Tech startup: I really do make mobile phones!

Chapter 144 Moon B·99999

The hustle and bustle of November gradually subsided, and the smoke of the Double Eleven e-commerce battle dissipated, leaving behind a battlefield where some rejoiced and others grieved.

Taobao, the originator of this shopping festival, has become the most frustrated spectator this year.

The extensive pre-event publicity and hype generated immense anticipation, but the actual launch of the event was a huge disappointment.

All the promotional materials disappeared overnight, and the pre-event activities ended abruptly and ineffectively.

The massive resources invested and the huge traffic attracted in the early stages were like a wedding dress made for someone else, ultimately converging into the pool of its biggest competitor—Jingdong.

Jingdong, with its exclusive trademark "Genuine Double Eleven" and strong support from its 3C electronics category, especially the "Official Genuine Apple Companion" product, made the shopping festival a resounding success.

The final results were astonishing:

30.2 billion in a single day!
It accounted for 10.2% of its annual turnover!

A resounding victory was like a slap in the face to Tao Bao.

Double Eleven has ended, and Jingdong's express deliveries have started arriving one after another.

Old alleyways of Shanghai

Sunlight streamed through the carved window frames, illuminating the room with its vintage carpet.

A faint aroma of fragrance wafted in the air.

Li Qiaoli, dressed in a languid silk robe, her long hair casually tied up, was leaning back on a comfortable sofa.

The doorbell rang, she got up to open the door, and signed for the package delivered by Jingdong.

Back in her room, she unpacked the package, revealing an exquisite box inside printed with the words "Pingguo Companion".

She picked up her Apple 4, which was running low on battery, skillfully inserted it into the plug inside the companion device, and then carefully tucked it into the companion device's slot.

Lightly press the "#" key on the back of your companion.

Buzz. The Apple 4 screen lights up, and a lightning bolt icon quietly appears in the battery icon in the upper right corner.
It's really charging!

Li Qiaoli's lips curled up slightly, a hint of amusement in her expression.

She gently pulled open the "backpack stand" behind her partner, placed the four apples on the coffee table, and started watching a movie.

Only after her phone popped up a notification that charging was finished did she leisurely pick up the "old-fashioned" miniB charging cable that came with the packaging and plug it into the only external port on the Apple Companion.

"Pingguo... actually uses this kind of interface?" she muttered to herself, feeling something was off.

This partner from Pingguo seemed somewhat "out of place" to her, not in line with Pingguo's consistent aesthetic concepts.

The next second, her gaze was drawn to it.

The unassuming 1-inch gray screen with black text on the back of the Apple Companion suddenly lit up!

30!

29!

28!

The numbers are jumping around rapidly!
When the countdown reaches "1", the screen instantly changes to "Fully charged!"

"So fast?"

Li Qiaoli's beautiful eyes widened slightly, unable to hide her surprise.

She pressed the "#" key again, and sure enough, the lightning bolt icon reappeared in the Apple 4's battery icon.

Is this the new demand created after Pingguo "phased out" universal chargers?
Demand can be created by people!

If Apple didn't seal the back cover, universal chargers wouldn't be obsolete, and everyone would have two sets of batteries. Who would use a bulky power bank then?

Li Qiaoli picked up her companion and examined it carefully.

The countdown timer on the screen visually demonstrates its incredible charging speed, far surpassing all power banks on the market that charge in "hours," making it a brilliant selling point.

However, as a senior UI/UX designer and former chief designer of Motorola and TouchPal, Li Qiaoli keenly perceived a "disjointed" design language.

This doesn't align with her understanding of Apple's ultimate aesthetics and interaction logic.

Driven by curiosity, she opened the product manual.

In an inconspicuous corner, a line of small print catches the eye: "Pingguo Orange Co-branded Edition".

"Orange Company?"

Li Qiaoli frowned, feeling that the name sounded somewhat familiar.

她继续往下看关于内置“伴侣”--橙子1Q通话宝的描述：2G通话、OTG充电、-40℃~60℃稳定性能、47天待机、主打紧急求救.
"This positioning"

Li Qiaoli put down the instruction manual, her expression somewhat strange.

You might say it's useless, but these features seem quite useful in extreme environments. However, if you say it's useful, who on Apple's daily user base would actually use these features?
Pingguo users would never normally experience such extreme temperatures as -40℃ to 60℃.
Northeastern Apple fan: You're from the South, aren't you? Have you ever seen a phone frozen solid and unable to turn on?

I'm done talking. My mask is frozen solid, and my Apple 4 is frozen shut down. I need to use my phone to call my mom to come pick me up.

As a southerner, this contradictory product definition both puzzled and intrigued Li Qiaoli, the designer.

Just then, her cell phone rang.

The name "Wang Teng" was displayed on the screen.

"Hello? Fujiko?"

Li Qiaoli answered the phone, her voice carrying a hint of lazy laughter.

Wang Teng's excited voice came from the other end of the phone:
"Sister Li! It's been so long since we last talked!"

I have great news for you! Jian Ge and I have gotten back on our feet!
We now have an app store called 'App Treasure' in Shenzhen, and it has already captured 70% of the market share!

Experts say that our application is an "infrastructure-level" strategic application for the mobile internet and has the potential to become a unicorn!

You're just sitting around in Shanghai anyway, and you can't go back to Touchbao, so why don't you come and help me and Jian Ge?
Let's pull off another big one together!

Li Qiaoli smiled but didn't agree immediately: "Shenzhen, let me think about it. Maybe it's not for work, but just a trip to relax and clear my head?"

“No problem, Sister Li! Come and have fun, I’ll be your tour guide for the whole trip!” Wang Teng’s enthusiasm remained undiminished.

After hanging up the phone, Wang Teng looked at He Jian, who was standing next to him with an expectant expression, and shrugged helplessly.

"Brother Jian, Sister Li seems to still be a little bothered by what happened in the past. She didn't agree to come, but said she's considering coming to Shenzhen for a visit or tourism!"

He Jian's eyes darkened, and he nodded silently.

The 13th floor of the North China Strong Electronics Building is divided into two parts, with two companies sharing the same floor. Next to Chengbao's office is Laifen's office.

Unlike the vibrant atmosphere of Chengbao's new office, the atmosphere in the neighboring Laifen Studio was somewhat gloomy.

Founder Ye Xinghong and co-founder Liu Zhiyu are worried about a pile of returned hair dryers.

"Old Ye, look, our self-developed noise-reducing high-speed motor is absolutely as good as Daisen's in terms of performance! And its cost and selling price are only one-third of theirs!"

Liu Zhiyu picked up a dusty, clumsy-looking hair dryer, heartbroken.

"Coco's appearance is just too awful. I don't even want to use it myself. The return rate is so high, all because it's ugly. We have to find a great designer to redesign its appearance!"

Ye Xinghong scratched his head, looking distressed.

"Old Liu, where's the money?"
You know that perfectly well!
Of the ten million I earned from Taobao between 2007 and 2009, I first spent six million on developing a manned aircraft, but I didn't even manage to produce a prototype!
Later, they decided to be conservative and make electric skateboards. They invested 300 million yuan, but in the end, they only sold them for 15 yuan each, which was less than 5000 yuan!

This year, we finally tightened our belts and developed this hair dryer with core technology, but it failed because of its appearance.
Where am I supposed to find hundreds of thousands of dollars to hire a top designer for you right now?

Ye Xinghong looked at the pile of returned goods on the table, which customers complained were "extremely ugly," and felt like crying.

The two looked at each other in silence, only letting out a shared sigh.

Think about the startups downstairs that were all on the verge of bankruptcy, sharing the same fate, and how they all gave out stock options to incentivize their employees.

The other company's employees are complaining, and now they've rented out the 800-square-meter space next door. Meanwhile, our own employees are complaining too, and they're about to take away our 400-square-meter space.

Ye Xinghong just couldn't understand how the boss of that mobile phone company managed to do it.

Downstairs, in the general manager's office of Orange Technology.

Three days after the Double Eleven frenzy subsided, Chen Mo finally had a chance to carefully review the battle report released by Jingdong on his computer.

He didn't specifically look for reports about Orange Technology. If he did, it would surely be about the downfall of the counterfeit empire, making it seem like Orange was finished.

3C electronic products were indeed the main contributor to Jingdong's Double Eleven sales, accounting for 65.3% of revenue. The sales of Orange 1Q also look good.

"Dong dong!"

There was a loud knock on the door, and Zhao Tiezhu barged in with a folder tucked under his arm.

He walked to the reception area with practiced ease, picked up a celadon cup, poured himself a glass of water, gulped it down, then dragged a chair to sit opposite Chen Mo and slammed the folder on the table.

"Brother Chen! Orange 1Q has been on the market for a week, and the sales report is in!"

He opened the folder, which contained sales data for Orange 1Q across various channels.

"Jingdong is the main force! Relying on the halo of Double Eleven and 'Apple Companion', it sold 1.5 units, accounting for nearly 7%!"
On the TV shopping channel, the female host of Nietzsche's show practically wore herself out, and sold 3000 units.

Even with the support of locals, 3000 units were sold at the Huabei Strong Market in Shenzhen, but…

Zhao Tiezhu raised an eyebrow and pointed at the report.

"However, the distribution network and Nietzsche's directly operated stores are performing poorly, with a combined sales volume of less than 500 units."

They simply won't sell!
Can I buy a power bank that lets me make calls for 168 yuan?
Users in rural towns probably think our oranges have gone crazy!

This week's total shipments were around 21.5 units, with revenue of approximately 3.6 million yuan!

Chen Mo looked at the data and nodded: "It's fine! Orange 1Q was originally intended to fill the gap before Orange 2 was launched, so as long as it sells well, that's good enough."

"Unlike electronic products such as mobile phones, power banks have a long sales lifespan, allowing for steady and continuous growth. We can iterate on our products over time, and our Orange series power banks will sell for a long time!"

"Haha, Brother Chen is brilliant!" Zhao Tiezhu grinned, the scar on his right eyebrow twitching as he spoke. "So what should we call our next generation of power banks? Orange 2Q?"

"Forehead"

Chen Mo was stumped by the question and waved his hand, "Let's talk about it during the iteration!"

"Will you still promote the second and third-tier distributors and Nietzsche direct-sale stores under the North China Strong Group?"

"Let's stop promoting it!" Chen Mo said decisively. "The rural market is definitely not the target customer for a 168 yuan power bank. Let's not waste resources!"

"correct!"

Chen Mo remembered something: "How's that Nietzsche 1C power bank I made for Nietzsche coming along?"

"All set!" Zhao Tiezhu patted his chest. "We'll use Ningde 18650 battery cells, costing 65 yuan each, and supplying them to Lu Laowu at a price of 75 yuan each. He's planning to sell them for 99 yuan each!"

"Moreover, our Orange 1Q shares some common parts with it, and with the increase in procurement volume, the overall cost has actually decreased by 3%!"

Chen Mo smiled: "That's right!"

"If there's an opportunity in the future, we'll bring Nietzsche along to work together. Economies of scale will reduce costs. Orange also owns 33.4% of Nietzsche's shares, so we can share in the profits it makes."

"Understood!" Zhao Tiezhu replied.

After reporting the important matters, he stood up.

"Brother Chen, I'll go upstairs and check on Orange Treasure. They just moved to a new house, I'll go help them out!"

Chen Mo looked at him with a half-smile: "You're quite free now, aren't you? I heard you're going to Chengbao every day. Sister Gong canceled the smoking area in conference room number 3. You must be feeling cooped up, right?"

Zhao Tiezhu chuckled, his skin thick as hell.

"No way, Brother Chen! I'm infiltrating behind enemy lines to keep an eye on Orange Treasure for you, it's really not for that cigarette!"

For example, I know that they've been trying to poach a top talent to be the lead UI/UX designer these past few days. I heard he even worked at Motorola!
That's awesome!
"Maybe we can borrow their expertise for the exterior design and system UI of our Orange phones in the future!" "Oh?" Chen Mo's eyes lit up.

A top-tier design expert proficient in both hardware and software?

This is a scarce resource!
Orange phones are positioned in the mid-to-low-end market, but who wouldn't want their product to look better and have a more user-friendly system?
"Okay, go ahead!" Chen Mo waved his hand and added, "Keep an eye on He Jian. He's scheming and needs more attention than Wang Teng."

"Order!"

Zhao Tiezhu chuckled in response, then turned and slipped out of the office, heading straight for Orange Treasure's new territory upstairs where he could "breathe freely."

The internet, riding the wave of the times, is never short of battle.

Before the aftermath of the Double Eleven e-commerce war had subsided, an even more brutal "3Q War" had erupted. The close-quarters battle between Tencent and 361 turned all netizens' computers into battlefields, with uninstallation prompts and pop-ups flying everywhere, and public opinion unanimously condemning them.

Chen Mo sat in the general manager's office, enthusiastically enjoying the drama of this giants tearing each other apart, experiencing the cutthroat world of the internet industry.

Suddenly, the phone on the table vibrated, and the screen displayed "Teacher Lin".

"Hello, Teacher Lin?"

"Xiao Chen, are you free tonight? Same place, the restaurant on the second floor of the West Gate. Principal Zhang wants to see you, and I'll be there too!"

Teacher Lin's voice was gentle, but it carried a hint of unyielding authority.

Chen Mo's heart stirred slightly. Principal Zhang? This person is a true big shot in the school, with unfathomable power.

He immediately replied, "Okay, Teacher Lin, I will be there on time."

In the evening, driver Xiao Li drove his steady and dignified Mercedes-Benz S600 (W221) to drop Chen Mo off downstairs at the West Gate Restaurant.

Before getting out of the car, Chen Mo instructed, "Xiao Li, it's the weekend tomorrow. Pick up Jiang Gong first in the morning, then come to the apartment to pick me up so we can go to Dongyong Village together."

"Understood, Mr. Chen!" Xiao Li nodded.

Chen Mo straightened his coat and headed towards the restaurant.

As soon as he arrived at the entrance, a seemingly ordinary champagne-colored Volvo S80L parked in the corner caught his eye.

It wasn't the car that was particularly special, but rather the license plate it was displaying—【月B·99999】!
The Supreme Emperor!

Chen Mo's eyelids twitched. This kind of license plate number wasn't something money could just get; its significance was self-evident.

Such an important person, comes here to eat?

He felt a chill run down his spine and couldn't help but glance at her a few more times, but he remained outwardly calm and walked straight into the restaurant.

Pushing open the door to the reserved private room on the second floor, Chen Mo's gaze first fell on the person sitting near the door.

His steps faltered almost imperceptibly, and a storm raged within him!
Holy crap! A penguin horse!
Not again?

How did the head of the Tencent Empire, who is currently locked in a fierce online battle with Zhou Hongyi, end up here?

He was even sitting with the school's big shots?
At this moment, Teacher Lin stood up with a smile, breaking the brief silence: "Little Chen is here! Come, come, have a seat. Principal Zhang has been waiting for a long time!"

He turned to the refined-looking, deep-eyed old man at the head of the table and introduced him: "Principal Zhang, this is Chen Mo, whom I mentioned to you. He is a promising young talent from our school!"

Then he introduced Chen Mo: "Little Chen! This is Principal Zhang of our school!"

Finally, he pointed to the penguin horse, his smile carrying a deeper meaning.

"Well, I don't need to introduce this person much, right? He's the head of Tencent, and Principal Zhang's star student from the School of Computer Engineering back in the day. So, he's your senior!"

Senior?

In his previous life, Chen Mo knew that in BTA, Ali Ma was from Hangzhou Normal University and Baidu Li was from Beijing University, but he really didn't know that Penguin Ma was his classmate!

Chen Mo instantly matched the Volvo downstairs with the internet giant in front of him. While inwardly exclaiming with excitement, he quickly put on a perfectly timed smile, conveying a hint of junior humility and just the right amount of surprise.

He stepped forward and extended his hand to Penguin Horse: "Hello, senior! I've heard so much about you, I never expected to see you here, it's such a surprise!"

Penguin Ma also stood up, his gaze behind his gold-rimmed glasses reserved, a signature gentle smile on his face. He reached out to shake hands with Chen Mo, his voice calm.

"Junior, you are a promising young man. Dean Lin and Principal Zhang both speak highly of you. It's a pleasure to meet you!"

After exchanging pleasantries and taking their seats, the atmosphere seemed harmonious.

Teacher Lin and Principal Zhang led the conversation, chatting about light topics such as the school's recent situation and talent cultivation.

Chen Mo responded cautiously, his gaze occasionally sweeping over the penguin horse who was quietly drinking tea and whose smile remained gentle, while he quickly calculated the true purpose of this meeting.

After three rounds of tea and five courses of food, the tea was served.

Principal Zhang and Teacher Lin exchanged a glance and stood up in unison.

"Ah, when you get old, your bladder doesn't work as well anymore!" Principal Zhang said with a chuckle.

“Yes, sitting for too long makes your back ache. Let’s go stretch our legs!” Teacher Lin chimed in.

The two then left their seats together to "go to the toilet".

In an instant, only Chen Mo and Penguin Ma remained in the private room.

The air seemed to quiet down for a moment.

Chen Mo knew that the main topic was about to be discussed.

He broke the silence, with a tentative smile: "Senior, you've taken time out of your busy schedule, and you've even troubled Principal Zhang and Teacher Lin. I'm truly flattered."

"I wonder, senior, is there anything I can do for you? Please let me know!"

Chen Mo appeared polite, but in reality, he maintained a great distance from her.

Penguin Horse put down his teacup, his smile still gentle, but his eyes sharpened.

Instead of answering directly, he casually brought up a current hot topic: "The 3Q War has been making headlines lately, have you been paying attention, junior?"

Is it for this?
Chen Mo understood immediately, assuming that the other party was after App Store's channels and wanted to use them to promote QChat and block 361 Antivirus.

He immediately replied, "Of course we're interested! If you need us to help promote QChat on mobile devices, or to impose necessary restrictions on certain non-compliant applications, we have no problem with that!"

Chen Mo believed that Penguin Horse could understand who was being referred to as "non-compliant applications".

Upon hearing this, Penguin Horse smiled and shook his head, his tone carrying a hint of barely perceptible arrogance.

"Although Zhou Hongyi is troublesome and has been jumping around a lot lately, she is not a cause for concern. Teng Xun has his own solutions."

Countermeasures... um...

Chen Mo was slightly taken aback: "Not because of the 3Q War? Then..."

Penguin Horse stopped beating around the bush, looked directly at Chen Mo, and spoke in a gentle voice.

"I came here today to talk to my juniors about the future of App Bao."

Chen Mo's heart skipped a beat.

"Tencent wants to buy App Store!"

Penguin Horse cut to the chase, extending his palm with composure: "Junior, name your price!"

After saying that, he picked up his teacup, took a sip, and looked calmly at Chen Mo without saying anything more, as if he had just made an ordinary suggestion, giving Chen Mo plenty of time to think.

Buy App Store?

Chen Mo never expected that Penguin Horse's target was this.

Orange Treasure Studio has only recently become independent, and App Treasure has only recently become self-sufficient. It is still a "unicorn" in its infancy, yet it has already attracted the attention of Tencent so quickly.

In fact, the remarkable effect of the "Treasure Double Eleven" app directly cutting off traffic to Ali's mobile platform is its best advertisement.

Penguin Horse noticed the app "Treasure" even earlier.

Back then, He Jian led Wang Teng to pave the way. Going south to join Orange was Plan A. Plan B was to go south to join Goose. It's just that Chen Mo knew the future development trend of third-party app stores, so he provided more support and resources.

When Penguin Horse learned that this "lottery" that his team had once evaluated but ultimately missed was now showing amazing potential in Chen Mo's hands and had already scratched out a "one", how could he sit still!
70% market share, 54% of mobile entry traffic, a strategic mobile entry point.

The regret and heartache of "it should have belonged to me" prompted him to take action himself, wanting to acquire it before it truly took off.

Tencent's CEO, Ma Tai, understands what this first-mover advantage means in the internet industry; the rise of QChat is the best example.

Chen Mo fell silent.

"5 million!" Penguin Ma's five outstretched fingers represent 5 million in cash!
This isn't sales revenue, it's not valuation; it's a huge amount of real wealth that you can immediately obtain once it's sold!
If it were someone from Orange Treasure Studio here, they might have already wavered.

Taking Orange's Q1 sales of 21.5 units and revenue of 3.6 million yuan as an example, after deducting all costs, the actual profit is only about 4800 million yuan.

5 million is equivalent to the profit that Orange 1Q would need to sell for about three months to earn, and that's just the gross profit.

Damn! When you do the math...
Penguin Horse, your asking price is a bit stingy!
What's most important in the 21st century? Talent!

Chen Mo couldn't help but complain in his heart.

What a waste of that prestigious license plate on the car downstairs!

He knew very well that Google Android, in order to crush Microsoft's WP and the new Nokia Symbian, had maintained its free system strategy until version 7.0 in his previous life.
As the largest mobile portal in China, App Store's potential value could potentially rival Baidu's $19 billion acquisition price in its previous life!

You think you can take 5 million yuan? Dream on!
Do you really think I, Chen Mo, have never seen big money before?
Seeing Chen Mo remain silent, Penguin Ma assumed he was weighing his options and was about to add, "If you're willing to include the core team, junior."

What? You picked the peaches, and now you want to dig up the tree!

Chen Mo raised his head, his face now calm, even with a hint of relaxed smile, and interrupted Penguin Horse directly.

"Senior, the food today was delicious. I was honored to have Principal Zhang and Teacher Lin with me. However, it's getting late, and I have some things to take care of at the company, so I must take my leave now!"

I have to go hiking tomorrow, who cares about you!

Without waiting for a reply, he stood up and said in a sincere and firm tone, "When I get back, I will have the App Store give QChat a prominent push on the mobile app. Consider it a small token of my support for my senior in the 3Q War!"

Penguin Horse paused slightly in his teacup, the gentle smile in his eyes fading, replaced by a deep scrutiny.

He understood Chen Mo's unspoken meaning: he wouldn't sell the app, and he was only helping to promote it out of respect for his senior and the school.

After a few seconds of silence, the penguin horse's signature gentle smile reappeared on its face.

He also stood up to see him off, saying, "You're too kind, junior. Thank you for your support, senior. Take care on your journey."

"Senior, wait a minute!"

Chen Mo politely said goodbye and turned to leave the private room.

Just as I stepped out of the restaurant, I ran into Teacher Lin, who had "just finished using the restroom."

Teacher Lin looked at Chen Mo with concern and inquiry in her eyes: "How did the talk go? Did you offend anyone?"

He clearly knew what was being discussed in the private room.

Chen Mo felt a warmth in his heart as he looked at his teacher's concerned eyes, and he grinned.

"Don't worry, teacher. I'm not a cannon fodder who fires at everyone. I know my limits!"

Upon hearing this, Teacher Lin smiled and patted Chen Mo on the shoulder: "It's good that you know your limits! I trust you to handle things."

Looking at the faint gray hairs at his teacher's temples, Chen Mo said, half-jokingly and half-seriously, "It seems I still have to work harder, otherwise, how can I help you take another step forward?"

The teacher and student exchanged a glance and smiled knowingly.

Amidst laughter, Chen Mo looked up at the dazzling night sky of Shenzhen.

Tencent, a behemoth with a market value of 2350 billion, and Orange Technology, a newcomer with an annual revenue of only 36 billion, are worlds apart.

Pushing the teacher to improve?

The road ahead is still long!
But in Chen Mo's eyes, there was no fear whatsoever, only an even more fervent fighting spirit.

If Penguin Ma could push his mentor to the top, there's no reason he couldn't do it himself!
Currently, the main academic department at Shenzhen University is Computer Engineering, but in ten years it may become one of the two leading departments.

(End of this chapter)