Those Years When I Was Forced to Top the Forbes List

Chapter 200 Appearance Finalization
The meeting continues.

It mainly focuses on the qualitative aspects of appearance.

Regarding the screen, Jobs always believed that 3.5 inches was the best phone size, the size of a bank card, and also the most suitable size for one-handed interaction.

A bigger screen is a stupid design.

This design was used until the iPhone 4S in 2011, before Jobs met his maker.

There are also many praises online.

It was only 2006, so Chen Xuebing initially felt that 3.5 inches should have some significance, and Command Design had been benchmarking against 3.5 inches.

However, after the factory repeatedly crafted several 3.5-inch templates with different borders for him to try, he found that he seemed to be yearning for stupidity.

He, a person from later generations, was completely unaccustomed to it.

Staring at a normal handheld distance for a long time can cause visual fatigue and is not good for the eyes.

Why must mobile phones, which will be the most important tool for communication, life, entertainment and work in the future, be operated with one hand?

He suddenly realized that Jobs' early departure might be a good thing for Apple; otherwise, given Jobs' stubbornness, several generations of Apple might have been limited by this clever design.

However, with the same technology, the larger the screen, the lower the PPI (pixel density). When the PPI is below 240, the human eye can perceive obvious graininess, while when it is above 300, it is almost imperceptible.

With current LCD technology, it is difficult for screens larger than 4 inches to achieve a PPI of 100 (for relatively fine detail).

Everyone was used to the chairman's high standards. In any case, the internal screen technology had developed rapidly in recent years. It was suggested that the internal screen could be discussed while waiting. The hardware engineers were called in, and several solutions were put forward on the spot according to 4-inch and 4.2-inch sizes.

An inch is originally a length, corresponding to 2.54 centimeters. How is it used to define an area?
diagonal.

The length of the screen's diagonal is measured in inches.

However, the same area does not mean the same length and width; there are countless length and width solutions for the same area.

通用的比例，有经典比例16：9，宅机身比例18：9，超长屏19：5.9。

The obvious choice is 16:9.

The original UI design was also made according to this proportion.

Once the scale is set, the output takes only 20 minutes.

According to ergonomic verification, the average thumb coverage width of the 16:9 scheme is 58.4mm, the longitudinal limit of single-hand operation is 107.1mm, and the width of the pressure point at the base of the thumb is 52.4mm.

The first 4.0-inch design has a screen size of 88.48mm × 49.77mm, a top bezel of 4.2mm, a bottom bezel of 10.8mm, a single side bezel of 2.6mm, and a body size of 115mm × 58mm.

第二款4.2英寸的方案屏幕尺寸为93.1mm× 52.4mm，边框区稍大一点，机身尺寸为115.2mm×58.1mm。

The engineer also said that the Qilin element can be mainly reflected on the back and sides.

He started drawing.

The lens is surrounded by a 1.5mm wide gilded cloud pattern ring, which is ethereal and lifelike.

Chen Xuebing even expressed some admiration, saying, "This design is quite good."

Then they started drawing the bottom speaker holes: using a unicorn claw pattern, with each hole measuring 1.8×2.4mm and spaced 0.6mm apart.

The dimensions are all ready.

When Chen Xuebing arrived here, he felt that something was wrong, very wrong.

The engineer continued drawing.

The power button is engraved with a miniature Qilin tail pattern.

The volume buttons have a 0.1mm deep spiral groove on the surface, simulating the feel of tail scales.

The back features a circular logo with varying shades of engraved Qilin scales (0.05-0.2mm deep) within the border. The light refraction creates a dynamic scale effect, similar to the reflective effect of today's Little Raccoon SSR cards.

Even the charger plug is engraved with a cloud pattern relief.

On an A4 sheet of paper, I gradually drew different sides of a mobile phone with a pencil.

The entire machine resembles a Qilin (a mythical creature) hidden in the clouds, leaving much to the imagination.

The engineer then brought over another computer to demonstrate.

Boot animation: The silhouette of a Chinese unicorn leaps out from the chip wafer, accompanied by the sound of bronze chimes.

The sound of opening the screen: the sound of water droplets in the Daoist style.

Charging animation: Green energy flows.

After reading it, Chen Xuebing really wanted to curse.

This was a last-minute suggestion?!
Aside from the size being made on short notice, you guys have been working on the "Qilin" element for at least a month, haven't you?
He stepped out of the circle of executives observing, put his hands behind his back, and said silently, "Next time you have objections to my ideas, could you please not do them behind my back?"

The hardware engineer blinked innocently: "Chairman, this is based on the human-computer interaction logic you provided, so it's not like we're working behind your back, right? If you don't like it, we'll modify it again."

Chen Xuebing sighed.

This feels like having someone on your side.

It was far more ingenious than he had imagined.

Lu Weibing had someone make this... probably to prove his ability.

"What material is the outer shell made of? Will the effect be realistic?" Chen Xuebing asked.

"Well, we all agree that your original aluminum and plastic solution was excellent. The front is black, the middle frame is still metal, and the back panel is a combination of aluminum silver and glossy black plastic. Aluminum is only one-third the density of copper, has high plasticity, is easy to process, is corrosion resistant, and has good electrical and thermal conductivity. The plastic part can occupy one-third of the lower half to prevent the formation of a Faraday cage that blocks signals and also increases the three-proof properties. If you agree, you will see the sample soon."

Chen Xuebing still felt that the back panel looked a bit like the first-generation iPhone.

"Hmm, how much does it cost?"

“We found a company called Changying Precision in Bao’an District. They said they could do it, and the price would be around 160 yuan. Now that the size is larger, the price will definitely be higher.”

"What if we use multiple colors? How much will the price increase?"

"The cost will probably be a bit higher, but it depends on the size of our order. If the order is large, everything is negotiable, and we might even be able to get a lower price than 160."

These days, everyone's still playing the "produce first, sell later" game.

After producing a large batch of products and distributing them, they start advertising or holding press conferences. Consumers see the information and can then go to the sales point to pay for the goods.

Manufacturers keep spending heavily on advertising in the hope of quickly selling off their products so that suppliers can come to the factory with cash and line up to pick up the goods. They can even raise prices when demand exceeds supply.

However, this model relies heavily on manufacturers' accurate judgment of market demand. If the promotion is ineffective, they will face the risk of inventory backlog.

As Ms. Dong said, the rapid pace of product updates in the black home appliance industry is dazzling, and long-term stockpiling could lead to huge losses and price reductions.

The online sales model of later generations was the pre-sale strategy.

As long as some prototypes are produced for testing and inventory preparation, a press conference can be held to generate market buzz.

Pre-sales can be used to assess market demand and avoid capital tied up due to overproduction.

However, this model also carries risks.

If market demand far exceeds expectations, and the raw materials allocated by suppliers within the contract are insufficient, resulting in supply delays and shortages, the manufacturer's image will be severely damaged.

The test assesses supply chain management skills.

Chen Xuebing was certainly moving towards new sales methods.

Although there is currently no suitable online environment and offline sales must be the main method, the trend of online sales becoming mainstream is an unstoppable force.

The first generation of mobile phone sales had already entered 2007; this was a perfect time to begin cultivating supply chain management capabilities. As for how to improve these capabilities…

There are two things: domestic substitution and investing in suppliers.

Only through domestic substitution can we cope with the increasingly complex international situation. The "trade war" of 2016 is only a few years away.

As for investing in suppliers…

Only by having sufficient bargaining power with suppliers and sharing in their profits can costs be kept to a minimum.

He has been doing these two things.

After thinking for a moment, Chen Xuebing issued the following instructions:

"For the plastic part, try dark green or gray, or other colors as well. We'll decide on four shell designs."

"Also, inform General Manager Lin to try to use the 65-nanometer process."

"Hiss..." Lu Weibing gasped, "Really using 65 nanometers?"

Chen Xuebing glanced at him: "Nonsense, if the appearance is so flashy, how can the interaction be bad? Power consumption and smoothness both require advanced chips to support them."

"in addition."

"Mobile phone batteries need to be integrated soft-pack lithium batteries. Find them for me in this direction. The capacity cannot be less than 1500 mAh. Recruit people to design chargers. Traditional USB interfaces cannot meet our charging needs. We must create our own standard and then promote it, so that domestic manufacturers can jointly research fast charging technology."

"The screen PPI must not be lower than 130."

"We must reduce weight as much as possible during the parts supply process. The weight of the whole machine should not exceed 160 grams and the thickness should not exceed 12 millimeters."

Chen Xuebing threw out several questions that would be difficult to answer individually, and which, when combined, were practically insane, before getting up to leave.

Lu Weibing stared at Chen Xuebing for three seconds before confirming that the chairman had given the order to him.

Then I started to feel completely bewildered.

"Chairman Dong, didn't you say you would be responsible for Plan A yourself?"

Chen Xuebing glanced at the A4 sheet of paper on the table with a half-smile.

"Didn't you already come up with the appearance design and name for me? You also want to use the people in the IC design department, right? From now on, the IC department is yours, and the rest of the issues are yours. I trust you. Make a sample and show it to me."

Lu Weibing actually got what he wanted; he overturned Chen Xuebing's previous plan in order to seize power.

However, with so many demands at once, he was a bit overwhelmed.

"Then...where's the money?"

Chen Xuebing put his hands behind his back and pondered for a moment, then said:
"Don't worry, I won't delay you out of any money for R&D. I'll transfer 30 million to you within next month. The cost of mastering the technology can be disregarded as production cost, but since it involves the supply chain, we need to carefully consider it. I don't want to have trouble pricing it in the end."

Technology costs are not included in production costs.

They even transferred 30 million at once.

Technology costs account for at least one-third of the total!
What else is difficult to price?

Lu Weibing suddenly felt that none of the previous problems were problems anymore.

"Don't worry, Chairman! I guarantee the mission will be accomplished!"

"Waiting for your good news."

……

Although it was said to be handed over to Lu Weibing, there was actually a lot more to do besides research and development.

And the number is increasing.

Once research and development is complete, production and sales must follow.

Production can actually be outsourced. Foxconn is located in Longhua Science and Technology Park in Shenzhen. Today, Foxconn has surpassed Flex to become the world's largest OEM.

But he's making phones because he wants to gradually develop his own technology, not to become a brand owner.

The factory has already leveled the land, so the expansion of the factory can be kept simple. Next, we need to assemble a team to learn from the surrounding contract manufacturers, recruit skilled workers, purchase equipment, and build more than five large assembly lines.

Mobile phone manufacturing is now a typical labor-intensive industry. Assembly, welding and testing cannot be completed in the dark. Each production line requires at least 200 workers to support it, and once it starts operating, it will require thousands of workers.

Qi Guangming suggested that he quickly get the Plan B popcorn phone developed as well, because only with orders from both sides could he manage to feed so many people.

Moreover, with such a large scale, we will have to open for business and stop producing pirated goods. The production line will be empty, and the factory will face a financial burden of at least three million yuan per month for workers and other expenses.

The stock market bull run will only last two years. He still has many things he wants to do and many places to spend money. He can't keep relying on money falling from the sky. Within two years, he must reduce costs in all aspects to ensure profitability.

Chen Xuebing handed over PlanA, now known as "Qilin," to Lu Weibing so that he could centrally allocate R&D and production resources.

He originally planned to build his own "Tao" series to compete with Lu Weibing, but it was his first time opening a factory. He had some overly idealistic ideas at the beginning and encountered many problems that did not meet his expectations. He had to make a decisive decision and adjust in time.

Sales... well, that's still a long way off.

You can discuss this further with Sister Dong.

……

It was a little after 6 p.m. on Nanhai Avenue.

A few months ago, this place was called "Nanyou Avenue," and it was home to a seven-story fan-shaped building, Nanyou Building, which was the landmark of the area.

Nanyou Group was a Sino-foreign joint venture established in the 80s and one of the earliest economic pillars of Shenzhen.

With each new version, a new legend emerges. Tencent has acquired a plot of land here, intending to build the Shenzhen Tower.

In the future, companies such as Baidu and ByteDance will also establish operations here.

Shenzhen University, located across the street, is neither a 985 nor a 211 university, yet it enjoys a unique advantage, being surrounded by an increasing number of top-tier companies.

Chen Xuebing didn't actually know about the future development of this place. He just thought that the school's greenery was pretty good, the sunset scenery was decent, the crossroads were wide, and it was in the city center. He wondered if he should buy a piece of land here and build an office building.

After all, Henggang Building is too far from the city center; it took more than half an hour to get to Nanshan.

Henggang is a place where one can dominate, just like Huawei in Bantian. There are large areas of idle land where one can build employee buildings, living areas, and R&D departments.

However, it is not connected with the city center.

Only by erecting a landmark here can the whole of Shenzhen see it.

"If we're going to do it, let's go for the highest level."

As Chen Xuebing walked into the beautiful campus, texting away, he was lost in thought.

[We've arrived at your school. Where are you?]

He didn't return for half a day, and in the huge campus, he couldn't find his way, so he had to make a phone call.

As soon as the call connected, there was a lively and bustling atmosphere on the other end.

Aww!

"what are you doing?"

"Ah! Help!!"

Chen Xuebing immediately tensed up: "Where are you?"

"At home!"

(End of this chapter)