Losing Money to Be a Tycoon - Chapter 432
Chapter 432: Otto E1
February 28th, Monday…
At Otto Technologies…
“This is the cell phone’s final product. It’s already being manufactured. It’ll be difficult to change it at this point,” said Chang You as he handed a cell phone to Lin Wan.
Lin Wan reached out and realized that this prototype was just as heavy as the first one. However, there was an obvious difference in its looks.
The first impression that Lin Wan had of the prototype before this could be summarized in a few words: ‘silly, black, and rough’. The casing’s material had been pure black, with no other decoration. When she held it in her hand, it just pressed into her palm and weighed it down. From the front or from the back or from any other angle, it didn’t look like it would be able to sell.
Now, however, with the custom-made glass casing, it looked very different!
The glass casing felt nice to the touch, and the matte finishing ensured that it would not collect the user’s fingerprints. The cell phone also felt thinner than the previous prototype and much easier to hold.
The back was clean. There was nothing but a solid-colored logo. It was the same logo that had appeared in Tomorrow is Beautiful.
What’s more, the logo could glow and be activated as breathing light. Of course, if one wanted to conserve battery, they could switch that function off.
However, for a cell phone with a 5800 mAh battery, even if the light was kept on; the cell phone would still have enough battery to last the day.
The front looked quite satisfactory as well. There was still a top and bottom border, but they had been made as narrow as possible.
Full-screen technology had not yet matured in the current market. At the same time, this cell phone had very high specifications. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to refer to it as a ‘gaming cell phone’. Thus, when users wanted to play games in landscape mode, they needed some space to place both of their hands.
Thus, no matter how much they thought, the front could only look that way.
The sides looked different from other cell phones on the market as well. The charging port was on the side. That way, users could continue to play games while charging their phones. The wire would not get in their way.
All in all, this cell phone looked very similar to the one that had appeared in the movie. On the whole, the cell phone looked simple but high-tech and futuristic.
The cell phones were not completely identical because the one in the movie had been made completely full-screen to add to the futuristic vibe. However, they could not do the same for the one in real-life.
Still, from the back and the sides or from the front with the screen off, the two cell phones looked identical.
Lin Wan subconsciously tried to weigh the phone with her hand.
Yes, it was still heavy.
They had changed the casing to glass, so that the cell phone looked smaller than it did before and more comparable to other bigger-sized cell phones in the market. Still, its weight remained the same. It was heavy.
However, the screen had a high refresh rate, and the System on a Chip—or SoC for short—was of high-quality. Those things consumed the battery very quickly. Without a 5800 mAh battery, the cell phone’s endurance would become a problem. On the other hand, weight had to be compromised to house such a powerful battery.
There was fingerprint unlock, but there were few native applications and no bundled applications. The only thing worth mentioning was that the UI animations were quite smooth.
Chang You lightly cleared his throat and explained, “Boss Pei instructed us to do this.
“He didn’t allow us to create bundled applications. Instead, he wanted to maintain the Android System’s original condition. That was why we didn’t create a single bundled application. The applications that users would likely need to use have been placed in recommended spots in the cell phone’s application store.
“Of course, we didn’t slack off as well. We improved on the UI animations.
“It’s not completely useless. At the very least, it looks very smooth…”
Chang You did not sound confident.
Improving the UI animations included improving the transition between various applications and improving zooming accuracy. Those were good for a screen with a high refresh rate, but it only served to make the user more comfortable. It did not offer any additional functions for the cell phone.
Lin Wan’s eyes lit up, feeling very surprised.
She repeatedly opened applications and ended their processes as if she was genuinely enjoying it.
After that, she picked up her own Shenhua cell phone, which was the newest flagship model. After comparing them, she concluded that Otto Technologies’ cell phone was obviously much better in this aspect.
“I think it’s quite good. It matches what Boss Pei’s design mindset has been all this time—to perfect the simplest things,” said Lin Wan, praising Boss Pei to no end.
After looking through the other aspects of the cell phone, Lin Wan gave her final comments.
“Apart from its weight and price, the cell phone doesn’t have any major flaws.”
Chang You nodded. “That’s right, but those two flaws are hard to make up for…
“Of course, we’re only manufacturing one thousand cell phones for the first batch. Each one would sell for 8,199 yuan. Since we only have a low supply, it’s possible to do this. In any case, we are not targeting the public. We don’t have to sell tens of millions of cell phones. We can just sell thousands or even tens of thousands.
“It’s alright if the cell phone is heavier or more expensive, as long as we target people who are not that sensitive to these characteristics.
“The question is whether this cell phone is attractive enough for them to sacrifice the weight and price.”
Lin Wan nodded. “That’s what I came here for.”
Lin Wan handed a table to Chang You and explained, “These are the benefits that I have acquired for our customers. Take a look.”
Chang You reached out and realized that the table contained all the unique and special advantages Otto Technologies’ customers would have, which they had discussed before. They had been broadly split into several categories.
[Gaming]
High frame-rate mode for the mobile version of Bloody Battle Song, exclusive updates.
High frame-rate mode for the mobile version of GOG (unreleased), exclusive updates.
One free game per year if customers link their Tengda Games accounts to their cell phones.
Low prices for appearances, skins, weapons, and other benefits that Tengda Games regularly releases.
[Entertainment]
Ultimate VIPs of Zhongdian Chinese Network: the highest number of recommendations and votes in the site, thirty-percent off subscriptions, and early access to test new functions on the site.
Fei Huang Workspace’s Connoisseurs: free access to all online shows, two tickets to the pre-screening of every new movie.
(Implied benefit) Highly-privileged users of TPDb.
[Lifestyle]
Fish-Catching Internet Cafe’s Game Masters: thirty-percent off all expenses and a free drink daily.
Fish-Catching Take-Out’s Top-Tier Member: regular red packets and free delivery.
Ming Yun Private Kitchen’s distinguished guests: A free dish with a one-time spend of three thousand yuan. The exact dish would be decided based on the total bill.
VIP of Upwind Logistics: priority for express deliveries.
[Others]
Trade-in: an additional discount of five hundred yuan, above the value of your old cell phone.
Exchange only, no repairs: if the cell phone is damaged due to no human-fault, a new cell phone would be delivered, all data would be transferred, and the old cell phone would be recalled. If the cell phone is damaged due to human-fault, customers can repair it for free three times a year.
Accessories included: claim free phone films and phone cases up to five times each year.
Five percent discount off everything: this discount is applicable to all Tengda-related businesses (it exists in TPDb). Enjoy this discount on top of any ongoing promotion.
Lifetime update of benefits: each time Tengda sets up a new business, a new benefit would be added for customers of Otto Technologies.
…
After reading the table, Chang You could not help but feel moved.
Now, the cell phone is finally worth its 8,199 yuan!
He had completed his mission!
Boss Pei had insisted on pricing the cell phone in the eight-thousand-yuan range. Chang You had thought it was difficult and almost impossible.
However, it now seemed like Boss Pei had known all along that there were many Tengda-related businesses to ‘support’ this cell phone. Of course, the cell phone would be able to sell for eight thousand yuan.
There were many benefits with huge coverage. Some of them had clear standards, but others had less clear standards which could invoke suspicion in customers.
Take the ‘lifetime update of benefits’ for example. They promised that a new benefit would be added for customers of Otto Technologies each time Tengda set up a new business. However, there was no clarification of exactly what benefits those would be.
That was mainly because they did not want to over-promise and fail to fulfill. It would be terribly awkward.
All of those benefits concerned Tengda-related businesses. They were significant benefits. People who lived in Jingzhou could take real advantage of them.
Of course, while customers took advantage of those benefits, Tengda could also gain new customers. Nobody would lose out.
Moreover, the other businesses were not just offering the benefits to Otto Technologies for free. Instead, all of those things had been included in the cell phone’s price.
The cell phone was going to sell for 8,199 yuan. That was two to three thousand more than Pineapple and Shenhua’s flagship models. Apart from the hardware and the brand premium, those benefits also contributed to the high price.
Once the cell phones started selling, Chang You would naturally transfer a portion of the profits to the other businesses.
They would only sell a thousand cell phones in the beginning. Any profit that they would earn would be better than nothing. However, if they could sell tens of thousands—or even hundreds of thousands—of cell phones in the future, the profits would become considerable.
The plan would be very easy to put in place. The cell phones contained the NFC function. People would only need to link their identities and accounts to their cell phones. Then, they could swipe their phones at internet cafes or other physical stores and create a single Tengda account online.
Chang You looked carefully at the details of the benefits. A few questions surfaced in his mind.
“What is GOG? Would it be difficult to create a high frame-rate mode and exclusive updates?”
Lin Wan answered, “It’s the game that Tengda Games has been working on recently. It’s called GOG for short.
“It won’t be difficult to create a high frame-rate mode and exclusive updates, but they don’t intend to release those things to other cell phone companies. That’s because a high frame-rate mode would be very demanding on the screens’ refresh rates. It would also consume a lot more battery.
“Research and development of the mobile version of GOG are still ongoing. The applications might only be available on the application stores after we release the cell phones.
“On the other hand, Bloody Battle Song is ready. The game’s high frame-rate mode might be a gimmick more than anything, but it doesn’t matter. The game has many players. We just have to market it to sell a good number of cell phones.”
Chang You hesitated. “I’m worried about owing the other companies too many favors. It might make life difficult for us in the future.”
Lin Wan smiled. “Don’t worry about that.
“There is not much difference between Tengda-related companies. If Otto Technologies makes a name for itself and sells millions or tens of millions of cell phones like Shenhua, its cell phones might be the ones marketing the other businesses.
“Don’t feel too bad. Doing this business well would be the best way to repay them.
“That’s right, how many product lines have we planned for at the moment?”
Chang You remained silent for a while. “We haven’t planned the product lines yet.
“According to Boss Pei’s plan, we’re supposed to only do high-end cell phones. Each cell phone must be sold for eight thousand yuan and must not earn a high-profit margin. That means we will have to stockpile.
“On the other hand, different product lines have different target audiences for their commerce, photographs, and exteriors. That means they would have to remove certain things that would not appeal to those target audiences.
“For example, a camera phone for females would have to look more beautiful, but would not need to have microchips with high specifications.
“Our cell phone has maxed out in terms of specifications. Our target audience can be summarized as typical, straight men, and this has been set.
“That’s why… we don’t see the need to plan for other product lines for now.
“I’ll find an opportunity to discuss this with Boss Pei. He’s been busy with other work lately, and I haven’t managed to reach him.”
Lin Wan pondered for a moment. “Yes, that’s right. I’m going in the wrong direction. Otto Technologies has not even learned how to walk, but I’m already thinking about flying. Let’s focus on this model and try to sell one thousand phones first.
“Are we calling it Otto 1, then? It sounds a bit strange.”
Chang You replied, “It’ll be called Otto E1.
“E is the first letter in the word ‘extra’. It’s also the first word in the words ‘extraordinary’, ‘extravagant’ and ‘extreme’. That describes our cell phone perfectly and shows that it’s worth every cent.”
