Chapter 287: The World's First 3GB Phone! 999 Yuan? Leaving No Room for Survival!

In Xucheng, the top floor of the Sky Garden, the banquet hall shimmered with brilliance.

After hearing Ma Wenteng's teasing, Huang Zhang didn't take it to heart; if Penguin can't even figure out e-commerce, how can they make phones?

But when his gaze fell on Chen Yansen, his expression froze, and his mind seemed to stall.

Given the cooperative relationship between Senlian Capital and Penguin, if Ma Wenteng were to make phones, there would indeed be a very high probability of success.

If Zhou Hongyi and Ding Lei can do it, there's no reason Ma Wenteng can't.

"You little rascal! Truly a stick stirring up shit!" Huang Zhang stared at Chen Yansen, cursing silently in his heart.

He was extremely dissatisfied with Sister Chengzi Technology's practice of sharing its mobile operating system, supply chain, and production equipment, yet he dared not provoke Chen Yansen; the only thing he could do was glare a few more times and mutter a few curses behind his back.

Although Chen Yansen hadn't released his spiritual sense, his keen sensory perception still detected someone staring at him.

He instinctively turned around and looked at Huang Zhang, which startled the other man.

Huang Zhang quickly put on a warm expression, let go of Ma Wenteng's hand, and leaned over with a smile, saying, "Mr. Chen, congratulations on Orange Phone's annual sales breaking through 20 million units, becoming the benchmark for our nation's smartphones!"

"Huang Zong, you flatter me; product quality cannot be simply judged by sales figures. Meizu, as a pioneer in the industry, has always been a role model for Sister Chengzi Technology to learn from."

Chen Yansen smiled slightly and praised him while shaking Huang Zhang's right hand.

Everyone lifts the sedan chair together; since the other party gave him face, he wouldn't let Huang Zhang's words fall to the ground.

"Meizu also hopes to establish cooperation with excellent enterprises like Sister Chengzi Technology to progress together; I am quite interested in your company's fast-charging technology patents..."

Huang Zhang had only spoken halfway when he revealed the true purpose of his visit.

"No problem; later, Huang Zong just needs to send someone to handle the liaison work for the patent licensing contract."

Chen Yansen did not refuse and readily agreed.

"Refreshing!" Huang Zhang nodded in satisfaction and praised him with a smile.

"I heard Meizu is looking for an OEM factory?" Chen Yansen asked with a hint of meaning.

Huang Zhang instantly understood his meaning and replied without hesitation, "Meizu's self-operated factory lacks sufficient capacity; I can hand over part of the MX2 OEM orders to Sister Chengzi Technology."

Only by returning a peach for a plum can there be an exchange back and forth.

Seeing that he was sensible, Chen Yansen was equally satisfied; after apologizing briefly, he arranged for Ma Wenteng and Liu Zhiping to take their seats, and only then greeted Zhou Hongyi.

"Mr. Chen, I just came to join the fun; you carry on with your work." Zhou Hongyi noticed Chen Yansen walking over, quickly stood up to welcome him, and grinned, saying.

"How were 360 Phone's sales last month?" Chen Yansen asked casually.

"About 600,000 units, more than 100,000 units higher than the Xiaomi 1s." Zhou Hongyi's voice was neither loud nor soft, just enough to drift into Lei Yi's ears.

Lei Yi looked coldly at Zhou Hongyi, appearing disdainful yet mixed with a hint of anger.

Because what Zhou Hongyi said was the truth!

The Xiaomi 1s, equipped with the MIUI system, under equal specifications and price conditions, simply could not sell as well as the 360 Phone equipped with the Aurora OS system.

How could this not make him furious!

"How far along is the development of 360's new product? The capacity at the Luhu Factory is still reserved for you." Chen Yansen asked again.

"Soon; probably by mid-September, or at the latest by the end of the month, the industrial and hardware design processes will be completed." Zhou Hongyi reported truthfully.

To obtain patent licenses for the operating system, fast charging, battery management, and other aspects, Zhou Hongyi certainly would not hide anything from Chen Yansen.

Plus, since the Orange Phone factory was the OEM for 360 Phone, there was no need for him to hide anything.

"I wish Mr. Zhou's new phone great sales in advance." Chen Yansen said with a smile on his lips, speaking from the heart.

After all, for every 360 Phone sold, Sister Chengzi Technology could earn 160 yuan in hardware price difference and patent licensing fees.

Zhou Hongyi was essentially working for him.

As for whether the phone's brand was 360 or Orange, did it matter?

Chen Yansen simply didn't care!

After dealing with Zhou Hongyi, he walked to the area where the suppliers were gathered, exchanged pleasantries one by one with representatives from over a dozen companies including Gao Tong, Sony, Desai, and BOE, before taking his seat in the first row.

"Mr. Chen, regarding the next batch of Xiaomi 1s units, I want to switch to the Aurora OS system," Lei Yi whispered from the side.

He originally intended to pursue the path of a self-developed system, but Zhou Hongyi's mockery made him unable to hold back; he would first crush 360's momentum.

"Is the MIUI system no longer being updated?" Chen Yansen asked, turning his body.

Although Aurora OS looked very popular, besides 360 and NetEase Phone, no third phone manufacturer was willing to use it.

First, hardware adaptation is difficult; Xiaomi and Sister Chengzi Technology differ in hardware design and features; even though both are customized systems based on Android, their optimization directions differ, which could very likely cause functions like camera algorithms, fast-charging technology, and screen display effects to fail, thereby affecting user experience.

NetEase and 360, from the initial design phase, made full adaptation adjustments around the Aurora OS system based on their own hardware characteristics.

Second, mobile phone systems collect information such as user habits and preferences; the value of this data is considerable, and phone manufacturers usually find it hard to give up.

Third, every customized system possesses a vast application ecosystem, including applications, games, developer communities, etc.; changing the operating system is tantamount to handing over the software profits of terminal devices to others.

"If the next version of the MIUI system still cannot match the system performance of Aurora OS, it might as well be disbanded."

Lei Yi smiled self-mockingly.

His idea was very simple: force the R&D department, and also force himself.

The sales gap between the 360 G800 Pro Shining and the Xiaomi 1s made him realize that the MIUI system's hardware compatibility and operational smoothness were far inferior to the Aurora OS system.

If you can't win, disband?

Chen Yansen looked at Zhou Hongyi, then at Lei Yi; he hadn't expected that the success of 360 Phone would cause such psychological trauma to Lei Yi.

However, he didn't take it seriously.

Words from a merchant's mouth, if not nine lies and one truth, are at least half true and half false.

Anyway, Xiaomi's flagship model is the Xiaomi Mi 2; using only the Xiaomi 1s to test market reaction won't result in much loss.

"Sure, but the Xiaomi 1s hardware needs some modifications to unleash the full-blooded performance of the Aurora OS system."

Chen Yansen didn't think much of it and nodded in agreement.

"I know, thank you, Mr. Chen." Lei Yi let out a long breath, then glared fiercely at Zhou Hongyi.

Little did he know that behind him, Meizu's Huang Zhang was also staring at him, his mouth twisted into an expression of disdain, thinking: If it weren't for me teaching him how to make phones, what the hell would he know about phones?

In the luxurious and exquisite banquet hall, everyone harbored different thoughts.

As soon as two in the afternoon arrived, the large screen in the center of the stage suddenly lit up.

A round and plump Sister Chengzi jumped into the frame, occupying the entire LED screen. Immediately after, the scene shifted, showing the headquarters building of Chengzi Technology; representatives from the AuroraOS R&D Department and the Industrial and Hardware Design Department appeared before the lens to share the creation process of the Chengzi phone.

Very rustic, yet very down-to-earth!

Especially for the fans, for the first time they learned that behind every module of the AuroraOS system lay a vast number of R&D engineers.

Some came from Tsinghua or Peking University, some from Huazhong University of Science and Technology, and there were even programmers from Nokia, Motorola, and Google.

Footage of the Chengzi phone testing shell strength was also revealed for the first time; staff used dropping, squeezing, and twisting methods to check whether the body was drop-resistant and deformation-resistant.

The simple and crude footage instantly attracted the attention of fans and the media.

Then the lens shifted again, moving from Xu City to the Shencheng phone factory, showing the audience the production and manufacturing process of the Chengzi phone.

And user experiences shared by people in Yanjing, Jin Ling, Hu City, and Shencheng, finally ending with footage of several East African users holding Chengzi phones and shouting "Orange" at the lens.

The lights flashed; Wang Teng, standing tall in a sharp suit under the spotlight, strode confidently onto the stage.

"Thank you to the more than 1,000 guests present, who traveled far and wide without sparing effort to come to Xu City and attend the Chengzi Technology Autumn new arrivals launch event. I am Wang Teng, thank you all!"

Compared to last time, Wang Teng, having once hosted an event, was obviously much more calm and composed; his hands did not tremble, his heart did not panic, and after finishing his opening remarks, he scanned from left to right with burning eyes, showing not the slightest sign of anxiety.

"Today, we will mainly introduce two new products and one intelligent voice interaction engine to everyone: the Chengzi C3 and the Green Chengzi D1S."

Wang Teng said slowly and deliberately.

Having finished speaking, he quietly pressed the remote control in his hand, and a high-definition CG image of the Chengzi C3 floated onto the large screen behind him.

Curved corner design, ultra-narrow bezels, full-screen gesture operation; no physical buttons were visible on the front of the phone.

The body was ultra-thin, measuring only 6.58 millimeters.

Placed in the 2012 phone market, it was absolutely a standout existence.

"The Chengzi C3 continues the advantages of the Chengzi C2 in high performance and high cost-performance, equipped with a Snapdragon S4 Pro quad-core chip, namely the APQ8064, adopting a 28nm manufacturing process, which helps improve performance and reduce power consumption."

"Each core can reach a maximum frequency of 1.7GHz, providing strong computing power to meet the needs of multi-tasking and running large applications; performance has increased by over 60% compared to the Snapdragon MSM8260, and power consumption has decreased by 65%."

"It integrates the Adreno 320 GPU, supports advanced graphics and computing APIs, and can bring users outstanding graphics processing capabilities and a smooth gaming experience."

While explaining, Wang Teng demonstrated the expressiveness of every performance improvement, bringing out real examples to prove it to the users.

"The main screen is a 5.5-inch BOE HD Super AMOLED screen; compared to traditional LCD screens, it has comprehensive improvements in 'image quality, energy efficiency, and form factor'; brightness can reach 800 to 1000 nits, and even under sunlight, the screen content can still be seen clearly; it also uses pixel shifting technology, greatly reducing the risk of screen burn-in."

As soon as Wang Teng finished speaking, everyone realized that the price of the Chengzi C3 was destined not to be cheap.

Just the material cost of the screen alone was 400 yuan per piece.

The chip cost was secondary; a Snapdragon APQ8064, originally bundled with a baseband at a price of 50 US dollars, but since Nvidia lowered the price of the Tegra 3 processor from 42 US dollars to 32 US dollars, Qualcomm, in order to retain KA clients, could only lower the price accordingly, giving Chengzi Technology a price of 36 US dollars per unit.

The Xiaomi Mi 2 also used the Snapdragon APQ8064 chip; just the gross profit generated by the chip price drop reached over 90 Chinese yuan per unit, adding an extra 4.6% gross margin.

Why did some phone manufacturers in 2012 hesitate for so long to increase their shipment volumes?

Was it insufficient production capacity at the contract manufacturers?

Was it a shortage of core components?

Neither!

Most were waiting for Moore's Law to drive progress, waiting for suppliers to lower prices.

Therefore, it was not about not making money, but about delaying the profit a step, earning slowly, with order, with regulation, and with quality.

Take the Chengzi C2 as an example; in January, the total material cost of the complete machine was 1,740 yuan, and now, only seven months later, it has dropped to 1,520 yuan.

Without discussing production, after-sales, sales, transportation, and other costs, just the price difference of the parts alone meant an extra profit of 220 yuan per unit.

"AuroraOS 1.4 system, 3GB RAM plus 16GB ROM internal storage configuration; perhaps some friends will ask, why did the Chengzi C3 choose 3GB of running memory? Is it trying to make money on hardware? I can answer everyone with certainty: absolutely not!"

"Because the Chengzi C3 has the Mo Si voice interaction engine built-in; to ensure users can experience the full-blooded functionality, running memory needs to be increased..."

Wang Teng added slowly.

The Chengzi C3 and the Chengzi C2 have the same cameras; still 16 million pixels for the rear camera and 5 million pixels for the front camera.

Battery capacity is 2,620 mAh, supports fast charging mode, supports 1080p full HD video playback and recording, and is equipped with components such as a gravity sensor, accelerometer, light sensor, and proximity sensor.

Wang Teng spent an hour finishing the explanation of the Chengzi C3's software ecosystem and hardware modules.

Everyone downstairs was waiting for the price to be revealed!

Lei Yi's expression was calm, a hint of secret joy flashing in his eyes; it seemed that after Chengzi Technology had established a foothold in the mobile phone industry, it still intended to assault the high-end market.

In an instant, the pressure on him dropped sharply.

Yu Chendong, Chen Yongming, Huang Zhang, Zhou Hongyi, Ding Lei, and others were also secretly calculating the material cost and final selling price of the Chengzi C3.

"2,899 yuan!"

Wang Teng pressed the controller, and the scene on the screen behind him switched accordingly.

The 32GB version of the Chengzi C3 is priced at 3,199 yuan, and the 64GB version is 3,699 yuan.

This price is far lower than the launch prices of the Apple 4S, Samsung Galaxy Note 2, and HTC One X, and is slightly higher by four hundred yuan than the Meizu MX2 and OPPO Finder.

"This should be the world's first smartphone with 3GB RAM."

Yu Chendong couldn't help but sigh.

Generally speaking, 2GB of RAM is enough; apps in 2012 did not occupy much memory, but Wang Teng also gave a series of reasons: to ensure the experience of the intelligent interaction system, AI imaging, and AI search engine.

Lingxi Browser and Lingxi Search made their debut for the first time, becoming built-in software for the Chengzi phone.

With the shipment volume of the Chengzi phone, within a year, it could bring them over 10% of the market share.

Next, Wang Teng continued to introduce the Green Chengzi D1S.

The original name of this phone was Chengzi D1S, considered an upgraded version of the Chengzi D1, but after Zhou Shouzhi joined Chengzi Technology, they distinguished between the high-end and low-end series.

The hardware configuration of the Green Chengzi D1S did not change much, but they were all core components; for example, the 4.0-inch TFT screen was changed to a 4.5-inch one, and the 512MB running memory was upgraded to 1GB.

"What is the price of the Green Chengzi D1S?"

Wang Teng deliberately paused for three seconds before continuing: "999 yuan!"

Fuck!

How much?

Yu Chendong, Lei Yijun, Zhou Hongyi, and the others instantly stiffened, staring rigidly at Wang Teng.

This fucking thing leaves no way out at all!

Mei Zu opened his mouth, really wanting to pick up the bench and smash it at Chen Yansen.

(End of chapter)