Tech startup: I really do make mobile phones!

Chapter 77 Market Research on Heroes

In Shenzhen, the June sun scorches the industrial park, Block C, in Longgang District.

Inside the factory of the Duomei Group, in the conference room of Duowei Technology Company, which was established less than three months ago, Wang Kai from the market research department pushed open the door with a folder in his hand. General Manager He was staring blankly out the window, while his colleagues sat upright.

Outside the glass curtain wall, the blue signboard of "Yuantu New Energy Technology" across the street appears somewhat glaring in the sunlight.

The batteries for the new phones they're preparing are being manufactured by this company at a low price.

Although Yuantu New Energy is relatively unknown, their OEM product yield rate is 86%, which is considered top-tier.

This is one of the reasons why DOWN chose to cooperate with it. If possible, Mr. He would like to acquire this nearly bankrupt battery factory and supply it exclusively to DOWN batteries.

"Mr. He! This is the latest research report on the domestic mobile phone market over the past month."

Wang Kai gently placed the document on the table and subconsciously loosened his tie.

The air from the air conditioner vent rolled up his sleeves, revealing the Omega Constellation watch on his wrist.

This is a reward the company gave to outstanding employees last month. The time displayed on the gold bezel is 3:15 PM.

Mr. He turned around and tapped the table with his fingertips: "Let's get to the point first. Are those 'knock-off factories' in North China up to anything?"

Huabei Qiang is a global trendsetter for electronic products. You can tell whether an electronic product is popular or not by seeing if there are any counterfeit products from Huabei Qiang within a week of its release.

His tone carried his usual disdain, and his gaze swept over the three words "Huabei Qiang" on Wang Kai's folder as if it were a dusty, tattered rag.

When asked about Huabei Qiang, Mr. He said he was only paying attention to the trend of smartphones and was not really concerned about the small counterfeit workshops there.

After all, Duowei is a professional company; can it really consider these small, powerful workshops in North China as its competitors?

"Uh, actually, there's a smartphone that suddenly became a bestseller this week, called the Orange 1!" Wang Kai flipped to the first page of the folder, his voice unconsciously softening. "But don't worry, it's just a small workshop making it; they probably used some unconventional methods."

"Alright, alright! Just knowing the trend is enough."

Mr. He waved his hand, his Rolex gold watch gleaming in the sunlight, which drew a glimpse of envy from Wang Kai.

"We should be focusing on Chinese fantasy, why bother with those 'cats and dogs'?"

He leaned back, the leather chair creaking softly, and picked up the new Dovii model from the table. The delicate rose pattern on the cherry blossom pink metal frame spread along the fuselage, it was absolutely beautiful.

Although Duowei has been established for less than three months, they are a legitimate company. They develop mobile phones according to standard procedures, unlike some small workshops in North China that don't even conduct engineering verification on new models and just choose a good public mold to start working.

It's so rough...it's really too rough.

"Let's talk about the movements of the four major manufacturers!"

Wang Kai breathed a sigh of relief. In reality, the orange was selling so well that he didn't get a detailed report or any actual footage.

Are you kidding me? I have to pay an extra 500 yuan to buy a knock-off phone? Who wants to be that sucker?

Wang Kai quickly flipped to the second page to report to General Manager He: "Zhongxing is preparing to implement the Android system, paired with a 2.8-inch TFT full touchscreen and a rear camera, taking a conservative approach."

"Conservative!" Mr. He sneered, tapping the 3.2-inch screen of the model machine with his fingertip: "Even the Apple 4 has a 3.5-inch screen now, is Zhongxing going to keep relying on its past achievements?"

"As for the Chrysanthemum Factory," Wang Kai hesitated for a moment, "Yu Dazui slammed his fist on the table at the board meeting. I heard that the terminal business is either alive or dead. He even made a pledge to Ren Zhengfei. However, there is still no news about the configuration. I'm afraid the new phone won't be released this year."

“Yu Dazui is quite the man!” President He raised an eyebrow: “But you can’t win a battle just by banging on the table.”

"What about Kupai? I heard Li Wenbin and his team have been brewing a big surprise in Huangjiang for half a year, right?"

"Yes! They hired more than 500 engineers to conduct closed-loop research and development, and even said that they would no longer make feature phones."

Wang Kai paused, then swallowed. "They say they're doing deep optimization of the system, but I wonder if they're betting on Google or Microsoft."

Mr. He stroked his chin thoughtfully, his gaze falling on the non-removable glass back cover of the model machine.

The R&D department argued with him for three whole nights over this damn thin and light design. In the end, in order to uphold the aesthetic positioning of Duowei, they decided to make a non-removable back cover.

These days, mobile phone systems freeze up all the time.

Could you ask Kupai how far they've optimized their system?
It's impossible that Li Wenbin would hold back his big move for half a year only to end up making a huge mistake!

"By the way! What about Fantasy?" he suddenly asked. "What's that CEO Liu, who claims to represent China in a head-on confrontation with Apple, up to lately?"

Fantasy is currently the undisputed leader in the domestic electronics industry, and Mr. He cannot help but pay attention to their movements.

Wang Kai's expression was somewhat subtle: "After the failures of Leji 1 and LeOS 1.0, they completely switched to Android, and even got Gaotong's chips and Sanjing Super Screen, learning from Apple and Mobile to develop a contract phone model."

He swallowed hard: "But the most amazing thing is that they spent $200 million to hire a North American designer to create a unique phone case that showcases the quality of our phone."

"What?" Mr. He almost burst out laughing: "200 million? US dollars? Just for a shell?"

“They say it’s a symbol of domestic pride, and they take it very seriously,” Wang Kai shrugged. “But the people in their marketing department said privately that the shell costs less than twenty yuan, and the plastic feels so rough it could wear down your fingernails!”

A suppressed laugh rippled through the conference room.

Mr. He twirled the pen in his fingertips, then tapped the model of the new DOWN machine on the table, and suddenly looked up as if he remembered something.

"By the way! What have our competitors in the Pearl River Delta region been up to lately?"

Wang Kai quickly flipped to the third page of the report, his expression somewhat complicated.

“Mr. Zhang from Meizu went to North America and canceled the M9 launch event in June when he came back. I heard that he spent a whole day at the Niuyue Apple Store, staring at the glass back cover for a full half hour, and then tore up the design drafts when he got back.”

He paused for a moment: "Right now, the entire Meizu team is reworking the system interaction and changing the configuration. It seems the M9 will have to be released next spring."

A good product is never good because it is perfect, but because it is precious. For a product, completion is more important than perfection.

"The king of delays truly lives up to his name!" Mr. He chuckled, picked up the pen on the table, circled the "Meizu" column, and pointed to the next item: "What about the Bubu Ointment? Aren't they focused solely on making music phones?"

"Do you remember the Green Factory we talked about last month?" Wang Kai lowered his voice: "That's a new brand that Bubu Ointment secretly registered. It's said that their first smartphone is already being molded at Dongguang!"

"There are also insider sources saying that they want to copy the offline channel strategy of Bubu Cream, first set up 100,000 counters, and then spend 200 million yuan on advertising to hire celebrities, which seems to clash with our 'female aesthetics' promotional route."

Mr. He raised an eyebrow and poked a small dent into the words "Green Factory" with the tip of his pen.

"They're certainly willing to spend a lot, but," he suddenly sneered, "that you can win the smartphone war just by setting up counters? That's too naive."

"There's more to it!" Wang Kai turned to the next page: "Tianyu and Jinli are at odds. Lu Shiwa jumped ship from Tianyu to Jinli, and it's said that he took most of the core data from the R&D department with him before he left."

"Is that the 'Ten-Watt Bro' who insisted on making Android?" Mr. He put down his pen. "I heard that Mr. Wang from Tianyu hired a North American team and insisted on using Microsoft's WP system?"

“Exactly!” Wang Kai shook his head: “Lu Shiwa slammed his fist on the table at the board meeting and said WP was a pile of shit. Wasn’t that a slap in the face for President Wang?”

This time, everyone present burst out laughing.

Wang Kai continued, "As a result, Lu Shiwa was publicly scolded by President Wang for 'not understanding the high-end market.' Now he has created a sub-brand called 'Aiyouni' at Jinli, and the first machine he launched focuses on a pure Android native experience. He also poached twenty core engineers from Tianyu."

"Interesting!" Mr. He stroked his chin: "The infighting among traditional feature phone giants has actually created some space for us."

(End of this chapter)