Tech startup: I really do make mobile phones!

Chapter 112 Miss Lu's 3 Days

The flight from Shanghai to Shenzhen landed smoothly.

The cabin door opened, and Miss Lu stepped out with Xiao Min. The moment they landed, she gestured for Xiao Min to call Chen Mo and say hello.

Xiaomin dialed the number as instructed. After a brief greeting, a foreign woman next to her was asking Ms. Lu for directions.

The two took a hotel shuttle bus to the Hilltown Hotel in the Century Center Building in Futian District.

Upon entering the top floor where the presidential suite is located, a butler greets you with a smile throughout.

Two concierges stood ramrod straight, their hands steadily pulling open the walnut double doors for Miss Lu. With a creak, an air of luxury wafted out, and Xiao Min's breath caught in her throat.

The room was softly lit and beautifully decorated.

Ms. Lu remained calm and walked straight to the 270° panoramic master bedroom.

The entire skyline of Shenzhen is cleverly framed within this space, perfectly illustrating that with money you can have a three-dimensional world and absolute control over your life.

Xiaomin followed the butler into the servants' room. The 20-square-meter space had a fully equipped private bathroom, a marble countertop with a warm luster, and a complete set of Jo Malone products neatly arranged with a delicate fragrance.

Her fingertips lightly touched the cotton sheets, and her thoughts drifted back to the night before she reported to university, to the 200-yuan-a-night hostel in Shanghai, where the creaking sound of turning over in the iron bunk bed seemed to echo in her ears.

The next three days were completely different from what Xiaomin had originally expected.

She had thought that Ms. Lu would take her on a non-stop tour of the domestic smartphone market and research related companies, but in reality, they spent the last three days quite "leisurely," and Xiaomin even witnessed the lively side of this "ice queen."

first day.

The two went to the North China Electronics Market. Just when Xiaomin thought Ms. Lu was going to conduct research, the result was...
Ms. Lu simply held up the rhinestone-encrusted Apple 4 phone case and examined it carefully under the light.

“Covering up the antenna defect with a phone case? Brilliant idea!” She then stuffed three Hello Kity cases into Hermes.

Chen Mo's "invented" phone case is highly favored by vendors in North China, and they adapt it for more than just the Orange 1 phone.

In the eyes of stall vendors, what could be more suitable than ripping off users who own grey market Apple 4 phones priced as high as 1 yuan?

Ms. Lu spent about 200 yuan to buy three Apple 4 phone cases.

Seeing this, Xiaomin felt uneasy and wanted to remind Miss Lu, "You're carrying a Hermes bag and have a little follower with you. Who else would they rip off if not you?"

But she remembered that she was an assistant, not a teacher, and didn't say those words out loud.

In the afternoon, Ms. Lu took Xiaomin to Cool Party (a family-oriented one-stop shopping center in Shenzhen), where they "bumped into" the VP (a powerful executive) of the Jinli mobile phone brand. The two chatted about gossip for half an hour at Arabice Cafe.

Xiaomin only remembered that the other party seemed to say something like, "General Manager Liu lost 10 billion yuan in R&D and promotion fees for Aiyou 2 at the Lisboa Casino, and General Manager Lu is going to run away again."
"No wonder. There's been no news about your new machine!" Miss Lu smiled playfully, holding her coffee cup. It was the first time Xiaomin had ever seen this icy lady smile.

the next day.

Ms. Lu somehow obtained an invitation to the Green Factory press conference, and the two entered the Shenzhen Grand Theatre through the VIP entrance.

After renowned Hong Kong actress Chan Wai-yin finished her heartfelt rendition of "Qian Qian Que Ge," a sizzling female host passionately introduced the Green X8's 2000mAh large battery and Snapdragon processor for ultra-fast performance.

Meanwhile, Ms. Lu, sitting in the front row of the guest seats, was intently playing Sudoku under the red cloth on the table.

Xiaomin noticed that Ms. Lu was encountering difficulties in solving the problem, and the time to pass was getting closer, so she couldn't help but whisper a reminder: "Fill in 6 for the 7th line!"

Miss Lu looked up at the sound, glanced at her, then picked up the invitation, quickly wrote on it, stuffed it into the flower basket on the table, stood up and said, "Let's go!"

The two arrived at Yantian Port. Ms. Lu, wearing a red safety helmet, stood in front of the mountain of containers and asked Xiaomin to take some beautiful work photos of her.

After the shoot, Ms. Lu said, "Taking photos and editing them will also be an important part of your job from now on!"

At 11 p.m., Xiaomin, who had never edited photos before, finally managed to complete the photo editing work with great difficulty.

After a long day of work, she dragged her tired body and comfortably soaked in a bubble bath.

With a feeling of stealing a moment of happiness from her busy schedule, she took out Jo Malone's most classic Bluebell perfume and sprayed it on.

Although this perfume isn't expensive, she usually can't afford to buy perfume.

Upon check-in, the butler informed her that she could take with her the complete set of Jo Malone products from the bathroom in the chauffeur's room.

Xiaomin couldn't help but wonder what brand and quality of perfume Miss Lu kept in her bathroom—was it Hermès Journey or Chanel No. 5?
Just as she was lost in thought, her phone next to the bathroom suddenly chimed with an email notification.

Upon opening it, I found it was from Miss Lu: Submit today's analysis report on the visit to Southeast Asian e-commerce channel merchants at Yantian Port before 8 a.m. tomorrow.

Day three.

At 7:50 a.m., Xiaomin, her eyes bloodshot, stood in front of Ms. Lu, holding the analysis report she had worked on all night.

Miss Lu glanced at the report and said indifferently, "Throw it in the trash!"

This was the culmination of her entire night's work! Xiaomin was furious for a moment, but immediately responded respectfully, "Yes, Miss Lu!" before throwing the report into the trash can.

At this moment, the housekeeper brought breakfast with others, and Miss Lu invited Xiaomin to sit down and eat together.

After finishing their meal, she took Xiaomin and got into Erfa's minivan to leave.

In the car, Ms. Lu said to Xiaomin, "Take a break now, you need to get used to my schedule."

Afterwards, the two suddenly went to Guangzhou and then returned to Shenzhen, visiting two small companies that made drones, which had nothing to do with the smartphone market.

Ms. Lu revealed her Morgan Stanley affiliation and said, "Due diligence requires samples," and then took away two engineering prototypes from each of the two companies.

Over the beach of Dasa Mei, the million-dollar engineering prototype encountered numerous problems. One crashed on the spot, and another, with its propeller tangled in kite string, plunged into the shallow sea. Xiaomin had to wade through the water to retrieve it.

Ms. Lu shrugged: "Oh dear! The waterproof test failed. This 'expensive' toy is quite interesting, but it has no commercial value. Let's throw it away!" With that, she handed over the remote control.

For a moment, Xiaomin felt that Miss Lu, who was two years older than her, had a terrible personality, and felt like a delicate little white flower that had fallen into the control of a female devil.

Thinking about her future career, it was as if a huge shadow was looming over her.

Afterwards, Ms. Lu turned around and went to the duty-free shop to buy twelve bottles of SK-II Facial Treatment Essence.

While she was waiting, Xiaomin secretly took it upon herself to have the damaged drone sent back via a local courier service.

Her "little action" was noticed by Ms. Lu, who was shopping in the store, but she pretended not to see it.

The founders of the two small drone companies held up the battle-damaged engineering drones covered in seawater salt stains and with twisted and deformed propellers, their faces ashen.

Test flight?

So you took this and used it to fight, huh?!
They expressed their dissatisfaction at their respective companies, added Ms. Lu's name to the company's permanent blacklist, and cursed this crazy woman from Morgan Stanley.

However, half an hour later, inside the sealed letter delivered by a special person, lay two brand-new US dollar checks, the amount of which was enough to cover the cost of seven prototype machines and more.

"Miss Lu, did I mishear? I said one million in cost, which is yuan!"

"I don't know that. Our lady's compensation is a knife, a US knife!"

The two founders were surprisingly in agreement at this point, and they rushed to tell the sender, "If Ms. Lu is interested, our lab has the latest drone models, and we look forward to welcoming you to come and test fly them and provide guidance!"

On the way back, Xiaomin made the most of every minute to rest. She realized that her job as an assistant was truly that of an assistant; she never had to worry about Miss Lu's personal life, but rather about all sorts of work arrangements.
Five minutes before arriving at the hotel, Ms. Lu spoke.

"Xiaomin!"

This was the first time Miss Lu had addressed her like that, so Xiao Min perked up and said, "Miss Lu, what are your orders?"

"The two small companies we visited today, produce an analysis report, and submit it to me by 8 a.m. tomorrow!"

This work pace was suffocating. When Xiaomin almost couldn't take it anymore, she thought of her uncle who had tried to take their house. She knew she had to hold on.
“Okay, Miss Lu!” Day four.

08:15
In the fitness area, amidst the humming of the equipment, Ms. Lu stopped the stationary bike, her sweaty hair falling down her chin.

She instructed Xiaomin, who had been standing for a while holding the report, "Xiaomin, take a picture!"

"Click~"

In the photo, she has high brow bones, slightly upturned eyes, and her fair skin glows with a cool light in the morning light.

This woman with fair skin was naturally photogenic; for a moment, Xiaomin even forgot that she was a female demon.

"Alright! Report!" Miss Lu reached out her hand.

Xiaomin's back was immediately covered in a thin layer of sweat, and her fingertips still held the warmth of last night's coffee cup.

Thankfully, she remembered the previous report that had been thrown in the trash yesterday, and she almost decided to just make do with it.

Xiaomin was secretly relieved that she had gritted her teeth and stayed up all night. The analysis report that she had spent most of the night working on was now lying in her trembling palm.

"Ms. Lu!" She handed over the analysis report, expecting Ms. Lu's sharp comments.

One page, two pages, three pages—Miss Lu actually read them all patiently.

As a newcomer to the workplace, Xiaomin knew that the analysis report she submitted with her current abilities was far from meeting the required standards.

"Xiaomin! We need to explain technology in language that capital can understand!"

Sweat dripped down her chin as she pointed out the most basic areas for improvement to Xiaomin, starting with more professional terminology.
"Flight control systems are equivalent to a technological moat, agricultural applications are equivalent to a quantifiable market, and the Qingling series, which the founder envisions, is a blue ocean market for consumer products. This is the kind of language that capital understands."

After she finished speaking, Ms. Lu raised her hand and glanced at the NASR (North American National Space Administration) commemorative watch, the strap of which was engraved with the words "D LU".

"Go and get ready! There's a meeting in a bit!"

"A meeting?" Xiaomin took back her analysis report, which still had Miss Lu's neat handwriting markings on it. She nodded hurriedly and said, "Okay! Okay! I'll go prepare right away!"

The moment the door to the presidential suite's conference room was opened, a wave of icy air from the air conditioner hit you.

Xiaomin followed Miss Lu in, and twenty pairs of eyes swept over her at once. Her knuckles turned white as she gripped the notebook tightly.

Representatives from twenty inspection teams, all dressed in matching dark suits, were already seated around the long conference table.

The projector is projecting the title of "2010 Domestic Smartphone Market Survey Brief" onto the screen.

"Sit down, Xiaomin!"

Miss Lu's voice carried its usual coldness, but when she lightly patted her shoulder with her fingertips, there was a hint of subtle comfort.

When she sat down at the end of the row, she discovered that each seat had a gold-plated nameplate in front of it.

Starting positions are all "Project Manager," "Chief Analyst," and "Technical Director." The nameplate next to Xiaomin's seat even reads "Policy Researcher."

The words "Intern Assistant" in front of her seemed particularly thin under the warm light of the desk lamp.

Xiaomin understood, she understood everything. So, her and Miss Lu's trip to Shenzhen to investigate the domestic smartphone market was just a formality; the actual investigation would have to be conducted by the investigation team.

Thinking about it carefully, that makes sense. The two of them couldn't even finish investigating a single district in Shenzhen, let alone complete the investigation of the domestic smartphone market!
Ms. Lu's investigation over the past three days has not been focused on the domestic smartphone market, but rather on herself.

The presenter began to show the PowerPoint presentation, and Xiaomin quickly opened her notebook to take meeting minutes.

1. Market Structure
Brand distribution:

Feature phones still hold an 84% share of the mobile phone market, but among domestic brands, Orange and Nietzsche led the pack in June, capturing 62% of the low-end market (priced between 399 and 999 yuan).
Fantasy and Coolpad followed closely behind, taking the lead in capturing 10% of the mid-range market share (700-1500 yuan) through carrier-reissued contract phones, while Huawei, a newcomer to the smartphone field, only garnered 1.1% attention.

Technical approach:
Symbian systems account for 89% of the existing stock, and Android systems account for 10.5%, but their growth rate is 470%, although the base is low (1345 million units). The remaining systems have not yet shown competitiveness, reflecting the window of opportunity for intelligent system iteration.

2. Investment Risks

The impact of counterfeit phones:
The popularity of smartphones priced under 1,000 yuan has accelerated the shrinking of the counterfeit market, mainly due to the widespread adoption of Nietzsche and Orange brands. However, supply chain disruptions may affect the profit margins of domestic manufacturers.

Policy window:

Reliable sources say that in early September, the Ministry of Information Industry will authorize the three major telecom operators to implement a support policy for domestically produced smartphones, investing 12 billion yuan to support selected manufacturers such as Zhongxing, Chrysanthemum, Coolpad, Fantasy, and Orange.

Policy adjustments will impact the existing market structure, and these five manufacturers are expected to rise rapidly in recent years.

Currently, the investigation team is screening potential targets with specific intentions:
We highly recommend investing in Fantasy and Chrysanthemum, as their operating models have low policy-related risks and they are likely to become leaders in the domestic smartphone industry.

Secondary investment options: Orange and Coolpad. One excels in battery technology, and the other in system optimization, and they may become disruptors in the domestic smartphone industry.

Scenario Validation: As a mobile phone distribution center, Shenzhen's offline store data can be used to assess the actual user penetration rate of domestic mobile phones.

1. Nietzsche: 5.8%, based on: rapid expansion into lower-tier markets through TV direct sales and offline direct sales stores, Nietzsche captured incremental growth in the low-end market with the slogan "399 yuan smartphone".

2. Orange: 3.7%, based on the fact that, under the same technical level, its price squeezes out counterfeit phones and the market space in lower-tier cities (such as Nietzsche), but it loses out due to channel price control.

3. Coolpad: 2.0%, based on its MTK refactoring solution, which ranks 5th among carrier contract phones, but its retail sales are worrying.

4. Fantasy: 0.9%, based on the Clara remake plan, ranked 8th among carrier contract phones, suppressed by Coolpad.

When the screen switched to "Scene Verification", Xiaomin saw that Ms. Lu had drawn an asterisk under the "Orange" column.

Thinking back to three days ago at the Cool Party Cafe, when Ms. Lu was chatting with the VP of Goldlion, she seemed to casually ask about "Goldlion's new machine plan." It turns out that every casual question was actually part of filling in the puzzle of this data sheet.

After the presenter finished the briefing, the projector beam went out.

Miss Lu finally spoke, her voice as cold as ice, her gaze sweeping over all the representatives of the inspection teams below.

"The policy window of opportunity is only two months away. We need to keep a close eye on the development progress of the Chrysanthemum and the Fantasy terminal, and..."

She glanced at Xiaomin, her tone calm, yet carrying an undeniable air of authority.

"Orange, we must secure the other party's first round of financing before the policy is implemented."

She also has an unpublished copy of information about Orange Technology on her phone.

After the meeting, Ms. Lu's high heels clicked rapidly on the marble floor.

She suddenly stopped and looked at Xiaomin.

"Give your cousin a call and invite him to have afternoon tea at Longfenglou at 3 pm tomorrow. Remember, it's an informal meeting. Don't mention Morgan Stanley. Just say that one of your girlfriends wants to talk to him about phone case ideas!"

Phone case?
Xiaomin, holding the phone she hadn't yet dialed, suddenly realized: the three Hello Kitty phone cases that Miss Lu had forcibly bought in North China might never have been because she liked them.

So, the phone case was invented by Indians?

When the call connected, Chen Mo's voice came through the receiver.
Watching Miss Lu's retreating figure as she walked towards the elevator, she suddenly realized that this was the last test Miss Lu had left behind.
Reveal the policy details to your cousin in advance, or keep it from him, and then go a step further to help Morgan Stanley lower the price.

This seemingly absurd investigation was actually scripted by Ms. Lu back in the Shanghai conference room.

It's not that easy to climb the ladder and become an intern assistant to the Executive Director (ED).

And she was nothing more than a puppet in Miss Lu's script, gradually coming to understand the rules.

Future prospects or family ties... This is the cruel first lesson the capitalist world taught Xiaomin.

Miss Lu seemed unconcerned about Xiaomin's choice, giving her ample personal space.

(End of this chapter)