Chapter 387

March 18, Monday, 1:30 p.m.

The homepages of Penguin Video, YY, Youku, Sohu Video, and Sina Video all displayed massive promotional posters for the “2013 Orange Tech Spring New Product Launch.”

Click to enter the live stream.

The camera faced the large screen at the launch venue, centered on a bright, eye-catching Orange logo, with a tagline beside it: Let Technology Change Life!

Last time, Wang Teng livestreamed the Orange Pad 1 and Orange MagicBook on YY, accumulating over four million total views and more than two million concurrent viewers.

Due to the livestream’s outstanding effect and its ability to generate massive traffic, the marketing and branding departments decided to expand livestream promotion channels.

For this, the five platforms each paid Orange Tech one million yuan in livestream fees.

“Damn it, fucking Wang Teng, why didn’t you schedule the livestream for yesterday? Why Monday? Slacking off to watch it’s so thrilling!”

“Plus one, me too!”

“My son Wang Teng has the makings of an Emperor!”

“Are you Wang Teng’s dad? Then who am I?”

Although the launch hadn’t started yet, over a hundred thousand netizens were already in the livestream, chatting and joking wildly.

Ever since the web novel “The Veil of Heaven” went viral, Wang Teng’s comment sections were filled with meme-loving trolls.

Suddenly, Wang Teng gained tens of millions of “biological fathers” with zero blood relation.

“Actually, I’d rather watch Chen Zong host the product launch—he’s got a great figure, high Yanzhi , a straight nose, and a firm ass!”

“Upstairs Miss, the star of this launch is the new product, not a pretty face. You’re clearly a fangirl!”

“Your whole family are Misses—he’s a real man!”

“Post high-definition uncensored photos of Chen Zong—9.9 yuan flat rate. Interested? Add QQ: 771****92 for details.”

“Any without clothes? I’ll pay more!”

The YY livestream’s barrage comments were utterly disgusting—even the moderators couldn’t bear to look, thinking: A billionaire worth fifty billion U.S. dollars, taking naked photos for you?

There are too many fools; even scammers aren’t enough!

On the other side.

In the conference hall on the rooftop garden, over a thousand people whispered quietly, waiting for two o’clock.

After all, Orange Tech had already entered the top tier of domestic smartphone brands.

Though temporarily behind ZTE in global market share, anyone with eyes could see that since Zhou Shouzhi joined Orange Tech, Orange smartphones had expanded rapidly in Eastern Europe, Africa, and India.

Perhaps this year, they could represent China’s smartphone brands and enter the global top three.

Zhou Shouzhi, Wang Teng, and Ye Qiuping handled reception on the first floor for partner companies, suppliers, and Central Bureau personnel.

Chen Yansen sat calmly in the first row of the conference hall, occasionally rising to exchange brief pleasantries.

“Boss, ZTE’s General He has arrived.” Chen Jie, dressed in a simple black blazer, leaned in to speak, her V-neck revealing a clear view for Chen Zong’s gaze.

Chen Yansen replied and walked straight to the banquet hall entrance, just as He Dingyou walked in.

“General He, I was just about to come down to greet you, and you’re already here.” Chen Yansen smiled warmly, extending his hand to grasp He’s right hand, acting as if they were old acquaintances.

In truth, this was their first meeting.

Previously, when Orange Tech held product launches, He Dingyou had looked down on Orange smartphones.

But a year later, Orange smartphones had become the number one in domestic sales rankings.

Although ZTE shipped 67 million units globally last year, it sold only 28 million domestically, with just 19 million being smartphones.

Compared to Orange’s 43.4 million units, ZTE was still a junior.

With the strong rise of Xiaomi, 360, NetEase, OPPO, and VIVO, ZTE’s market share had been significantly eroded.

Thus, He Dingyou’s visit to Binjiang was ostensibly to attend the launch, but in reality, he came to learn and possibly seek collaboration with Orange Tech.

Chen Yansen would never underestimate He Dingyou—ZTE, like Huawei, was fundamentally a giant in the telecommunications industry.

Poor performance in smartphones didn’t mean the company lacked overall strength.

ZTE had deep expertise in wireless communications, IoT, optical transmission, and wireless charging technologies; Orange Tech might need to collaborate with them someday.

Making a good connection, gaining a friend, was always better than gaining an enemy.

Moreover, the promotion and adoption of the Orange Z1 instruction set and Aurora Future OS also depended on industry support.

Chen Yansen smiled and led He Dingyou to sit in the first row.

“Has HiSilicon licensed the Orange Z1 architecture?” He Dingyou asked the moment he sat down.

“Huake Association and Apple bought it too,” Chen Yansen replied calmly.

“Which Apple?” He Dingyou’s eyes widened slightly, pressing for clarification.

“Apple,” Chen Yansen replied with a smile.

“What’s the difference in encoding efficiency and power efficiency between Orange Z1 and ARM?” He Dingyou asked curiously.

“Encoding efficiency is 1.4 times ARM’s, and power efficiency is improved by about 30%,” Chen Yansen answered honestly.

He Dingyou stared, his first reaction being disbelief.

If ARM’s CPU architecture were this simple, wouldn’t Qualcomm, Broadcom, Apple, Huawei, and ZTE still be paying ARM millions every year?

But then he thought: HiSilicon, Apple, and Huake Association aren’t fools, and Chen Yansen has no family background—why would these three companies pay him without reason?

Unless!

The Orange Z1 instruction set truly had superior encoding efficiency and power efficiency compared to ARM, enough to convince HiSilicon, Apple, and Huake Association.

“Is the one-time licensing fee 20 million yuan?” He Dingyou asked again.

“Are you interested, General He?” Chen Yansen countered.

“Supporting domestic products,” He Dingyou replied with a smile.

He had no intention of using Android—his new products would switch to Aurora OS.

In his view, even someone like Zhou Zong could sell eight million smartphones a year, which made him feel sick—like swallowing a fly.

Though ZTE wasn’t a veteran in smartphones, as a telecom giant, wasn’t it far superior to companies like 360, which were amateurs?

Yet when comparing shipment numbers, 360’s phones weren’t far behind.

After analyzing their success, the reason was clear: they piggybacked on Orange Tech, sharing supply chains, production lines, and operating systems.

Native Android had too many problems—Aurora OS was simply better.

“Besides the 20 million yuan one-time licensing fee, there’s also a 1% royalty,” Chen Yansen added.

“No problem. Let’s discuss details after the launch,” He Dingyou said meaningfully.

Chen Yansen sensed the hidden meaning but didn’t dwell on it, nodding readily.

Just as He Dingyou was about to speak, he caught sight of someone entering the door and immediately scowled—it was the fly.

“Chen Zong, sorry I’m late,” Zhou Zong, wearing a red stand-collar polo, strode forward with two assistants, greeting Chen Yansen.

At that moment, Leiyi and Li Wanqiang also walked in.

Zhou Zong heard the noise behind him, didn’t turn, glanced sideways, then loudly announced: “360’s Q1 sales? Chen Zong, to be honest, not great—only 3.7 million units sold.”

The volume was just right to reach Leiyi’s ears.

“...” Chen Yansen chuckled silently, thinking: Your phones are all made by me—I don’t need to ask you for sales figures.

He turned to wave at Leiyi, who looked utterly humiliated—Xiaomi’s Q1 sales were barely over three million.

Beside him, He Dingyou’s face darkened, refusing to speak.

Ninety percent of ZTE’s sales came from carrier channels, but since this year, carriers had shifted strategy, reducing custom device orders and subsidies.

ZTE’s sales plummeted—Q1 total shipments were only 4.1 million, slightly higher than 360’s, but the advantage was negligible.

“Chen Zong, how many new products today?” Leiyi asked with a smile, making no effort to greet Zhou Zong.

“If you mean smartphones, there are only three,” Chen Yansen replied.

Leiyi understood—Aurora Future OS was clearly the highlight of this launch.

Even if Aurora Future OS brought little direct profit to Orange Tech, the title of “China’s first domestically developed smartphone OS” alone would earn Chen Yansen serious recognition from above.

This was a matter of righteousness!

No wonder Chen Yansen openly broke rules—and the authorities turned a blind eye.

“Then I’m even more excited,” Leiyi said, subtly flattering him.

“Seat Leiyi and Li.” Chen Yansen turned to Ye Qiuping.

He was mainly worried Leiyi and Zhou Zong would start a physical fight during the launch, stealing Orange Tech’s spotlight.

Old Zhou was unpredictable—if he got excited and started pulling out his weapons in front of Leiyi, would the launch even proceed?

“Leiyi, Li, this way,” Ye Qiuping understood instantly, gesturing.

Leiyi shot Zhou Zong a cold glance, snorting.

“Leiyi, don’t you dare disagree? Let’s compare sales,” Zhou Zong spread his hands, deliberately provoking.

“Fine. Whoever loses quits the smartphone market—let Chen Zong and He Zong be witnesses,” Leiyi shot back.

That’s a big bet.

He Dingyou blinked, intrigued, looking between Zhou Zong and Leiyi.

“No need. Harmony brings prosperity,” Chen Yansen said quickly, watching the two “human furnace machines.”

“Fine, but I’m afraid you’ll cheat if you lose,” Zhou Zong grinned.

“Enough,” Chen Yansen warned coldly.

Zhou Zong saw Chen Yansen’s icy expression and realized he’d gone too far. He muttered: “Just a joke, Chen Zong, don’t take it seriously.”

Leiyi narrowed his eyes, gave Zhou Zong a cold look, then sat with Li Wanqiang in the left-front section of the hall.

He Dingyou was quietly stunned—he now truly felt Chen Yansen’s influence in the smartphone industry.

Zhou Zong and Leiyi obeyed him like subordinates.

Not long after, competitors such as Huawei’s Yu Chendong, OPPO’s Chen Yongming, and Vivo’s Shen Wei, along with representatives from numerous suppliers, arrived in succession.

At exactly two o’clock, Wang Teng jogged onto the stage.

Unlike previous chip launches, Wang Teng was no longer dressed in a sharp suit; today’s outfit was extremely plain.

He wore an orange-printed T-shirt with seven characters on the chest: “Let Technology Change Life!”

He paired it with black straight-leg jeans and a pair of white sneakers, exuding an ordinary-passerby vibe.

Meanwhile, online viewership on Tencent Video, YY, Youku, Sohu, and Sina Live was skyrocketing.

In just a few dozen seconds, the total online viewership exceeded eight million.

The barrage comments were densely packed!

“Hello everyone, I’m Wang Teng from Orange Tech. First, thank you to the over a thousand audience members here—without you, Orange Phone wouldn’t exist today.”

Having endured trials, Wang Teng had long shed his two-year-old naivety; he spoke calmly and confidently.

He paused, then added: “I’m sure everyone knows Orange Phone sold fifty million units in 2012, so I must also thank the fifty million users worldwide for their support.”

“Today, I’ll introduce you to a few new friends and new products. Time is tight and the agenda is heavy—let’s get straight to the point, starting with the phone product everyone cares about most.”

“First new product—the Qingcheng D2!”

No sooner had Wang Teng spoken than a high-definition CG image of the Qingcheng D2 appeared on the LED screen behind him.

“Building on the exceptional value of its predecessor, the Qingcheng D1s, the Qingcheng D2 features a 5-inch IPS Retina display with 1280x720 resolution and Corning Gorilla Glass Gen 2.”

“It has a 3-megapixel front camera, an 8-megapixel rear camera, a 2000mAh battery, dual-SIM dual-standby, and runs the AuroraOS 1.6 system.”

“It comes with 1GB RAM, 4GB storage, supports facial recognition, and is powered by a MediaTek MT6572 dual-core 1.3GHz processor, with accelerometer, light sensor, proximity sensor, gyroscope, and electronic compass.”

Wang Teng stood on stage, slowly introducing each feature.

Yet the live stream’s barrage comments were uniformly “999!”

Everyone hoped the Qingcheng D2 would keep its affordable price of 999 yuan.

Facing the camera, Wang Teng slowly pulled out an Orange C3 phone, watched the barrage for over ten seconds, then smiled and said: “You all want a 999-yuan price, but that’s impossible.”

Instantly, the live stream erupted in curses.

“You bastard, dare to sell it above 1000 yuan? I’ll smash your head!”

“Wang Teng, you’ve grown cold—trying to squeeze money out of your old man? Not a chance!”

“999!”

“999!”

“Not 999? I won’t buy it!”

The invited fans on-site also furrowed their brows, feeling Orange Tech had lost its original spirit.

In their eyes, the Qingcheng series was Orange Tech’s budget line—if it sold above 1000 yuan, it would be excessive.

Yet some users believed a price of 1200 to 1500 yuan was perfectly reasonable for the Qingcheng D2’s specs.

Wang Teng pressed a controller, and the main screen instantly switched.

Behind him, three prominent Arabic numerals plunged the hearts of rival companies into despair.

“799!”

In an instant, the tens of millions watching online and the thousands in the audience froze.

OPPO’s Chen Yongming and Vivo’s Shen Wei instinctively exchanged glances.

Both companies relied primarily on offline sales channels, where users were less sensitive to specs and pricing, allowing them to avoid direct competition with Orange, Xiaomi, 360, and others.

But Orange Tech was also building an offline sales network; though it currently had only a few hundred direct stores, it added new ones every month—if Chen Yansen put the Qingcheng D2 on offline shelves, how could they still make money?

“Mr. Chen, I did the math—the material cost for the Qingcheng D2 alone is already 500 yuan. Add production, sales, after-sales, and marketing expenses—how much profit can you possibly make?” He Dingyou asked.

“A ten-percent gross margin is no problem,” Chen Yansen replied with a smile.

In the dim lighting, his teeth gleamed white and even.

He Dingyou laughed—helplessly. To face such a competitor was a blessing earned over ten lifetimes!

(End of Chapter)