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Chapter 443 (0433) [Apple Has Arrived in China Too]

"Mr. Rong, the HarmonyOS A1 has arrived." The assistant brought over the phone's packaging box.

"let it go."

Rong Xiuli is handling other work.

Rong Xiuli only opened the packaging box after finishing her work.

Upon opening it, I found it to be very beautiful.

Especially the phone case, it doesn't have overly complicated designs, avoiding any curves, making the whole phone look square and upright. Minimalist, cool, postmodern style.

Rong Xiuli has studied the Meizu M8 and is now studying the HarmonyOS A1. The biggest difference in appearance is that there is no HOME button, and instead there are three buttons that she has never seen before.

I tried it out, and the three-button navigation is very easy to use.

Besides input methods, browsers, and mobile email, the pre-installed apps on a phone include ByteDance Weibo, Xiami Music, Fruit Ninja, and Happy Match.

In addition, there's WeChat.

Rong Xiuli inserted her SIM card and tried out various apps, also trying to see if she could uninstall them.

The pre-installed apps on the Lenovo O1 cannot be uninstalled, or even moved from the home screen to other locations. This has infuriated many users, as some of these pre-installed apps are essentially useless and even affect the phone's performance if not uninstalled.

The pre-installed applications on HarmonyOS A1 can be uninstalled at will, which Rong Xiuli found quite appealing.

What is WeChat?
Rong Xiuli tapped the WeChat icon and immediately entered the registration/registration interface. She clicked register, and a pop-up appeared asking if she wanted to register with her mobile phone number, or she could choose to register with ByteDance, Youke, or email address.

Rong Xiuli casually registered an account using her mobile phone number, filled in some user information, and clicked to slowly view various functions.

After all that, I found it's pretty much the same as Fetion and Mobile QQ.

She clicked on the recommendations and found that they were all local users, with basic information (labeled as students, white-collar workers, civil servants, etc.).

Otherwise, it's not much different from the Meizu M8.

The app store was also empty, with only a few small games available.

Please note: Dear users, we sincerely apologize, as more applications are under development. For details regarding third-party applications, please log in to the HarmonyOS Community on your computer. Website: xxxx.

After studying it for a long time, Rong Xiuli's impression of HarmonyOS A1 was: a Meizu M8 with more pre-installed applications and a more beautiful appearance.

The following day, Rong Xiuli convened a high-level meeting, with the usual topic being: Should Tianyu launch a smartphone with a full-touch capacitive screen?

“I don’t think it’s worth the risk,” one executive said. “We’re already selling well and making good profits through carrier channels, whether it’s traditional feature phones or resistive touchscreen smartphones. There’s no need to make capacitive touchscreen phones. Nokia isn’t making them, so what would we do? Are Nokia’s management idiots?”

Another executive said, "I think this is an opportunity. Precisely because Nokia doesn't make smartphones with full touchscreen capacitive displays, we should hurry up and do it. If we just do whatever Nokia does, wouldn't we be forever following in Nokia's footsteps?"

"What's wrong with following big brands? The development path of big brands means a mature market and high user acceptance! But making products like the Meizu M8 or HarmonyOS A1 carries a lot of risk. HarmonyOS A1 is nothing special; its first-day sales were even lower than our Tianyu E68."

"I believe capacitive screens are the future trend, and we should start planning for them early."

"Resistive touchscreens are the mature solution, while capacitive touchscreens have many drawbacks, so it's better to play it safe."

"..."

The executives argued back and forth, each with their own reasons.

Rong Xiuli was also unsure.

The Tianyu E68 is a full-touch resistive screen phone with four physical buttons for making calls and sending emails. Its design is quite good, and its first-day sales were even better than the HarmonyOS A1.

However, it uses a resistive touchscreen, making it difficult to operate quickly with your fingers. You need to use a stylus for assistance, or press hard with your fingers.

Applications such as Mobile QQ and MSN are developing exclusive versions for the Tianyu E68.

The larger and more profitable a company is, the greater the obstacles it faces in adopting new technologies.

Moreover, the Tianyu E68 has sold well, so there is not much demand for switching to capacitive screens.

Want to take a gamble?
Rong Xiuli returned to her office, feeling conflicted. After weighing the options repeatedly, she finally decided to reassess the situation.

Ordinary people might wonder: capacitive touchscreen phones, which can be easily operated with a finger, are clearly more convenient than resistive touchscreen phones that require a stylus. Why then does the CEO of a large company still not understand this?

Because one's position determines one's perspective, CEOs of large companies have more things to consider.

When Rong Xiuli first started making mobile phones, she impulsively tried to conduct independent research and development. However, all her investment went down the drain, so she settled down to making knock-offs and making decisions based entirely on market conditions.

She has developed a path dependency: whatever Nokia does, Tianyu does too!
At that time, the best-selling smartphones were Nokia's resistive touchscreen smartphones. Rong Xiuli believed this reflected market demand, and Tianyu only needed to follow the market trend.

As for the rest, we’ll talk about it later.

……

Tencent.

A high-level meeting is underway.

Pony Ma pointed to the HarmonyOS A1 phone and said, "The HarmonyOS phone comes pre-installed with WeChat. I've tried it myself, and it seems pretty good. Since the HarmonyOS A1 currently only has WeChat as its instant messaging software, many users have already started using it. The wireless business department must accelerate the development of the HarmonyOS version of Mobile QQ!"

Zhang Zhidong said, "There are too many smartphones launched this year, and different manufacturers have different operating systems. We are developing four versions of Mobile QQ at the same time. The versions for Tianyu and Meizu are almost finished, but the Mobile QQ adapted to HarmonyOS will definitely take more time."

Pony Ma asked, "Can it be completed within a month? I'm worried that WeChat might take this opportunity to seize the market share of Mobile QQ." Zhang Zhidong replied, "It should be completed."

"I don't care what should be done, it must be finished within a month!" Little Ma gave a firm order.

“Okay, I’ll have them work overtime,” Zhang Zhidong said.

Pony Ma then asked Liu Chengmin, "How is Tencent's mobile phone development going?"

Having been transferred from the most profitable wireless business unit to be in charge of developing Tencent's mobile phones, Liu Chengmin now feels like he wants to die: "There are many problems. I have a bunch of software programmers under me, but very few senior hardware talents. I need to replace a lot of people and add a mobile phone hardware R&D department, but... you haven't approved it yet."

Little Ma remained silent.

Zhang Zhidong said, "I don't think it's necessary to develop everything in-house, especially the mobile operating system. Tencent should directly join the HarmonyOS camp to facilitate the development of various mobile software in the future."

Liu Chengmin countered, "In the HarmonyOS camp, there is currently only Chen Guiliang's HarmonyOS A1. Other manufacturers are still in the R&D stage, and they have just started R&D. The alliance may disintegrate in a year or two. Instead of joining now, we should stick to our own R&D."

Zhang Zhidong chuckled, "You used to be in charge of wireless business, how could you not understand the application ecosystem? Now that you've switched to developing mobile phones, you've thrown away all those things? If we develop our own system, the application ecosystem will become increasingly closed. Do you still want to become the Apple of China?"

Liu Chengmin questioned, "Tencent is a large and powerful company, why can't we learn from Apple? We have enough applications, and with our size, we can attract more third-party companies. A closed ecosystem can be established quickly, and then we will be the Apple of China!"

The two started arguing, while the other executives watched the whole thing unfold.

In the end, Little Ma was actually persuaded by Liu Chengmin.

The phrase "China's Apple" resonated deeply with Pony Ma. He decided to persist in developing his own mobile operating system, exploring the possibility of becoming China's Apple, rather than rushing to join the HarmonyOS camp.

What if it works?

However, Zhang Zhidong is a founding member, so we must give him enough face.

Therefore, Pony Ma announced that Tencent's various products would accelerate the development of HarmonyOS versions and launch them on the HarmonyOS app store as soon as possible to seize the market.

Prepare for both possibilities and support each other.

……

By the end of October, nearly half a month after its launch, HarmonyOS A1 had sold over 40,000 units (and all available stock was sold out).

Whether online or offline, everyone is urging us to restock as soon as possible.

BYD Electronics' HarmonyOS mobile phone production line can only produce 2000 phones per day, and even with price increases and expedited production, it's difficult to increase output significantly. They also dare not add new production lines, in case they run out of capacity later.
Currently, the official HarmonyOS mobile phone online store has received over 10,000 pre-orders, all eagerly awaiting shipment.

The sales of HarmonyOS A1 in just half a month are already close to the sales of Meizu M8 in half a year.

The Meizu M8 is no longer in short supply and can be sold freely, but it's not selling well.

The main reason is the price drop of the Meizu M8, which decreased by 500 yuan in less than six months. Many long-time users complained, which affected Meizu's online reputation.

With the release of HarmonyOS A1, many potential users simply opted to buy HarmonyOS.

Just as HarmonyOS was gaining popularity and Chen Guiliang was expanding his promotional efforts, advertorials about Apple suddenly flooded the internet.

A large number of online trolls flooded the HarmonyOS community, mocking HarmonyOS A1 while simultaneously praising Apple.

Apple's 3G and 3GS are about to go on sale!
This has led many potential users to temporarily abandon their plans to buy HarmonyOS and instead wait to directly purchase an Apple product.

Even some online pre-orders for HarmonyOS have been cancelled.

But when Apple actually released it, the HarmonyOS community was filled with mockery.

"Damn, Apple products are so damn expensive. I went to a China Unicom store today and the cheapest one was 4999 yuan, and the most expensive one was 6999 yuan. What's the difference between this and robbery?"

"If you're broke, don't use Apple products. You should buy HarmonyOS instead."

"Go to hell. If you're in such a hurry to get scammed by Apple, you can do it quietly by yourself. Don't come to the HarmonyOS community and embarrass yourself."

"There's a reason why it's expensive; it's not a domestically produced knock-off."

“笑死老子了，苹果贵有什么道理。鸿蒙A1的屏幕分辨率是720*480，苹果3GS只有480*320。都不用仔细对比，肉眼一看就知道谁更低端。苹果用户吹什么牛逼？”

"Is phone resolution all that matters? I buy phones based on quality and user experience!"

"Come on, tell me, what quality and user experience does Apple offer? I don't feel any quality, and the user experience is utterly terrible. It doesn't even have Wi-Fi, and the data charges are outrageous. There are no domestic apps either; it's just an empty shell."

"China Unicom is behind this. The carrier disabled Apple's Wi-Fi function in order to make more money from data traffic fees."

"What nonsense are you talking about? China Unicom sells Apple phones and makes at least two or three thousand yuan a month from each one sold. To cripple Apple's Wi-Fi just to reduce data charges? Only an Apple user with a brain would think that way."

"HarmonyOS is garbage! Apple is number one in the world!"

"Go away!"

"..."

Nokia didn't even need Chen Guiliang to take action; they had already begun to prepare.

Nokia has stopped trying to smear HarmonyOS, because Apple is a more worthy target of attention. Nokia bribed newspapers and hired online trolls to exploit the fact that Apple's Wi-Fi function was disabled, but the result... was a flood of criticism against China Unicom.

China Unicom: What's it to me? ???
Chen Guiliang personally flew to Shenzhen and finally persuaded BYD to open another HarmonyOS production line.

(End of this chapter)