China Unicom in the north, China Telecom in the south.
The three major suppliers each have their own areas of expertise.
In the fixed-line network sector, the south is China Telecom's home ground, and the north is China Unicom's home ground.
Whether it's Xingyi Technology, Meiyou Technology, or Wujie Technology, to develop in the north, they cannot avoid dealing with China Unicom.
Moreover, contract phones are a mutually beneficial collaboration, equivalent to having an additional large distributor, so Wang Yi naturally wouldn't refuse.
Currently, the xphone 1pro is still selling well, and has barely overcome the severe shortage phenomenon, basically achieving immediate availability.
However, the xphone 1, which has been on the market for over four months, has started to see declining sales.
Since the xphone 1 launched in December last year, up until February this year, its domestic monthly sales exceeded 5 million units.
But in March, domestic monthly sales dropped to 4 million units; fortunately, parallel imports in Europe and America gained traction, which helped achieve a total monthly sales of 5 million units both domestically and internationally.
Now entering April, it is the fifth month since the xphone 1 was launched.
Coupled with the release of the xphone 1pro, xphone 1 domestic sales, let alone 4 million, it would be good if they could maintain 3 million units.
Even with overseas sales, it would only be 4 million.
The situation ahead is even less optimistic.
It can be said that the golden period of xphone 1's frantic hot sales has passed, and what follows is a steady sales period of 3 million units per month.
Now that China Unicom has come knocking to promote contract phones, it is equivalent to directly distributing a large number of xphone 1s to China Unicom, which in turn can significantly boost xphone 1 sales!
Of course, there are also xphone 1pro sales!
The biggest benefit of contract phones is getting a free phone when depositing call credit, or getting call credit when buying a phone.
For example, China Unicom's contract package for the iPhone 4s before the price drop.
The total package price is 5880 yuan, divided into multiple tiers with monthly rentals of 66, 96, 126, up to 886 yuan.
For example, for a one-year package of 186 yuan, the discounted phone purchase price is 3699 yuan, with a pre-deposit of 2181 yuan for call credit, and 181 yuan is returned each month for a total of 12 months.
With a monthly sale of 186 yuan, an additional 5 yuan call credit needs to be paid each month, making the total annual cost 3699+2181+5*12=5940 yuan.
Alternatively, buying a 16G iPhone 4s unlocked phone costs 5000 yuan, with a monthly call credit package of 100 yuan, the total annual cost would be 5000+1200=6200 yuan.
Not only would one spend an extra 260 yuan, but the monthly package would only be China Unicom's 100-yuan call credit package.
With the contract phone package, not only would one save 260 yuan, but also enjoy China Unicom's 186-tier call credit package every month.
This is the appeal of contract phones.
In 2012, data was prohibitively expensive, calls were incredibly expensive, and packages were naturally very expensive.
A 100-yuan 3G package offered very little. Just over 200 minutes of talk time, 300MB of data, that's all.
It was better to choose a contract phone for less expense and enjoy a higher-tier package.
It can be said that once China Unicom contract phones are launched, directly offering free phones for depositing call credit, or returning call credit when buying a phone, sales of both xphone 1 and xphone 1pro would surge.
Wang Yi had no reason to refuse:
"No, there's a Gaode video conference tomorrow, China Unicom is scheduled for the day after tomorrow, the third!"
"Okay, then it's the day after tomorrow, I'll reply to China Unicom's provincial general manager right away."
Song Sining responded and began a new round of busyness.
It wasn't until evening that the day's busyness finally ended.
After Wang Yi had a deep interaction with Song Sining, he drifted into wonderful dreams.
But in the Western Hemisphere, things were once again going wild.
[Taylor Swift Becomes Meiyou Technology Group Spokesperson, Meiyou's "Pure Desire" Style Sweeps the Globe!]
This news topped Western hot searches, causing an uproar across the entire West, and many foreigners were collectively bewildered:
"Oh my god! Who can tell me what Meiyou Technology does?"
"Taylor Swift is a Grammy Queen, an international superstar, why would she endorse a small Xia Nation company? And what exactly is 'Pure Desire' style?"
After all, Meiyou's overseas recognition wasn't high, far from being a household name like it was domestically.
But soon, foreigners who had long followed Meiyou began to explain:
"Idiots! You don't even know Meiyou Technology, the currently most popular 'Pure Desire' style is made by them."
"As for Meiyou Technology, it is a subsidiary of Xingyi Technology, Xingyi phones, and Xingyi Tablet X1, are all their products."
"??? So it's a subsidiary of Xingyi Technology, now I get it when you put it that way."
"But a subsidiary of Xingyi Technology actually making clothes? Doesn't that seem a bit off-topic?"
"A correction, Meiyou Technology came first, then Xingyi Technology."
"That's right, Chairman Wang made money from the 'Pure Desire' style clothing before developing phones, launching the xphone 1 and 1pro, and the Xingyi Tablet."
"Chairman Wang is really amazing, everything he does turns out so successful."
"The 'Pure Desire' style is really beautiful, if it weren't for Taylor Swift's endorsement, I wouldn't have known."
"And Zhenyou Silk, Oriental silk, I must place an order."
"When it comes to making phones, you look to the West, but when it comes to making clothes, you still look to the East."
"Making phones, look to the West? Do you think Xingyi Technology's xphone 1pro is inferior to the iPhone 4s?"
"Ahem, I spoke wrongly, when it comes to making phones, you also have to look to the East now. The xphone 1 even surpasses the iPhone 4s."
"Shit! This disappointing rotten Apple. Xingyi Technology is still amazing, Meiyou Technology is also amazing, I've already placed a frantic order."
"Me too, I trust Xingyi Technology, I trust Taylor Swift!"
...
Under the dual authority of Xingyi Technology and Taylor Swift, Western consumers also had full faith in Meiyou Technology and placed orders one after another.
After all, Taylor Swift had long captivated the West, and Xingyi Technology, with its Xingyi phones and Xingyi tablets, had crushed iPhones and iPads, also becoming famous overseas!
All at once, the download volume and registration volume of the Meiyou International Mall App surged rapidly.
It was late night in Xia Nation, and the sales growth rate of Meiyou Mall slowed.
But in Europe and America, it was early morning, and sales at Meiyou International Mall began to surge crazily.
Many foreigners also didn't want to wait for logistics and directly called their friends, heading straight for nearby Meiyou flagship stores and Zhenyou flagship stores.
Thanks to the efforts of the overseas team, Meiyou flagship stores and Zhenyou flagship stores had already opened in numerous countries and regions worldwide.
They also developed many local distributors and opened many specialty stores and authorized stores.
Even in some shopping malls, there were dedicated counters for Meiyou and Zhenyou.
It can be said that in major cities across Europe and America, there were quite a few Meiyou and Zhenyou stores.
Without any surprise, the frantic buying spree seen in Xia Nation during the day, after Wang Yi had fallen asleep, was replayed in Europe and America.
The next morning, Wang Yi still woke up naturally.
Song Sining had already gone to work, but on the table remained delicious food that was still warm.
There was also a note left by Song Sining: [Darling, Meiyou's revenue exploded again yesterday.]
Wang Yi opened his laptop, and indeed it was true!
Especially with the endorsement of Taylor Swift, this time's revenue was even more astonishing than before.
In one day, the Qingyou series sold 700,000 pieces of various clothing globally, both online and offline, with revenue exceeding 150 million!
The Meiyou series sold 400,000 pieces of various clothing globally, with revenue exceeding 240 million.
Zhenyou sold 100,000 pieces of various clothing globally, with revenue exceeding 230 million!
Single-day revenue surpassed 620 million!
Meiyou's clothing revenue not only returned to its peak but also broke historical records!
Of course, with the boost from the launch day, once this wave of popularity passes, subsequent revenue will definitely decrease somewhat.
But it will still be very substantial.
No other reason than that last year, Meiyou primarily relied on the domestic market and online sales, with not many physical offline stores.
This year, Meiyou is not only selling well domestically but also exporting to Europe, America, Japan, and Korea, achieving global hot sales.
Not only are online sales hot, but offline sales are also booming.
This year, the number of Meiyou and Zhenyou domestic flagship stores, specialty stores, and authorized stores totals over three thousand.
The number of overseas physical stores also exceeds one thousand!
With over four thousand stores in total, if one store sells 100-200 pieces a day, that adds up to 600,000 pieces.
Coupled with sales from the online Meiyou Mall and Meiyou International Mall, as well as e-commerce platforms like JD.com and Taobao, it's normal for Meiyou to ship one million pieces globally in a single day.
Especially with Taylor Swift's endorsement, even if the domestic market is saturated, there is still the formidable overseas market as a new growth point.
In the future, Meiyou's sales and revenue will only be even more astonishing.
This time, it's completely stable.
No longer focusing on these matters, Wang Yi opened his laptop and joined the Gaode video conference.
Now Xingyi Technology has more and more businesses; if they were at Xingyi Technology Park, it would be fine, and Wang Yi could personally attend meetings.
But Gaode and other businesses are still at their original office locations, Wang Yi also doesn't have time to travel everywhere, most issues are resolved via video conference.
Moreover, this time, he returned to Jeju, so it could only be a video conference.
It was still each department reporting on business progress.
First, Gaode President Cheng Wu began his report:
"Chairman Wang, currently, Gaode Maps users have surged, especially with the launch of free navigation and zero-data navigation, which is deeply loved by the vast number of users. Currently, the number of Gaode Maps users has exceeded 150 million!"
Previously, Gaode's lifetime membership of 200 yuan with a 200 yuan rebate was equivalent to free navigation and was naturally deeply loved by the vast number of users.
Now with zero-data navigation, as long as users download and update navigation packages and map packages in advance under a Wi-Fi connection, they can achieve offline navigation and zero-data navigation.
This black technology perfectly solved the pain point of navigation consuming data, naturally leading to another wave of user growth.
And competitors like Baidu were even less of a match.
However, Wang Yi was not careless but instead said:
"Very good. What have Baidu and Tencent been up to recently? Don't be complacent!"
"Chairman, after negotiations between Tencent and Baidu broke down, they each fought their own battles. Currently, Baidu has acquired a company with mapping qualifications and has begun to map and build its own underlying map data."
"And Tencent has also increased investment in its navigation department and is integrating Siwei Tutong's underlying map data, showing a strong posture for a big fight!"
Wang Yi nodded:
"As expected. Indeed, in such strategic areas, the two giants have not given up, and even Alibaba is making moves."
"Yes, Alibaba is in talks with Tiger Maps."
Wang Yi made a decision:
"Let them contact them, don't mind them. Maps have strategic security significance, the three BAT giants won't let it go, so let them mess around. What we need to do is to increase R&D investment, maintain an absolute advantage, and be far ahead. Only in this way can we ensure our absolute dominant position, making competitors only able to follow behind us!"
"Yes!"
Cheng Wu responded, then changed the subject.
"Chairman, previously, in-car navigation was a major source of revenue for Gaode. Now, with the launch of mobile navigation and the emergence of free navigation, paid in-car navigation has begun to decline, and Gaode's revenue has fallen. Next, I would like to make Gaode driving recorders to make up for this revenue, what do you think..."
"Gaode driving recorders?"
Wang Yi smiled.
"This is fine. Gaode is inherently the dominant player in navigation and a giant in the in-car sector. You can certainly maintain your advantage and launch derivative products. Driving recorders, navigation devices, you can all make them. If you do well, I will use the resources of Xingyi Group and Xingyi phones to help you promote them. If you don't do well, you will be responsible for your own profits and losses."
"Don't worry, Chairman Wang, there will be no problem."
Cheng Wu was in high spirits.
After Wang Yi acquired Gaode, he split Gaode into two businesses: Gaode Navigation and Gaode Dache.
Since free navigation, Gaode Navigation's revenue had sharply decreased, and without income, they couldn't just consume their reserves.
Now, making driving recorders is also considered a way out.
With the help of Gaode Navigation and promotional resources from Xingyi Technology, there would be no worries about sales.
Wang Yi is strongly supportive of subsidiaries that actively undertake projects and proactively generate revenue.
Moreover, Gaode is a big brand, especially in the automotive sector; let alone making driving recorders, even doing other automotive-related businesses would not be a problem.
Compared to creating a new brand, it's much easier, and consumers are more likely to accept it.
Next, Tian Guanghan, the head of Gaode Dache business, began his report:
"Chairman, currently, Gaode Dache, due to its early start and with Gaode Maps as support, has developed very rapidly."
"After several months of development, the number of registered drivers now exceeds 300,000, users exceed 50 million, and Gaode Dache is basically available in major cities, but the biggest problem is that there aren't enough drivers!"
Tian Guanghan elaborated:
"According to our assessment, in a healthy model, the ratio of drivers to users is 1:100."
"That is to say, for 50 million users, at least 500,000 ride-hailing drivers are needed. Unfortunately, we currently only have 300,000, which leads to long dispatch times and difficulty in getting a ride during peak hours."
Wang Yi frowned slightly:
"Why is this situation occurring? We've used Gaode Navigation for promotion, the number of registered drivers should have exceeded 500,000 by now. What's the problem? The pay isn't low either."
"Chairman, Gaode Dache drivers' income is indeed not low, and more considerable than a regular job, but the biggest trouble is the high phone bill!"
Tian Guanghan sighed, feeling very helpless.
"Ride-hailing drivers consume a lot of data and make many calls, leading to expensive data fees and skyrocketing phone bills. For those full-time drivers, a phone bill of four to five hundred yuan a month makes many drivers resistant."
As Tian Guanghan spoke, he projected a table onto the large screen:
"As you can all see, among Gaode Dache drivers' income, mobile data fees are a major expense, limiting the enthusiasm of many drivers. Especially for new drivers, once they hear about a four to five hundred yuan monthly phone bill, they immediately don't want to do it anymore!"
"If Gaode Dache were to reimburse all of it, that would also be a considerable expense for us."
"Phone bills are a big problem."
Wang Yi fell into deep thought.
Even though Gaode developed zero-data navigation, using offline maps, it greatly saved navigation data consumption.
But the Gaode Dache App still needs real-time updates, real-time data uploads, dispatching orders, receiving orders, etc., all of which cannot do without data.
This resulted in high data costs.
After a driver accepts an order and arrives at the destination, they can't tell who the passenger is. They also need to call the passenger to tell them they've arrived, where the car is parked, and guide the passenger to get in...
This leads to many calls, causing phone bills to skyrocket again.
In 2012, carrier packages were very expensive, far from the terrifying 19 yuan for 200GB often seen in later generations.
On the contrary, they were frighteningly expensive, as shown in the following:
For example, a package with a monthly fee of 46 yuan only included 50 minutes of talk time per month and 150MB of data.
That's right, only 150MB!
Whether it was talk time or data, it was not enough. Calls exceeding the limit cost 0.25 yuan per minute, and data exceeding the limit cost 0.3 yuan per MB, meaning 1GB would cost 300 yuan!
Even a 126 yuan package only included 320 minutes of talk time and 400MB of data.
In those days, if you wanted more than 1GB of data, the monthly fee would be over 300 yuan!
It was that terrifying.
Wang Yi couldn't help but feel a headache coming on, no wonder drivers were upset.
Such high data fees, Wang Yi was also annoyed!
This is a big problem, and it must be solved.
If it's not solved, the number of Gaode Dache drivers won't increase, and if there aren't many drivers, the ride-hailing business won't grow large.
A definite vicious cycle.
Wang Yi took a deep breath:
"Alright, I understand the problem of expensive phone bills. I will solve this."
As for the solution, there's only one: customized SIM cards, customized packages!
In his previous life, in 2017, Tencent partnered with China Unicom to launch the Big King Card, and Xiaomi launched the Mi Fan Card, both of which were popular for a time.
Now Wang Yi can also cooperate with carriers to launch customized 3G mobile phone packages.
And the best partner is China Unicom.
There's no other way, it's still the 3G era, and China Unicom's 3G is the best performing.
As for China Mobile's 3G, it was practically unusable, and China Mobile itself was about to give up on it.
The TD-SCDMA license China Mobile obtained was the worst among 3G licenses.
It was said to be independently developed, but the technology was immature, slow, and had almost no terminal support...
Even the wealthy China Mobile was powerless; before the 4G license was even issued, it began relocating towers and planning its layout.
As soon as the 4G license came down, it immediately began frantically building 4G base stations, going all in on 4G.
It can be said that in the 3G era, China Mobile was completely useless, and it wasn't until the 4G era that China Mobile saw a monopolistic surge.
However, domestic 4G licenses were only issued in December 2013, and 4G packages wouldn't be available until 2014 at the earliest.
Moreover, in 2014, the newly launched 4G packages were very expensive, progress was slow, and most people couldn't afford them.
It wasn't until 2015, after 4G package fees had decreased somewhat, that they began to become widely popular.
Therefore, within the next three years, it will still be the era of 3G.
Wang Yi launching customized cards could only be 3G.
It wouldn't be until 2015 that the matter of 4G customized cards could be considered.
In the 3G sector, China Mobile's capabilities were crippled, China Telecom had high demands for terminals, and many phones didn't support Telecom cards.
Thus, the best cooperation partner was only China Unicom.
It so happened that tomorrow he would discuss cooperation with China Unicom's general manager, and could very well resolve this matter at the same time.
Wang Yi planned to launch two customized mobile SIM cards: one being the Star God Card for the general public, promoted in conjunction with Xingyi phones, and even Xingyi ecosystem applications.
The other would be the Gaode Card for Gaode ride-hailing drivers!
But how to specifically operate it was a problem.
After all, 2012 was not 2017; wanting discounts like Tencent's Big King Card was simply unrealistic.
Wang Yi remembered that the original Tencent Big King Card had a monthly fee of 19 yuan, free national incoming calls with no roaming, caller ID included, calls at one mao per minute, SMS at one mao per message, and many Tencent applications were data-free.
In addition, there was a daily rental package offering 800MB of data for 1 yuan.
This package, viewed years later, was not worth mentioning.
After all, some cards directly offered 200GB of 5G data for 19 yuan.
But in 2017, it was considered a conscientious blockbuster card.
But in 2012, 1GB of data cost 300 yuan, it was impossible to make it that cheap.
A way needed to be found to make it work.
After the video conference ended, Wang Yi took out paper and pen and began to brainstorm the matter.
To get China Unicom to agree and also ensure enough for Gaode drivers, then targeted restrictions were the only way.
Wang Yi began to calculate that currently, ride-hailing was in its golden age, with many people hailing rides and few drivers, so each driver could receive more than 30 orders per day.
Assuming at least one minute per call for each order, that's 30 minutes a day; driving 25 days a month totals 750 minutes.
Plus calls with friends and family, it would require at least 1000 minutes.
Currently, China Unicom's 156-yuan monthly package offers 920 minutes of talk time and 120MB of data.
The talk time was barely enough, but 120MB of data was nowhere near enough!
After all, for Gaode Dache to receive orders, dispatch orders, and for backend monitoring, etc., the APP needs to be connected to the internet in real-time; even if navigation uses offline navigation packages, it still consumes a good amount of data.
Therefore, the Gaode Card should ideally offer data-free usage for the Gaode Dache App and Gaode Navigation App.
This way, with the monthly fee adjusted to 166 yuan, 1000 minutes of talk time, 120MB of general data, plus data-free usage for Gaode Navigation and Gaode Dache!
If this could be negotiated, then this Gaode Card for ride-hailing drivers would be truly appealing.
Currently, Gaode drivers' monthly phone bills are four to five hundred yuan; dropping it to 166 yuan would be considered very good.
Packages in those years were simply expensive, there was no way around it.
As for the Star God Card, the focus would be on data-free usage for Xingyi ecosystem applications, with slightly less talk time and a bit more data.
For example, another China Unicom package with a monthly fee of 46 yuan, 260 minutes of talk time, and 40MB of data.
The Star God Card for 66 yuan, 300 minutes of talk time, 50MB of general data, and data-free usage for Xingyi ecosystem applications would also be quite good.
But whether it would work would depend on tomorrow's negotiations.
Wang Yi felt this matter was difficult, very difficult.
Packages and data in 2012 were all too expensive.
It was precisely because of this that many people were willing to buy contract phones.
After all, spending 100 yuan a month to enjoy a 186-tier package, why wouldn't one do it?
The next day.
Wang Yi, at the Meiyou Technology Park exhibition building, received Duan Fangzhou, the general manager of China Unicom's provincial branch!
"Chairman Wang, you really bring honor to our domestic mobile phones, you actually brought down the iPhone, amazing!"
Duan Fangzhou was extremely excited and extended his hand with a big laugh as soon as they met.
"Mr. Duan, you're too kind, it's just good luck."
"It's clearly strength, Chairman Wang is too modest, Haha!"
The two, host and guest, took their seats, and after some pleasantries, Duan Fangzhou got straight to the point: "To be honest, I am here representing China Unicom's provincial branch, hoping to cooperate with Xingyi Technology to launch contract phones."
Wang Yi nodded: "Mr. Duan personally coming here, this is absolutely no problem. How many do you need, I will arrange for the factory to prepare stock for you. xphone 1 is currently in stock, as many as you want. As for xphone 1pro, current production capacity is still relatively tight, but if Mr. Duan wants them, we can allocate a batch from other places and provide them to you first."
"Thank you, Chairman Wang, thank you!"
Duan Fangzhou was overjoyed, not expecting Wang Yi to be so accommodating.
After all, although he was a general manager at China Unicom, he was only a general manager for one province, not the general manager of the entire China Unicom headquarters.
There were dozens of general managers like him nationwide, and Wang Yi was giving him a lot of respect.
"For xphone 1, we'll sign for 300,000 units first, the price..."
Wang Yi smiled slightly:
"The xphone 1 market price is 2999 yuan, our wholesale price for franchisees is 2799 yuan, a gross profit of 200 yuan per unit. The wholesale price for agents and distributors is 2699 yuan, a gross profit of 300 yuan per unit."
(End of Chapter)