Rebirth 08: Rise from copycat phones

Chapter 389 Overthrowing Traditional Car Companies

On May 6, Nanmen Aerospace Corporation announced that the third test launch of its No. 6 heavy-duty rocket was successful, sending a heavy-duty communication satellite 'Gaogou No. 3 Communications Satellite' under Zhiyun Satellite into geosynchronous orbit.

Here, the launch of the No. 6 heavy rocket has attracted much attention. Many people believe that the three launches of the No. 6 heavy rocket have been successful, which means the mature application of the No. 6 heavy rocket and can be used to launch the space station in the next step.

However, few people pay attention to this heavy communications satellite owned by Zhiyun Satellite.

In fact, this Gaoor No. 3 heavy-duty communications satellite is also very important... because it not only has a high orbit, but more importantly, it has a very large data throughput. Relying on the huge carrying capacity of the No. 6 heavy-duty rocket, the weight of this satellite reaches eleven tons. After unfolding, it has the largest single-satellite solar cell panel in the world, which can provide sufficient power for the satellite and then support many large equipment in the satellite.

Finally, the satellite can provide up to 800G of data throughput...which is far more than the data throughput of other traditional communications satellites.

The reason for such a large data throughput is that this is not a communication satellite in the traditional sense.

In fact, in addition to undertaking traditional ground communication tasks, this large satellite is also responsible for data connection between its many medium-orbit and low-orbit satellites in the entire Zhiyun satellite network system, that is, it is used as a transit communication satellite.

This kind of relay communication capability can actually be used as a communication relay with the space station and even the moon.

It also uses quantum communication technology, which can be used for confidential communications for some needs.

At the same time, a series of advanced equipment such as electric propulsion equipment and space observation equipment are deployed on the satellite.

Zhiyun Satellite has launched three such heavy-duty communication satellites in succession. In addition to improving its own satellite communication network and providing better satellite communication services, it is also to support a series of subsequent space exploration missions.

Including commercial space station missions and even moon landing and Mars exploration missions.

These subsequent large-scale space exploration missions also have very high communication requirements, especially the various equipment developed by Nanmen Aerospace are all modern advanced intelligent equipment, which have very high requirements for data communications.

As the saying goes, food comes before troops are dispatched, when Nanmen Aerospace and Zhiyun Satellite jointly built a commercial space station and subsequent various space exploration missions, in order to use their own various intelligent equipment and technologies, they launched a number of high-quality communication satellites into the sky in advance, and then built an entire space communication network.

Because Xu Shenxue never wanted to just build a space station, land on the moon and bring back some soil.

Xu Shenxue also wants to send real human footprints into space, to the moon and Mars, to establish bases and conduct actual exploration.

Taking into account the limited launch payload, the difficulty of maintaining human survival and movement in space and many other issues, and also considering that Zhiyun Group has artificial intelligence technology and automation equipment technology at its core, it is a world-leading company with sufficient technical reserves.

Therefore, Xu Shenxue’s initial plan is to launch a large number of artificial intelligence devices into space, the moon, and even Mars for initial exploration and construction.

This is quite different from Musk's Mars plan across the Pacific Ocean, which boasts of sending people directly to a base on Mars.

Xu Shenxue's initial idea was to send a large number of artificial intelligence devices to Mars... and use these artificial intelligence devices to build a preliminary base on Mars, or even directly mine and refine metals or other raw materials locally, and then use equipment such as 3D printers to manufacture parts and equipment on site, and then gradually expand.

Instead of going through the trouble of sending everything from Earth.

To achieve this, in addition to the cheap transportation costs brought by large rockets such as the Type 6 Heavy Rocket and various highly intelligent automatic equipment, a complete communication network is also needed.

After all, you can't really expect to send a robot to Mars and then leave it alone. You still need a communication network to connect signals, conduct certain commands and adjustments, and transmit large amounts of data back to Earth.

This is also the reason why Zhiyun Satellite has launched a large number of low-orbit satellites serving the earth into space in the past two years, as well as a large number of medium-orbit and high-orbit satellites.

At the same time, Zhiyun Satellite even plans to launch communication satellites into the lunar orbit to establish observation and communication networks locally.

The operation of intelligent equipment requires the support of communication networks.

Therefore, Xu Shenxue attaches great importance to satellite communications.

It’s just that ordinary people outside know little about these things and have no interest in them. Zhiyun Satellite is also relatively low-key and has not disclosed any information about these many satellites.

So, now everyone knows that Zhiyun Satellite is going to develop super-large-scale low-orbit satellites, and has launched thousands of satellites into the Earth's low-Earth orbit, built a gradual low-Earth orbit satellite Internet network, and began to provide satellite Internet services to ships, aircraft, corporate customers and individual customers.

But few people know that Zhiyun Satellite has also launched a large number of other various medium-orbit and high-orbit satellites into space.

As many as three high-orbit heavy satellites weighing more than ten tons have been launched.

Zhiyun Satellite's entire satellite communication network is gradually taking shape. In addition to providing satellite Internet services to companies and individual users around the world, it is also preparing for subsequent space exploration and space commercialization...

However, not many people can see this point... People still habitually think that Xu Shenxue’s space dream is a kind of commercial hype, or simply Xu Shenxue’s personal fantasy.

But...Xu Shenxue really did it, and he did it step by step.

Although Xu Shenxue's space station has not yet been sent up, research on artificial intelligence robots for the space station, landing on the moon, and Mars has already begun.

----

When Zhao Xingsheng was driving to pick up Meng Lin, he was bored and checked his phone while waiting at a red light. He saw the news released by Nanmen Aerospace on his phone.

As a science person, he is quite interested in these things, so he also reads a lot of related news.

However, these space explorations were still too far away from him, so he just watched them for fun.

After watching for a while, his cell phone rang. It was Meng Lin calling.

"I'm almost there. Yes, I followed the location. OK, I'll be there in about five minutes!"

"Okay, see you later!"

On the other end of the phone, Meng Lin, who had already had her hair and makeup done, looked in the mirror and felt very good about it. After paying the bill, she went straight out and waited at the intersection outside.

It didn't take long for Zhao Xingsheng to drive here. Zhao Xingsheng slowed down the car and soon saw the barber shop that Meng Lin had mentioned before, and then glanced around.

There weren't many people around, there were a few people standing on the roadside, among them was a very pretty girl...

This is not possible... Such a beautiful girl can't be Meng Lin, the one I was going on a blind date with, right?
Zhao Xingsheng looked around again, but didn't see any other girls. Just when he was wondering, his phone rang again.

After picking up the phone, Meng Lin's voice came: "Is the white Volkswagen with the hazard lights on the side of the road yours? The one with the license plate ending in 797."

At this time, Zhao Xingsheng subconsciously looked at the beautiful young girl in front of him. She was talking on the phone and looking towards him.

Could it really be her?

"Yes, it's my car. Where are you?"

As soon as I asked the question, I saw the girl not far away facing me, waving her hand and walking towards me.

Seeing this scene, Zhao Xingsheng unbuckled his seat belt and got out of the car.

Just as I got off the bus, Meng Lin had already walked to the farewell and asked with a smile: "Are you Zhao Xingsheng?"

Only then did Zhao Xingsheng see clearly the girl in front of him, and he couldn't help but feel a little nervous.

This girl was more beautiful than he had imagined.

Although she wasn't stunningly beautiful, she was more like what was described in novels as making people unable to walk just by looking at her.

But she is still a very dazzling presence in the crowd and is definitely a beauty in the eyes of ordinary people. She is much better than the private school teacher who was confused in the previous blind date, whether in facial features, figure, or even dress.

Although the woman was considered a beauty before, she was wearing heavy makeup and her clothes made people swallow their saliva at first sight, but they were too sexy and gave people a worldly feeling.

In that kind of occasion, those who knew he was going for a blind date would think he was going to a prostitute!
The Meng Lin in front of him had very refreshing facial features. She was not wearing any heavy makeup, and her hair was just simple wavy long hair.

She was wearing a white dress and a pink knitted mesh jacket on her upper body.

She was not wearing any high heels or stockings, just a pair of simple white shoes.

The whole person looks very fresh.

The most important thing is that this is a real person... not one of those internet celebrity beauties whose images have been photoshopped so badly that even her mother can’t recognize her.

His blind date turned out to be such a beautiful girl. To be honest, this exceeded his expectations...

He knew that Meng Lin would not be ugly. After all, she was a pretty girl as could be seen from her high school photos. But he did not expect her to be so beautiful.

After a moment of hesitation, Zhao Xingsheng said, "It's me. You must be Meng Lin, right? Nice to meet you!"

"Come on, get in the car, the sun is shining!"

Meng Lin said with a smile: "Well, I'm Meng Lin, hello!"

Afterwards, after the two got in the car, Zhao Xingsheng said while driving: "To be honest, I am more beautiful than I thought. I actually saw you just when I parked the car, but I didn't dare to think it was you..."

Meng Lin smiled and said, "Thank you, you look good too, and you look more handsome than the photo my teacher sent me!"

The two chatted briefly in the car, and soon Zhao Xingsheng drove the car into the parking lot of an open-air casual restaurant located on the riverside in the suburbs.

"My colleague introduced me to this place. I heard the environment is nice and the food is good. But this is my first time here, so I don't know how it is."

Meng Lin said, “I’ve been to this restaurant before with my bestie. Some of the snacks are delicious, and the interior is beautiful!”

Zhao Xingsheng said, "It seems that we have found the right place. When it comes to food and drink, only people like you who have been here for a long time know it. I have only been working here for half a month, and I don't even know where to find good food. I will have to ask you more in the future!"

Meng Lin said: "Okay, I won't say anything else, but I definitely know where there are delicious foods. On weekdays and weekends, I often go out with my girlfriends and look for delicious food everywhere. I will take you to find delicious food later."

Hearing this, Zhao Xingsheng couldn't help but feel happy: "Then I'll have to trouble you later!"

At this time, Meng Lin suddenly reacted, and tilted her head slightly, but still said, "Okay!" Then the two of them entered this open-air casual restaurant, eating and chatting.

We talked about a lot of things, from delicious food and fun things to work and so on.

While chatting, Zhao Xingsheng felt pretty good... not because the content of the chat was particularly interesting... in fact, two people who had just met were talking about very superficial things.

But the atmosphere is very good!

A small detail, Zhao Xingsheng discovered, since she got on the car, except for answering a phone call in the car, she has not taken out her mobile phone to play.

Zhao Xingsheng also silently put away his phone, and then chatted with her. In addition to talking about daily things, he also tried his best to bring up some topics to avoid the embarrassment of having nothing to talk about because they just met.

After staying here for more than two hours, Zhao Xingsheng took Meng Lin to the commercial district in the city center for a stroll and played some things that seemed childish to him but were very fun for Meng Lin, such as catching dolls.

In the end, she still let him play... Unfortunately, neither of them was very good at catching dolls and they couldn't catch any for a long time.

Then the two of them complained that the owner of the claw machine was too shady. But at the same time, among the other people playing the claw machine, there was a little girl who had a dozen dolls hanging in front and behind her... From time to time, she would say: "Wow, I caught it again!"

Afterwards, Zhao Xingsheng and Meng Lin looked at each other and left silently.

After walking a few dozen meters, the two looked at each other again, and then laughed at the same time!
------

At the same time, Shenzhen HaiLan Automobile headquarters welcomed the inspection of Xu Shenxue and his team.

Hailan Automobile's annual press conference is about to begin, and this year Hailan Automobile will release a blockbuster product: the mid-size SUV 'Hailan MEV'.

Bao Yongyan introduced the SUV model in front of Xu Shenxue: "Our Hailan SEV model uses our TK36 architecture on the hardware platform. The TK36 architecture has been successful on the Hailan SLMC and has been tested by the market."

"Using the same hardware architecture platform will allow our MEV models to have greater commonality in parts with the Hailan SLMC models, thereby reducing R&D and manufacturing costs."

"The design language of the MEV model is similar to that of the SLMC model, which is used to maintain the consistency of the entire brand. At the same time, the car is also designed for both family and business use, and is mainly used by families."

"MEV and SLMC models are complementary mid-size models that cater to different customer groups, especially those who prefer SUV models."
"In terms of technology application, we have also made extensive use of many mature technologies on the SLMC platform. For example, the autonomous driving system belongs to the same set, the HL3 platform with the EYQ3 chip as the core. This is also the reason why the R&D cost of this model is relatively low. We do not need to develop an additional autonomous driving system, nor do we need to develop a new electronic control system and other important subsystems."

Xu Shenxue looked at the SUV model in front of him and naturally noticed that the design concept of this SUV model was highly similar to that of the SLMC model.

So he said: "So, can this SUV model be simply understood as the SUV version of the SLMC model?"

Bao Yongyan said: "It can be said that this is mainly to save R&D costs and manufacturing costs. The same platform architecture and a large number of the same parts and components are used, which helps to significantly reduce costs and control the final selling price of our vehicles within 400,000 yuan for the entry-level version. As time goes by, sales continue to increase, and subsequent costs continue to be reduced, we expect to be able to further reduce the price to less than 350,000 yuan by the next two years."

Xu Shenxue said: "If we are going to reduce prices next year, we should not reduce prices directly on existing models. We can reduce prices by releasing new entry-level versions. For other models, we can choose to increase the quantity without increasing the price. We cannot let price reductions cause our old users to think that buying early will result in early losses."

HaiLan Automobile had never experienced price cuts before, but after launching the SLMC model, it went through several price adjustments. This price cut behavior made many old car owners very unhappy, and they felt that they were being taken advantage of... Not long after they bought the car, HaiLan SLMC announced a price cut of 20,000 to 30,000 yuan... Everyone felt uncomfortable seeing this.

Bao Yongyan said: "We have learned our lesson. For the Hailan SLMC model, after our previous direct price reduction measures, we also provided subsidies to old users, such as reductions in car insurance and maintenance costs."

"In the future, our Hailan SLMC model will continue to reduce its price, but the price of the existing models will remain unchanged. We will only launch a new, lower-priced entry-level version to the market to undertake this price reduction task. The existing models will be indirectly reduced in price by increasing battery life, insurance subsidies, maintenance subsidies, etc."

Xu Shenxue said: "Well, as long as you are prepared!"

Xu Shenxue looked around the Hailan MEC at this time, then got in the car to experience it, and felt it was pretty good.

The exterior of the car still has a sci-fi feel, and the interior of the vehicle is spacious and has all the necessary intelligent equipment, giving it a full sci-fi feel.

After a brief experience, Xu Shenxue said: "The car is well made, and it uses the same structure and a large number of common parts. This is a very good way to control R&D and production costs. You have done a great job!"

"Although innovation is important, there is no need to innovate just for the sake of innovation. As long as the product is good and the cost is well controlled, we can adopt it in a variety of models. This is important for controlling our product costs, suppressing prices and ultimately increasing sales!"

"This year, the domestic support policy for new energy vehicles will be taken to a higher level. More cities will launch exclusive license plates for new energy vehicles, and the number of charging piles in China is also increasing rapidly!"

"This is of great significance to the explosion of the entire new energy vehicle market."

"We must seize this historical opportunity and develop as quickly as possible. During this rapid development, high-end models are destined to be niche models that are icing on the cake and add brand value because of their high prices. To truly develop and sell on a large scale, we still need our mid-sized vehicles and future mid-range models."

"To expand the sales of Hailan SLMC, Hailan MEV and the mid-range models to be launched next year, cost control is particularly important. No matter how good our technology is or how dazzling the black technology of autonomous driving is, we must make it affordable for people to achieve large-scale sales!"

"What you are doing with this universal platform is great!"

Bao Yongyan: "We will not only do this for mid-sized vehicles, but also for mid-range models in the 200,000-level. We will also adopt a common platform design solution. The hardware platform, auxiliary driving platform, electronic control platform, battery system, etc. will be highly unified to minimize R&D costs and manufacturing costs. We will strive to keep the vehicle price within 250,000 yuan when it is released next year."

"This year, our goal is to continue to expand the sales of the Hailan SLMC model, striving to achieve an annual sales volume of more than 600,000 units, and at the same time vigorously promote our new Hailan MEV model, striving to achieve sales of 200,000 units in the first year."

"At the same time, we will also launch the Hailan SEC two-door convertible model this year to enter the entry-level sports car vertical market and try our best to maintain the annual sales of the entire Hailan SEC series at 150,000 units."

"At the same time, we will also upgrade the technology of the large SUV Hailan SEV, increase the battery life, add the new GL3 assisted driving system, and lower the price of its entry-level version to around yuan, so as to maintain the sales volume at units as much as possible."

“We strive to achieve annual sales of over one million units this year, reaching 1.1 million units!”

"By launching mid-size SUV models and boosting sales, we can offset the sales decline caused by the continued decline in sales of our coupe series and large SUV model SEV series!"

What is very embarrassing and helpless is that the Hailan Automobile's Hailan SEC two-door four-seater coupe model and Hailan SEV large SUV model... although they were very popular when they were launched on the market, the sales of these two models once reached the level of 500,000 to 600,000 vehicles per year.

Among them, the Hailan SEC caused a global sensation when it was released that year, and its sales volume reached more than 300,000 units the following year... This is a very successful and rare achievement for an entry-level luxury coupe model with an advanced automatic assisted driving system and a starting price of 550,000.

When the large SUV model, the Hailan SEV, was released, it also dazzled people's eyes with a series of black technologies, and its annual sales once reached 250,000 units.

However, due to their high prices and the fact that electric cars are not very convenient to use in many places, these two models quickly fell into decline after the initial popularity, and sales have declined year by year.

Fortunately, Hailan Automobile launched the mid-size sedan Hailan SLMC in a timely manner, and relying on this relatively cheap model that only costs 350,000 yuan to buy, it has seized a large market share, not only offsetting the gap caused by the sharp decline in sales of the previous two luxury models, but also greatly increased the overall sales of Hailan Automobile.

This year, the total sales volume is heading for 1.1 million vehicles.

This sales volume is quite exaggerated... After all, Hailan Automobile does not sell cheap cars worth tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of yuan, but luxury models with the cheapest starting at 350,000 yuan, and they are also sold at higher prices abroad.

In terms of price, Hailan is actually very similar to models such as Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi, Cadillac, Lexus, and Volvo... and Hailan Automobile is also competing for the market share of these mid-to-high-end automobile brands in the global market.

So even though the sales volume is only over one million vehicles, the actual revenue is very exaggerated!

And it has an even more exaggerated gross profit... Hailan Automobile's profit is much higher than that of car brands such as BMW and Mercedes-Benz.

However, the sales of several high-priced luxury models are destined to be not very high... No matter how well they perform, their sales cannot be very high when the prices are so high.

If HaiLan Automobile wants to truly develop into a world-class automobile giant and achieve automobile sales of several million units, it must make a strong move in the price range of 200,000 to 300,000 yuan and seize as much market share as possible.

Not only must prices be controlled, but technological leadership must also be maintained so that a large group of middle-income people can shift their car-buying goals from traditional fuel vehicles to emerging smart electric vehicles.

If you want to get a group of people who are used to driving gasoline cars to give them up and buy electric cars, it is actually quite difficult at present when electric cars are not yet popular, there are not many charging stations, people also have certain concerns about the safety of electric cars, and have serious range anxiety.

In this regard, Hailan Automobile's winning formula is various black technologies centered on autonomous driving!

This is also what Bao Yongyan and others have repeatedly emphasized when Hailan Automobile is facing internal and external parties: We are not a traditional automobile manufacturer, but a high-tech enterprise;

They are not traditional cars, but smart electric cars.

At the same time, this is actually the reason why the external third-party institutions give Hailan Automobile a very high valuation... For traditional automobile manufacturers, if their annual revenue is 50 to 60 billion US dollars, their market value is generally only a few billion US dollars, no more than 70 to 80 billion US dollars... Because this is calculated according to the traditional manufacturing industry, its net profit ratio is often only in the single digit percentage points, and the return on assets is also only in the single digit percentage points... and it is at a level of four or five points or even lower.

As for HaiLan Automobile... although no data has been released, third-party statistics companies can still use a lot of public data to estimate that HaiLan Automobile's net profit margin is about 20%, and its return on assets is more than 18%.

The high ratio of these two data is often only achieved by some high-tech companies, especially those with light assets.

As for traditional manufacturing, it is simply impossible to do so. Even star companies in the manufacturing industry like Zhiyun Group cannot achieve it... Zhiyun Group is recognized as the most profitable company in the world, but in fact, because Zhiyun Group has invested too much in the semiconductor manufacturing field and has too many research and development projects, its net profit margin is somewhat low.

It’s just that Zhiyun Group is large enough, so the total profit is huge.

But looking at key data such as net profit ratio and return on assets ratio...in fact, it is not as good as many high-tech companies. Overall, it is at a level between Sixin Electronics and Fruit.

This is also the P/E ratio of Zhiyun Group, which has been maintained at around 15 times for a long time. Only this year, due to the explosion of its robot business, its P/E ratio has reached 18 times... However, Zhiyun Group's P/E ratio has never reached 20 times.

Unlike some asset-light companies and some Internet enterprises, which easily have a price-to-earnings ratio of 30 to 40 times or even higher.

As for Hailan Automobile, due to its high net profit ratio, high asset return ratio, Hailan Automobile's absolute leading position in the field of smart electric vehicles, and the huge potential market for smart electric vehicles in the future, many third-party analysis agencies have given a price-to-earnings ratio of more than 25 times, and an estimated market value of at least 200 billion to 300 billion US dollars...

This is not the level of a traditional manufacturing enterprise, but the level of a high-tech enterprise.

To put it bluntly, these third-party analysis agencies and potential investors do not view HaiLian Automobile as a traditional manufacturing company, but rather as a high-tech enterprise.

This is the huge difference between HaiLan Automobile and a large number of traditional automobile companies!

Not only analytical institutions and investors think so, but many ordinary people also think so.

HaiLan Automobile is not a traditional car company, but a high-tech company that subverts traditional car companies. This is what HaiLan Automobile pursues and what many analysts and investors expect.

All of this is based on the premise that Hailan Automobile's cars are highly intelligent, especially its extremely outstanding autonomous driving technology, while also using some black technology from time to time.

This year, HaiLan Automobile will also try out some black technology... The new models they are about to launch this year will be equipped with the first large-scale commercial application of semi-solid-state batteries in human history.

It is not the high-tech solid-state battery that Hailan Automobile is developing, but a semi-solid-state battery between liquid batteries and solid-state batteries. It is also the third-generation battery launched by Hailan Automobile.

This third-generation semi-solid-state battery will bring excellent endurance to Hailan Automobile. For example, the flagship versions of Hailan SLMC and Hailan MEV will have a long endurance of more than 600 kilometers, greatly alleviating people's endurance anxiety!
(End of this chapter)