Hong Kong variety show: The mastermind behind the scenes is emerging.

Although only a week has passed since the official launch of the Longteng series products, the data that Longteng President Liang Boguang submitted to Lu Chen can no longer be described as "eye-catching"; it is simply explosively good.

In just seven days, the sales volume of the Dragon D1 mobile phone in Hong Kong has exceeded 300,000 units; the Dragon VCD followed closely behind, selling 230,000 units; even the Dragon PC-1 personal computer, which had the highest entry barrier and was originally thought to require a market cultivation period, achieved an astonishing sales volume of over 90,000 units.

This means that roughly one in every five to ten households already owns Longteng products. And if this is converted into cash flow, it would amount to a staggering several billion dollars.

However, the atmosphere inside Golden Harvest, the epicenter of this storm, was not as relaxed as outsiders might imagine.

……

Early in the morning, Lu Chen sat in his top-floor office at Jiahe Building, which boasted a fantastic view, a cup of black coffee that had gone cold in front of him. He wasn't looking at the exhilarating sales figures, but rather staring at the red alerts in the warehouse allocation system.

"Boss, we've really sold out."

Liang Boguang was standing opposite Lu Chen. This usually confident and high-spirited president of Longteng was now unusually flustered. He wiped the sweat from his forehead, his voice hoarse: "It's not just finished products, even the spare parts inventory is almost empty. Currently, our temporary assembly line on Hong Kong Island, even with workers working three shifts and even having all the less important parts sourced from suppliers, can only barely maintain a maximum output of around 200,000 units per quarter... and that's assuming a 100% uninterrupted supply of core components. At the current thirty Longteng stores, apart from the display models with anti-theft chains, there isn't even a single packaging box left in the warehouse."

This is already the peak speed of industry in this era, but compared to the citizens of Hong Kong who have money in their pockets and are eager to step into the future, this output is not even enough to fill a gap in their teeth.

Thus, driven by the violent forces of market supply and demand, a profession still quite novel in this era—"scalpers"—emerged on the streets and alleys of Hong Kong.

Outside the DragonPass boutiques in Mong Kok and Tsim Sha Tsui, although signs still hang at the entrances saying "No stock available, for trial only," a group of sharp-eyed and alert individuals are active in the surrounding street corners and alleys. These scalpers have become the most profitable speculators in this storm.

Ah-Qiang's encounter with "bidders demanding higher prices" outside the store had become the norm. The official price of the Dragon D1 was HK$3,999, which was already a high threshold at the time, but in the hands of scalpers, as long as you had it in stock, the price could be raised to HK$6,000 or even HK$7,999.

Even more outrageous is that even with the price doubling, it's still incredibly hard to find. In certain high-end social settings, wearing a black Dragon D1 watch on your waist is even more ostentatious than wearing a pair of gold Rolex watches. It not only represents that you have money, but also that you have connections and influence.

This extreme scarcity quickly attracted media attention. However, this time, the media's tone was not one-sided in praising Golden Harvest, but rather a very subtle "negative" voice emerged.

……

That evening, on a highly-rated late-night talk show on Hong Kong Island, the lights and shadows on the television screen reflected the faces of countless citizens.

In the video, an arrogant economic expert wearing gold-rimmed glasses is speaking eloquently to the camera, while the female host next to him looks eager to learn.

"Recently, everyone in Hong Kong is scrambling to buy DragonPass mobile phones, but as far as I know, even for wealthy people, getting one in stock at a specialty store is incredibly difficult," the female host steered the conversation. "Expert, what's your opinion on this? Is Golden Harvest really facing a production shortage?"

The expert scoffed, adjusted his glasses, and said with certainty, "Insufficient production capacity? This is nothing but a smokescreen released by Golden Harvest. As an economics researcher, I am more inclined to believe that Mr. Lu Chen is employing an extremely sophisticated psychological warfare tactic against the entire Hong Kong public. This tactic is generally known in the business world as—'thirst marketing'."

"Thirst marketing?" The host cooperated perfectly, showing a shocked expression.

"That's right," the expert stood up, walked to the whiteboard in the studio, and wrote four large characters: "So-called 'thirst marketing' mainly uses various limited-quantity or limited-time strategies to fully attract consumers' attention and focus. It aims to stimulate consumers' desire to buy, thereby achieving a rapid transfer of products from manufacturers to consumers, and greatly increasing brand premium in the process."

He turned around, pointed to the four characters, and continued, "Let me explain simply. If a merchant can produce a hundred bottles of milk every day, but only supplies seventy bottles at a time, causing everyone to scramble for them, over time, people will form the illusion that this milk business is so popular that the quality must be excellent. So, next time, even more people will rush to buy it. Do you understand now? That's why Longteng mobile phones have purchase limits. That's why the stores always say 'Available tomorrow,' but when you go the next day, the clerk will tell you 'Sold out.'"

"To put it bluntly, this is Golden Harvest's marketing strategy."

The scene shifts to random street interviews. A middle-aged man angrily speaks into the microphone: "I really don't understand why! I clearly saw a sign at the store yesterday saying they'd have stock tomorrow, so I lined up at six this morning. But when it was my turn, they told me the last two units had just been sold. So many of my friends have encountered the same problem! I think the experts are right, Mr. Lu definitely has a huge amount of unsold inventory, he's just trying to squeeze it out little by little, making everyone feel that 'if we don't buy, we'll lose out' kind of hunger!"

The video then switched back to the studio, where the expert, with an air of profound wisdom, summarized: "However, I think Mr. Lu's marketing this time was completely unnecessary, even a bit superfluous. The design of the Longteng product itself is already superb, crushing all competitors on the market—everyone acknowledges that. Since it's a good product, wouldn't it be better to just honestly release it and sell it, seizing the market? Why resort to these fancy tricks?"

……

Top floor of Jiahe Building, high-level conference room.

Lu Chen turned off the closed-circuit television on the wall, and the huge screen instantly went dark. But the expert's confident analysis seemed to still echo in his ears.

Looking at the strange looks from the group of executives around the round table, Lu Chen suddenly felt an extremely absurd headache.

He painfully reached out and covered his face tightly, squeezing out a rare, swear-filled complaint through his fingers: "Damn it! I'm not doing any hunger marketing! I genuinely have no stock!"

Lu Chen felt more wronged than Dou E.

Later generations of internet-connected mobile phone manufacturers used hunger marketing tactics to control inventory pressure, reduce component procurement costs, and create hype. But Lu Chen now holds a nuclear weapon capable of revolutionizing the era. He wishes that overnight everyone in Hong Kong, or even the world, would be holding a DragonMobile phone, so that he could directly set the next generation of industry standards.

Who would be foolish enough to deliberately suppress production during this golden period of expansion, just for a little bit of vague premium and hype?

"Boss, there's a lot of tension outside. Some people are even putting up banners in front of our store," Liang Boguang said cautiously. "Should we issue an official statement to clarify the production capacity issue?"

"Clarify?" Lu Chen lowered his hand, his eyes filled with a helpless, exasperated look. "Explanations are useless. The public has already made up their minds; in their eyes, Golden Harvest is omnipotent, so 'out of stock' is just our conspiracy."

Moreover, DragonPlay is currently only sold in Hong Kong Island; it hasn't been officially launched in overseas markets yet. Once it's available in overseas markets, the production capacity shortage will become even more severe.

Lu Chen stood up, walked to the floor-to-ceiling window, and looked down at the car headlights that resembled fiery dragons: "Bo Guang, starting tomorrow, Longteng Technology will be recruiting on a massive scale throughout Hong Kong and even Asia! Not just skilled workers, but managers, supply chain experts, skilled welders—any talent will be recruited, and the compensation will be double that of competitors! I need you to set up three more temporary production lines on Hong Kong Island within half a month!"

"Understood! I'll take care of it right away!" Liang Boguang sensed the determination in Lu Chen's tone and his expression turned solemn.

"Also, contact our electronic component suppliers. Tell them that Jiahe is doubling the order volume, paying in cash, and absolutely no delays! But if anyone dares to back out at this time, or secretly sells components to those foreign companies that want to copy us, I'll show them just how tough Jiahe's fist is!"

A fierce glint flashed in Lu Chen's eyes. In the business world, he never minded showing off his muscles.

Finally, Lu Chen looked at Cheng Yiyan, who had been sitting in the corner, seemingly sensing something and with a bitter expression.

"Old Cheng, I'll personally oversee things on Hong Kong Island. You take your men directly to Shenzhen tomorrow."

"The super factory in Fukagawa can't proceed with the usual construction schedule." Lu Chen walked up to him, pointing heavily at the Fukagawa location on the map. "I need you to use every resource at your disposal. Whether it's doubling the bonuses for the local construction teams or shipping heavy machinery from Hong Kong Island, I need the first phase of the Fukagawa base to be in trial production by March of next year!"

This is a tight deadline, because in March next year, British Telecom will complete the large-scale deployment of 2G base stations in Europe, which is also the date when Longteng products will be launched overseas. Jiahe must increase its production capacity before then.

"Boss, only six months? This..." This request put immense pressure on even a seasoned veteran like Cheng Yiyan.

"Money is no problem. I'll add another $100 million in 'acceleration fees'," Lu Chen stared into his eyes. "Tell the leaders in Shenzhen that Jiahe's orders can now be directly converted into the US dollars they need most. As long as the factory can start production a day earlier, I can seize more territory in the international market. This is a war; what we need is Shenzhen's terrifying production capacity advantage—that's Jiahe's true strength!"

"Understood, boss," Cheng Yiyan stood up, a ruthless glint in his eyes. "Mission accomplished!"