Rebirth 2010: I taught Mr. Lei how to make a mobile phone

Chapter 777 Thor Appears!

Cultural confidence is not just empty talk.

"The response from a certain competitor today, while seemingly righteous, is actually evasive and uses 'globalization' as a pretext to 'de-Chinese civilization,' even packaging Japanese monster culture as 'Oriental fantasy,' attempting to confuse the public and deceive players."

When did Japanese culture become representative of the East? They worship Japan and fawn over foreigners, yet try to cover it up with "globalization"!
1. The idea that "culture knows no borders" is a false proposition. Whether it's games, music, film, or even the Olympic rings, none of them are without borders.
2. The so-called "localization innovation" is nothing more than a fig leaf to cover up the fact that we are not doing our job properly.
3. Players choose? No, it's capital that chooses for the players! It's the cultural domestication of capital.
4. Calling for industry competition? First, stop cultural self-colonization.
We are absolutely not against cultural exchange, but we resolutely resist using the name of exchange to actually replace cultural exchange.

Japan can export Bushido to the world through anime and games, while a certain competitor—once an internet giant—is willingly acting as a comprador for Japanese culture. How pathetic!
Finally, I have a question for our competitors: If you truly want to "reward players," when will you be willing to use equal resources to create a high-quality game that truly embodies the core of Chinese culture?
The door that had finally been opened on the other side was locked by a competitor.

The release of this statement was like a silver needle puncturing a dazzling bubble, completely exposing the truth behind the industry's undercurrents to the light of day.

Previously, competitors had launched a barrage of attacks, both overt and covert: from accusing the game of plagiarizing gameplay to questioning insufficient R&D investment, and criticizing its fast-paced operation. All sorts of open and covert attacks came one after another.

However, the other side remained unmoved, focusing on only one core tactic: relentlessly pursuing the "cultural invasion" vulnerability and refusing to back down.

Like a ferocious beast surrounded by wolves, it ignores the attacks and bites all around, its eyes blazing as it aims straight for the throat of the enemy leader.

Amidst the smoke of the propaganda war, Beyond Technology precisely seized upon the weakness of "Onmyoji," portraying its strong Japanese-style elements as an invasion of the local market by foreign culture, thus arousing nationalistic sentiments among players.

Just as "The Legend of Gods and Demons" was about to send "Onmyoji" onto the "Path of Yin and Yang" with this strategy.

The 11rd World Internet Conference opened on November 16 in Wuzhen, a water town in southern China.
Over the past three years, the Wuzhen Summit has become not only the largest and highest-level internet conference held in China, but also one of the world's top internet conferences.

Distinguished guests gathered, all assembled in one hall.

Following the video address by the leaders, the conference guests and representatives engaged in high-level exchanges and dialogues on the conference theme of "Innovation-Driven Development for the Benefit of Mankind – Building a Community with a Shared Future in Cyberspace," pooling their wisdom and insights to discuss the grand plan for the development and governance of the global internet.

The conference featured 16 forums and 20 topics, covering cutting-edge and hot issues such as the internet economy, internet innovation, internet culture, internet governance, and international cooperation on the internet.

The three-day meeting passed in the blink of an eye.

The media and their peers were surprised to find that both Jack Ma and Chen Mo had changed their sharp and assertive demeanor from last year, and instead displayed a calm and composed demeanor.

The two giants' low-key approach, coupled with the lack of Liu Qiangdong's outspokenness, left the media, who were hoping for sensational stories, somewhat disappointed.

As a result, Xiaomi founder Lei Jun unexpectedly became the darling of the spotlight. The reason is simple—the market performance of Xiaomi's new product launch was simply too phenomenal.

Two months ago, at Xiaomi's new product technology launch event.
The timing of this press conference was perfect – it came at a time when the Samsung phone explosion incidents were still unfolding and consumers were paying unprecedented attention to the safety performance of mobile phones.

Xiaomi X6 accurately addresses this market pain point, focusing on battery safety and drop resistance.

What's even more impressive is the perfect combination of its top-of-the-line hardware configuration and meticulous craftsmanship, especially the paint finish on the back glass that has been adjusted countless times, which elevates industrial design to an art level and makes it stand out from similar products.

Its appearance alone makes it far superior to many of its competitors' models.

At the press conference, Lei Jun used his traditional skill, employing his signature "new Lei-style comparison method," to comprehensively benchmark the X6 against Apple's flagship models.

Especially in terms of battery life and fast charging technology, the X6 shows an overwhelming advantage—it can be charged to 60% in just the time it takes to eat a meal, while Apple models at the same time are still slowly climbing to around 10%.

What's even more appealing is that the X6 is priced at only two-thirds of Apple's. This combination of "stronger performance at a lower price" creates a strange sense of unease among viewers of the launch event, who, even knowing that Apple's software ecosystem is superior, still feel like anyone who buys an Apple product is being ripped off.
By instilling the idea that "Xiaomi would lose money if it didn't raise prices this time" in the market and among the public beforehand, Lei Jun's final announcement of the price continued Xiaomi's classic strategy of "more for the same price," causing the goodwill of all viewers watching the launch event to soar.

But the real trump card was yet to come. The moment the price was announced, Lei Jun dropped a series of "industry bombshells," launching a limited-time first-sale benefit package:

"Can I have the screen breakage insurance, valued at 399 yuan, given away for free?"

"A beautiful phone case worth 199 yuan, available in multiple colors, is being given away for free! How about it?"

"The three-year replacement-only warranty is still being offered for free! Are you all satisfied?"

For a flagship phone priced at 4399 yuan, the first-launch benefit package given away is worth 1399 yuan, almost a third of the price.

The deafening shouts of "Free!" pierced through everyone's ears, and the audience responded enthusiastically to the man on stage: "Okay!" "Great!" "Satisfied!"

Finally, the Xiaomi launch event concluded successfully with Lei Jun's emotionally charged and heartfelt remarks.

The name 'Thor' started flooding the live stream chat.

Since Chen Mo stepped back from the limelight for the past few years, no one has been able to challenge Lei Jun's position in terms of the impact of his product launches, even overshadowing the renowned "Other Shore Launch Event." Statistics show that over 100 million people watched Xiaomi's live stream that day, with a total of 20 million views across all platforms, most notably Douyin and Bilibili.

After the Xiaomi press conference ended, the flash sale began at 10 p.m. that night on platforms such as Xiaomi Mall, Xiaomi App, Douyin, and JD.com.

When sales began across all channels at 10 p.m. that night, even with the support of Beyond Cloud's top-tier server resources, the overwhelming rush to buy still caused a brief system lag.

According to rumors, after stepping down, Lei Jun went backstage to check the sales figures. He pulled out his phone, looked at the numbers with disbelief, and then fell into a long silence.
20 units in 3 minutes
It's important to know that this isn't the Xiaomi X1, which was a cost-effective phone priced at 1999 yuan. It's a flagship model in the 4 yuan price range.

「破破破！3分钟突破20万台，1小时突破100万台，24小时突破300万台！」

Once this battle report was released, even the conservatives felt that the radicals were too conservative.

Media outlets began flooding social media with various opinions about Xiaomi's successful move into the high-end market.

However, the voices of the competitors who used to attack Xiaomi have not quieted down at this time; on the contrary, they have united one by one.

Especially those trolls who, before the press conference, were subtly praising and criticizing Xiaomi, claiming that the new Xiaomi phone would definitely break one million units on its first day of sales.

When the number actually surpassed one million, these groups were all unhappy, so angry they were grinding their teeth in resentment.

Even disregarding the need to use KOLs' pseudonyms, some suppliers personally launched attacks on the authenticity of the data.

It's worth noting that Xiaomi's sales volume in one hour could be equivalent to their sales volume in a month or even a year.

Coinciding with the launch day of KFC's "Crazy Thursday," it was jokingly referred to by netizens as "Xiaomi redefining madness."

Retail investors were ecstatic, predicting that the small-cap stock price would soar from 40 yuan to 100 yuan. However, the stock opened high and closed low the next day, turning those who followed the trend into bagholders for institutional sell-offs.

Amidst accusations of fabricated battle reports, only those with discernment understand that this is a classic case of the good news being fully priced in.

This game of capital ultimately ended in a dismal failure for the retail investors, but it provided the general public with excellent fodder for gossip.

What happened to the promised record-breaking stock price increase?
What happened to the predictions from major statistical agencies?

In the end, they only managed to do half of it, but it became the last supper of those leeks who never learn from their mistakes.
Only netizens who are just watching the drama are happy to see it and are making fun of it to the fullest extent.

Before the press conference, seeing the constant stream of negative news about Xiaomi, everyone advised, "Jun'er, give up, you can't handle it!"

After the press conference, seeing Xiaomi's overwhelming success, people advised, "Thunderobot, stop now, the competitors can't keep up."

Some people even went to the official Weibo accounts and forums of those competitors and left comments like, "I suggest you take Lei Jun's press conference home and watch it 30 times over."

However, the comments section of one particular site looked like this: "Before watching it 30 times, I suggest Da Zui practice his 'uh-huh' and 'ah-ah' pronunciation to be more fluent. The requirement isn't high, just clear articulation is fine."

Therefore, during his speech at this conference, Lei Jun couldn't hide his pride as he interspersed the company's latest brilliant achievements and product highlights.

When this entrepreneur, whose wealth ranking soared and who was affectionately known as "Thor" by netizens, finished his speech, the conference had just adjourned. As soon as Lei Jun stepped out of the venue, he was surrounded by reporters, instantly becoming the most talked-about figure on the internet.

Meanwhile, Chen Mo also completed his prepared speech. All the speeches of the guests at this conference have been strictly reviewed to avoid repeating the mistakes of last year when controversial content caused heated discussions.

Seeing the reporters rushing over, Chen Mo pointed to the side: "Don't interview me, President Lei is over there. It's not too late to go now. If you miss today, you'll have to wait another year."

After a moment's thought, the reporters immediately turned and rushed towards Lei Jun's location. A chorus of questions filled the air:

"Mr. Lei, netizens say you've racked up a huge phone debt again. What do you think?"

"Mr. Lei, can you reveal the secret to making consumers feel that buying a mobile phone is as cheap as buying a fast-moving consumer good?"

"Some netizens have called on you to go to the factory to tighten screws. Would you personally supervise the production line?"

"Mr. Lei. Mr. Lei."

Surrounded by admirers, Lei Jun smiled so broadly his eyes crinkled into crescents, his friendly dimples appearing and disappearing.
"Oh, I was also surprised about 20 units sold in 3 minutes."

(PS: Here's a brief interlude to keep up with current events.)
(End of this chapter)