Rebirth 08: Equipment God

Chapter 348 Others making money is more important than me making money
The delegation from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and seven companies departed one by one after two days of inspection. ZTE and Coolpad each left behind a technician, essentially keeping an eye on things, and small teams will soon be formed to advance the integration of the Hongtu system.

These two companies will become the second and third mobile phone manufacturers to join the Hongtu ecosystem.

The idea of ​​the two major telecom operators, China Telecom and China Mobile, using contract phones to push overseas manufacturers will require some time to get feedback.

Zhai Da estimates that given the arrogance of large companies like Samsung, Sony Ericsson, and LG, they will at least wait until the Meizu P9 is officially unveiled and the launch event is completed before taking any action.

In just one month, it seems that Hongtu OS has completely made a name for itself!
But doing business is just like being a person.

For every new point developed, there's always another point to develop.

Building an ecosystem is very complex, with each step having its own rules and time to develop. Now we need to consider the issues of profitability and payment.

The day after the inspection team left, Zhai Da convened a small meeting with the main members of the "Hongtu Project Team" to plan for future profitability.

In the long run, the answer is already clear: the profit of "Hongtu OS" mainly comes from three directions.

I. Advertising push.

2. App store commission.

Third, after deep bundling, they pull out their knives and demand equipment fees, bundled software service fees, and joint development technology fees from mobile phone manufacturers.

Now that we have the answer, we have to copy it correctly, and even better.

Except for the last one, which requires no technical skills but only a thick skin, the first two items both require technical development.

For example, advertising distribution and push requires a B-end system for enterprises. In 09, there was no such thing as big data push. Even if they had the ability, they would gradually improve it later. In the early stage, it was better to be simple and crude.

App store commissions, on the other hand, require payment method support.

The current state of mobile payment can be described as a toad riding a cucumber – it's both unreliable and overly complicated.

There are several ways to pay separately: deducting directly from your mobile phone bill (where the operator takes a hefty 50% cut), buying game cards from roadside stalls (with limited coverage and only applicable to games), linking to a credit card (requiring a card and a special bank activation), and paying separately by inserting a USB key on a website (can a USB key still be called a USB key if you don't lose it?).

(Parentheses: This is also the case abroad, only the market share is different.)

Alipay has its own payment model, but it only exists within Taobao and does not have a payment business license; currently, all of these are held by banks.

In short, it's a complete mess, and each problem is more troublesome than the last.

In hindsight, the model of integrating credit cards was relatively simpler, but the credit card ownership rate in China is not high.
To add one more obvious point, the current level of public acceptance of online payments is not very high, especially given concerns about their security.

The forward-thinking nature of the times gave Zhai Da the opportunity to develop, but also fairly presented him with the challenges of development.

Those large companies that ultimately succeeded and influenced the entire market, besides catching the right trend, also benefited from their long-term education of the market.

At this small meeting, considering factors such as technology, promotion, and their own strengths, the "Hongtu Project Team," under the guidance of Zhai Da, decided to initially build a payment channel using a "one core, multiple paths" approach.

The core feature refers to the prepaid payment function within "Hongtu OS," which is similar to a prepaid card. Users log in to the official website to recharge their "Hongtu account," and then apply the funds to all digital services within the ecosystem, primarily app stores and B-end advertising recharges.

Multiple paths refer to a variety of pre-deposit channels, such as bank transfers via web pages, physical cards purchased at operator stores (Apple once did this), or even deductions from phone bills, but they will label it as a 50% "loss".

As times progress further, online direct payment can also be integrated, including integration with third-party payment platforms such as Alipay.

This isn't just about making money for Hongtu OS itself. To be honest, before you have a certain base, especially during the golden period of the first three years, you can't just focus on quick money; you even have to restrain your own profits.

He did this so that other participants in the ecosystem could make money.

Only by providing independent developers, application software companies, and even mobile phone manufacturers with a simple and efficient way to generate revenue can we attract a large number of developers to join and quickly build up the scale of the ecosystem.

Once someone discovers that developing a small game or application can earn a considerable amount of money on Hongtu OS, such individuals and companies will spring up like mushrooms after rain.

Hello everyone is really good.

Only then can you draw a success.

"Do you remember the 'Brewing Bible' theory I told you about?" Inside the research institute, Zhai Da and Cheng Mo, who had just finished their meeting, continued their small discussion by the Root Pool.

"Of course, I remember it vividly."

"It's more important to let other people's taverns make money than to make money yourself, because other people's money is your money."

“I think this should be our priority for at least the next three years: creating a platform that benefits all parties, which is also part of empowering the industry.”

Having finished all her final exams yesterday, Cheng Mo felt much more relaxed. She tugged at her hair, thinking that she had been too busy lately and needed to get a haircut.

It's lost all its class.

He said, "I understand. Chairman, do you remember the developer community I mentioned before? It was set up a while ago, but since Hongtu hasn't announced it yet, it's currently only our own people and partner companies involved."

“I think we can also support individual developers and micro-enterprises in the future, such as giving them preferential treatment in terms of commission and exposure. After all, if the goal is to help others make money, it’s better to have the latter than for a large company to make ten million and a hundred small companies to make one hundred thousand. The latter might have a better promotional effect.”

Zhai Da snapped his fingers: "You get it right away. If there's an opportunity, we can create one or two star individuals or star small companies. If someone who doesn't seem that great can strike it rich, then other gold diggers will keep coming."

"In addition, in the early stages, the app store still needs to have enough free apps to reduce consumers' wariness. We should encourage free apps and allow them to connect to the advertising distribution system and share an advertising fee. Of course, the frequency should not be too high, otherwise it will be annoying."

While consumers want both free and ad-free experiences, developers aren't running a charity business.

Zhai Da can only guarantee that he won't be too rampant in the early stages, thus affecting the user experience.

As he spoke, Zhai Da reached out and grasped the Coca-Cola in front of him. Without any actual contact, the Coca-Cola slowly floated up, as if by the Force.

Cheng Mo raised an eyebrow: "You have a new magic trick?"

Zhai Da used his "Force" to take a sip of cola from a distance, then put it back:
"I haven't stopped studying magic lately. Alright, I have an exam this afternoon, so I'm off."

Zhai Da smoothed out the wrinkles on his body caused by sitting for a long time:
"This is the last important piece of the puzzle before the actual battle. As usual, the technical part is yours, and I will handle the business and qualification aspects. I will ask Mr. Yang and Mr. Liu about the sales of physical cards and payment of phone bills later."

The mobile heads of the three major telecom operators are not just in charge of contract phones. In fact, Yang Jie and Liu Jun are already in very high positions and can definitely be called industry bigwigs. A single word from them can influence the entire industry.

They just always follow the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology around, which makes them seem unpretentious. But if they were released, they would act like royalty.

With top-down support, everything is negotiable as long as it's not excessive or harms the interests of operators.

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Three days after the inspection team left, on July 1st, the day before the official holiday, Zhai Da and Lu Wei finally finished all their final exams for the semester.

The Holy Son and Holy Daughter are still strong this semester, with a 4.0 rating.

Well... even Zhai Daren is numb now.

Three to four times a day, even the strongest body can't withstand it.

Interspersed throughout were visits by inspection teams, strategic signing ceremonies, occasional small meetings, and late-night snacks made of wood.

It's so strong that even Iron Man would get paint chips off, and Superman would have to adjust his pants.

When the last exam ended, Zhai Da felt a sense of relief, just like when he finished the college entrance exam. He stretched and yawned as he walked out of Zhengxin Building.

So cool~
Lu Wei had finished all her exams this morning and was currently at home with her mother, so Zhai Da no longer hesitated.

Go home for dinner.

As I was leaving through the main gate, I happened to see several students carrying suitcases. The boys and girls were in a lively atmosphere, seemingly planning to travel together for a few days after the holiday to strengthen their platonic friendship.

Their summer vacation has just begun.

Zhai Da's is the same.

(End of this chapter)