Rebirth 08: Rise from copycat phones

Chapter 62 Open Ecosystem and C1 Pro
In Xu Shenxue's opinion, the Zhiyun APP Mall is as important as the mobile phone hardware itself. This APP mall is not only for collecting channel fees in the future, but also for providing a huge ecosystem for its own Zhiyun mobile phones.

As for a smartphone, if you don’t have a large number of apps to use, it’s just a brick. There’s not much essential difference between it and a feature phone.

"The Zhiyun APP Mall we built includes almost all the Chinese APPs in China, as well as some foreign APPs."

“The APP types cover the entire catalog, from communication, audio and video, games, office, tools and other types, which can meet the needs of all different types of users!”
"At the same time, we welcome software manufacturers and individual software developers to participate in the construction of the Android ecosystem. Our Zhiyun APP Mall will provide all-round support!"

"Zhiyun Technology has always believed that an open and friendly mobile Internet ecosystem is the one that conforms to people's beliefs and can effectively promote social development!"

On the surface, this is an open ecosystem, but in reality, there is only one Android phone in China, Zhiyun Phone...others cannot use it even if they want to.

Moreover, Xu Shenxue has never thought of making his deeply customized YUN OS and Zhiyun APP Mall public so that other mobile phone manufacturers can also use them!

So Xu Shenxue doesn’t know how other people understand the open ecosystem, but his understanding is: “What’s yours is mine, and what’s mine is still mine!”

To some extent, Xu Shenxue actually wants to build a closed ecosystem...and this is also the common pursuit of all mobile phone manufacturers. Many times it is not that they don’t want to do it, but that they can’t do it!
However, a purely closed ecosystem is too difficult to create, so Xu Shenxue had to settle for the next best thing and planned to create a semi-closed ecosystem... That's why there are so many warnings and even obstacles for downloading apps from third-party platforms.

This is all for the purpose of building our own ecological chain!

Otherwise, why would Zhiyun Technology directly deeply customize the system, remove Google's built-in system mall and even the underlying push service, and replace it with its own!
This is of course due to the fact that Google will withdraw from the domestic market and these services will not be available in the future.

But what is more important is to control the ecological chain of Zhiyun mobile phone by oneself. System push and even information services must be in one's own hands, and the software distribution channels must also be in one's own hands.

These are related to a series of subsequent value-added services and are even less likely to be open to others.

At the same time, when used with a Zhiyun account, you can easily purchase and recharge paid items. Zhiyun Technology has also set up its own payment system and signed a cooperation agreement with a local bank in Shenzhen.

As for payment licenses, there was no such thing back then, so both Zhiyun Technology and other payment vendors were illegal.

Originally, Xu Shenxue was not very willing to develop mobile payment himself. It was not because the thing was bad, but because it would distract his attention and even make too many enemies.

You are a mobile phone manufacturer that makes a lot of software. What do other software manufacturers think of you?

At that time, it will no longer be a cooperative relationship, but a competitive relationship.

The reason why they took the trouble to develop mobile payment on their own is that there is no payment software that can be used on mobile phones these days, and mobile Alipay has not even come out yet... Zhiyun Technology has no choice but to develop one on its own.

In 09, the smartphone industry was in its expansion phase, and everything was very troublesome!
Because the software does not have many functions and the hardware is not mature.

For example, Zhiyun Technology installed a front-facing camera and wanted to make video calls, but there was no mobile phone software on the market that supported video calls... They asked QQ on their phone to try it, but no one responded.

What to do? What else can I do? I can just make one myself and use it as a makeshift device. Anyway, the two-way mobile video call gimmick must be taken down by Zhiyun mobile phone.

The same is true for mobile payments. Tenpay and Alipay do not have mobile payment services yet, but Zhiyun Technology has set up an APP mall, which will always cost fees, otherwise it will be inconvenient for users to recharge and purchase content and services.

What should I do at this time? What else can I do? I can simply build a mobile payment channel myself!

However, for the sake of fund security, this system only supports user recharge and consumption, and does not support fund transfers between users. To put it bluntly, it is a pure cash register system.

After the user recharges, the money does not exist in the form of currency but in the form of points. It cannot be withdrawn or given to other users.

It can only be used for consumption of content and services in the Zhiyun APP Mall channel.

This is mainly to avoid all kinds of messy financial risks and even policy risks. Zhiyun Technology is not interested in getting involved in the financial field, especially the Internet financial field. Zhiyun Technology just wants to have a collection account...

There are no mature options like these on the market, and there are still many things that need to be done by yourself, and these things are not deeply felt during publicity or even actual use by users.

But these are extremely important, and the details in many aspects reflect all-round "convenience", "simplicity" and "accessibility".

Xu Shenxue wants users to use the Zhiyun phone simply and conveniently, without having to fiddle with it or figure out anything. They can just pick it up and use it.

As Xu Shenxue introduced the details of various Zhiyun phones one after another, the press conference gradually came to an end.

At this time, Xu Shenxue picked up the mineral water bottle and drank a sip of water, then once again said to the audience: "Our Zhiyun phone is undoubtedly the best 3G smartphone in the world. It has epoch-making two-way mobile video calls, fast wireless Internet access, the best interactive design, and a vast amount of rich software resources!"

“It also has great photo and video effects!”

"And it also has the most advanced mobile phone chips and screens of the time!"

"How much should such a mobile phone cost?"

As Xu Shenxue spoke, three Zhiyun phone models with different colors and configurations appeared on the large screen behind him.

The first two models are the 1GB and 8GB versions of Zhiyun C16.

However, the third phone is equipped with 32GB of storage space, and the front camera has been upgraded to million pixels.

The third one even has a separate model number 'Zhiyun C1 pro'!
Others present did not know that this third model, Zhiyun C1 Pro, was specially developed based on the suggestions of the marketing department. It was a high-end mobile phone designed to increase the price and enhance the brand positioning.

After seeing these three models, everyone present fell silent.

When it comes to mobile phones, the selling price is very important, as it affects many aspects including brand, sales volume, profit, etc., especially for the channel dealers attending the press conference.

After listening to Xu Shenxue bragging for more than an hour, I became more and more worried... Because Xu Shenxue boasted too much, and at first glance, it sounded like all kinds of black technology, and it looked even more awesome than fruits!
Fruits don't have things like mobile video calls, data traffic, and text messages.

就连最明显最直观的屏幕都超过水果3G一大截……水果3G的屏幕是3.5英寸，480×320像素。

The Zhiyun phone also has a 3.5-inch screen, but the pixel count reaches 480×800.

There is a big difference in the display effects between the two.

They are worried that Zhiyun Technology will come up with such a high-tech product and then become arrogant and make the price extremely expensive.

They were especially surprised when they saw the third model, the C1 Pro phone.

This configuration and performance are higher than those of many other brands' flagship smartphones.

This thing isn't cheap!
In fact, the concerns of some channel dealers are not unreasonable. The third model of C1 Pro is equivalent to the current one, which is indeed very expensive, especially for Zhiyun Technology, a new domestic mobile phone manufacturer.

When Zhiyun Technology developed the C1 Pro, it had no idea how many units it could sell; it simply existed as a price-anchoring model.

(End of this chapter)