Rebirth 05: From Coal Mine Owner to Mobile Phone Tycoon

Before the advent of the smartphone era, the domestic mobile phone market, or rather the counterfeit phone market, did not present the kind of technical challenges that people imagined.

Everyone is using MediaTek (MTK) solutions to do various shell swaps and modifications. Lu Yuan remembers seeing black people in Africa using Transsion phones from China.

The founder of Transsion Mobile is quite a figure to be told.

During the era of feature phones, Boss Li was riding high and even created a famous scene where he suppressed Ma Huateng and Ma Yun with his bare hands.

Getting back to the main point, the current mobile phone industry presents a very good entry opportunity for Lu Yuan and his team.

It's important to know that before Xiaomi phones came out, the mobile phone industry relied heavily on offline channels.

As for anything related to offline matters, Lu Yuan could handle it all with the help of his brothers.

Most importantly, compared to the real estate, gold recycling, and express delivery industries, the mobile phone industry has a seemingly insignificant advantage: its control over offline channels.

By 2025, there will be 20 offline mobile phone stores in the domestic market.

Lu Yuan made advance arrangements; even if he could only capture 1% of the market share, that would still be 2000 mobile phone stores.

The channels he controls, whether he sells phones himself or acts as an agent, make those phone stores like they've struck gold, with money flowing in continuously, and they don't have to fight tooth and nail with others.

More importantly, although Lu Yuan was reborn, all the political and business connections he had built in Africa before his rebirth were wiped out. In this second life, he knew which key figures he needed to win over and how to give them gifts if he wanted to enter the African market.

Lu Yuan was ambitious; he wanted to not only develop offline mobile phone distribution channels in China but also overseas. Compared to the express delivery industry, this gave him more passion and allowed him to better account to his men and properly settle their affairs.

So here's the question: if you're planning to enter the mobile phone industry, do you want to develop your own phones, or simply become a distributor?

After thinking it over, Lu Yuan decided to get involved in the development as well. Since domestic manufacturers were all slacking off and using MediaTek's bundled solutions anyway, what couldn't he do?

In Huaqiangbei today, with just a few thousand yuan in start-up capital, one can easily churn out a knock-off phone. With so much money and so many people at his disposal, how could he not manage mobile phone R&D? If he's going to do it, he should go big and start by investing 500 million yuan to test the waters.

Lu Yuan made a plan: to pursue two parallel paths. First, he would send his men to develop offline mobile phone store channels, relying on their daring, hard-working, and battle-hardened nature to carve out a market.

In addition, he told his men to sell whatever phones were popular. Meanwhile, he spent money to hire experts and professional technicians to perfect the knock-offs, using a massive number of models to constantly change the phone's casing—car sports car casings, fruit casings, dozens of designs—and then tested them in offline stores.

If it works out, great; if it doesn't, I won't lose much money—it's only 500 million, I can just consider it money I spent myself.

……

The next day, Lu Yuan gathered his men and announced his decision. He said, "Brothers, I thought about it all night yesterday, and I've finally figured it out. We're going to enter the mobile phone industry and switch careers to selling mobile phones!"

"What the hell?" Lu Yuan's words were so shocking that they left the brothers completely dumbfounded. They racked their brains but couldn't understand what the mobile phone industry had to do with them.

Someone immediately objected: "Boss, taking too big a step can lead to disaster! I disagree, absolutely disagree! Look at us bunch of roughnecks, who knows anything about cell phones? This idea is worse than going to the Congo to mine for gold!"

Lu Yuan said, "The mobile phone industry isn't as difficult as you think. Besides, I'm not asking you to develop mobile phones; I'm asking you to expand mobile phone distribution channels."

Next, Lu Yuan explained his ideas in detail: he would create a team and invest heavily in mobile phone research and development, while his brothers would develop offline channels and control traffic entry points.

Xiao Liuzi, seemingly understanding but not quite, said, "Boss, I get it. So it's like we're going to open a convenience store or a supermarket, right? You think the mobile phone industry will grow in the future, and whoever wins in the mobile phone industry will have to pay us listing fees and give us a share of the profits?"

Lu Yuan replied, "Your understanding is also acceptable."

The third brother stroked his chin. Yesterday, he suggested entering the gold recycling industry. The eldest brother decided on the mobile phone industry, which is better than gold recycling. Firstly, it is safer, and secondly, the industry has a wider ceiling.

At this point, the second-in-command spoke up: "Since the boss has made up his mind, I have no objections. I'll take some men back to Hucheng, get the leaders drunk first, and then open 100 stores!"

In this team, Lu Yuan was in charge of the overall direction, while the second-in-command was responsible for execution; Lu Yuan was the face of the team, and the second-in-command was the core. Since the second-in-command had agreed, the others had no objections. Anyway, the leader knew what was going on; even if they failed, they could just switch to another industry.

……

The next day, at the job market. Since Lu Yuan had decided to enter the mobile phone market, his efficiency was off the charts. Early the next morning, he bought a booth at the job market and put up a sign next to it listing his salary and benefits:

Telecommunications solutions engineer: Salary between 15,000 and 20,000 yuan

Hardware Engineer: Salary between 8000 and 12000

- Structural Designer: Salary 6000~8000

Software Engineer: Salary 6000~8000

Lu Yuan's position and salary weren't decided arbitrarily. After yesterday's meeting, he spent money to inquire within his network to confirm the required positions and current salary levels for R&D. The base salaries he offered were 10% to 30% higher than his peers.

However, to Lu Yuan's surprise, despite the attractive salary, not a single person came to apply. Not only did they not apply, but no one even submitted a resume. Many people merely glanced at his booth from afar, looking hesitant, before turning away to other booths.

Lu Yuan scratched his head and looked at Xiao Liu beside him. Xiao Liu had a shaved head, hooked eyes, and a fierce look on his face. If he were on a film set, he would definitely look like an assassin. Lu Yuan suddenly realized: Xiao Liu must look too scary, scaring away all the potential applicants.

Lu Yuan waved his hand and said, "Liu'er, go play somewhere else. With you standing here, who would dare to come up and apply for a job?"

"Huh?" Hearing Lu Yuan say this, Xiao Liu seemed a little flustered. He said, "Boss, your safety..."

Lu Yuan said, "Do you understand what a secret guard is? You just need to stay in the shadows and protect me."

"Okay, I understand." Xiao Liu obediently left the exhibition area and found a secluded spot to squat down.

Actually, since leaving the coal mining industry, Lu Yuan no longer needed bodyguards. But he didn't want to hurt Xiao Liu's sincerity, mainly because Xiao Liu was all brawn and no brains and knew nothing but fighting. Telling him he didn't need constant protection would only leave him bewildered and unsure of what to do.