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

Chapter 922 Pre-Battle Warm-up: Lao Luo's Hammer

Ant Group is working intensively on its pre-IPO final sprint, making comprehensive preparations for this behemoth that is about to enter the capital market.

Finance Department: Unprecedented reconciliation and auditing to ensure that massive amounts of complex fintech business data are presented clearly, accurately, and compliantly on financial statements.

Legal and Compliance Department: To cope with the intense due diligence conducted by underwriters and law firms, every step must be legal and compliant, without any major flaws.

The technology team aims to prove to regulators and the market that Ant Group's technology system is world-class, capable of supporting national-level financial transactions, and is secure, stable, and reliable. To this end, they have prepared various technical white papers and data.

Business Units: Before submitting the prospectus, various business sprints and marketing activities became more frequent, aiming to deliver the most impressive operating data to support the high valuation, with the goal of making the growth curve look better at key points in time.

Back in 14, Yu'ebao's interest rate once reached as high as 6.8%, making it a star in the investment world.

When the high balance of money emerged, it coincided with a period of "cash crunch," during which banks and the market faced tight liquidity, and yields reached historical highs.

If you had invested 10 yuan, you could have earned 6800 yuan a year. If you had invested 100 million yuan, you would have earned 6.8 yuan, which is almost 6 yuan a month. That's more than the average person's monthly salary!
With a principal of 1000 million, you could practically make money while lying down.

Unfortunately, the good times didn't last long, as Yu'ebao's interest rate was declining year by year at that time.

2015年降到了5.5%，2016年进一步降至4.42%，到了去年更是降到了4.22%。

Currently, Ant Group has strategically lowered its yield to 2015 levels while also reducing the interest rates for its Jiebei and Huabei services.

This strategy of rising and falling attracted a massive influx of new users and a huge amount of funds to subscribe in a very short period of time, and the assets under management (AUM) quickly climbed to a record high. All the data eventually turned into impressive performance reports.

HR and Administration: Handling the massive affairs of employee stock ownership plans and preparing for post-IPO media attention and talent recruitment.
Even though the workload has nearly doubled and the pressure is immense, everyone's face is filled with confident and expectant smiles, as if they have already seen the dawn of financial freedom.

However, key information such as the specific timetable, issuance size, and valuation range of the IPO is known only to a very small number of senior executives, and the vast majority of employees can only guess through external rumors and gossip.

The "Ant Group effect" continues to spill over, causing property prices around Alibaba's headquarters to quietly rise.

Just like JD.com's establishment in Yizhuang, Beijing, and Huawei's establishment in Dongguan, both have boosted local housing prices and the economic development of related regions.

The concentration of wealth and talent are important factors supporting this phenomenon.

With rumors of Ant Group's pre-IPO and listing within the year rampant, a wealth-creating feast seems to have begun. The entire Ant Group building is filled with the restlessness and tension before a volcanic eruption.

Meanwhile, Old Ma stared at the long list on the screen, each name representing a force not to be underestimated.

His heart surged with pride—this punch, simmering for years like an ant, was powerful and heavy, seemingly unstoppable.

He still had a slight concern, worried that the "black dog" might suddenly attack;
This time, however, he was more eager than ever for the other party to make a move.

"Chen Mo, you absolutely mustn't let me down!"

Just as both sides were preparing for battle and their fighting spirit was growing stronger, an unexpected incident quietly unfolded in the tech world.

On May 15th, Smartisan Technology held a highly anticipated new product launch event at the Bird's Nest Stadium in Beijing.

Last year, Luo Yonghao tried various ways to solve his depleted cash flow problem. First, he went to Beyond Venture Capital, but they directly refused to invest in Smartisan Technology. This made him feel frustrated and even more eager to prove himself.

Subsequently, thanks to his persuasive skills, he successfully secured a 6 million yuan investment from Chengdu, giving him a chance to catch his breath and temporarily easing the financial pressure. Smartisan Technology also moved from Beijing to Chengdu.

The Smartisan Pro 2, launched at the beginning of this year, has recovered some of its market performance and even achieved short-term profitability.

This undoubtedly gave Luo Yonghao tremendous confidence, and he also urgently needed a disruptive product to prove himself, solidify his market position, and truly get out of his predicament.

Therefore, after the press conference, Luo Yonghao began to promote the May press conference. As an original internet celebrity who had studied Xiaomi and other online platforms for years, he was well aware of how to leverage online traffic.

By announcing events months in advance at venues like GeekPark and making startling pronouncements such as "revolutionary" and "changing the next 8-10 years," they can continuously attract media and public attention, accumulating huge traffic for the press conference.

Raising public expectations to unprecedented levels aims to overturn the impression that Smartisan Technology can only make "micro-innovations" and to shape its image as an industry disruptor and innovation leader.

In contrast, his previous press conferences, where he stated that "Smartisan is the best phone in the Eastern Hemisphere" and "Steve Jobs was just a competent product manager," actually gave him the image of a tech fanatic, a persona that many fans found appealing. Ultimately, choosing the Bird's Nest stadium, capable of holding 100,000 people, as the venue for the launch symbolized that this was a battle he couldn't afford to lose, reflecting his confidence and determination.

Some media outlets even speculated that Luo Yonghao's previous unsuccessful attempt to secure investment from Beyond was a strategic move to choose this location for a crucial battle. Beyond had just held a sensational group annual meeting at the Bird's Nest before the Lunar New Year, suggesting that this venue selection might be a sign of a competitive spirit.

Luo then used highly personal and emotional Weibo posts such as "I simply can't wait any longer" and "Get your diapers ready when the time comes" to emphasize the product's impact.

This statement quickly became a hot topic, stirring up public sentiment and sparking debate among netizens.

He then temporarily listed three types of adult diapers on the official Smartisan online store.
Such a high-profile pre-event naturally attracted the attention of many passersby, and even sparked widespread speculation and anticipation among the public:
Many people speculate that this press conference might be for the long-delayed Smartisan T3 phone, which is highly anticipated by Hammer fans;

Some believe that, given Luo Yonghao's past expressions of interest in VR/AR technology, the future computing platform he announced at the press conference will be a virtual reality device of this type.

Many people hope that Smartisan will bring a brand-new operating system or interaction paradigm, just like the nine-grid layout of Smartisan OS back then.

Before the press conference, Luo Yonghao's last Weibo post boasted: "After May 15th, the Apple three-piece set will become history, and Apple, having lost its soul, will frantically copy us..."

This press conference even attracted the interest of many peers or former peers.

For example, Lei Jun, the world's top mobile phone manufacturer, out of his importance, had his recruited deputy, Lu Weibing, lead a group to watch the live broadcast.
For example, Jia Yueting, the former tech enthusiast and now the top online sales influencer, specifically announced that he would be taking a day off from broadcasting.
As for Chen, the insecticide expert, who stole a moment from his busy schedule to see these messages, he snorted coldly, thinking that Luo Yonghao was even better at bragging than Ma Yun.
If Luo Yonghao could devote more of his energy, which is spent on boasting, to product refinement, Smartisan might have gone much further.

And so, on the evening of May 15th, a torrential downpour began.

Even so, about 37000 people still braved the rain to attend the Smartisan launch event that night, generating 484 million yuan in ticket revenue alone.

However, following Luo Yonghao's usual practice, the money was donated to two open-source organizations: OpenSSL (a software library package related to secure communications) and OpenBSD (a Unix-like computer operating system).

Amidst much anticipation, Luo Yonghao and his Smartisan team have finally ushered in this world-changing moment!
At the press conference, Luo Yonghao was still full of passion and gave his opinion on everything, displaying his personal style. However, his seasoned fans could sense his seriousness and nervousness that night.

The first product Luo Yonghao introduced after taking the stage was the Smartisan R1, which he called "the best-looking white phone".

But clearly, this is just an ordinary flagship phone running the new version of SmartisanOS.

With its standard features and limited production capacity, it lacks a strong voice and can only be equipped with outdated configurations. It's hard to see where the "R" stands for "Revolution".

Although it was packaged by Luo Yonghao's rhetoric and was acceptable to the audience at the venue and during the live broadcast, it did not meet the expectation of being "a pleasant surprise".

Everyone is looking forward to the next product that will scare them so much they'll wet their pants.

After Luo Yonghao finished introducing this "most beautiful white phone" in nearly half an hour, the TNT personal computer, which claims to "redefine the next decade," descended from the sky with a loud sound effect, crashing into everyone's field of vision and making a dazzling appearance.

With the launch of TNT, a whole host of so-called "redefinitions" emerged from Luo Yonghao's perspective:
It "redefined the personal computer," "redefined the Office suite," "redefined the way information is searched," "redefined instant messaging tools," "redefined the personal computer for the next decade," and "the way next-generation computers are interacted with."
This stunned everyone who heard it.

The next moment, applause and cheers began to erupt.

But as Lao Luo introduced the event, the atmosphere that had just started to heat up gradually cooled down again.

The so-called TNT is actually an abbreviation for Touch & Talk. The Smartisan TNT Station uses a combination of touch and voice control, allowing users to operate the device by voice after pressing and holding the screen.

"This computer... Pshaw, why are we talking about computers again? This workstation can improve an individual's efficiency in creating Excel spreadsheets by 300% and in creating PowerPoint presentations by 1400%."

Luo Yonghao excitedly gave a demonstration, but stuttering and recognition failures occurred in the voice recognition and screen dragging sections.

This made him wipe his sweat repeatedly with a towel, and he eventually just said, "Long live understanding!" to gloss over the matter.

As for the price, a single workstation is priced at 9999 yuan, and a two-in-one version will be launched at the end of the year, priced at 14999 yuan.

When the price was announced, contrary to expectations, there were no cheers or applause at the scene.

Instead, it was eerily quiet.
9999? What is that? What is Luo Yonghao up to?
Everyone who saw this was so terrified they wet themselves.
(End of this chapter)