would they make any money?

”President Chen, I did a quick calculation. The material cost alone for the Qingcheng D2 must be 500 yuan. After adding production, sales, after-sales service, and marketing costs, how much profit can you even make?” He Dingyou asked.

”A ten-point gross margin isn’t a problem,” Chen Yansen replied with a smile.

Under the dim lights, his two rows of teeth looked perfectly white and straight.

He Dingyou laughed, a helpless laugh. ’To have a competitor like this... I must have accumulated ten lifetimes of good karma!’