Chapter 257: One Million Units of ODM Order! Hammer Tech Is Founded!

"Mr. Chen, the ODM order for 360 phones has been sent to Cai Jingming at the Lucheng factory."

Zhou Hongyi spoke with unmistakable delight, pausing before adding, "Mr. Chen, thank you."

He knew full well that neither 360 nor Huawei could sell fifty thousand units in stock and 86, 00 pre-orders on launch day alone.

360G800Pro's rapid market reception came from Yunsu Express's pre-positioned warehouse delivery model, combined with AuroraOS and the battery management system, which greatly alleviated Android phones' lag and overheating issues.

The supply chain quality of Orange Tech also clearly surpassed Haier's.

At least the black screen problem hadn't reappeared!

"Congratulations, Mr. Zhou. What's the total pre-order volume now?" Chen Yansen asked casually, catching the pride in Zhou Hongyi's tone.

The more 360 phones sold, the more Orange Tech earned.

No one dislikes someone who makes money for them!

"114, 00 units, plus the fifty thousand units already sold, I estimate total sales over two days will exceed two hundred thousand units," Zhou Hongyi replied with a smile.

This result still lagged behind Orange Phone, but matched Xiaomi's performance exactly.

The 2012 mobile market was that surreal—users, faced with extreme cost-performance, didn't care about brand or system compatibility.

If it was cheap, they'd buy it!

Even four-SIM, four-waiting, blinking-light phones like Big Pineapple and Big Banana had once swept the market; it was no surprise 360 phones sold two hundred thousand units.

There's no product that won't sell—only a price that won't work.

After all, a few years later, Meitu's photo-editing phones would sell millions of units.

Chen Yansen chatted with Zhou Hongyi for a while, then hung up after ten minutes.

He casually opened his email and found a copy from Cai Jingming: the ODM order volume: one million units!

Zhou Hongyi had confidence in himself and wasn't afraid of being stuck with inventory.

Chen Yansen snorted, but didn't take it seriously—this order would bring Orange Phone's factory 160 million yuan in revenue.

He wished there were more people like Zhou Hongyi.

Meanwhile,

First came Chen Yansen, then Zhou Hongyi.

At this moment, the mobile industry gave off a false impression: "fools with money, hurry up and come."

A group of people were stirring: NetEase's Ding Lei, Ding Xiuhong of Dakele, Wang Xiaoyan of Xiao Jiaolao, and Luo Yonghao, who publicly declared his intent to make phones.

Logically, making phones had nothing to do with a teacher, but Luo Yonghao didn't think so.

Chen Yansen was a college graduate who'd started in e-commerce; Zhou Hongyi had built his fortune on 3721's rogue software. If both could do it, why not him?

Especially after his visit to Xiaomi's headquarters last November and his conversation with Lei Zong—he became even more convinced that making phones wasn't hard.

So on May 2nd, Luo Yonghao publicly announced on Weibo: Hammer Tech was officially founded, starting with customized Android systems, then phones.

Implicitly: I'm broke—investors, hurry up and come.

When Lei Zong heard this, he first froze, then helplessly shook his head—he hadn't expected the smartphone race to turn this chaotic in just a year.

Last year, he'd invited Luo Yonghao to visit Xiaomi intending to leverage his influence in internet and tech circles to promote Xiaomi phones.

But Luo Yonghao had misunderstood—he thought Xiaomi wanted him to join.

As a result, Lei Zong sat in his office listening to Luo Yonghao's lengthy opinions on the phone industry, and his advice to adjust Xiaomi's product planning: "Making phones requires focus on design and user experience."

Lei Zong had wanted to stand up and leave, but out of politeness, he patiently endured Luo Yonghao's grandiose speech.

But he soon regretted it—he should've ended this meaningless conversation sooner.

If phones were made according to Luo Yonghao's ideas, material costs alone would be 1, 00 to 2, 00 yuan—what price would he set?

Three thousand yuan? Four thousand yuan?

This was pure nonsense!

Lei Zong only wanted to make high-performance, high-cost-performance mid-to-low-end phones. Whether to make high-end phones at all, or whether it was feasible, he'd need to wait at least two or three more years.

After Xiaomi was firmly established in the mobile industry.

After returning home, Luo Yonghao thought all night and decided his philosophy clashed with Lei Zong's—better to make phones himself than join Xiaomi.

Lei Zong didn't know that his attempt to recruit a brand director for Xiaomi hadn't worked—and instead had cultivated a potential rival, igniting Luo Yonghao's dream of making phones.

"Mr. Lei, preparations for the Xiaomi Mi2 and Xiaomi 1S are complete. When should we hold the product launch?"

Li Wanqiang from marketing walked in, interrupting Lei Zong's thoughts.

"Have you communicated with Mr. Chen of Orange Tech?" Lei Zong asked slowly, snapping back to attention.

"Yes, the product design, technical specs, BOM, and quality standards documents have all been sent to them," Li Wanqiang pulled out a chair and sat down.

"Total sales of Xiaomi's first-generation phone are still under five million units—far below initial expectations. According to the original launch plan, Mi2 and 1S shouldn't hit the market this early."

Lei Zong sighed, filled with frustration.

Altogether, Xiaomi's first-gen phone had sold for only eight months; once the new models launched, it would likely be discontinued.

In the mobile industry, an eight-month lifecycle wasn't short—even Apple's golden sales period typically lasted only a year.

But the key issue was Xiaomi's low sales—averaging just over half a million units per month, five to six times less than Orange Phone.

"Mr. Lei, the market environment is changing too fast. Moving too slowly lets competitors overtake us. Also, 360 Phone's specs and pricing have heavily impacted first-gen Xiaomi sales—yesterday's total online sales were only ten thousand units."

Li Wanqiang urged.

The later the new product launch, the worse it was for Xiaomi.

"Set it for May 8th—good symbolism. I hope these two new products bring Xiaomi a fresh turn."

Lei Zong frowned, fell silent for a moment, then gave his answer.

"Understood, Mr. Lei. Should we invite Mr. Yu of Huawei?"

Li Wanqiang asked further.

The day before, Yu Chendong hadn't joined the Weibo battle, but had still been mocked mercilessly.

No major conflict, but meeting would still be awkward.

"I'll handle it myself," Lei Zong said—he planned to call Yu Chendong personally to apologize and ease tensions.

In fact, in 2012, Lei Zong was still a Huawei fan, often interacting with Yu Chendong on Weibo and praising Huawei's products.

Just as Luo Yonghao, at this moment, was still a Mi Fan—even though he felt his business philosophy clashed with Lei Zong's, it didn't stop him from liking Xiaomi's product.

The next morning, Luo Yonghao received an invitation to Xiaomi 2's launch event—at the 798 Art District in Yanjing.

He didn't overthink it and immediately decided to attend.

On one hand, Luo Yonghao wanted to closely examine Xiaomi's new product; on the other, he could gather more supplier resources at the launch to prepare for Hammer Phone's next steps.

On the other side,

Chen Yansen put down his phone, thought briefly, and decided to travel to Yanjing.

Compared to Xiaomi 2's launch, his more important purpose was to inspect Gao De and ByteDance.

Although Xiao Jun and Zhang Yiming were both his own picked subordinates, human hearts change; managing subsidiaries required not just financial control, but also strengthened on-site oversight and strategic command.

Chen Yansen understood that sitting in an office reviewing reports could never reveal a project's true operational struggles—the hidden contradictions and team disunity buried beneath the data could only be sensed by being there in person.

He planned to spend two days holding in-depth talks with mid- and senior-level managers, then establish a real-time feedback mechanism with frontline staff via internal forums, office software, and email.

If any anomaly arose in the subsidiaries, he needed to know immediately, to prevent sudden crises from disrupting his business layout.

In the following days, Pinbei staff worked frantically for the 618 promotion, while Orange Tech prepared for its autumn product launch.

Chen Yansen boarded a plane and flew to Yanjing once again.

(End of Chapter)