Kechuang Bio is severely understaffed. Even today, with a valuation of over 100 billion yuan and more than 1,000 employees, more than 50% of its senior executives still come from the rice industry.

As the company has been established for a year, Zheng Li has gained a new understanding of management. He defines Kechuang Bio as a high-tech company, rather than a manufacturing company.

The key to brain-computer interface technology is chips and algorithms. Instead of setting up factories and selling finished products, it would be better to learn from Qualcomm and only license patents.

I'll license the patent to you, and you can pay me based on the number of units you sell. That way, I won't have to increase my costs.

Real-world business management is not like in your game, where doubling the number of managers doubles the management capacity. In fact, increasing the number of personnel may lead to a decrease in the efficiency of the enterprise.

Zheng Li plans to transform Kechuang Bio into a purely technology-driven enterprise.

Lei Jun felt a chill run down his spine when he heard Zheng Li's words. If all companies were granted authorization, rice would lose its competitive edge, and how could it possibly capture the high-end market?

However, his promise to Zheng Li about brain-computer interface was only verbal. Lei Jun, who had been an entrepreneur for many years, knew that verbal promises were the least reliable.

“Junior brother, I completely understand your choice. If I were in your position, I would most likely make the same choice as you.”

"You don't need to feel sorry, but I still want to try to give the rice a chance. Is there any way to give the rice a time advantage?"

After a moment's thought, Zheng Li said, "Once our patent is registered, I can promise to provide the algorithm and chip to Da Mi first."

“From signing contracts to obtaining chips and algorithms, and then to completing debugging and integrating them into their operating systems, other domestic mobile phone brands can launch brain-computer controlled mobile phones earlier than other domestic mobile phone manufacturers.”

Lei Jun had actually thought of this method long ago. He was just waiting for Zheng Li to say it himself, because what Zheng Li said would be different from what he said.

"Okay, let's do it this way. Thank you so much. We don't need any discounts on the rice price. We'll just use the same prices as other mobile phone manufacturers."

"Junior brother, could you give us a rough estimate of when you can provide us with the chip design and algorithms?"

"So I can arrange for my subordinates to make a timeline."

Zheng Li: "At the latest, by the end of the year."

After Lei Jun finished speaking with Zheng Litong, he quickly made the arrangements. Da Mi was to restart the Mix series, which was expected to be launched in the spring.

Lei Jun did not disclose the details of the brain-computer interface to his subordinates, but only said that he would select outstanding talents from R&D and product development to complete the development of the Mix series and prepare for the spring launch.

......

Before the end of December, in mid-December, the chip design plan, a batch of sample chips, and the packaging program for converting neural signals into electrical signals were given to Da Mi.

The source code is not going to be given away; the price will vary significantly depending on the circumstances.

Dami simply uses Kechuang Bio's brain-computer interface algorithm by calling standardized interfaces through MIUI.

"Old Yan, you will be in full charge of the R&D of the Spring Mix phone this time. We are very tight on time, and we only have three months to complete the R&D and finalization process."

Mix is ​​the true high-end series of Xiaomi. The Xiaomi MIX, released in 2016, can be called the first full-screen phone, defining what a full-screen phone is for the first time. Its full-screen concept influenced the world's mobile phone design for the next five years.

If the Mi Mix was amazing when it was first released, the Mix 2 was just so-so, and the Mix 3 was pure industrial garbage.

The poor reputation of the Mix3 led to the Mix series, which previously released a new model every year, not having a new product in 2019 or 2020.

Yan Yongsheng is the vice president of Dami Group, mainly responsible for the systematic research and development of smartphones. He previously served as the chief structural designer at companies such as Motorola and VTech.

He was completely baffled: "Mr. Lei, what do you mean by completing the R&D work in three months? Didn't we finalize the design for the Mix 4 back in 2018? It was originally scheduled to be released as early as next spring or as late as August!"

"Complete R&D and finalization in three months? I couldn't do that even if I were killed."

"Moreover, even if the research and development is completed in three months, it will still take time for the factory to start production after the research and development is completed."

Lei Jun explained, "Science and Technology Innovation has developed a chip with a brain-computer interface operation accuracy rate of up to 99%."

"Moreover, brain-computer interface devices can be simplified to a style similar to bone conduction Bluetooth headsets."

Even if a brain-computer interface chip like a helmet could achieve 100% accuracy, it still wouldn't be applicable to mobile phones because users wouldn't accept having to wear a helmet just to use their phones.

Lei Jun continued, "We need to integrate brain-computer interface functionality into MIUI."

"Science and Technology Innovation provides standardized interface calls. This task should not be difficult, but it is very tedious."

"Then the PCB layout inside the phone needs to be readjusted to reserve space for the brain-computer interface chip."

Yan Yongsheng was initially pleasantly surprised to hear that brain-computer interface with an accuracy rate of up to 99% could be simplified into the style of a bone conduction Bluetooth headset. He knew all too well what kind of disruptive impact such a product would have on competitors.

But as he listened, he felt overwhelmed. The workload was enormous; even working 996 (9am-9pm, 6 days a week) might not be enough to complete the task.

"Then the brain-computer interface device worn by the user needs to be designed like an earphone, as simple as possible, and the brain-computer interface chip also needs to be integrated into it."

"I know you've worked hard, but this is a rare opportunity for our Mix series phones to come back to life."

"You don't think that Kechuang Bio's patents are only open to us, do you?"

Yan Yongsheng realized what was going on: "You mean other manufacturers will also develop brain-computer interface related products?"

Lei Jun nodded: "Yes, we can have up to three months more than others, and at the very least, we might only have one month."

"This is a battle we cannot afford to lose, and it is also the best opportunity for the Mi series of mobile phones to capture the high-end market."

Yan Yongsheng asked, "Could you ask Kechuang Biotechnology to give us six months? Ideally, we could be six months ahead of other brands."

Yan Yongsheng's suggestion was cunning; six months was a cleverly timed gap.

Mobile phones are updated and iterated on average once a year. Mobile phones with brain-computer interface are still mobile phones, and they are also updated every six months.

If Xiaomi's brain-computer interface phone comes out six months earlier than other manufacturers' phones, it means that when their previous generation products are nearing the end of their lifecycles, other phone manufacturers will be releasing their comparable products.

Then they will always be a generation ahead of other mobile phone manufacturers in brain-computer interfaces.

For example, if rice is released in January, by the time OV is released in June, most people who wanted to buy it have already done so.

When users of the first-generation brain-computer interface products want to change their phones in January next year, they will only consider Xiaomi's second-generation brain-computer interface products, rather than going back to buy OV's first-generation products.