Xiaomi Heavy Industry, its first entrepreneurial venture!

Chapter 462 Price: 1499! (Third Update!)

"Huh? Isn't this inappropriate?" Lei Jun asked cautiously, then glanced at Lin Yi's face. Seeing that Lin Yi's expression was neutral, he carefully continued:

“Our people have done a thorough survey on the forums and found that most people want full access to the phone so that they can reflash the phone if the system doesn’t work.”

"If we could give them enough authority, I think our product sales would definitely be even higher..."

Lei Jun spoke softer and softer, because Lin Yi's face opposite him grew increasingly gloomy as he spoke more and more.

When he finished speaking, Lin Yi rolled his eyes and gave him a disdainful look: "You're overthinking it!"

Do you know the number of PCs and smartphones in China last year, as well as their sales volume?

The question abruptly shifted, and Lei Jun lowered his head, thinking for a long while before finally uttering a few numbers:

"Last year, the number of PCs in use was about 1.3, and the sales volume was about 4900 million. The reason for the surge in sales volume is that the government is promoting the purchase of home appliances in rural areas, which includes some computers."

"In addition, Intel's update to the Windows 7 system also boosted related consumption."

"But these so-called computers have many pitfalls."

"As for smartphones, the official figure is about 5000 to 8000 million units. The reason for the large discrepancy is the vague statistical method, which includes many phones that fall between smartphones and feature phones."

"If we strictly follow our own internal standards, the number should be around 3000 million."

When Lei Jun reported these numbers, he didn't hesitate or make any 'uh-huh' sounds, which pleased Lin Yi.

This at least shows that they conducted relevant data research and studied it carefully.

He raised his hand, clapped his hands to show his approval of Lei Jun's work, then crossed his arms and asked with a playful expression:

"Then tell me now, out of these 1.3 million PC users and 3000 million smartphone users, how many know how to flash a custom ROM?"

"Let's not talk about the forum yet!"

"Your forums combined have less than 50 users, and many of them are duplicate users. If you exclude them further, there are really not many people."

"They desperately need access to the phone!"

"And they will create a hierarchy of contempt, where those who flash ROMs look down on those who don't."

"And the target audience for the phone you made is young people."

"Young people are hot-tempered and don't like being at the bottom of the social hierarchy. Once they start to understand how to flash ROMs, once they flash the system, they've ruined it!"

Lin Yi suddenly stopped speaking. He slowly stood up, walked up to Lei Jun, looked down at him, and asked with a half-smile:
"Tell me, when his phone is bricked, will he admit it's his fault for flashing the ROM, or will he say there's something wrong with the phone?"

"answer me!"

The words were incredibly stressful, so Lei Jun didn't respond. Instead, he silently lowered his head and began to put himself in Lei Jun's shoes, thinking about what he would say if he were in that situation.

Ideally, consumers will proactively explain that the problem with their phones is due to flashing the operating system.

But after thinking about it, Lei Jun simply threw this fantasy out of his mind and into the distance.

Because this is impossible!

Although the price of the phone has not yet been determined, the final price will definitely be over 1000 yuan, which is not a small amount of money.

If you get ripped off for buying something for 50 yuan, you'll have to go back to the seller. But if it's a phone that costs over 1000 yuan, the consumer will definitely cause trouble.

Therefore, this situation is impossible.

The most likely scenario is that the consumer failed to re-flash the system, rendering their phone unusable. They then took the phone to the store and told the salesperson, "I woke up after a nap, and this is what happened to my phone. Your product has a quality problem."

Change it for me.

If there are only one or two, it's fine to replace them.

People love to show off, and those who failed to re-flash their phones will definitely brag about it on the internet after getting a new one.

This would also tell others that the manufacturer has implicitly covered the costs, and they can do whatever they want.

As more people see these messages, they will feel more confident and bold enough to try flashing the system, significantly increasing the failure rate.

Moreover, the mobile phone market is not dominated by a single company; there are also competitors.

If, at this point, a competitor intervenes, takes delivery of the goods, and then intentionally fails to complete the system's verification process, and the quantity reaches a certain scale, a forced recall will be imposed.

Until then……

Trouble!
Of course, the situation may not be as serious as you think, but it's better to be cautious to avoid any problems.

Having figured this out, Lei Jun raised his head and nodded slightly to Lin Yi: "I've remembered this. Is there anything else?"

Under his gaze, Lin Yi raised his right index finger, shielding his eyes: "Get the system working! Thank you!"

Seeing Lin Yi's serious expression, Lei Jun stood up decisively, stood at attention, and saluted: "Roger!"

After saluting, he turned around, picked up a pen and paper, and wrote down everything Lin Yi had just said, as well as some of his own thoughts.

After several rounds of discussions with Lin Yi, the final draft was handed over to the subordinates.

The simultaneous speech by Lin Yi and Lei Jun was very effective.

The technical department wasn't under much pressure, since Lin Yi had modified parts every few days, not just once or twice, but many times.

The finance department wasn't under much pressure; they just had to pay up.

The only ones who have a tough time are the purchasing department.

Inside the speeding Mercedes, Liu Daneng held the phone in his left hand and gripped the steering wheel with his right, shouting incessantly at the person on the other end:
"I don't care what your reasons are, I'm on my way to your factory with people, blueprints, and molds!"

"Even if you have to work all night, you have to make this sample for me!"

Not long after the call ended, the Mercedes and the truck behind it stopped in front of a well-maintained-looking factory. Before the car door was even opened, a man in a suit, who looked to be in his fifties, with a fawning smile on his face, bent down and ran to the side of the car. He opened the passenger door, only to find that Liu Daneng was in the driver's seat.

He blinked, then walked around the front of the car to the driver's side, and asked with an awkward laugh:
"Is Mr. Liu's driver not at work?"

"He's gone to work! He went to another company!" With that, Liu Daneng leaned over, grabbed his briefcase from the passenger seat, took a USB drive from it, and, with his left hand, took the man's right hand, slapping the USB drive into his hand while simultaneously pushing forward with his right hand to make the man grip the USB drive tightly.
"I have a lot to do, so I won't go in."

"There is a component in the USB drive, and you are capable of manufacturing such components."

"The mold for the parts is in the truck behind. The USB drive has a number on it. Take it over, and the co-driver of the truck will help you unload the mold."

"Take the mold back and install it for me right away. I already told you on the phone earlier that you need to get it done tonight."

"I'll come and pick it up tomorrow!"

"I also found two other factories for the same parts. We'll be collecting the parts tomorrow; we only need two factories."

After giving his explanation, he took out two stacks of bright red banknotes from his briefcase and casually slapped them into the man's hand: "2 yuan, that should cover your sample costs."

"come on!"

The man, looking bewildered, took the USB drive and banknotes, blinked, quickly stuffed the banknotes into his pocket, turned around and ran to the passenger side of the truck behind him. He held up the USB drive and waved it in front of the passenger.

The passenger in the front seat took the USB drive, glanced at the serial number on it, and greeted the other person beside him:
"A116-1, that thing is a bit heavy, it takes two people to carry it."

There were three people in the passenger seat. They all got out of the car together. Two people went to the back to move things, and the last person took out the instruction manual and handed it to the middle-aged man. After the mold handover was completed, the three of them took a picture and got back into the car.

The car door closed, the driver honked the horn twice, and the Mercedes in front started and disappeared from the factory gate in the blink of an eye.

The man who remained there stood there stunned for a moment, then slapped his forehead as if waking from a dream, took out his phone, and contacted the people in the factory to ask them to come out and move his things.

Inside the departing Mercedes, Liu Daneng dialed the phone once more:
"Starlight Electronics?"

"What's going on with your boss's phone? Let him answer it. I have an electronic component here that you can produce. I've brought the mold and blueprints with me. Have your boss meet me at the door."

“Tell him I don’t care what he’s doing right now. I’ll be at your factory gate in about 20 minutes. Tell him to wait for me at the gate. If he doesn’t want to make money, then just say so…”

After hanging up, Liu Daneng made another call. Time slipped away with each call he made, and a week passed in the blink of an eye.

Technology Department, Xiaomi Heavy Industry Communications Company.

"Engineer Mao, these are the parts that have been remanufactured according to your drawings. A total of 100 sets have been produced."

"I led a team to inspect them all, and all 100 sets of parts met the requirements."

"In this suitcase are production videos of dozens of manufacturers producing parts, as well as the problems they encountered during the production process. Take a look."

"Okay!" Mao Xiaofei took the box containing the video hard drive and handed it to the person next to him: "Go and watch the video, see what problems they encountered during the production process, and then deal with them accordingly."

"Everyone else, inspect the parts."

"We'll head to the workshop in half an hour and begin assembly."

The half-hour parts inspection period flew by, and all parts passed the inspection and met the design requirements.

After everyone had signed the inspection results, Mao Xiaofei took the lead and walked out of the technical department office, followed by the other engineers carrying the parts.

Entering the mobile phone production line workshop, the engineers carried parts to their respective workstations, sat down on the assembly line, filled out work forms, and waited quietly for the assembly line to start.

After waiting for about 10 minutes, once everyone was in place, Mao Xiaofei picked up the walkie-talkie: "Assembly line, start!"

With a click, the power switch was turned on, and the production line started.

As the fully automated production line moves forward, the motherboard is picked up one by one by the robotic arm. Each time the robotic arm is lowered, an additional part is added to the motherboard.

Once the motherboard comes off the fully automated production line, a mobile phone motherboard is already taking shape, but it is not sent to the next workstation.

Instead, it was first sent to the testing station.

First, perform the test.

If the hardware passes the test and is confirmed to be a good product, it can move to the next workstation; if it fails the test, it goes into the trash can.

Mao Xiaofei led his team, moving along the assembly line, carefully inspecting each step of the process, afraid that something might go wrong.

They weren't in a hurry; the one who was most anxious was Lei Jun.

Upon learning that Mao Xiaofei had led a team to begin manufacturing prototypes, he rushed to the workshop immediately, but instead of entering, he wandered around the workshop entrance.

They started wandering around in the morning and continued until noon. At noon, Lin Bin joined them, and they continued wandering around until the afternoon.

The most important thing about this trip is getting the mobile phone prototype. If the prototype can't be successfully manufactured, then there's no point in talking about the subsequent debugging work, let alone our grand ambitions for the future.

If these projects cannot be launched, their investments will be wasted.

Finally, after the bell rang to signal the end of the workday, the workshop door slowly opened, and Mao Xiaofei and the others, who had changed into their regular clothes, walked out of the workshop chatting and laughing.

They were carrying some plastic bags in their hands.

Seeing Lei Jun standing at the door, Mao Xiaofei walked over with a smile and handed the plastic bag to Lei Jun: "Mr. Lei, I have accomplished my mission!"

The sudden appearance of the plastic bag startled Lei Jun, but he quickly realized what was happening, reached out and grabbed the bag, then opened it.

Five cell phones lay quietly inside.

The brushed stainless steel casing gives this phone a very premium feel.

He quickly pulled out a phone, instinctively wanting to press the power button, but then suddenly looked up: "Is there power in the battery?"

"Yes! The system is already installed, just open it!"

Hearing this, Lei Jun confidently pressed the power button. After a few seconds of delay, the boot animation appeared. After the boot animation skipped, the phone desktop he had imagined countless times appeared.

There are very few software programs, only four or five, but they look clean and tidy.

It worked!
Lei Jun gripped his phone tightly, roared inwardly, and then carefully raised his left hand to gently swipe the phone screen.

Smooth!

Very smooth!

This is exactly what I wanted!

He put the phone back in the plastic bag, gave Mao Xiaofei and the others a grateful look, turned around, and pushed Lin Bin as they ran outside.

"Let's go find Lin Yi!"

Ten minutes later, the two appeared in Lin Yi's office. As soon as they appeared, before they could even speak, Lin Yi tossed him a document:
"This is the production cost of the prototype, as well as the cost allocation for each order of magnitude. Take a look."

"Based on these things, you can also set a very special price and then kill all your competitors in one fell swoop."

Upon hearing that it was about production costs, Lei Jun suddenly felt that his phone was no longer appealing. He tossed the plastic bag aside and picked up the cost documents.

The first thing to look at is the total cost.

There was only one outrageous number there.

【1233.3】

Below are even more outrageous figures.

10 million units, 1183.2

50 million units, 1157.9

100 million units, 1114.96

After seeing the numbers clearly, he rubbed his eyes hard, then looked up and asked, "Are you kidding me?"

"No joke!" Lin Yi shook his head slightly, pointing his right index finger at himself: "For the supply chain companies I cooperate with, I settle accounts in cash upon product delivery."

"And I also provide technical support."

"So I can get a lower cost price than others."

"Now, it's your turn!"

Looking at the table, Lei Jun licked his lips and calmly uttered a number: "1499!"

(End of this chapter)