Rebirth 2010: I taught Mr. Lei how to make a mobile phone

Chapter 518: Lei Jun is no longer building cars?
Build a car?

impossible!
Absolutely impossible!
If it were someone else, Lei Jun would have just rejected the offer three times in a row without any hesitation.

But the other party was Chen Mo, so he couldn't help but take it seriously. But even if he took it seriously, he couldn't figure out what the connection was between making mobile phones and making cars. It couldn't be just because the first letters of the two names were the same, right?

Lei Jun's hands tightened slightly on the steering wheel, his eyes still fixed on the seemingly straight but actually undulating road ahead.
"I said you flew around the world last month. You previously invested in automotive glass, and now you invest in power batteries, electronic control systems, car computers, etc. You have invested in almost all the industrial chains related to new energy vehicles..."

He paused, his tone getting heavier. "Xiao Mo, your industrial layout is betting on the future, there is nothing wrong with the strategy. But you should know how complicated it is to build a car. It is much more challenging than making a mobile phone. If you want to get started with mobile phones, you can spend at least hundreds of millions, or at most tens of billions to build a mobile phone and put it on the market.

But making cars is different, especially new energy cars. Although I don’t know the specific details, the processes and technologies involved are extremely complex. If you want to make a car, you need to start with tens of billions of dollars. How easy is that?

Apart from anything else, how much does this Tesla sell for?

“Nearly a million.”

"Where do you charge your car?"

"There are charging stations in my company's parking spaces."

"Do you have it, or do all car owners have it?"

Seeing Chen Mo stuck, Lei Jun smiled and continued, "Even if Tesla provides charging station installation services for all car owners, what about going out? What about long distances?

Just like mobile phones, do you have range anxiety? Where is the charging network? Where is the Si Son store for supporting repairs? You can't have to go back abroad to replace parts after an accident, right? The time unit for the round trip is calculated in months, so the overall market for new energy vehicles is far from mature.

An electric car, worth millions, do you think Tesla will sell well in the country? At best, it is just a toy for rich people to buy.

It’s too early to talk about making cars now.”

The older you get, the wiser you become. Lei Jun has a very sharp eye for problems. If Chen Mo remembers correctly, if Tesla had not built a factory in Shanghai later, it might not have been able to survive until the bright future.

What they said made sense. Chen Mo nodded, "Indeed, the short-term situation is not optimistic."

“So, the reason for making cars now seems to have unlimited prospects and unlimited temptations, but the risks involved are also unlimited.

Xiaomi is now all in on mobile phones and smart homes. It seems that the situation is bright, but in fact there are still many challenges to overcome. We have established a firm foothold in the low-end and mid-end markets, and the next step is to impact the high-end market. Moreover, there are still two huge mountains, Apple and Samsung, that have not been removed from our heads. This is what Xiaomi has to do!
Mobile phones and smart homes are already too much for me to handle, let alone car manufacturing, which is ten times the size of the mobile phone industry?

Although I am known as a model worker on the Internet, please spare my body.”

"What happens next?"

Lei Jun thought about it and said, "We'll talk about it later!"

There was silence in the car for a moment, with only the music played by the Sound of Music radio station flowing in the car.

Chen Mo's face looked normal, but his heart was already in turmoil.

Before coming here, his original plan was to have Bi'an cooperate with Xiaomi, with Bi'an being responsible for the software, including radar detection, scene engine, intelligent driving system, software ecosystem integration, vehicle-side large model, etc., and continue selling shovels.

Xiaomi is responsible for hardware, building factories, introducing assembly lines, and developing electric drives, batteries, and large-scale die-casting.
By then, the combination of software and hardware will work together, and tens of billions of dollars will be invested in the research and development of the Xiaomi SU7 equipped with the Bi'an system software, and it will have a head-on battle with foreign companies such as Tesla, and the new forces such as Wei, Xiaopeng, and Li Auto that are about to emerge in China, Yuanyao Leading, which will return to China next week, and a number of PPT car companies.

Now Lei Jun told me that he would not build cars anymore?!

If you don't make cars, then I'll have the original Xiaomi SU0 with the serial number 7. It has the iconic 'MI' logo, a shape that appeals to all ages, excellent power, and a price of less than 30 yuan.
Wouldn't it be like staying in the YY stage in my mind forever?
Is all this going to come to naught?
Chen Mo looked at the neon lights flying outside the window, as if he saw the SU2024, which was supposed to make a stunning debut in 7, turning into starlight and gradually disappearing into the night.

This time, Chen Mo did not paint a rosy picture for him like he did when he first joined Xiaomi, telling him how broad the market prospects for new energy vehicles are and how they would reach a trillion-level market.

Chen Mo knew that the reason why he was successful in the past was because Lei Jun wanted to make mobile phones at that time and everyone took the bait, so he was just going with the flow at that time.

The situation now is different from what it was before. Don't be fooled by Lei Jun's amiable, polite and easy-to-talk-to appearance. In fact, he has the right ideas in his mind. The other party has been in the business world for many years and has experienced everything. If he doesn't want to consider this aspect, it will be useless even if you draw the pie in the sky.

Because he understood him, Chen Mo did not continue to do useless work. Just like Lei Jun said just now, we will talk about the future later.
Chen Mo didn't continue talking, but Lei Jun was a little curious.

"From what you said just now, Xiaomo, do you think Tesla or new energy vehicles will have a bright future in the long run?"

"As for Tesla, it does have many problems in the short term, but it still has great potential in the long term. If this foreign horse can learn the tricks of your Xiaomi, it may become the Apple of the automotive industry."

"Oh? You think so highly of Musk?"

After hearing Lei Jun's words, Chen Mo was thinking about the information about Tesla and Musk that he had asked someone to look up before.

In fact, Tesla only entered the Chinese market last year, and at that time it was only in the internal testing and trial stage.

It was only at the beginning of this year that it began to gain some fame through auto shows.

But this does not mean that Tesla was founded only in the past two years. Instead, it was founded as early as 03 by Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning.

The following year, Musk was optimistic about this direction and led the A round of financing with US$650 million. At the same time, he joined the board of directors as an investor and became chairman.

After three years of research and development, the first electric car, Roadster, was released in 2006. Deliveries began two years later. It was priced at US$10.9 and became the world's first mass-produced high-performance electric car.

Unfortunately, the global financial crisis hit Tesla that year, causing it to be on the verge of bankruptcy. Musk continued to inject capital and took over as CEO, drastically cutting 25% of the workforce and concentrating resources on developing the Model S.

It seems that from this time on, every time Musk becomes the boss of a company, layoffs are always one of the three things he does after taking office.

Later, a video of a prank on Lao Ma even appeared online, saying that Lao Ma initiated a video conference with employees from all over the world, but within a few minutes, all the employees on the scene were wiped out (fired) for various weird reasons.

In 2012, after four years of R&D and manufacturing, Model S began to be delivered, and the Supercharger network was launched. Tesla established its position in the high-end electric vehicle market and began to solve the charging problem. At the end of last year, Tesla officially entered China, achieved commercial success, and started its global layout.

Later, factories were built all over the world, especially the super factory in Shanghai, which completely revitalized Tesla's development. The subsequent model 3 and model Y became popular in the global market, which also provided a steady stream of financial support for Musk's dream of Mars.
Coming back to his senses, Chen Mo sighed, "Elon Musk is a tyrant. He not only manages Tesla himself, but also dabbles in SpaceX. With the support of NASA, he is engaged in civil aerospace. This shows that he has great ambitions and should not be underestimated."

Lei Jun agrees with this point. "I have known about Tesla before, and there are many things worth learning and drawing lessons from it. However, Tesla's entry into China can further stimulate the development of the domestic new energy electric vehicle market. I think this is a good thing!
In two years, when the new energy-related industry chain matures and Xiaomi's development exceeds expectations, it may be able to follow Tesla's lead."

Chen Mo frowned when he heard this, "Brother Jun, I think your idea is wrong. Xiaomi has developed to this point. Even with Mi An Xinsheng behind it, the localization rate of mobile phone components is close to 50%. However, as long as our core components such as chips, storage, and lenses are not localized, we still haven't completely gotten rid of the image of an assembly plant.

If we continue to do so when the new energy vehicle industry is just emerging, we will only be a follower, not a leader. "

Lei Jun listened thoughtfully, "Indeed, I am being conservative, but do you really plan to enter the market now?"

Chen Mo smiled and said, "Why not?"

Lei Jun still felt that Chen Mo was overthinking it, and couldn't help but remind him, "In the game market, Bian'an only has an advantage in the field of mobile games, and Tencent and NetEase are pressing behind it. Even though you just won a small victory in the food delivery field, the subsequent results are not clear, and the online car-hailing market is about to be released, so a big battle is inevitable.

You are not unaware of these situations, but if you continue to divert your attention and invest your money in the new energy vehicle industry, I can only say that you are audacious."

"Bia'an is a whole. I am not fighting alone. And according to Bi'an's current development momentum and current resources, I think I am capable of fertilizing the fertile soil of new energy vehicles in advance."

“Okay, let’s say that the new energy vehicle market will be very promising in the future, but you have never considered the situation where the first to enter the market will be eliminated first, and the latecomers will have to follow you to cross the river, and all your previous investment and accumulation will become someone else’s wedding dress, and others will use the ready-made ones, and the cost will be lower than yours.

What if the back wave comes and hits you, the front wave, on the beach? "

"Some things have to be done by someone. Even if I fail, there will be successors who will help domestic new energy rise. I think this is meaningful. Maybe it will be passed on to Xiaomi.
What's more, I have never failed. I have the confidence that the name of Bi'an will be well-known in the market of new energy vehicles in the future!
So, I want to try it! ”

The Tesla Model S slowly stopped and returned to Xiaomi Wucai City.

Lei Jun was filled with emotion when he saw Chen Mo's current state. This reminded him of the hotel in Taiwan a few years ago, when Chen Mo made those unorthodox remarks that were completely different from market and corporate management.

".So I want to give it a try. Even if the whole world is my enemy!"

I didn't expect that with its development to this point, under my own eyes, Bi'an has grown step by step towards the sun, truly becoming a unique flower in the Chinese market, walking a path that is unique to it, and even influencing some companies, including Xiaomi of course.

At that moment, it was just like this moment, as if we had returned to the starting point.

If he were an individual investor now, Lei Jun might have worked directly with Chen Mo to make something big, but as the chairman of Xiaomi, the burden on him prevents him from making any promises easily.

Lei Jun had a lot of words to say but they were stuck in his throat. He moved his lips slightly but only said one sentence.

".come on!"

After saying that, he just patted Chen Mo's shoulder, opened the car door and prepared to leave. As soon as he stood up, his arm was grabbed.

"Don't leave so quickly. Let's talk about five cents. As a senior consultant of Xiaomi, I will give you a suggestion to beat Apple."

"what?"

"Didn't you give me a Xiaomi bracelet to try some time ago? I took a look and it's pretty good, but it's only compatible with Android and not Apple. I think whether it's a bracelet or other Xiaomi products in the future, you might as well try to be compatible with the Apple ecosystem.

So my suggestion is that all Xiaomi products can move towards compatibility with the Apple ecosystem.

Integrate its products into the daily lives of the world's largest high-end user group (Apple users), while laying the foundation for building an open ecological alliance in the future."

Lei Jun's eyes lit up. He was no longer sleepy when Chen Mo wanted to talk about this, especially since he obviously got the value of Chen Mo's words. In essence, it was a "leveraging expansion" strategy aimed at breaking down ecological barriers, expanding the user base and enhancing its own competitiveness.

At the same time, he immediately thought of the difficulties. "This tilt of R&D resources and compatibility with both Android and Apple ecosystems puts higher requirements and challenges on costs and R&D."

"I only kill and not bury. The essence of this suggestion is to exchange open technology for user scale and short-term profits for ecological discourse power. It depends on whether you have the courage to do so.

In the past two years, I have figured it out. With Apple's arrogant style, it does not have dual-SIM dual-standby and fast charging. Cook relies on the closed-loop software ecosystem, system and chips left by Steve Jobs to upgrade and change the design and color every year to create a new generation of products.

Many Apple users are dissatisfied with the iteration strategy of Apple phones. If 3% of Apple users can be converted into "light users" of the Xiaomi ecosystem in the next 5-30 years, then Apple will have nothing to fear.

For Xiaomi, it is not only about seizing the market, but also about improving product quality and interconnection stability through compatibility, which indirectly promotes its technology research and development to move closer to the high-end, which is what Xiaomi has always pursued. At the same time, through the compatibility promotion of "standing shoulder to shoulder with Apple", Xiaomi's "cost-effective" label is weakened, and its "open, international, and technologically advanced" brand image is strengthened.
I don’t know how much I can get out of this. That’s all I can say. The rest is up to you.”

As Lei Jun listened, excitement gradually flashed in his eyes, like a light that was gradually getting brighter and brighter.

After listening, he nodded heavily in agreement, expressing his high recognition of Chen Mo's idea. He vaguely recalled the state of their previous collaboration, "Okay, I'll go back and discuss it with the others."

Lei Jun smiled and joked, "If you were still in Xiaomi, we might have become the world's number one."

"Compared to making mobile phones, I'm more interested in Internet software."

Lei Jun looked at Chen Mo deeply, and said in a firm and sincere tone, "If you really leave this time, don't worry, Xiaomi will always be an absolutely reliable ally beside Bi'an!"

"Same here!" Chen Mo smiled and nodded.

After Lei Jun left, Chen Mo walked to the back seat with a slightly tired look, got into the car, closed his eyes and whispered, "Lao Mo, drive back to the company."

"Okay, boss!"

(End of this chapter)