Chapter 338: First Day: 1.13 Million Units Sold, 300 Million Yuan in Revenue

Three months ago, Huawei launched a tablet called MediaPad 10 FHD, priced at 2,499 yuan for the 16GB Wi-Fi model, with performance comparable to Orange Pad 1.

Of course, that was Yu Chendong putting a good face on it.

Because the MediaPad 10 FHD had a resolution of 1920×1200, while the Orange Pad 1 was 2048×1536, and the former’s camera pixels, operating system, and processor performance were far inferior.

Yet their prices differed by 500 yuan!

“Huang Zhang wasn’t wrong—Chen Yansen and Lei Yijun are fundamentally the same: both are troublemakers.”

Yu Chendong sighed slightly and shook his head.

“The 32GB version is priced at 2,299 yuan; the 64GB version at 2,899 yuan!”

Wang Teng continued in the video.

For an equivalent tablet, the Shanxing N800 32GB version costs 4,698 yuan; the Apple iPad 4 costs 4,488 yuan.

Compared to Apple and Shanxing, the Orange Pad 1 was half the price;

compared to Huawei, Lenovo, and ASUS, it was 20–30% cheaper.

In other words, after Orange Tech entered the tablet market, everyone’s hardware profit margins dropped by another 20–30%.

The Lenovo Pad A2109 matched the Orange Pad 1 in price, but in screen size, resolution, operating system, battery specs, internal storage, and camera functionality, it was utterly crushed.

After listening to Wang Teng’s explanation, Yu Chendong’s vigilance toward Orange Tech lessened considerably.

After all, apart from price, the AuroraOS system, and the Mos Voice Interaction Engine, the Orange Pad 1 was merely an “assembled” product with no real technical depth.

In his view, his own MediaPad 10 FHD at least featured the HiSilicon K3V2 in-house chip—far superior to the Orange Pad 1.

On the other side.

Wang Teng continued introducing the second new product: the Orange MagicBook—silver chassis, Core i5 processor, 4GB RAM, 512GB HDD, GeForce GTX 660M dedicated GPU, 14-inch screen, weighing only 1.9 kg.

In the 2012 laptop market, it was still considered ultrathin and compact.

Launch price: 3,999 yuan!

It struggled slightly with heavy online games, but easily handled daily office work and light gaming—perfect for college students and white-collar workers.

Orange Tech’s first online press conference lasted two hours and ten minutes; even when Wang Teng finished, at noon, the Orange Pad 1 and Orange MagicBook had just gone on sale on Orange Mall, Pinbei, and KuaiPao.

Longtime fans familiar with Orange Tech’s product launch rhythm had already been waiting in front of their screens, opening the official Orange Mall link.

As expected, at the exact moment, the Orange Pad 1 and Orange MagicBook went live.

Although the back-to-school season had passed, many college students still had device needs.

For example, at Xuyuan, freshmen were forbidden to bring laptops years ago—only sophomores were allowed.

But as laptop prices fell and campus networks expanded, more and more students added computers to their essential back-to-school trio.

Even so, freshmen still accounted for less than 50% of laptop ownership; most waited until their sophomore year to buy their first laptop.

For instance, Dorm 8302 originally had only Chen Yansen and Song Yang with laptops; the other four bought theirs in their first-semester sophomore year or second-semester freshman year.

Of course, this didn’t apply to economically developed coastal regions.

And now, it was precisely the peak purchasing season for sophomores.

For equivalent laptops, ASUS sold for 4,699 yuan; Lenovo dared to charge 5,999 yuan.

The Orange MagicBook wasn’t high-end, but its sleek silver ultra-thin metal body and 3,999-yuan price tag won it a large pool of potential users.

Thanks to AuroraOS, Orange phones, Mos Smart Speakers, and power banks, Orange Tech already had over 30 million users nationwide.

And most of them were young.

Thus, in the first hour of official sales, the Orange Pad 1 set a staggering record of 14,000 units sold; the Orange MagicBook sold 6,700 units.

Wang Teng stepped offstage, greeted the YY Live staff, then drove back to company headquarters.

On the way, he pulled out his phone to check the project group messages—his data team sent a sales summary every ten minutes.

From noon to 2 p.m., just two hours, they sold 26,000 Orange Pad 1 units and 11,000 Orange MagicBook units.

It didn’t look like much, far behind the sales figures of Orange C3 and Qingcheng D1S.

But for Orange Tech’s first foray into the personal PC market, this sales volume was already impressive.

All thanks to the accumulated user trust!

Chen Yansen, in his office, received calls from both Yu Chendong and Lei Yijun; after brief, half-hearted chats, he hung up.

Yu Chendong wanted to gauge Orange Tech’s commitment to tablets and laptops; upon learning the Orange Pad 1 and Orange MagicBook were merely supplementary products to the Orange Smart Life Store, he immediately relaxed.

Lei Yijun came to “learn from experience”; with Xiaomi phone sales stagnating, he shifted focus to digital accessories, hoping to expand the product line and boost overall revenue.

The Xiaomi Box was his first attempt; the launch of the Orange Pad 1 gave him fresh inspiration.

“I heard Xiaomi’s annual sales haven’t even surpassed 360’s—Lei Zong must be really desperate.”

Chen Yansen put down his phone and chuckled.

Whether the 360 G800 Pro Shine or the 360 N1, both targeted the mid-to-low-end market, perfectly matching early smartphone users’ needs.

Users didn’t care about brand or performance—only specs and price!

If users could accept knockoffs, they’d have no problem with AliCloud, NetEase, Shengda, or 360 phones.

For Xiaomi, with Orange Phone blocking the front and a swarm of internet phones circling behind, plus Lei Yijun’s refusal to abandon MIUI, its market performance lagging behind 360’s was entirely predictable.

Chen Yansen didn’t take Yu Chendong or Lei Yijun’s words seriously—he switched on Cadence Spectre and dove into designing his in-house chip’s analog circuits.

Whenever he hit a snag, he instantly activated his 【Planck Clock】 talent—suddenly, every problem dissolved.

By midnight that day, total Orange Pad 1 sales reached 79,000 units; Orange MagicBook sales reached 34,000 units; total transaction value: 302 million yuan.

If user feedback was positive, the Shenzhen factory would ramp up production to capture more market share.

…

…

The next morning, Chen Yansen slowly woke up on Ye Qiuping’s bed, the familiar scent of milk filling his nose.

Now, the side effects of using the 【Planck Clock】 talent had become his best sleep aid.

Chen Yansen sat up, picked up his phone from the nightstand—it was 6:20 a.m.; outside, dawn was just breaking.

Today was Monday; there was a morning meeting.

Also, Dangdang’s Li Guoqing and Huang Zheng had scheduled a meeting today to discuss deeper business collaboration between Dangdang and Pinbei.

As Pinbei’s boss, Chen Yansen naturally had to show up.

He slipped on slippers, walked to the living room sofa, and flipped through scanned documents on his phone as usual.

His mind was on Liang Bo’s overseas market expansion plan—the short-video software he needed had been completed last week, just waiting for launch.

But over the past two months, HR had recommended candidates—none satisfied him.

Liang Bo was unsuitable, and he was already managing Toutiao’s daily operations.

Assign it to Zhou Shouzhi?

Chen Yansen knew Zhou’s ability wasn’t the issue—he’d joined Orange Tech, not Today Tech.

Zhou Shouzhi could only take it on as a side duty.

After thinking it over, Chen Yansen decided: if he couldn’t find the right person, he’d make Zhou work overtime for now.

Two hours passed. Ye Qiuping woke up slowly in the bedroom, kicked off her down comforter, rested for two minutes, then picked up the silk nightgown at the foot of the bed and dressed leisurely.

The clock on the wall’s hour hand had just stopped at “8”!

Ye Qiuping stepped out of the bedroom and immediately saw Chen Yansen on the sofa; she tiptoed over, approaching him.

“Boss, what do you want for breakfast?” she asked softly.

“Hamburger,” Chen Yansen replied, looking up with a sly grin.

“Stop it!” Ye Qiuping pouted, instinctively squeezing her legs shut, leaning forward to rest on his thighs.

“Are you hungry?” Chen Yansen asked.

Ye Qiuping tilted her head, pretending not to understand, blinking her long lashes, looking utterly alluring.

“Stop it! We have a meeting this morning,” Chen Yansen said sternly—but his hands didn’t stop moving.

Ye Qiuping giggled and collapsed into his arms.

Soon, the wind chime on the balcony tinkled softly.

At 9:30 a.m., they walked downstairs one after the other.

A sharp *crack!*

Chen Yansen blamed her: “You made your boss late for work—fine of 100.”

Ye Qiuping rubbed her butt and pouted: “One hundred times?”

Chen Yansen stared at her, thinking silently: You haven’t changed a bit!

“Mwah!” Ye Qiuping rose on her toes, licked his lips like a kitten.

Chen Yansen smiled, opened the car door, and sat down.

Ye Qiuping was about to squeeze in when she saw his face grow cold; she laughed awkwardly, shut his door, then muttered under her breath: “Dog man.”

Chen Yansen smiled faintly and signaled Xiao Li to drive.

Once the car pulled away, Ye Qiuping got into her BMW and followed slowly.

Soon, Zhuxianzhuang Technology Park came into view.

Chen Yansen stepped out of the car, about to head toward Building 9, when he heard Huang Zheng call out.

“Boss!” Huang Zheng waved.

Beside him stood a middle-aged man in his forties, dressed in a sharp suit, radiating success.

Li Guoqing?

Chen Yansen stopped, strode toward them.

Li Guoqing’s face changed—he felt a crushing pressure, like a tidal wave, bearing down on him.

Is this Chen Yansen?

Li Guoqing was secretly startled; he was the same age as Ma Liyun, a veteran of the first generation of the internet, and in the same year Alibaba was founded, he and his wife co-founded Dangdang.com.

He had met many tycoons of business, but never before had he encountered a businessman so young—only twenty—with such overwhelming presence.

In his eyes, Chen Yansen was full of vigor and sharpness, like a drawn sword that made one’s skin crawl.

“Mr. Li, I’ve long admired your name! I’ve wanted to pay you a visit, but never found the chance.”

Chen Yansen greeted him with polite courtesy.

“Mr. Chen, you’re too kind,” Li Guoqing said with a smile, gripping Chen Yansen’s right hand, his face showing not a trace of arrogance.

As for Chen Yansen’s words, he certainly didn’t take them seriously.

Although Dangdang.com was founded early, its valuation still didn’t reach the tip of Pinduoduo’s fingernail.

As for industry standing and influence, let alone mention it!

Otherwise, why would he have traveled thousands of miles to personally visit Xucheng?

Li Guoqing adopted a very humble posture, as if to say, “You can call me Qingzi.”

Everyone lifts a sedan chair; since the other party showed respect, Chen Yansen didn’t act aloof—he gave the man ample respect.

The three of them went together to Huang Zheng’s office.

Huang Zheng invited Li Guoqing to sit down and chat at leisure.

Chen Yansen picked out a box of tea from the cabinet and gestured for Huang Zheng to fetch the tea set.

Soon, the water on the tea table boiled, and Chen Yansen poured it into the teapot.

Huang Zheng took the teapot, first poured a cup for Li Guoqing as a guest offering, then one for his boss, and finally poured himself a cup of hot tea.

In 2012, Dangdang.com was having a hard time.

Qingzi’s difficulties came from Liangzai Dong; last year, JD entered the book industry with a zero-profit strategy, crushing Dangdang.com into disarray.

As a result, Li Guoqing had no choice but to expand into new product categories, form a partnership with Gome, and list on Taobao and Pinduoduo’s marketplaces.

“Mr. Chen, I toast you with tea—thank you for Pinduoduo’s support of Dangdang.com,” Li Guoqing spoke first.

Books on Pinduoduo’s marketplace were a weak category; their cooperation was mutually beneficial.

“No need for that—tonight let Huang Zong arrange it; let’s have a small drink together and let me fulfill my duty as host.”

Chen Yansen raised his teacup, tapped it lightly against Li Guoqing’s, and replied with a smile.

“Great! I’ve heard Huian has many famous liquors—I’ll take the chance to try them,” Li Guoqing accepted gladly.

“Mr. Li, regarding the cooperation between Pinduoduo and Dangdang, I believe…” Huang Zheng spoke slowly.

Partnering with Dangdang was purely for its publishing houses and book distribution resources.

Li Guoqing knew this well; Huang Zheng also knew the other man could see through his intentions.

But as long as both sides profited—even if briefly—no one would point it out.

That’s business!

Chen Yansen held his teacup, savoring it carefully, and did not interrupt their conversation.

At that moment, his phone in his pocket rang.

“Excuse me, Mr. Li, I’ll be right back.”

Saying this, Chen Yansen stood and walked out of the office, pressing the answer button: “Martin, what is it?”

“The matter you asked me about has a lead—he was a member of Tencent’s summer startup camp. Zhang Xiaolong thought he was capable and recommended him to Pony, but he had too high a pride and refused to join Tencent, so I introduced him to you,” Liu Zhiping explained slowly.

Tencent’s summer startup camp was similar to the Lakeview University Ma Liyun would later found.

In plain terms, it was a channel for recruiting top talent.

Or, the best path for young entrepreneurs to secure funding.

“If he doesn’t even look at Tencent, why would he care about Senlian Capital?” Chen Yansen pressed.

(End of chapter)