Chapter 331: Is Ma Liyun Crazy? The First Slash Unleashed! Xiao Ai Tongxue Launching Soon!

In late autumn, the academic avenue was blanketed with withered, yellowing paulownia leaves.

A gust of wind swept through, sending the leaves swirling across the sky.

As Chen Yansen drove past, he could still hear the cleaning staff grumbling incessantly: "We have to sweep them every single day; when will these leaves ever finish falling?"

The man waved a broom over a meter long, looking up at the half-sky; what students saw as the aesthetic beauty of the paulownia was, for him, a 'torture instrument' that made him suffer unbearably.

No wonder the paulownia trees in Chunshen were replaced with camphor trees a few years later.

Chen Yansen glanced out the window, thinking silently to himself.

Shortly after, an Aston Martin Rapide slowly drove out of the eastern gate of the Void Courtyard and sped toward the direction of the Technology Park.

The autumn in northern Hui'an was grim and desolate; the birch trees lining the streets were bare, with only a few scattered leaves remaining on the branches.

Within moments, Chen Yansen parked the car, walked straight into Building No. 9, took the elevator to the office floor, and sat down.

The Human Dao Torch for October had arrived in the account; adding the remaining 49 threads from September, the total was 163,146 threads, enough to synthesize 1,631 threads of Divine Dao Torch.

"Add points!"

With a thought, a wisp of golden mist as thick as a wrist materialized out of thin air and instantly darted into his brow.

Unlike the Human Dao Torch, the Divine Dao Torch caused no stinging sensation, whether cold or hot, when strengthening the physique or spirit; there was only extreme comfort.

In just a few breaths, the physique stat rose to 47.47!

There was no visible change on the outside, but Chen Yansen knew very well that his basic physiological functions, including strength, speed, endurance, and physical density, were rapidly transforming.

The five senses evolved again; vision, smell, and hearing underwent massive changes; standing by the window, he could even see the antennae of an ant three kilometers away.

His weight reached 134 kilograms!

Yet his build still looked like that of someone weighing around 80 kilograms!

The density, toughness, and hardness of his bones, tendons, blood, and flesh were all increasing!

Chen Yansen raised his hand and grabbed a handful of air, which actually produced a piercing sonic boom; his fingers moved so fast that to an ordinary person, they could probably only barely see a afterimage.

"Throwing in over a hundred thousand threads of Human Dao Torch really does make a difference."

Feeling the abundant physical energy and vitality, Chen Yansen muttered with considerable satisfaction.

Immediately after, he wrapped several layers of spiritual power around his waist to control his weight at 87 kilograms, then leisurely returned to his seat.

He turned on the computer, logged into the data backend and email, and handled the company's daily operational tasks as usual.

Half an hour later, he had finished the work at hand.

Chen Yansen stood up, pushed open the door, walked out, and headed to the floor where the Chip Design Department was located.

At the same time.

Lei Yi sat in the office of the Xiaomi headquarters building, his face as calm as water, looking as if he did not want to speak.

The engineering test version of the Xiaomi Box had been online for only eight days before it was halted.

Although Xiaomi had not obtained an Internet integrated broadcast control license, it had effectively achieved compliance through cooperation with Huashu Media.

Yet it was still ordered to rectify on the grounds of violating regulations regarding content sources and connection uniqueness.

In plain terms, Xiaomi was not allowed to link to content from websites like Sohu, Tencent, and Youku to steal users.

"What a zebra! No one jumped out to say it wasn't allowed before Xiaomi did it!"

Lei Yi, seething with anger, muttered under his breath.

Only now did he realize that when the big shots needed him, they were humble and respectful; when they didn't, they didn't care at all about Xiaomi's survival.

Xiaomi Box hadn't even gotten to eat the crab; instead, it took an iron fist, leaving him somewhat dazed.

"Boss, I don't think we need to be too pessimistic; it's just a rectification. The timing was wrong, so everything is wrong; let's just wait a bit longer."

Li Wanqiang, sitting opposite, hearing Lei Yi's cursing, hurriedly offered comfort.

"It's fine; I know what to do. The launch plan for the Xiaomi Box is postponed; focus all energy on preparing for next year's Spring Festival new product launch."

Lei Yi said, waving his hand.

After the Xiaomi 1s and Xiaomi Mi 2 went on sale, accumulating five months with a total sales volume of 5.7 million, but as Huawei, ZTE, Lenovo, and Ku Sect all launched their own mid-to-low-end models, sales growth clearly slowed.

For this reason, Lei Yi had to accelerate the R&D progress of the new phones.

"Okay, Boss, but are the Xiaomi 2a and Xiaomi 2s really going to carry the Aurora OS system? The MIUI System R&D Department has strong objections."

Li Wanqiang thought for a few seconds after hearing this and said with a furrowed brow.

"Whose objections are strong? Hong Feng? Tell him to come and say it to my face!" Lei Yi said with a cold face and a bad temper.

To boost sales and meet user needs, Lei Yi decided to add an Aurora OS version for the Xiaomi 2a and Xiaomi 2s on top of the MIUI version.

Simply put, when users purchased a Xiaomi 2s or Xiaomi 2a phone, they could choose between the Aurora OS system or the MIUI system.

Because different mobile operating systems were built in, some electronic components were also slightly adjusted; the configurations were similar, yet each had its own characteristics, mainly to improve software and hardware compatibility.

However, the Xiaomi 1s equipped with the MIUI system consistently lagged behind the Aurora OS version in sales, which was undoubtedly an insult to the MIUI System R&D Department.

"Uh, I understand." Li Wanqiang nodded helplessly.

As Lei Yi's right-hand man, no one knew the boss's mindset changes over the past half-year better than him.

Losing to Sister Chengzi's phones was one thing, but now the cumulative shipment volume of Xiaomi phones was actually not even higher than 360's phone sales; even NetEase phones, that sort of trash, had sold over two million units.

Lei Yi initially wanted to be China's Steve Jobs; now, forget Steve Jobs, he couldn't even catch a glimpse of Chen Yansen's hem.

"How is the development of Xiao Ai Tongxue progressing? Can it catch up with the Spring Launch?" Lei Yi asked again.

"We are doing the final debugging work, but in terms of performance and user experience, it cannot compare to Mo Si's voice interaction engine; it is likely that the other side used a more advanced algorithm model."

Li Wanqiang answered immediately.

"It doesn't matter; anyway, compared to Sister Chengzi's C3, the pricing of the Xiaomi 2s or Xiaomi 2a is not high; the functions are just a bit worse, but they are still usable."

Lei Yi said, dismissing the concern.

At this moment, the phone on the desk suddenly rang; he leaned forward, and upon seeing the caller ID, immediately pressed the answer key.

"Lei Zong, has the R&D work on Xiao Ai Tongxue been wrapped up?" Chen Yansen skipped the pleasantries and asked directly.

"Soon. I plan to launch it at the spring new product launch conference."

Lei Yijun didn't hide it, after all, the birth of Xiao Ai Tong Xue relied entirely on the Yu Xi development platform.

"Does Xiaomi have a smart speaker plan?" Chen Yansen continued to ask.

Hearing this, Lei Yijun was slightly stunned, not knowing how to answer.

In fact, the industrial and hardware design teams for the Xiao Ai Tong Xue smart speaker were already in preparation, but the technology was given by Chen Yansen, and he really felt embarrassed to tell the other party that Xiaomi wanted to compete with Chengzi Technology for the smart speaker market.

So, Lei Yijun, with a red face and a beating heart, denied it stubbornly: "No." "That's a pity. Chengzi Technology is developing a dedicated AI chip that can reduce hardware costs by 20%. I originally wanted to ask if Mr. Lei was interested in cooperating."

Chen Yansen leaned back on the sofa and said lightly.

As for Lei Yijun's words, he wouldn't even believe the punctuation marks.

"AI chip? Mr. Chen has established a chip design department?" Lei Yijun widened his eyes and asked incredulously.

It must be known that in the mobile phone world of 2012, only Huawei, this communications industry giant, possessed chip R&D capabilities.

Although the HiSilicon K3V1 three years ago and this year's HiSilicon K3V2 did not achieve sufficient market performance, they at least opened the precedent for domestic mobile phones to develop their own chips.

How long has Chengzi Technology been in the industry?

A year and a half at most!

"The procurement cost of the TI OMAP3630 is too high, general-purpose chips waste too much performance, and they cannot unleash the full strength of the Mo Si intelligent interaction engine. Creating a dedicated chip integrating CPU, NPU, DSP, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth communication, and audio codecs can save costs and enhance performance. Mr. Lei, if you don't make smart speaker products, you might not understand the difference here."

Chen Yansen said jokingly with a smile.

I understand it too well!

Lei Yijun almost blurted it out, but fortunately he held back in time.

Regarding smart speaker products, he actually did research; just the material cost was not less than 350 yuan. Including production, manufacturing, transportation, sales, and operating costs, if the price was not more than 600 yuan, there would be little profit margin.

In other words, Chengzi Technology's dedicated AI chip could reduce costs by about 70 yuan, so naturally Lei Yijun was tempted.

"Mr. Chen, I just considered it and think Xiaomi can also make smart speakers. You won't mind, right?" Lei Yijun couldn't pretend anymore and asked tentatively.

"Of course not." Chen Yansen replied immediately.

Selling a Tiangong T100 chip to Xiaomi for 40 US dollars is not excessive, is it?

Besides, Xiaomi has no contract factory, and the Chengzi mobile phone factory can earn another round of contract manufacturing fees.

Winning twice, no matter how you calculate it, it's not a loss!

Moreover, if he didn't provide the Yu Xi development platform and AI chips to Xiaomi, would Lei Yijun stop making speakers?

Rather than having another opponent, it's better to have another friend.

The Alexa smart speaker is exploding in popularity in Europe and America; do Qualcomm, Intel, Broadcom, and NVIDIA not see it?

Chengzi Technology's real opponents are in Europe and America, not domestically.

"Thank you, Mr. Chen, for your support of Xiaomi. I must visit you another day." Lei Yijun felt warm in his heart and instantly felt that Chen Yansen's character was much better than Zhou Hongyi's.

"Alright, let's leave it at that for now. Once the Tiangong T100 chip completes its design and production, we will communicate about follow-up cooperation matters."

Chen Yansen actively ended the topic.

"No problem, let's talk later." Lei Yijun showed joy on his face and hung up the phone with a smile.

The negative impact of the Xiaomi Box being sanctioned instantly vanished.

"Ali, speed up the preparation work for the Xiao Ai speaker; it's best to launch it together at the spring launch conference."

Lei Yijun instructed Li Wanqiang.

"Boss, would Chen Yansen be so kind?" Li Wanqiang always felt something was wrong.

"He just wants to sell chips and earn contract manufacturing fees. As long as the price is reasonable, it's fine for Xiaomi to cooperate with Chengzi Technology."

Lei Yijun waved his hand and said.

We can't always make things cheap for outsiders, can we?

Now, relying on Chengzi Technology's supply chain, Xiaomi has changed its screen supplier to BOE, also supporting domestic goods.

Previously, Zhou Hongyi, on Weibo, kept harping on the matter of Xiaomi mobile phones purchasing Sharp screens, scolding him for earning Chinese people's money but refusing to use domestic suppliers.

In this way, Zhou Jiaozhu lost his reason to attack Xiaomi.

On the other side.

Chen Yansen had just put down his phone when a 'du du du' knocking sound came from the door.

"Come in!" Chen Yansen said.

Huang Zheng rushed in, grinning and saying: "Ma Liyun has gone crazy!"

Chen Yansen leaned back, waiting for the other party's explanation.

He wouldn't think that Old Ma suddenly fell ill and was sent to a mental hospital.

"This is Mama Ali's latest announcement. The bosses of Mogujie, Meilishuo, and What's Worth Buying are all furious."

After speaking, Huang Zheng handed over a document, which contained the new rules released by Taobao Alliance at noon.

Starting from January 1, 2013, the alliance will cancel the Taobao Ke model of cashback for shopping within the Taobao site (including Tmall Shangcheng), allowing only non-cash rebate methods such as points, physical goods, coupons, and shopping vouchers.

In other words, giving users direct cashback has become a violation; Mama Ali has the right to deduct points and freeze the platform rebate account.

Perhaps not wanting to affect the Double 11 big promotion of 2012, Ma Liyun set the effective date to New Year's Day of 2013.

Old Ma's move officially declared the end of the Honeymoon phase between Ali and the guide e-commerce platforms.

Chen Yansen glanced at it and was not surprised.

He knew that Ma Liyun and Liu Qiangdong had the same attitude towards guide e-commerce: looking down on it, despising it, yet unwilling to give up the traffic and orders from third-party external channels.

Essentially, Taobao, Pinba, and JD are all second-hand dealers of internet traffic.

Buying traffic at low cost, then packaging it as a marketing tool to sell to入驻 merchants.

"This is nothing. Guide e-commerce will only be uncomfortable for a while. If Old Ma removes the sales weight of guide e-commerce, that will truly kill Mogujie, Meilishuo, and What's Worth Buying."

Chen Yansen put down the document and said with a light laugh.

"That shouldn't happen, right?" Huang Zheng was skeptical.

"By strengthening cooperation with guide e-commerce, Pinya Alliance will swallow all the market share that Mama Ali lost."

Chen Yansen looked at Huang Zheng and instructed him.

The relationship between guide e-commerce and comprehensive e-commerce is subtle, involving both cooperation and competition.

The reason Ma Liyun suppressed guide websites was also simple.

First, traffic strategy adjustment: the Taobao Guest promotion model of the PC era did not match Mama Ali's wireless traffic strategy; Ma Liyun wanted to concentrate business focus on the wireless end.

Second, protecting the interests of Tmall Shangcheng and Taobao: while Mogujie, Meilishuo, and What's Worth Buying brought traffic to Mama Ali, they also snatched a portion of merchants' advertising fees, thereby reducing investment in advertising products like Zhitongche, Zuanzhan, and Juhuasuan.

It's fine to make money for Old Ma, but trying to snatch money from Old Ma's hands?

No way!

Third, building an industrial closed loop: using the points product of Zhifubao, namely Jifenbao, to replace the cashback model, binding users' consumption behavior within Mama Ali's e-commerce system to form a transaction closed loop.

Fourth, supporting proprietary guide products: Mama Ali spent tens of billions of funds on Fox Tao; if they don't keep the benefits for their own son, are they supposed to raise 'godsons' from outside?

After confirming Chen Yansen's stance, Huang Zheng continued to use the cashback model, causing Pinya's external traffic to surge rapidly.

From November 1 to November 3, Taobao-related guide business plummeted, while Pinya's guide business output skyrocketed; during the pre-sale stage of the Double Eleven promotion, it stubbornly maintained daily sales of 1.2 to 1.4 billion Huayuan, far surpassing Jingdong.

(End of this chapter)