Tech startup: I really do make mobile phones!

Chapter 71 Sales Explode!
Strong stall market in North China.

Old Zhang's wife saw the orange-themed phone printed on the individual packaging box and fell in love with it at first sight.

Zhao Tiezhu is right. Orange 1's bright orange color and bouncy, cute appearance will definitely appeal to those young women.

"Hey, hey, hey! Honey, what are you doing?"

Before Lao Zhang could stop her, his wife used her fingernail to scratch open the film of the individual packaging box and took out the small orange that was quietly lying on the second layer.

"Old Zhang! I've decided to get a new phone!"

Old Zhang, who suffers from bronchitis, didn't dare to speak up at all; his heart was bleeding!
This college student's knock-off phone is priced at the highest level, 499! I'll have to stay open 5 minutes later today to earn that back!

That spendthrift old woman.

"Honey! If you like it, then go ahead and change it. We're not short of money!"

Old Zhang's wife had already turned on the computer and swiped a few times on the screen.

"The capacitive screen is so responsive? And this input method, I don't even need to switch back and forth!"

Before he finished speaking, a group of wholesalers had already jogged past Old Zhang's stall.
"I knew it! This is just a 499 apple!" Old Zhang slapped his thigh and crawled out from behind the counter: "Wife, keep an eye on the stall, I'm going to place the order!"

When Lao Zhang rushed to the scene, he saw from afar that the alley leading to Orange Technology's small workshop was completely blocked.

Dozens of wholesalers, like sharks smelling blood, surrounded the cramped little workshop in layers.

Their order forms rained down on the spare parts boxes piled up outside the door, mixed with shouts, making the whole alley look like a vegetable market.

Zhao Tiezhu stood with one foot on a wobbly plastic chair, his other hand gripping the rusty sign holder tightly, the veins on his hand holding the megaphone bulging.

"Bosses! The production line over there is smoking! We're out! We really have no stock left!"

His roar was instantly drowned out by a tidal wave of questions. Someone jumped up and grabbed his shoulders, while someone tried to stuff cigarettes directly into his pocket.

Fortunately, the original OEM manufacturer for Orange 1 was already in place. Once the screen and chip configuration were finalized, all that was needed was to source the goods from the previously selected wholesaler at market price.

Now, taking advantage of the momentum brought by the Apple 4, and with various counterfeit brands in North China yet to ship their products, the Orange 1 phone saw explosive sales as soon as it hit the market.

Having gained market recognition, Chen Mo naturally no longer needed to skimp on spare parts costs. The contract manufacturer also expedited assembly, and Orange Technology covered the overtime pay for the workers.

Chen Moka struggled to block the entrance between the half-closed roller shutter and the surging crowd, his shirt back already soaked with sweat.

"Pay 30% deposit first! Five hundred units will be shipped first tomorrow!" His voice was torn to shreds, but people still pushed forward frantically, their fingertips almost poking his nose.

Zhao Tiezhu suddenly lost his balance, staggered and grabbed the door frame, his belt being pulled so hard it made a piercing tearing sound.

"Hey~"

An impatient wholesaler was tugging at his belt with bloodshot eyes, as if he wanted to drag him down to snatch orders.

"Who is it? Huh?" Zhao Tiezhu finally managed to steady himself by using the door frame, and hurriedly grabbed his waistband with one hand: "If anyone the hell pulls my pants again, we won't take their orders."

Old Zhang stood frozen at the edge of the crowd, watching the wholesalers holding up their order forms.

The college student who once stood on a stool at a barbecue stall on the grasslands, shouting that if his competitors didn't change, North China would become stronger, was now surrounded by a storm of admirers. And those wholesalers waving orders, meekly praising and trying to build relationships, were the very same competitors who had once scorned him.

Whether Chen Mo will change the market in North China, Lao Zhang doesn't know, but at least today, his Orange 1 has stirred up the entire North China market.

What this college student made wasn't a knock-off of that classic feature phone, but a smartphone just like the Apple phones from North America.

The oranges priced at 499 appeared in the North China Strong Market the day after the Pingguo 4 craze. How could these wholesalers, who were like sharks smelling blood, not go crazy?
Old Zhang didn't know whether this was a college student who knew about the release of Apple 4 in advance and made a knock-off in advance, or it was just a coincidence, but the fact is that Zhao Tiezhu is about to take off!

"Brother Tiezhu!" Old Zhang squeezed through an opening and waved to his half-brother Zhao Tiezhu: "I...I...your Brother Zhang is here!"

At the corner not far from the other end of the alley, unlike the hustle and bustle of Orange Technology, it was quiet here.

A small workshop making counterfeit phones, similar to Orange Technology, but without a "mobile phone license".

"Xiao Li! This time we're not copying that Apple IV thing, we can't get a prototype anytime soon, so let's copy this instead."

The boss insisted on adding 500 yuan to the price, and it cost 999 yuan to get an Orange 1 from a competitor.

Xiao Li was using tweezers to disassemble an Orange 1 machine, while the boss stood behind him watching anxiously.

"How's it going? Can you make a copy by tomorrow?"

"I've never seen these battery specifications before." He held up the gaseous lithium battery for the shopkeeper to see; the specifications on it were clearly different from those of a typical mobile phone battery.

As dusk fell, a few persistent wholesalers were still harassing the entrance to Orange Technology's small workshop.

Zhao Tiezhu had been annoyed all day and was on the verge of exploding. Holding his phone in his right hand, he complained to Lao Zhang.

"Brother Zhang! I'm urging you, I'm urging you! You can't expect me to go to the assembly line and screw in screws for you right now!"

Old Zhang, who had cut in line thanks to personal connections, was disgruntled, holding his deposit receipt.

Time is money these days!
Who knows if new knock-off smartphones will come out in a couple of days? Will the Orange 1 still be able to sell?

"Brother Tiezhu, remember to leave my 50 units first when the goods arrive tomorrow!"

Old Zhang stuffed a pack of Double Happiness cigarettes into his hand before taking the deposit receipt and leaving. This was the proof of picking up the goods tomorrow, so he had to keep it safe.

As dusk settled, the last few wholesalers who hadn't secured a share of 500 units for tomorrow grumbled and kicked away their water bottles, disappearing around the corner with their empty cardboard boxes.

Chen Mo abruptly pulled down the roller shutter door, the clanging of the metal startling the emaciated stray cats in the alley.

Zhao Tiezhu slumped into a chair, the order forms on the long table piled up like a small mountain.

After tallying the orders, he pressed the equals key with his sweaty fingertips, and the calculator's mechanical female voice came through.

"That equals five thousand!"

Counterfeit phones from Huabei Qiang have always been divided into two categories: the loosely made products secretly crafted by small workshops are not worth mentioning, while the "high-quality imitation" brand phones affiliated with Jinli and Tianyu are barely worth mentioning, and it is a miracle that they sell more than a thousand units a day.

Today, not only did the Orange 1 sell out of stock, but it also received five times the pre-orders, with 6000 units sold on its first day, directly shattering the historical record for the number of new phones distributed by Huabei Qiang on the same day.

(End of this chapter)