Liu Yutong nodded slightly and continued, “Yu Xin, go on with the phone itself.”
Yu Xin acknowledged her. She tapped a key on her laptop, and the projected presentation switched to the next slide.
“In terms of specifications, the first-generation Longyao phone is positioned in the mid- to high-end market. It uses a 3.7-inch capacitive touchscreen with a resolution of 480×800, and is powered by the LX-A1 chip developed by Longxin. Based on the ARM architecture, it has a clock speed of 800 MHz and integrates a PowerVR SGX530 graphics processor. It comes with 512 MB of RAM and starts with 8 GB of storage.”
“The operating system is Long OS, a heavily customized system based on the Android 2.2 kernel. We redesigned the entire user interface and added several signature features, including smart dialing, spam-call blocking, data-usage monitoring, and app-permission management. None of these features are available in stock Android at present.”
“As for the cameras, the rear camera has five megapixels and autofocus, while the front camera has 0.3 megapixels and supports video calls.”
“The battery has a capacity of 1,800 milliamp-hours. We got a late start in the battery sector, so we still need to catch up. For now, we’re using a new type of imported polymer lithium battery from overseas. Under normal use, it can last up to a day and a half.”
“We’ve kept the total manufacturing cost to around 2,000 yuan, and the preliminary retail price is set at 2,999 yuan.”
“2,999?”
Yang Xin looked surprised. “That’s much cheaper than Fruit’s phone. Will the profit margin be enough?”
“Absolutely.”
Yu Xin nodded confidently. “We developed the chip ourselves, and Longxin is supplying it to us at cost plus five percent. The screens and camera modules are being purchased in bulk through our supply chain, and we’ve already established good relationships with the suppliers. At a price of 2,999 yuan, our gross margin should be around twenty percent. If sales pick up later, we’ll be able to push the cost down even further.”
Liu Yutong was quite satisfied with the pricing.
In her memory, the mainland version of the Fruit 4 had started at 4,999 yuan. It had been nearly impossible to get hold of one, and scalpers routinely sold them for seven or eight thousand yuan.
If the Longyao phone could launch before the Fruit 4, offer comparable hardware at nearly half the price, and—most importantly—if Fruit was the one copying their design, what kind of reaction would the market have?
The answer was obvious.
The only weakness might be that its system experience would be slightly inferior.
But the system could be improved through updates. The most important thing was to seize the window of opportunity by launching first.
“Have we set a date for the launch event?”
“Provisionally, it’s scheduled for the day after Fruit’s launch event. The domestic event will be held at the National Convention Center in the Imperial Capital, while the overseas launch will take place in Silicon Valley, Beautiful Country.”
“Also, we’ve already finalized our overseas distribution channels. In the Western markets, we’ll distribute through Voda’s partner network. In the Eastern Continent markets, we’ll be working with the Xie family’s conglomerate in Harbor City, which has highly developed distribution channels throughout the surrounding countries.”
“Good work.”
Liu Yutong nodded approvingly, then turned her attention to Qiu Ciyun. “President Qiu, how are things progressing on the chip side?”
Qiu Ciyun was the CEO of Longxin Semiconductor.
Strictly speaking, Longxin was an independent company outside the Wanlong Group. However, because the two sides needed to cooperate closely in areas such as custom development for mobile-phone chips and production-capacity coordination, Liu Yutong had simply invited him to this meeting. It would also give him a more comprehensive understanding of the resources currently under the Wanlong Association Group’s control.
“Chairwoman, development of the 65-nanometer process is about a month ahead of schedule.”
“We completed our first wafer-fabrication test last month, achieving a yield rate of seventy-one percent. Although that’s still a long way from the yield rate of our 90-nanometer line, it’s an excellent start. We expect the yield to exceed eighty-five percent by the second half of next year, at which point we’ll be able to begin small-scale production.”
“That fast?”
“It’s all thanks to the talent you recruited from overseas, Chairwoman.”
“Especially the few lithography experts brought in from Mudland. Their experience with immersion lithography has been an enormous help to our R&D team.”
The matter traced back several months. Through Wei Xiao’s overseas security channels, she had secretly recruited a group of top chip-manufacturing experts from the West and Taiwan Province.
Some had come from ASML, some from Applied Materials, and others from Taiji Electronics and Two-Star. Without exception, they were seasoned experts in their respective fields.
As for how they had been recruited, naturally, it had not been through the usual work-visa channels.
Some things simply weren’t suitable for discussion in public.
Besides the talent, Jesse had also played a major role.
Using his identity, Liu Yutong had acquired two lithography-machine component companies overseas. Although neither company was particularly large, both possessed several core patents related to immersion lithography. They had played a crucial role in Longxin’s technological breakthroughs.
“I’m sure everyone here understands what achieving 65-nanometer technology means.”
“With a 65-nanometer process, we can achieve greater chip integration, lower power consumption, and stronger performance. The chips for the second- and third-generation Longyao phones can be designed using 65-nanometer—or even more advanced—processes. By then, the gap between us and the international leaders will shrink even further.”
“What about 45 nanometers?”
“Preliminary research into the 45-nanometer process has already begun, but progress will be slow for now because of limitations on core equipment such as lithography machines.”
“The most advanced lithography machines currently in our possession can only handle 65 nanometers. To break through to 45 nanometers, we’ll need more advanced equipment, and that kind of equipment is currently subject to a comprehensive embargo against us,” Qiu Ciyun said honestly.
Liu Yutong nodded. “We’ll find a way to deal with the equipment situation. There’s no need to rush.”
She knew full well that, in the field of lithography, it was unrealistic to rely entirely on independent research and development to overtake the world through a shortcut in such a short period of time. Merely keeping pace and avoiding falling behind would already be a blessing.
But Liu Yutong had never been the type to obediently stand in line and wait for others to offer her charity.
If the normal channels wouldn’t work, she would continue using unconventional methods.
The lithography-machine manufacturing company she had originally acquired was already being transferred bit by bit through an “ants moving a mountain” strategy. Before long, its core technologies and equipment would be moved entirely into the country.
At the same time, after Jesse joined the Dark Phoenix Society, he received nearly ten billion yuan in funding from her. By continually pouring money into the effort, he helped her acquire the relevant technology and equipment.
But all of this had to be done in secret, and the window of opportunity was limited.
She had estimated that this route would be completely cut off within at most three or four years.
So she could only remain patient and move as much as possible back home before relations deteriorated further on every front.
“Next, Zhang Dalong, Digital Business Group.”
“Understood, Chairwoman!”
Zhang Dalong immediately opened his PowerPoint presentation.
As a former top talent from Big Goose, Zhang Dalong’s experience and capabilities in the field of instant messaging were unquestionably among the top three in the country.
Liu Yutong had recruited him in the first place precisely because of his deep understanding of mobile internet communication tools.
“Chairwoman, everyone, WeChat’s internal testing has now completed two rounds. At present, thirty thousand employees across the Wanlong Group are conducting hands-on testing, and the feedback has been excellent.”
As Zhang Dalong spoke, he projected screenshots of WeChat’s interface onto the large screen.
The interface was extremely simple, with only three tabs at the bottom: Chats, Contacts, and Discover.
Compared with the flashy QQ from Goose Inc., WeChat was practically a breath of fresh air.
There were no splash-screen advertisements, no confusing collection of value-added services, no forced system notifications—not even a membership-level system. He had cut all of that out.
“We’ve focused on developing several core features for WeChat.”
“First, a social network built around users’ existing mobile contacts. After registering for WeChat, users can add friends directly through their phone numbers instead of having to memorize a string of digits. The experience is far better than QQ.”
“Second, voice messages. This is WeChat’s biggest innovation. Users can press a button to record and send a voice message of up to sixty seconds. There’s no need to type, which frees up both hands. During internal testing, voice messages accounted for more than forty percent of all messages sent, making them the most popular feature so far.”
“Of course, this feature has its drawbacks as well. It consumes a considerable amount of data, and many users may not be able to accept a sudden surge in their phone bills. We’ll need the chairwoman to negotiate with the country’s three major telecom operators and see whether they can launch dedicated data plans.”
Liu Yutong said, “Don’t worry about that. I’ve already started working on it through my connections. It won’t take long to resolve.”
In 2009, and even for several years afterward, as smartphones gradually became more widespread, mobile data fees were indeed a major pain point. Without a data package, one megabyte of data could cost around ten yuan—an outrageously high price.
If that issue wasn’t resolved, WeChat would be seriously affected later on.
Fortunately, it was no longer a particularly difficult problem for Liu Yutong. She only needed to reach an agreement with one of the three major telecom operators. Naturally, she would also consider subsidizing users’ data costs. It would burn a great deal of money in the short term, but once economies of scale took effect, and data prices eventually fell, it would no longer be a concern.
“Good. Then I’ll continue with the next feature.”
“Third, we’ve also experimented with social entertainment features. We’ve added Drift Bottle and Shake. Users can shake their phones to match with strangers who happen to be shaking theirs at the same time, or they can meet people at random by tossing out a virtual drift bottle. During internal testing, the usage rates of these two features weren’t particularly high, but user retention was impressive. Most people who tried them once came back for a second time.”
“Besides that, we’re also exploring a mini-program ecosystem within WeChat. We plan to port the popular farm-stealing game from Weibo onto the platform, using lightweight games to increase the amount of time users spend on WeChat and strengthen their engagement.”
“.........”
