Chapter 143: Pre-sales Hit 1.2 Million! If 360 Makes Phones, Could I Still

"327,000 units?"

The next morning, Chen Yansen sat in his office, nodded in satisfaction after hearing the marketing department's work report.

It seems launching pre-sales before Xiaomi was a wise move.

Not only did we snatch the 'King of Cost-Performance' title from the Xiaomi phone, but we also stepped on HTC and Shanzhai, ruthlessly grabbing a wave of traffic.

"Yesterday's 12-hour cumulative pre-sales reached 203,000 units; as of 9:10 today, another 124,000 units have been sold," a marketing department employee added.

"Alright, noted." Chen Yansen waved his hand, signaling the other person to leave.

Immediately after, Wang Teng walked in holding a computer, pushing the door open: "Brother Sen, you wanted to see me?"

He thought Chen Yansen wanted to know about the development progress, so he asked with a smile.

"How is the feedback on Aurora 1.2 version?"

After Wang Teng sat down, Chen Yansen opened his mouth and asked.

"Judging from the collected user experience, the cleaning efficiency is more than three times that of the 1.0 algorithm; even for phones with only 512MB of RAM, as long as the system is flashed to AuroraOS, smoothness can be greatly improved."

Wang Teng replied with a smile.

"I want to transfer you to the marketing department; what do you think?"

Chen Yansen made a sound of agreement, then got straight to the point.

"Uh, Brother Sen, I'm a product manager..." Wang Teng instinctively refused; in his view, he was technical personnel and couldn't do the work of a functional department.

"You're only 24 this year; don't set limits on your life. Your original background and position don't matter; what's key is what you're suited for."

Chen Yansen ignored Wang Teng's refusal and continued to insist.

But I've never done marketing or similar work; I have zero experience.

Wang Teng complained inwardly, looking helpless.

"Mainly because there's no one I can trust to manage the marketing department over there; I'm not at ease, understand?"

Seeing Wang Teng somewhat resistant, Chen Yansen explained with a smile.

"Can I continue to handle product R&D work at the same time?" Wang Teng asked tentatively.

"As long as you can handle it, I don't mind." Chen Yansen shrugged, saying indifferently.

"Brother Sen, what about the salary?" Wang Teng grinned, rubbing his fingers together.

"We'll go by the Marketing Director's treatment; don't even think about getting two salaries." Chen Yansen said impatiently.

"Then I'll go get to work." Wang Teng knew when to stop, walking out cheerfully.

He was puzzled in his heart, not knowing why Chen Yansen suddenly wanted to transfer him to the marketing department; if it was dissatisfaction, the Marketing Director's monthly salary was at least 50,000, far better than his current income of 30,000.

If it was satisfaction, he was doing well in his product position, yet they insisted on transferring him; now he was fine, holding two jobs, enough to keep him busy.

Chen Yansen didn't care about Wang Teng's thoughts.

In his view, more than ten years later, Lei Bu could place Wang Teng in the positions of General Manager of Xiaomi's Marketing Department and General Manager of the Redmi brand, which proved Wang Teng had this capability.

And Wang Teng in 2011 certainly lacked much in experience and ability, but the other party at least had potential in this regard.

Lei Yijun could cultivate people like that; he, Chen Yansen, could do the same!

The next day, Sister Chengzi phone pre-sales reached 234,000 units!

The third day happened to be Monday; white-collar workers returned to their offices, and pre-sales grew against the trend, breaking through 273,000 units!

On the other side.

Cao Dahua and Zuo Hongyu, stationed at the Sister Chengzi phone factory, were still waiting for news.

With pre-sales reaching a high of 710,000 units, the shipping dates on the Sister Chengzi Shangcheng were already booked a month ahead.

"Brother Hua, has the flaw in the back cover assembly process been resolved?"

In the office, Zuo Hongyu lifted a cup of black tea, took a sip, and asked Cao Dahua.

"Yesterday, the R&D center sent over the latest back cover design drawings; I had the workshop try it, and the problem of uneven gaps is fixed; we're just waiting for Boss Chen to issue the production order."

Cao Dahua was also drinking tea, saying listlessly.

The few outsourcing orders the factory took were nearing completion; with over 600 employees, they were about to go on holiday, so naturally, the two of them were anxious.

But Chen Yansen was cautious in his work, insisting on waiting for the usage feedback from over 300 engineering machine users before confirming there were no issues and agreeing to mass production.

"I don't know how Boss Chen's brain is wired; doing business is as simple as drinking water; we've been in this industry for over ten years, yet he easily outmaneuvers us; now even the bosses in Huaqiangbei want to transform into making smartphones."

Zuo Hongyu sighed, speaking with a smile.

A 19-year-old college student, first time touching the phone industry, selling a terrifying 710,000 units in just three days of launch.

It's easy to create the illusion that making smartphones is simple; if I did it, I could do it too!

Driven by this wave of trends, things like Little Chili, Banana, Little Guava, and Lychee phones were all registering, planning to carve out a share in the 'Fruit' smartphone market.

Little did they know that rashly transforming would become the final straw breaking these people.

Smartphones seem simple; slap on an Android system, gather the supply chain, and you can start work, but the pitfalls in system optimization and hardware design are far more numerous than with Shanzhai phones.

"Ding-dong—!"

The landline on the table suddenly rang!

The two exchanged glances; Zuo Hongyu said, "Brother Hua, you answer!"

"Hello! Okay, start work immediately!"

Cao Dahua picked up the phone, answered once, hummed a few times, and his smile grew wider and wider, almost reaching behind his ears.

"Can we start work?" Zuo Hongyu asked excitedly.

"Have the production manager arrange it layer by layer, from production supervisors down to team leaders, according to the established production plan!"

Cao Dahua hung up the phone and announced with great energy.

Back then, when he failed at making phones and left Shencheng in disgrace, it was because his brain was full of wild ideas; he wanted to make smartphones in 2005, going against the times, and ultimately had no good ending.

The result was that the phones produced, before going bankrupt, sold only over 1,000 units; not only did he lose all his savings, but he also lost Cao Dahua's confidence to make a comeback.

Later, through connections, he slipped into Void City Academy and became an entrepreneurship instructor who spent his days drinking tea and slacking off.

"Great, we're finally on the right track!" Zuo Hongyu beamed, and rushed out in high spirits.

Before long, the entire A3 Sister Chengzi factory received production orders.

First batch: one million units!

For the workers, the more orders the factory got, the more overtime they put in, and only then could they earn a higher income.

"I only took home 3,500 yuan last month. Good thing I didn't run off — I gritted my teeth and stuck it out."

Li Yunzhu grinned sheepishly, relieved he'd made the right choice.

His forty-plus days at the Sister Chengzi phone factory had been the most comfortable stretch of his working life — room and board included, and the cafeteria meals weren't bad either.

Overtime pay was calculated by the minute, and weekday and weekend overtime were actually paid according to labor law.

He figured the boss was crazy — giving assembly-line workers such good treatment, how could he possibly make money?

Still, he personally loved this kind of fool boss: light work, high pay — who wouldn't be happy?

Upon receiving the order, the Sister Chengzi phone factory started production immediately.

After Cao Dahua discussed it with Zhang Jing, they decided to launch the second hiring plan, recruiting another 600 people to max out the production line's capacity.

In no time, a long interview line had formed again at the gate of Zhongsha Tech Park.

Meanwhile.

Users who got their hands on the first batch of engineering units began posting photos on the Sister Chengzi community and Weibo, sharing their hands-on impressions.

After all, with flagship-level specs and strong performance, mainstream mobile games on the market all ran smoothly.

Add to that Aurora OS's personalized themes, icons, and ringtones, and users were having a blast.

Getting a smartphone with a 4.5-inch screen, 1+8GB memory, 8-megapixel camera, and Snapdragon S3 processor for 1,999 yuan — it was almost unthinkable!

With any other brand, it would sell for at least 3,999 yuan!

The full-screen gesture controls took some getting used to at first, but once past the adjustment phase, you'd find that operating efficiency noticeably improved.

Also, quite a few people noticed that the latest Aurora OS 1.1 was markedly more efficient at memory management and junk cleanup.

Phones with the same specs would lag and stutter after opening multiple apps, but the Sister Chengzi phone didn't have that problem at all.

It would automatically clear out background apps and junk files every 15 minutes, based on the order in which the user used them.

By the end of the day, the phone not only didn't lag, but even the heating issue was relatively mild.

That was because the Sister Chengzi phone's back cover used an aluminum alloy material, paired with a vapor chamber, which could quickly conduct internal heat to the stainless steel back cover, and then dissipate it into the air.

Greatly boosting cooling efficiency!

Of course, the Sister Chengzi phone had its flaws — namely, the 8-megapixel camera's photo performance was underwhelming: poor image quality and slow focusing.

But at a price of 1,999 yuan, that little blemish was well within users' tolerance.

Some phone enthusiasts and tech bloggers began paying a premium on the Sister Chengzi community to snag engineering-version sample units.

Pre-orders required waiting at least a week, sometimes a whole month.

The Sister Chengzi phone was the hot topic — to ride the traffic, you had to spend money.

When Chen Yansen learned of this, he gave a wry smile. To make money and pass on the humanitarian torch, he had prepared far more thoroughly than Lei Yi's army.

The cash on hand alone was enough to cover the materials for 500,000 phones, and since many suppliers settled on a quarterly basis, he wasn't under much financial pressure.

So he didn't copy Lei Bus and play the "hunger marketing" game — he just opened up sales outright.

With the Sister Chengzi phone factory's annual capacity of over five million units, there was no need to worry about production capacity in the early stage.

But scalpers still showed up, which caught him off guard.

By the time he set off for Yanjing to attend the Xiaomi new products launch, pre-orders for the Sister Chengzi phone had broken the 1.2 million mark, making it the first hit handset of the second half of 2011.

Fox Tao seized the opportunity, with August sales smashing past three billion, becoming the undisputed ruler of the domestic guide e-commerce industry.

Even Apple, across the Pacific, before the iPhone 4S launch, was weighing whether to give up a few points of profit and use Fox Tao's channels to sell their new products in Hua country.

An e-commerce site that could sell high-priced goods meant its users were extremely high-value.

Outside estimates of Fox Tao kept climbing. Although everyone knew it had ridden the Sister Chengzi phone's buzz, every completed order was real and couldn't be faked.

"Vankel sold six million on Fox Tao last month. I think the pricing is too high. Vankel's business people even said I don't understand products — no wonder their 10 billion yuan sales target has only hit two billion so far. They sure understand products, but sadly they don't understand users."

On the plane, Song Yuncheng muttered a quiet complaint.

"Chen Nian probably just isn't cut out for sales," Chen Yansen remarked coolly.

Vankel had taken off for three reasons: riding the e-commerce wave, facing little competition, and big brother Lei Yi's army's support.

But in an era when Peach Treasure and JingDong were on a frenzied land grab, it was about to fall apart.

Gao Weilin sat to one side, his full attention on Lotte's reply email.

Upon learning Fox Tao's monthly sales had broken three billion, Lotte responded with the utmost sincerity, preparing to conduct an on-site inspection.

Gao Weilin finished reading, glanced at his own boss, then put on his headphones and started watching a movie.

Work was important, but keeping the boss comfortable was even more important.

He wasn't an unperceptive person — he'd been liaising with Lotte for months now, so a few minutes' delay in reporting wouldn't matter.

When Lei Yi's army learned the Sister Chengzi phone had broken 1.2 million units in sales, he couldn't help but draw a sharp breath.

He understood: Xiaomi would either ride this east wind and soar straight up, or become Sister Chengzi's sacrificial lamb and end up as a footnote.

"That kid's not exactly kind-hearted — he went back from the Xiaomi R&D center and founded Sister Chengzi Tech right away. Tsk tsk tsk."

Zhou Hongyi, sitting across from Lei Yi's army, shook his head as he commented.

"The market's this big, and I can't exactly stop others from making phones. Besides, Chen Yansen is a decent guy — better to have one more friend than one more enemy. If 360 makes phones, am I supposed to fall out with you over it?"

Lei Yi's army said magnanimously.

"Really?"

Zhou Hongyi pressed instinctively. Seeing Chen Yansen's great success, he too began toying with the idea of entering the phone business.

A 19-year-old college student from an e-commerce industry that had nothing to do with his previous field succeeded; why couldn't Old Zhou do it?

"..."

Lei Yi stared at Zhou Hongyi, as if judging the truth of his words.

"Old Zhou, you..."

After a while, Lei Yi asked.

"Just kidding, you didn't take it seriously, did you?" Zhou Hongyi laughed it off and brushed it aside.

(End of this chapter)