Rebirth 08: Can a mobile game company also build a tech empire?

The sixteenth day of the first lunar month is the day after the Lantern Festival.

ZhengTu Technology has officially started its relocation.

Lu Chen rented three trucks, and all the employees pitched in.

"This is the game's source code, so we need to keep it safe."

Jiang Chang carefully put a portable hard drive into his bag.

"These game design sketches are treasures!"

Tao Manwen packed a thick stack of drawings into a box.

"Where did the first batch of Journey Z1 engineering prototypes go?"

Zheng Yong directed several young men to move the equipment.

Chu Yu was most concerned about her potted plants and was running back and forth carrying the flowerpots.

The young people were full of energy, helping each other out, chatting and laughing amidst their busy work, making the moving site a lively and bustling place.

"Be careful! This is a server!"

"Has anyone seen my spider plant? The one on the windowsill!"

"Lunch is ready! Everyone, eat first, then get back to work!"

Lu Chen also rolled up his sleeves to help.

Moving boxes, assembling furniture, and debugging equipment.

By the end of the day, I was exhausted and drenched in sweat.

The entire process took three days, and the relocation work was basically completed.

It was evening.

When the last box of documents was moved into the new office, everyone collapsed on the gleaming floor, exhausted.

The basic renovation of the new office has been completed.

Beige floor tiles, white walls, and a bright ceiling light.

Lu Chen stood in front of the huge floor-to-ceiling window, watching the lights of Hangzhou gradually come on at night.

The headlights of the cars converged to form a long line.

At this moment, the lights are dazzling.

"This is our future battlefield."

Lu Chen stood by the window, his back to everyone, and spoke.

A week later, the new office was set up.

Employees not only have an open-plan office area.

There is also a separate rest area.

There's even a small recreation room with a pool table.

The company logo was remade into a larger one and hung in the most prominent position at the entrance.

The red "Z" shone brightly under the light.

The first general meeting after the move.

The meeting was held in the conference room of the new office area.

Yes, Journey Technology finally has its own independent meeting room.

This time, everyone had their own seat.

No more need to squeeze against the wall or stand during meetings.

Lu Chen stood in front.

The projector overhead lit up, and four large characters were displayed on the screen behind:

A brand new journey.

"Everyone, we're all settled in our new homes."

Now it's time to talk about this year's plans.

Lu Chen got straight to the point.

Last year we made MP4 players, and they were very successful.

But MP4 is ultimately a transitional product.

The era of smartphones has arrived.

Apple's iPhone proved the possibility of touchscreen phones.

Google's Android system is growing rapidly.

Lu Chen paused for a moment, then dropped a bombshell.

"This year, JourneyTech is going to make smartphones!"

The conference room fell silent for a moment, then erupted in gasps of surprise.

"cell phone?"

"Shall we make mobile phones?"

"Holy crap! That's awesome!"

"Has this day finally come?"

Some were surprised, some had expected it, and some couldn't wait.

Lu Chen raised his hand to signal everyone to be quiet.

"That's right, it's a smartphone."

It's not an MP4 player, it's not a game console, it's a real smartphone that can make calls, access the internet, and run all sorts of applications!

He switched slides, and the words "Zhengtu Mobile Project" appeared in large letters behind him.

Also displayed was a set of data.

In 2008, global mobile phone shipments totaled approximately 13 billion units, with smartphones accounting for about 11.8% of that.

Lu Chen's voice suddenly rose:

"But in the next five years, this ratio will increase rapidly!"

The era of mobile internet has arrived; 3G licenses have just been issued, and the smartphone market is about to explode!

Everyone listened attentively, their eyes fixed on Lu Chen.

"Apple's iPhone opened this door."

However, its price puts it out of reach for most people;

However, the huge domestic demand for smartphones will not disappear out of thin air.

This gives us an opportunity!

"Can...we really do it?"

Some people started to back out.

"sure!"

Lu Chen said firmly.

Our goal,

The goal is to create a smartphone for the general public.

It needs to have excellent design, a smooth user experience, and a reasonable price.

"To make a good smartphone accessible to every ordinary person!"

The employees' eyes were getting brighter and brighter.

Currently, the mobile phone market in China is still dominated by foreign brands such as Nokia, Samsung, and Motorola.

There are indeed domestically produced mobile phones, but they are labeled as counterfeit and inferior.

"But China already has its first smartphone."

Zhao Yongqiang said with a frown.

His words immediately dampened the enthusiastic atmosphere in the meeting room.

indeed,

The title of the first smartphone in China has been taken by the Meizu M8.

While Journey Technology was busy manufacturing the Journey Z1.

Meizu pioneered the production of China's first smartphone, the Meizu M8.

The mobile phone was officially launched in January 2009.

This phone is hailed as the pioneering work of Chinese-made smartphones.

It features a 3.4-inch capacitive touchscreen with a resolution of 480×720.

It is equipped with a Samsung 667MHz processor.

256MB RAM and 8GB/16GB storage.

It uses a deeply customized operating system based on Windows CE 6.0.

The interface is exquisite and the interaction is smooth.

The M8 continues to earn the reputation of "a shining example of Chinese products" thanks to its excellent workmanship and high level of completion.

At that time, Journey Technology was still immersed in the joy brought by the Journey Z1.

"It's okay, let them do what they want, we'll do what we want."

This is the initial stage of development; everything is still uncertain, and the outcome is far from clear.

Lu Chen displayed great confidence at this moment.

The Meizu M8 was indeed the first smartphone in China.

But what about the future?

Running fast doesn't guarantee a win; avoiding stumbles is the true path to success.

This is 8848... wait, wrong channel.

If the iPhone enters the Chinese market in the future, China Mobile will dominate the market, allowing counterfeit phones to profit from the chaos.

The results of it?

Within a few years, a new batch of brands emerged.

After several rounds of reshuffling, Huawei, Xiaomi, OPPO, and Vivo ultimately dominated the market.

So that's how far we've come.

If this makes them hesitant and timid, afraid to do anything because of the title of the first smartphone in China.

What else is Journey Technology doing?

It's better to break up as soon as possible.

"Where do our advantages lie?"

Zhao Yongqiang's brow remained furrowed.

He's an engineer, and he won't be fooled by Lu Chen's sweet words.

"First, we have experience in the R&D and production of the Z1, and we are no stranger to the supply chain."

Secondly, we have an excellent game development team, and our games are not playable on the Meizu M8's Windows CE system.

third……"

Lu Chen paused.

"I know what future users will need!"

He turned a page, and a densely written PowerPoint presentation appeared on the screen.

"We need to create a deeply customized Android system."

Based on Android, but it understands Chinese users better than stock Android!

"hiss……"

Everyone gasped.

"This...this is way too difficult!"

Zhao Yongqiang exclaimed in surprise.

He saw the requirements of the new system displayed on the PPT behind Lu Chen.

Features include full Chinese interface support, custom ringtones, personalized wallpapers, call recording, and application categorization.

These are features that will be commonplace in future smartphones.

Now none of them exist.

It doesn't even have a copy and paste function.

"Don't be afraid!"

Lu Chen looked at everyone.

"For the next period of time,

The hardware team first completes the preliminary preparations for mobile phone development.

The game development team is proceeding with Minecraft and the app store as planned.

And I…”

He took a deep breath.

"I'm going to Beijing to meet with people from Google!"