Chapter 280: Global Sales of 2.09 Million Units

On the first day of August, midsummer, fine rain fell like silk, drifting gently down.

Chen Yansen slowly opened his eyes, walked from the bedroom to the living room, glanced out the window, then turned and went into the bathroom to brush his teeth and wash his face.

Five minutes later, he sat slouched on the sofa with a copy of A Brief History of Energy, flipping through it idly while his mind churned over other matters.

Fast Taxi's Series B funding was nearly finalized; once the formal agreement was signed, business registration updated, and funds received, expansion could accelerate again.

Cheng Wei, building on Kuai's "Thousand People, Hundred Cities" plan, refined it into a tailored city-entry strategy for Fast Taxi.

To compete for market share and territory, you needed strong troops and solid equipment.

In no time, Fast Taxi's recruitment ads flooded every corner.

The homepages of Qiancheng, ZhiLian, and Yingcai websites all displayed Fast Taxi's recruitment posters, covering positions in technology, operations, marketing, data, and risk control.

They simultaneously launched campus recruitment across East China, targeting top universities like Fudan, Jiaotong, Zhejiang, and Huazhong University of Science and Technology, down to second-tier schools like Luzhou College and Jinling University of Finance and Economics—nearly every institution covered.

Although Fast Taxi wasn't a tech giant, its backing by Senlian Capital and its comprehensive compensation and benefits system made it extremely attractive to graduates.

As soon as the news broke, many recent graduates began preparing their resumes.

After securing footholds in Luzhou, Shanghai, Jinling, and Hangcheng, Kuai extended its operations across the entire Hui'an Province, from Xiangcheng in the north to Huizhou in the south, including Xucheng—all brought under its sphere of influence.

Though it had not yet tapped into rural markets, with 16 prefecture-level cities and a population exceeding 60 million, Kuai's daily order volume surged past three million.

Once Hui'an's market potential was fully unlocked, Kuai's nationwide daily order volume could easily reach five, six, or even eight million.

To provide sufficient delivery capacity, Kuai's rider workforce needed to expand to at least 100, 00.

With no competitors in sight, Kuai surged ahead in the food delivery industry.

Pei Yi planned to center operations in Luzhou, Jinling, Hangcheng, and Shanghai, aiming to cover Hui'an, Sujiang, and Jiang-Zhe regions within six months, breaking the ten-million daily order mark.

Meanwhile, Meituan and Dazhong Dianping had both announced their entry into the food delivery market; though their products weren't live yet, they posed a potential threat—Kuai had to prepare.

Chen Yansen and Pei Yi had discussed it and agreed that Liu Qiangdong's approach worked well; after all, group-buying was to Kuai what books were to Jingdong.

If Liu Qiangdong could crush Dangdang and Li Guoqing, Pei Yi would crush Wang Xin and Meituan the same way.

This tactic seemed ruthless, but Liu Qiangdong had used it repeatedly with success—clearly, it was devastatingly effective.

Moreover, Meituan's legendary field army leader, Shan Jiawei, had already been swindled away to Lashou. om.

WeChat and QQ's secondary traffic entrances would also be opened to Kuai and Fast Taxi.

Wang Xin's strongest three killer moves had been neutralized in one fell swoop—two of them gone.

Meituan still wanted to fight back in food delivery?

Let them survive Lashou's assault first!

When Chen Yansen snapped back to reality, A Brief History of Energy had reached its final page; outside, the slanting wind and fine rain had washed away the summer's heat entirely.

He gestured with his hand—the fridge opened automatically, and a bottle of milk and a croissant flew into his palm.

As he ate breakfast, Chen Yansen pondered Gaode Map's commercial monetization pathways.

When Senlian Capital took over Gaode, its user base was 40 million; after Xiao Jun announced its free policy, growth exploded—by end of July, Gaode Map's users exceeded 95 million, just one step shy of 100 million.

Fast Taxi and Gaode Map's business models were naturally complementary, forming a perfect ecological loop.

Simply adding a "Ride-Hail" option to Gaode Map's navigation features would generate massive order volume for Fast Taxi.

Gaode could also take a commission, boosting its profitability.

Kuai, Fast Taxi, and Gaode Map possessed inherent synergies; integrating home delivery, in-store services, and destination transport would create a self-reinforcing cycle.

Time slipped by minute by minute—before he knew it, it was eight o'clock.

"Human Dao Ember +109839!"

"Human Dao Ember +16817!"

"Human Dao Ember +8249!"

A string of translucent text flashed rapidly before Chen Yansen's eyes; the system panel soon displayed 121, 81 strands of Human Dao Ember, enough to synthesize 1, 10 Divine Dao Embers.

"Synthesize! Allocate points!"

Chen Yansen was already adept at this; within seconds, his mental stat rose from 73. 4 to 85. 4.

His spiritual sense expanded further—from a radius of over seventeen meters to over eighteen meters—everything around him now lay under his control.

The simple sketch in his mind grew increasingly detailed; even the vein patterns of the locust tree leaves downstairs were clearly visible.

Regrettably, the world seen through spiritual sense remained monochrome.

"Let's test the maximum weight I can control."

Chen Yansen glanced at a stack of dumbbell plates on the desk and muttered to himself.

Suddenly, a 10-kilogram plate floated up, then a second, then a third—totaling 30 kilograms—but he still felt he had more capacity.

A fourth 10-kilogram plate wobbled free from gravity and finally hovered steadily in midair.

Only then did Chen Yansen feel the "heavy" weight—as if a massive boulder pressed down on his head.

When he tried to lift a fifth plate, it became noticeably harder; he managed to raise it a few centimeters before it crashed back onto the floor with a thud.

Clearly, 50 kilograms exceeded his limit.

Chen Yansen turned his attention to the 5-kilogram plates—but to his surprise, he failed again.

He switched to 2. kilograms—failed; then 1. 5 kilograms—barely managed to lift it.

"So, the maximum weight I can control is around 41. 5 kilograms."

Chen Yansen smiled faintly, murmuring under his breath.

Just one more enhancement, and even Meng Jie could be lifted.

Chen Yansen glanced at his watch—only ten minutes had passed. He picked up his car keys and walked straight out.

At the first floor, before stepping into the rain, he extended a spiritual barrier two meters in diameter; rainwater flowed around him, not a single drop touching his body.

Flies and mosquitoes couldn't approach; rain didn't cling to him!

This bizarre sight vanished into the misty drizzle, nearly invisible to ordinary people.

Chen Yansen got into the driver's seat of his Bentley and drove toward the tech park.

Elsewhere, near the South Second Ring Road in Baohe District, Luzhou, a construction site spanning 470, 00 square meters buzzed with activity: excavators, loaders, and bulldozers worked nonstop; workers demolished existing structures and vegetation, leveled the ground, and erected fencing and warning signs.

A sign hung over the gate: "Orange Tech Luzhou Headquarters Construction Project!"

"My god, this is huge! My dragon scales, this much land—how many buildings are they going to build? Orange Tech really has money."

A local passerby looked up, astonished.

"I wonder when it'll be finished? My son's studying computer science at Luzhou Engineering College—if he can get a job at Orange Tech someday, that'd be perfect." Another passerby stopped, eyes filled with longing.

It's said that for people from Hui'an, adulthood means a bus ticket to Jiangsu-Zhejiang-Shanghai; who would leave home if they could make a living there?

Not just Hui'an—Henan, Sichuan, Guizhou, Guangdong, Hubei, Xijiang—all major labor-exporting provinces faced the same reality.

"Orange Phone sold over ten million units last year—they must've made a fortune. My nephew works at the Orange Phone factory screwing in bolts—he takes home seven or eight thousand a month. The benefits are amazing."

"Seven or eight thousand a month? I don't believe it!"

"Egyptian, do you believe it?"

"What the hell is wrong with you?"

"My dragon scales, are you a troll reincarnated? So good at arguing—why don't you go argue with steel bars?"

"Oh come on, young man, talk nicely!"

An elderly man, seeing the two men about to brawl, rushed forward to mediate.

News of Orange Tech building its headquarters in Luzhou spread quickly—students studying in Luzhou rejoiced, all hoping to join Orange Tech after graduation.

After all, a job offering five insurances and one fund, housing subsidies, meal allowances, transportation subsidies, overtime pay, quarterly bonuses, free health checkups, supplemental medical insurance, and a travel fund—no one wouldn't covet it.

Meanwhile.

Chen Yansen drove into Zhuxianzhuang Tech Park, parked his car, and entered Building No. 9, where Orange Tech was located.

"Good morning, Boss!" the receptionist chirped sweetly.

This girl, Tian Tian, had been hired by Wang Xueting—a 2008 graduate of the Hotel Management program at Xuyuan College. True to her name, she was tall and pretty, often wearing black thigh-high stockings.

Chen Yansen glanced sideways—today she was wearing white.

"Boss, I've sent you the July overseas sales data for the Alexa smart speaker."

At that moment, Wang Teng walked up from behind, greeting his boss as soon as he saw him.

"Good. Have the overseas users' complaints been resolved?" Chen Yansen tore his gaze from the white stockings and turned to Wang Teng.

The Mos Smart Speaker sold domestically for 799 Huayuan; the Alexa Smart Speaker retailed for $199 in Europe and America. No one noticed at first—but a week ago, a YouTube blogger posted a video ranting: "Orange Tech is practicing price discrimination."

The Mos and Alexa Smart Speakers were essentially the same product.

To address this, Chen Yansen had instructed Wang Teng to register official YouTube and Facebook accounts and post an explanation.

First, tariffs, VAT, and other taxes;

Second, the voice interaction systems in both devices used different algorithm models with differing training costs;

Third, their software ecosystems differed—licensing fees for music, search, map, and Q&A apps varied.

"Only a few small influencers are complaining—it hasn't affected Alexa sales at all. Daily sales over the past week have stayed between 35, 00 and 40, 00 units."

Wang Teng shrugged dismissively.

In plain terms, if overseas users thought the Alexa Smart Speaker was too expensive, no one forced them to buy the Mos Smart Speaker.

"Better safe than sorry—watch the public sentiment too. Amazon, Google, and Microsoft all want to enter the smart speaker market; one day, they might stab us in the back."

Chen Yansen nodded slightly and warned.

"Understood, Boss." Wang Teng bowed his head in reply.

Then the two walked toward the elevator together.

As they walked, Wang Teng mentioned that the engineering prototypes of the Orange C3 and Orange D1S had completed hardware, system, and scenario simulations—he asked Chen Yansen when to hold the product launch.

It had been over half a year since the Orange C2 and Orange D1 went on sale; according to the typical 8-to-12-month product lifecycle for smartphones, it was time for a new release.

"August 18th," Chen Yansen said offhandedly.

Similar to the spring product launch, this time it's still a high-end plus low-end strategy, with the mid-range market handed over to the discounted Orange C1.

Within just one year of launch, smartphones with 1GB+8GB storage had their prices driven down to 1, 99 yuan by Xiaomi, 360, NetEase, Shengda, and Ali.

The Orange C1's price also dropped from 1, 99 yuan to 1, 99 yuan; as the king of phones in 2011, it remained competitive in 2012, with total shipments reaching 4. million units in the first half, and rising to 4. million units after July sales.

Wang Teng replied, "Then I'll book the venue first and send out invitations to suppliers, competitors, news media, and fans."

Chen Yansen nodded and said bluntly, "Handle it however you see fit."

Wang Teng had previously hosted a product launch, and Ye Qiuping's Brand Department would also assist the Marketing Department.

Back in his office, Chen Yansen turned on his computer, opened his email, and began processing work; soon he saw the sales summary report sent by Wang Teng.

Alexa smart speaker sales: 294, 00 units in June, 1. 73 million in July, totaling 1. 67 million units, with revenue of $312 million.

But judging from the sales growth trend, market capacity is limited; daily sales have dropped to just over 30, 00 units, estimating total annual consumption at 6 million units, with projected annual revenue reaching $1. billion.

For a smart speaker, this sales performance had already met Chen Yansen's expectations.

Although the Mos Smart Speaker launched a week earlier, its total sales for June and July amounted to only 529, 00 units—less than a fraction of overseas sales.

"It seems the market isn't mature enough."

Chen Yansen leaned back, silently pondering.

The second email was from Xiao Jun: Gaode Map's latest version was released on July 31, adding Kuai's Taxi and Kuai Run services to its feature section, besides updating the UI.

On launch day, it generated 83, 00 orders for Kuai's Taxi and 19, 00 orders for Kuai Run, demonstrating astonishing traffic monetization capability.

Judging from the results, Kuai's Taxi's service aligned better with Gaode Map.

Users first navigated, then used the taxi service—the business chain was complete.

With Gaode Map's support, Didi's market share shrank again, leaving Cheng Wei anxious and unable to sleep all night.

The next morning, he went straight to Baidu's headquarters and met Liang Zhixiang.

"You want to embed Didi's service into Baidu Maps?" Liang Zhixiang's eyes lit up—this plan was brilliant, instantly linking navigation with destination delivery services.

(End of Chapter)