Since we are both reborn, of course I would choose the rich woman!

Chapter 234 Time Waits for No One (6k views, please subscribe)

In the future, mobile phones will transform from communication tools into fashionable accessories.

Apple even poached marketing managers from the luxury goods sector to implement Apple's marketing strategies.

This marketing strategy was very successful.

Because in the future, Apple will indeed become a fashionable luxury item in the tech world.

The trendsetting design, unique system ecosystem, and exceptional marketing have led most consumers to believe that owning an Apple phone not only means having money, but also means having unique taste.

For a long time, Android in the mobile phone industry and Microsoft in the computer industry were overshadowed by Apple's marketing and market feedback.

Even though Microsoft's system is more compatible and has a higher development ceiling, between 2017 and 2019, many young people preferred to take out loans to buy more expensive Apple products rather than embrace Android and Microsoft products.

Ordering a coffee at Starbucks and placing an Apple MacBook Pro in front of you has become a new way for young people to show off.

The most outrageous thing Lü Yao had ever seen was in Dahai City, where a pretentious young man actually brought an iMac to Starbucks and pretended to be cool by drinking coffee, while wearing Apple headphones. He looked so carefree that it was as if he wasn't in Starbucks, but in Hawaii.

While this almost obsessive behavior may be considered an isolated case, it is enough to illustrate the impact of electronic products on people's lives in the future, and also demonstrates the popularity of Apple's iPhone series among young people.

of course.

Many people also feel that the design language of Apple's iPhone series is very limited, and many generations of models are almost the same thing with different names. In fact, this cannot be blamed on Apple, because there are only so many good designs, and their room for creativity is actually very limited.

If you simply place Apple and Android phones side by side, you'll understand why the iPhone series has allowed Apple to become the world's most valuable company.

In Lü Yao's memory, the only phones that could rival Apple's in terms of appearance were probably Samsung's S series phones.

Especially the Samsung S8.

However, the Samsung S series is a bit too small and exquisite, which is not suitable for Lü Yao's future development strategy.

So after much deliberation, Lü Yao chose the design of the Apple 12pm to help Xiaomi open up their path to becoming a high-end brand, while also laying the groundwork for his next phase of plans.

While Lü Yao was staring at Lei Zong's computer screen looking at the design draft, Lei Zong was also staring at the design draft.

Although he comes from a software background, he has been in the mobile phone industry for so long and has built his company, Xiaomi, into one of the top mobile phone manufacturers in China. Lei Jun has a very keen sense of aesthetics in mobile phones and the impact of aesthetics on market sales.

When he first saw the mobile phone design draft, his mind went completely blank.

This is absolutely a design masterpiece that transcends the present and can be described as coming from the future.

Currently, most phones in the Apple camp have rounded edges, emphasizing a sleek and slim aesthetic; most Android phones either imitate Apple phones or have overly flat designs that lack aesthetic appeal.

However, Lu Yao's mobile phone design drafts are completely different from the square shape of the Apple camp, yet in terms of proportion and details, they have a refinement and aesthetics that completely surpass Android phones.

Lei Jun exclaimed, "The super ceramic crystal panel described in your design draft is amazing. It says it can improve the screen's light transmittance and touch feel. At the same time, you boldly applied stainless steel to the phone. The high-gloss texture of the polished stainless steel frame greatly enhances the overall technological feel of the phone."

That's why Lei is so insightful.

Last year, Apple released the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, both of which used a unibody aluminum alloy frame. Aluminum alloy frames are excellent in terms of heat dissipation and signal reception, while also having a smooth texture and being very lightweight. As a result, the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus became a global hit as soon as they were released.

Apple will also release the 6s and 6sp this September. Both phones will use the same unibody aluminum engraving process. In 2016 and 2017, there will be no major changes in the manufacturing process of Apple phones.

The frame and back panel, which are different from those made using the integrated aluminum carving process, are clearly not part of the design language of current Apple phones.

It has a more high-tech feel and looks more expensive.

But Mr. Lei didn't finish his sentence: "Especially the choice of material for the back panel, the matte glass back panel, is excellent in terms of feel and user experience."

This glass back panel not only doesn't easily leave fingerprints, but also improves scratch resistance and grip.

of course.

This kind of square phone, which uses stainless steel and matte glass for its frame and back panel, may not be very comfortable to hold and may feel sharp in the hand.

But with such a striking design, this minor flaw is hardly a flaw at all.

Good design always requires compromises, and comfort is one of the factors that many good designs need to compromise on.

After praising Lü Yao's design, General Manager Lei asked the question that had been bothering him: "So, General Manager Lü, which manufacturer currently owns the material preparation technology shown in your design drawings?"

Lü Yao laughed and said, "None of them."

Mr. Lei was stunned for a moment: "Huh?"

Lu Yao chuckled and said, "However, these materials themselves don't present any technical difficulties. For example, the stainless steel frame, once properly polished, can achieve a high-gloss texture with a good coating process. The matte glass back panel also doesn't present any technical difficulties."

"The most challenging part is the super ceramic crystal panel."

In the future... no, even now, Apple's iPhone launch events are already being called the Spring Festival Gala of the tech world. Every Apple launch event is constantly analyzed by various media outlets and even used as a marketing template, which is also essential content for marketers to learn.

In fact, Lei Jun himself had a deep understanding of Apple's product launch events. Years later, through his own research and contemplation, he created his own unique product launch format.

Thanks to people's continued exploration and interpretation of Apple's product launches, Lu Yao, a veteran marketer, also remembered a lot of information about Apple phones.

This ultra-ceramic crystal panel incorporates nano-level ceramic crystals into a glass matrix, which not only significantly improves the screen's drop resistance but also maintains high light transmittance and a pleasant tactile feel.

An improvement in texture means an improvement in quality.

This attention to detail and quality is what truly touches the hearts of the wealthy.

Especially in a future where consumerism prevails.

Beyond these visible materials, there is a great deal of software work involved in developing this phone: such as facial recognition technology that will become standard in the future, a magnetic ecosystem, a professional-grade imaging ecosystem, and so on. These software development aspects are the most important and also the most difficult.

Lu Yao said, "Developing basic materials is not difficult; the difficulty lies in these invisible and intangible things."

Lei Jun himself is a technologist, so of course he knows what this means.

When Lü Yao integrated these things that were almost unheard of at the time into a mobile phone and created such a groundbreaking product, he knew he had to seize this opportunity!

Since its inception, Xiaomi has relied on low prices and high specifications to crush the market share stolen by counterfeit phones.

However, relying solely on lower-tier markets will prevent a brand from growing significantly.

Xiaomi Group must have high-end flagship products that are competitive and capable enough to stand out in the future competition among mobile phone manufacturers.

Lei Jun shares the same idea as many other big names in the internet industry: because of the efficient communication and virtual integration of the internet, internet companies will inevitably be in a "winner-takes-all" situation. If they cannot break into the top five mobile internet manufacturers in the future, it will mean that their entrepreneurial venture has failed.

Lei Jun had been struggling with the transition of Xiaomi to high-end models. Both the Xiaomi 6 released in 2017 and the Xiaomi Mix released in 2016 were attempts to explore the high-end market.

However, Xiaomi, which lacks core technologies, has faced a very bumpy road in its transformation.

The sales of Xiaomi 6, which increased in price in 2017, were almost halved. Although the sales were brought back by the more competitive Xiaomi 8, the Xiaomi 9 only shipped a mere 240 million units in a year, which is a dismal figure.

Sales of the Xiaomi series after the Xiaomi 9 remained dismal.

It wasn't until several years later, when Xiaomi cars emerged and established a reputation in the market with their high-end models, that sales of Xiaomi phones began to recover and rise.

Xiaomi Car is a product that Lei Jun (Xiaomi's founder) created by betting everything on his wealth and reputation. The product's strength is undeniable, but it was only through Xiaomi Car that the brand image of Xiaomi phones was elevated... This roundabout way of saving the day actually shows that Xiaomi's mobile phone ecosystem has already started to collapse.

At the same time, Huawei, which came from behind, was almost dominating Xiaomi.

But it's different now.

Lu Yao presented Xiaomi with a phone that truly seemed to come from the future.

Lei Jun, who is already very keen on sensing opportunities, seized the opportunity presented by Lü Yao without hesitation. He confidently stated, "President Lü, you can rest assured. I will personally lead the team to overcome the difficulties and ensure that this phone is presented perfectly to the public."

Lü Yao is confident in Xiaomi's problem-solving capabilities.

Moreover, it's worth mentioning that CEO Lei is personally leading the team.

After discussing the product itself, Lei began to openly negotiate with Lü Yao: "Mr. Lü, you've given me such a great gift, so I'm definitely going to bring you into our team. I just don't know what it would take for you to agree to join us?"

When President Lei said this, he looked at Lü Yao with a very sincere and earnest gaze.

In a future in-depth interview, Lei Jun once said that he has four ways to make good products and minimize major problems: find the best talent for the product, find the best suppliers for the product, have a sound management system and process, and a large amount of engineering testing.

Among the various tasks, finding the most outstanding talent for this product was Lei Jun's top priority.

Therefore, compared to the original design draft of the phone, Lei Jun valued Lü Yao's abilities more.

If he can bring himself one surprise, then he can bring himself even more surprises.

Lu Yao had already considered Lei's question, and he said, "My idea might be a bit greedy for you." Lei immediately laughed and said, "Greed is a good thing. It shows that you are confident in doing this well and that you have big ambitions for it. To be honest, I like to work with very outstanding people when I meet them, but what I fear most is that these outstanding people are not greedy."

"Because he is not greedy, it means that he doesn't really want to work with you, or even has high expectations about working with you."

Lu Yao smiled and said, "I know that Xiaomi Group is focusing on the high-end market and has even created a sub-brand called Redmi for this purpose. My idea is to invest 2 billion yuan to create a similar sub-brand under Xiaomi Group. But I want to have complete control over this sub-brand company."

“Your Xiaomi Group can become the second largest shareholder of the sub-brand.”

Mr. Lei pursed his lips as he listened; this Mr. Lü's ambitions were indeed considerable.

But Lu Yao hadn't finished speaking: "At the same time, because the sub-brands I control have joined your Xiaomi, I also need you to give me a portion of Xiaomi Group's shares."

Upon hearing this, Mr. Lei couldn't help but frown slightly.

Lu Yao continued, "And to be honest with you, because of the huge R&D costs and expensive materials in the early stages, we will definitely lose money when we sell the phones in the early stages of this sub-brand. How much we lose depends on how much we invest in R&D."

"So if we start this new brand together, we're basically going to lose money together."

What Lü Yao said was frightening, but Lei, who was already a successful businessman, understood the profit-making logic behind the loss as soon as he spoke.

Whether high-end models make money or not is not important. The most important thing about high-end models is that they enhance the overall brand image and bring value to mid-range and even low-end models by incorporating the technologies used in high-end models.

Luxury brands like Porsche don't actually make much money from their performance sports cars. The profits from the sales volume of these high-performance models aren't even enough to cover the operating costs of their dealerships.

Therefore, Porsche's strategy for making money is to leverage the impressive attributes of its performance sports cars to enhance the prestige of its other models.

Therefore, Porsche's most profitable model is actually the Cayenne, which is not known for its performance.

This means that once their high-end model strategy is successful, the shipment volume of Xiaomi's other models and products will also increase thanks to the brand effect of the high-end models.

Therefore, Lü Yao not only wants to completely control the sub-brand, but also wants to hold shares in Xiaomi Group.

After Lü Yao finished speaking, President Lei said almost without hesitation, "Your appetite is indeed very large, but I agree with your idea!"

Afterwards, Lü Yao and General Manager Lei held in-depth and detailed talks on the details of the cooperation.

The two sides eventually reached an agreement.

Lu Yao invested 2 billion yuan, and Lei Jun also invested 2 billion yuan to jointly develop this phone with Lu Yao. However, Lu Yao controlled 55% of the shares, while Lei Jun held 45%.

Lei Jun refused to budge on this point, and even preferred to give Lü Yao more Xiaomi shares rather than give up the high-end market.

Lu Yao laughed at the time, saying, "President Lei, this is a losing proposition."

Lei also laughed and said, "Losing money is only temporary, but high-end models will definitely make money in the future, and the money they can make will be a lot."

He is confident in this.

After everything was discussed, Mr. Lei asked, "Mr. Lü, have you decided on a name for the sub-brand?"

Lü Yao nodded and said, "I've thought it through, even the 'geeks'."

"Geek" is a transliteration of the slang term "Geek," generally understood as "an eccentric person." However, with the rise of internet culture, the word has come to mean exceptional intelligence and hard work, and is also used to describe someone with a passionate interest in computer and network technology who dedicates a great deal of time to studying it.

In 2015, the word "geek" was not very common. People often heard of "hackers," "white hat hackers," and "red hat hackers"—people related to the Internet.

But as Apple phones became popular in the country, geek culture also became widespread.

In the internet age, geeks are striving to develop new business models and cutting-edge technologies, so they are natural trendsetters in technology and fashion, and there will be a large number of people who identify as geeks in the future.

Lü Yao thought this was a good choice as a brand name.

Lei Jun himself is terrible at naming things, after all, the name of Xiaomi Group comes from the bowl of millet porridge he drank when the company opened.

Below Xiaomi are Redmi and Purplemi...

Therefore, Lei Jun has no objection to the name "Geek" as a sub-brand. However, he will conduct as much research and testing as possible before the product launch to see how the brand name will be received.

After finalizing these details, Lei Jun stood up quickly and said, "I'll go back today and try my best to get the R&D team up by the third quarter of this year."

Lu Yao asked in surprise, "Aren't you going to stay for a meal?"

Mr. Lei waved his hand repeatedly: "Time is precious, let's get started. I will keep you informed of any updates as soon as possible."

Lei Jun's decisive and efficient approach to work is also a major characteristic. In his view, sometimes getting things done is more important than achieving perfection. For example, Xiaomi produced an electric car in just three years, something Apple couldn't do for many years.

Xiaomi currently has no plans to manufacture cars, but Lei Jun is very determined to transform into a high-end brand.

no way.

Since Lü Yao couldn't persuade Boss Lei to entertain him, he could only do his best to be a good host and send Boss Lei to the airport.

On the way to the airport, Lü Yao and Lei made time plans: "The best we can do is launch this high-end model in September 2017."

Lei was somewhat surprised by this.

Apple's annual product launch event is held in mid-September. Is Lü Yao going to directly confront Apple?
Xiaomi releases its phones mostly in the first half of the year, which allows it to avoid Apple's strong period and capture a segment of users who want to upgrade but can't stick with Apple.

Now that Lü Yao is going to release his product at the same time as Apple, isn't that a bit too reckless?

Lu Yao laughed and said, "Even you, President Lei, are surprised. When our new phone is released, the industry and media circles will definitely be very surprised. Regardless of whether our sales can go up, our reputation will definitely go up."

As for how many of their high-end models they can sell... that's not important.

With so many new technologies integrated into the phone, Lü Yao didn't even plan to make a profit in the early stages; in fact, he was prepared to lose money. Of the 4 billion yuan investment he and Lei Jun combined, aside from R&D, supply chain, marketing, and after-sales service, most of the remaining amount was intended to be lost.

Lü Yao didn't care about losing money.

Because Lü Yao wanted to use this phone to tell stories and drive the development of another industry in his family.

There are still many areas where we can exert our strength later.

and so.

When creating a product, never expect it to be a guaranteed money-maker. Instead, think about how the product can change your ecosystem.

Lei Jun wants to use this phone to help Xiaomi Group transform, while Lü Yao is laying the groundwork for his own business.

Lu Yao's words successfully persuaded President Lei. President Lei carefully looked at Lu Yao, who was sitting next to him in the back row, and suddenly said, "President Lu, why don't you launch the new phone? You are the CEO of the sub-brand company, you have a lot of online traffic, your image and temperament are more suitable for the new phone, and even your Mandarin is better than mine."

This is practically a natural, human-shaped, self-propelled advertising machine.

Lü Yao didn't care about that, but Lei Jun's suggestion was indeed very good. Lü Yao, with his better image and temperament, was indeed a better match for the new phone.

But Lü Yao still said, "The younger generation still needs the guidance of the older generation. If it really is me on stage, Mr. Lei, you must help me out and warm up the atmosphere."

Lei Jun's expertise in speech writing is unparalleled. Lu Yao's appearances on stage so far have actually drawn heavily on Lei Jun's style for his future press conferences.

Upon hearing Lü Yao's words, General Lei laughed heartily and said, "That's for sure."

Upon arriving at the airport, Lei, dressed in a simple navy blue polo shirt and washed jeans, looking unremarkable and even ordinary, waved goodbye to Lü Yao and quickly disappeared through the security checkpoint.

Mr. Lei truly lives up to his name; he's incredibly decisive and efficient.

However, only someone like Lei Jun can juggle so many things and maintain the stability of the company's management system, preventing major mistakes. Therefore, when Xiaomi's screen panel supply chain encountered problems in the second half of this year and the first half of next year, he was able to react immediately.

However, even if Xiaomi reacts quickly enough, it won't help.

The conflict between them and Samsung stems from Samsung's arrogance. They look down on domestic mobile phone manufacturers, which is why they verbally agreed to the agreement after Lei Jun visited three times, only to tear it up later.

If we want to stand tall, we need to start with the domestic supply chain.

After seeing off President Lei, Lü Yao immediately called Rong Nianqing: "Hey Rong, how's that thing I told you about last time?"

Rong Nianqing asked, puzzled, "They're talking? What's wrong?"

Lu Yao laughed and said, "I think we can speed things up a bit. I just saw off Lei Jun from Xiaomi. I talked to Xiaomi about a collaboration. We plan to develop a high-end model within the next twenty months."

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone.

A minute or two later, Rong Nianqing seemed to have found what she was looking for. A voice came from the other end saying, "Currently, BOE is the best panel manufacturer in China, but BOE is now being supported by Huawei. They started supporting their own panel supply chain in 2012."

(End of this chapter)