Chapter 538: Sixth Generation Dazzle

March 18, 2016, Shenzhen Bay Sports Center.

The 20,000 seats were filled. In the aisles, a few thousand ticketless people were still standing, and the security couldn't stop them.

On the big screen, the countdown hit zero.

All the lights in the venue went out.

In the darkness, a voice sounded.

"Three years ago, someone asked whether China could produce its own chips."

"Two years ago, someone asked whether China could catch up with the world's top tier."

"One year ago, someone asked how long Wanshang could still hold on."

Three seconds of silence.

The screen lit up.

A star rose from the bottom and hovered at the center.

That star shone brighter than ever before.

Li Yaozong walked onto the stage.

He wore a dark gray shirt with the cuffs rolled to his forearms and no tie. Below, twenty thousand pairs of eyes stared at him, and the flashlights lit up the whole arena.

He stood at the center of the stage, silent.

He simply reached into his pocket and took something out.

It was a mobile phone.

The screen was foldable; when closed it resembled a thin booklet. He gently flipped it, and the screen unfolded—7.2 inches, as thin as a sheet of paper.

Someone in the audience gasped.

Li Yaozong raised the phone toward the crowd.

"Phoenix Six."

A video began playing on the big screen.

It wasn't a flashy special‑effects promo, but a genuine laboratory recording.

In the footage, a researcher in a white lab coat stood before a microscope. He turned around and said a line to the camera.

"This is a graphene chip. The world's first one."

The camera pushed in.

Under the microscope, a sheet of material so thin it was almost transparent glimmered with an odd luster. It was neither as cold and hard as silicon nor as heavy as metal, but resembled a breathing membrane.

"Electron mobility is two hundred times that of silicon."

"Power consumption is one‑third that of silicon."

"Frequency can reach over 300 GHz."

The researcher lifted his head.

"From today onward, we no longer have to answer to anyone about chips."

The whole venue fell silent for a second.

Then applause erupted.

Li Yaozong waited for the applause to subside.

"The graphene chip, Wanshang has been developing for five years."

He paused.

"Five years, 1,826 days. One thousand seven hundred failures."

He looked at the audience.

"Today, it finally fits inside a phone."

He picked up the Phoenix Six and held it toward the crowd.

"Foldable screen, 7.2 inches, 2K resolution."

"Graphene chip, 2 GHz frequency, twice as fast as the fifth generation."

"Battery, 5,000 mAh, 30 minutes to charge to eighty percent."

"Camera, rear 30 MP, front 12 MP. Supports 8K video, night‑mode, and AI composition."

He paused again.

"Price."

Three lines of text appeared on the big screen.

Base model: 5,999

Mid model: 7,999

High model: 9,999

Another stir rippled through the audience.

Someone said, "That's so expensive?"

Someone said, "Worth it!"

Someone said, "Graphene chip, the price is reasonable."

Five

Li Yaozong waited for the discussion to die down.

"There's one more thing."

He pressed the remote, and the big screen switched to a picture.

It was a world map dotted with dozens of small red points.

The Phoenix 6, released worldwide simultaneously. Today, at this very moment, it goes on sale in thirty‑seven countries at once.

The audience below fell silent for a second.

Then thunderous applause erupted.

Some people stood up, some whistled, some raised their phones to take pictures.

Li Yaozong stood on the stage, without smiling.

He only watched those who were clapping.

He knew that this applause was not for him.

It was for those people.

For Chen Feng. For the engineers who have toiled in the lab for 1,826 days. For the researchers who failed and got back up again.

After the press conference ended, reporters surged toward the backstage.

Li Yaozong was surrounded so tightly that there was no room to move.

"President Li, can graphene chips be mass‑produced?"

"President Li, is the foldable screen durable?"

"President Li, what is the overseas pricing?"

Li Yaozong pushed outward while answering.

"Mass production. Next year capacity will be twenty million units."

"Folded two hundred thousand times without damage."

"Overseas price is twenty percent higher than domestic."

When he reached the doorway, he stopped.

He turned back to glance at those reporters.

"Everyone, the Phoenix 6 is available right now. If you want to write news, write more about this. If you want to dig into something else…"

He smiled faintly.

"Nothing else."

After speaking, he slipped into the car and drove away.

That night, the Phoenix discussion blew up online.

Tech Lao Zhang's review video, two hours after upload, surpassed twenty million views.

In the video he held the Phoenix 6 and said to the camera.

"Everyone, I've used this phone for three days. Let me give three points."

He unfolded the screen.

"First, the foldable screen. Look at this crease; it's almost invisible. How many folds? Two thousand. No change."

He pointed the phone toward the window.

"Second, the camera. This was taken in night‑scene mode. Look at the noise; it's almost none. How does it compare to a DSLR? No difference."

He placed the phone on the table.

"Third, the graphene chip. Benchmark score, one million. What does that mean? It's thirty percent higher than Apple's latest model."

He looked at the camera.

"Some say domestic products are inferior. See for yourselves."

The comments were full of praise.

"Ordered!"

"Can't get one!"

"Scalpers mark up by two thousand, really shady!"

Three days later, the first batch of data came out.

Pre‑sale volume broke five million in seventy‑two hours.

Overseas orders, 1.2 million units.

The Phoenix discussion caused unboxing videos to increase by three hundred thousand overnight.

Tech Lao Zhang posted another video.

He stood at the entrance of the Wanshang flagship store, with a long queue of several hundred people behind him.

"Everyone, look at this line. People have been queuing since four a. m."

He pointed the camera at the queue.

"There are people from Tianjin, from Hebei, from Shandong. The farthest are from Xinjiang."

He smiled at the camera.

"The Phoenix 6 has truly become a financial product."

A week later, foreign media began reporting.

The Wall Street Journal's headline read: "China's Chip Breakthrough, the Graphene Era Arrives"

The Financial Times's headline read: "Wanshang 6, Apple's Nightmare?"

The Nikkei's headline read: "Is Japan's Semiconductor Industry Falling Behind?"

The comments section turned into a clamor.

Someone said, "Impossible, graphene isn't mass‑produced yet."

Someone said, "The data won't lie."

Someone said, "China is bragging again."

But more people began asking the same question.

"Where can I buy it?"

Two weeks later, Samsung held an internal meeting.

A leaked meeting minutes showed that a Samsung executive asked a question at the meeting.

"Where did their graphene chips come from?"

No one could answer.

Apple was even more silent.

A reporter in the United States asked Cook.

"What do you think of the Phoenix 6?"

Cook smiled.

"Apple focuses on making the best products, not on watching competitors."

The reporter asked again.

"Have you used the Phoenix 6?"

Cook gave no answer.

But that night, news said that Apple personnel were already in Shenzhen.

A month later, the first user reviews came out.

On Douban, someone posted a long review.

The title was: "After Thirty Days, I Want to Say a Few Words".

The content was lengthy; the final paragraph read as follows.

"I used the Phoenix 6 for thirty days. In those thirty days, the folding screen had no issues, the battery had no issues, the chip had no issues, the camera had no issues. No problems at all."

"Thirty days ago, I bought it to support domestic products. Thirty days later, I found it truly worth the price."

"Someone said domestic products are inferior. I suggest they try it for a month before speaking."

That long review was shared hundreds of thousands of times.

At seven p. m., Li Yaozong stood alone in the office.

Outside the window, Shenzhen's night was deep.

In the distance, the Nanshan R&D Center shone brightly. In that six‑story old building, countless people were working overtime. In the underground Workshop, the lithography machine kept running. In the New Materials Laboratory, those young people were still researching next‑generation materials.

He recalled the words Chen Feng had said.

"From today onward, the chip matter no longer needs to watch others' faces."

Indeed, no need to watch any more.

But he knew this was only the beginning.

There are still 7‑nm, 5‑nm, and 3‑nm to chase.

There's also the lithography machine to iterate.

There's also new materials to explore.

The road is still long.

He stood for a long time.

Then he turned around and walked back to his desk.

He opened the computer and began reading the progress report of the Graphene Phase II Engineering.

Outside the window, the city's lights shone like dawn.