Chapter 499 Press Conference (I)
"Mi 5s and Note 2 both launching on the same day? What surprises will Lei Jun bring to this press conference?"
"Are you OK? The bell of a new era has rung, but it's not rung by rice."
"Can the Note2, a poor imitation of the original, save the rice market?"
"Liang Chaowei is the spokesperson! I finally made the right choice for rice!"
"A small update two days before the MIUI conference, version number reached 8.0.3.1,"
"Love Technology, New Era. The name of the conference may contain a hidden meaning."
"The screen shortage has not been effectively resolved, and Xiaomi's new products will still use LCD."
"Lei Jun's hope and redemption: why canceling the September press conference was a wise move."
"MIUI+AI? Sorry, MIUI is still clinging to the Android karkit and cannot embrace AI."
"Mata9 is coming out in a week! There's no three-machine competition. Those who only dare to hold their press conference the week before have no chance of competing!"
…
Ever since Apple formed the tradition of holding new product launches in September and October six years ago, these two months every year have become the busiest months in the digital world.
Many major digital manufacturers will release new products during this period, but their release times will be slightly staggered with those of Apple products to avoid direct comparison.
These months are also a carnival for 3C digital up-masters. The number of views they receive in these months may be higher than the rest of the year combined.
Various pre-heating articles are flying all over the place. Some are from water armies, some are from rival water armies, and some are from self-media anchors who are starting up and want to become KOLs.
For some of them, the income from playback volume is only a small part, and the bulk of it still comes from the manufacturer's promotion fees.
Among all the major manufacturers, Xiaomi has the lowest marketing cost, which is only about 4%, while Zhouwei is about 12%. OV both basically exceed 20%, and sometimes even exceed 25%.
If we calculate the absolute value of marketing expenses, the gap is even greater. Last year, Zhou Wei's total marketing investment exceeded 60 billion yuan, while Da Mi's was less than 3 billion yuan.
It is roughly equivalent to one twentieth of Zhou Wei.
Of course, this is also related to the statistical caliber. Zhou Wei counts the marketing investment of the entire industry chain of the entire group. The mobile phone business only accounted for one-third of Zhou Wei's overall turnover last year, and included offline marketing expenses. Dami has almost no offline channel costs.
Dami spends less money, but has its own traffic. The attention paid to each press conference is not much less than Zhou Wei. KOLs in the 3C field are also willing to review Dami's products as soon as possible.
In every previous new product launch, Dami was quite cooperative with the KOLs except for the small amount of money they paid and being a bit stingy.
Including but not limited to streaming videos of them reviewing Rice, giving them test machines in advance, providing free front-row tickets to the press conference... and so on.
But this time, the press conference tickets were still given, but no one got the test machine in advance.
Among them is the recently popular "Science Gaming".
Song Runwen is an employee of Penguin Digital. Thanks to the convenience of his job, he can get a lot of new products that have not yet been officially released by 3C manufacturers. So he and several colleagues created a self-media account called "Science and Technology" on the small broken website to do digital reviews.
Ever since Huang Ziru was thrashed out by Luo Taijun two years ago, the field of 3C evaluation has entered the Warring States Period.
Song Runwen is actually a rising star. He started posting videos more than half a year ago, but he has never been very popular.
More than a month ago, after they released an IP7 review video, traffic surged and it became popular overnight.
It’s not that the quality of his videos is so high. The release of new Apple phones every year is the hottest news in the global digital industry, and all kinds of eye-catching reviews emerge in an endless stream. Song Runwen’s videos can only be considered average.
There is only one reason why he became so popular: he released a real machine review of IP7 two days earlier than the Apple press conference!
After Steve Jobs' death, the information about Apple's new phones released every year is like a sieve, full of holes, and basically everything is leaked by Reuters before the release.
But this is really the only time that a real machine review video can be posted online two days in advance.
Although at the end of the video he claimed that the review was not done with a real device, but just a prediction video shot with a model + 6s, but after watching the Apple press conference, any discerning person can tell at a glance that this is a real device!
Releasing a real machine review two days in advance, what does this mean?!
This means that Song Runwen had already obtained the real machine at least three days ago!
As a result, Song Runwen became famous. The number of fans on his small website exceeded 300,000 overnight, and exceeded 500,000 within a week. He is making great strides towards becoming one of the top 100 up-hosts.
What is particularly rare is that Song Runwen is very smart. He learned from Huang Ziru's lesson and never said anything bad about the reviewed products. At most, he would make some subtle comments and only block netizens who were not on his side.
When reviewing Zhou Wei, just say yourself as Zhou Wei Haijun; when reviewing rice, just say yourself as Miboy; when reviewing fruit, just say yourself as a fruit fan.
This time, he also applied for a test machine from Dami in the name of Penguin Digital. As a result, Dami sent him an email saying that before the press conference, no test machine would be provided to any KOL, and asked for understanding.
There was actually nothing wrong with Da Mi's reply, but Song Runwen was in a state of inflated opinion. After reading the email, he got a little angry and thought that after the press conference, he had to do a program to talk back at Da Mi.
"It's started. The live broadcast signal is already there."
"Love Technology·New Era? Want fans to generate power for love? Is Lei Jun crazy? What purchasing power can those loser fans of his have?"
In Building C of the Kexing Science Park in Nanshan, Pengcheng, Song Runwen, wearing black resin glasses, looked at the big screen of the rice press conference on his computer and shook his head with a mocking look on his face.
On the big screen, six large cursive characters "Love Technology, New Era" are written in a flamboyant and unrestrained manner.
"It's just a Note2 test unit, and they wouldn't even give it to us. Do they think they're better than Apple? These domestic manufacturers really take themselves too seriously, but when we look at their profits, all of them combined make less than 40% of Apple's."
"Do you really think that stuff of theirs is black technology? It's okay to fool poor losers, but how can you even deceive yourself?"
3C digital Up masters can say whatever they want, but their true inclination is basically that they are Apple fans.
A fat kid nearby leaned over and said, "I guess they're afraid we'll sneak away again?"
Song Runwen pondered for a moment. "It's unlikely. I asked the Zealer people, and they haven't received the test machine either. Zealer is Rice's son."
"Although Zealer's future was basically cut off after Huang Ziru was killed by Luo Taijun two years ago, each episode still has hundreds of thousands of views. If Da Mi had given them the test machine in advance, there's no way they wouldn't have given it to them."
"The pinyin for 'love' is ai. Maybe this press conference is related to AI? Didn't they say they were collaborating with Yuzi Technology to develop some AI-based system?"
At the workstation opposite, a young man with curly hair and wearing a floral shirt was leaning back in his chair with his arms folded across his chest, his eyes also fixed on his computer screen.
"AI system? Haha, Luke, MIUI is still based on Android 4.4.4. How can it be AI-powered? Google's Android 7, which was just released two months ago, only has built-in AI photo reconstruction and a Hugging client portal."
"In a YouTube interview, Sergey Brin also specifically mentioned that due to the limitations of the underlying architecture, some core AI infrastructure will not be possible until at least Android 10."
"The word 'love' in Dami might refer to AI, but at most it's just like Google, with a built-in photo optimizer. And it just so happens that Chinese phones are best at beautification."
"Besides that, maybe Xiao Ai's kernel has been upgraded to juzi2.5, but that doesn't help. Android 4.4.4 doesn't support low-level voice control technology."
"What Google can't do, DaMi and YouZi Technology can do?"
Song Runwen sneered mockingly.
"Really? Didn't Google fail to make the Juzi Big Model from Yuzi Technology? Hugging's running score is even worse than the Juzi2.5N from two versions ago, right?"
The curly-haired young man named Luke sarcastically remarked to Song Runwen.
Ever since this guy became famous, he's been showing off in the office every day. I've been displeased with him for a long time.
This video was not recorded by you alone, you just appeared in the video, what's so awesome about it?
Song Runwen choked, feeling embarrassed and annoyed. "How can they be the same? Android is Google's, how can you compare architecture development with the original manufacturer?"
"Besides, AI is AI, and an operating system is an operating system. You don't really think that a big model is more advanced than an operating system, do you?"
"Do you know how old the 4.4.4 source code is? If you want to modify it, why not just re-build it based on AOSP? Are you sure DaMi and Youzi Technology really have the ability to do that?"
"Okay, even if Dami and Youzi Technology collaborate to create an operating system, let me ask you, let's not even talk about whether they have the experience, what about the application ecosystem?"
"Answer me!"
"How many developers would be willing to develop an adapted version specifically for your system? Without an installed base, without users, and relying solely on word of mouth? What's the point?"
"Tell me why? Baby."
"Look me in the eyes and answer me!"
Feeling the dragon turtle's domineering aura coming towards him, Luke couldn't help but twitch the corners of his mouth a few times.
Damn, is this guy stressed out?
"Um... Vincent, Luke, the press conference has begun, and Lei Jun has come on stage..."
The little fat boy next to him gave a weak reminder and smoothed things over.
Seeing that Luke didn't say anything, Song Runwen tilted his neck and snorted in disdain.
——
"The font on the demo cover must be changed. Replace it with the font from Xu Wei's Cursive Script in the picture I sent you."
"Change the cover font? Aren't we aiming for power and impact? Besides, Li Tou has already decided on the cover, so how can we change it just like that?"
"Why are you yelling at me? The General Office wants to change it. If you want to yell, go to the General Office."
"That's not what I meant. The press conference is only an hour away, and the supplier is constantly pushing for an explanation. There has to be an explanation, right?"
"Mr. Lei is so cautious. A partner's aesthetic consultant said it was a Bushido font. I guess they were just talking nonsense, but he took it seriously. By the time someone asked, you had already changed it."
…
"Is the video pressed yet? This is the only thing missing!"
"Don't worry about the video. They said they'll use live streaming."
"Streaming media? Who's responsible if something goes wrong on-site? What a crappy promotional video, and it's so mysterious?"
"Ask the General Manager!"
"Fuck! Stop putting the pressure on the General Office for everything! I'll go ask Mr. Lei myself!"
…
In the gymnasium of Sinho University, a huge curtain was placed across the center of the venue. The backstage behind the curtain was in chaos. Countless staff members were either busy doing various tasks or hurriedly coordinating various matters.
"I'm sorry, Xiao Yu, the conditions are so simple."
In the temporary makeup area at the corner of the backstage, Lei Jun used a tissue to wipe the oil stains on his forehead caused by the high-power spotlight on the ceiling, reviewed the PPT one last time, turned his head and smiled at Yu Dan next to him.
"Xiao Fang is really good at ordering people around. Did he pull you away from Hero Entertainment so quickly?"
Yu Dan shook his hair out of habit: "Haojie has Lao Xiang watching over him, and the investment budget has been spent. There's no need to do anything normally, just push it forward."
Lei Jun was about to say something when he heard a noise nearby. He turned around and saw Da Mimi, wearing a pink dress and looking like a peach, entering the backstage from the exclusive entrance of the stadium.
Every step I take has to shake twice.
But Da Mimi's figure has improved a lot, after all, she just finished participating in a military training variety show.
"Big Honey!"
"Fuck! This dress is so big. No, I mean this dress is so white."
"Can we take a photo together, Da Mimi?"
Some of the rice employees in the backstage surrounded them, and several Jiaxing employees hurried forward to maintain order.
"Hello, Mr. Lei, Mr. Yu, nice to meet you again~" After signing autographs for several employees, Da Mimi shook hands with a few of them very politely. Then she waved to Lei Jun and Yu Dan from a distance, and walked over quickly with her skirt lifted up in both hands.
Lei Jun was a little surprised to see Da Mimi arrive so early. After all, Liang Chaowei, who needed to appear earlier, had not arrived yet.
After shaking hands and chatting with Da Mimi for a few minutes, Liang Chaowei and his wife and agent Liu Jialing arrived.
There was another commotion at the scene, but this time it was much smaller in scale than the previous one. It was mainly a few older single women who were acting like crazy.
As a star, Liang Chaowei's status is definitely incomparable to Da Mimi, but in terms of popularity, the couple combined are not as popular as Da Mimi is now.
There is no way, I am old, and the Hong Kong circle has been going downhill,
"Brother Chaowei, Sister Jialing, long time no see. Wow, Sister Jialing is still so beautiful." Da Mimi took the initiative to step forward and greeted Liang Chaowei and Liu Jialing.
When she was ostracized by the Beijing circle a few years ago, she also mixed in the Hong Kong circle and knew both of them, but at that time she basically had no qualifications to speak up.
Liang Chaowei and Liu Jialing were both stunned.
"Wow~ Mimi, long time no see. We didn't know you were here. I'm old, how can I be as pretty as you young people?" Liu Jialing put on her signature fake smile and took Mimi's hand.
Liang Chaowei's eyes flickered as he greeted Da Mimi expressionlessly. He then whispered a few instructions to the assistant beside him. The assistant nodded and ran to the marketing employee who was in charge of connecting with them to communicate with Da Mimi through gestures.
Not long after, the assistant came back with a gloomy face and told Liang Chaowei what he had just learned. Liang Chaowei's face changed immediately, and he called Liu Jialing, who was greeting Lei Jun, over and whispered something to her.
After hearing this, Liu Jialing frowned and argued with Liang Chaowei in a low voice for a few words. Then she touched her forehead helplessly, turned around and looked around, and found Li Wanqiang, the vice president of Rice, who was sitting with his hands folded and chatting with other employees.
"Vice President Li, I'm sorry, I need to discuss something with you."
Li Wanqiang was startled. Seeing that it was Liu Jialing, he quickly smiled and said, "What advice does Mrs. Liang have?"
Liu Jialing glanced at Da Mimi in the distance and said, "When you talked to us before, you made it very clear that the Note2 is your high-end product."
"But we just learned that you've hired Ms. Yang Mi to endorse another product, and she appeared after Wei Zai today. I hope you can give me an explanation."
"Otherwise, Wei Zai wouldn't be playing today."
Liu Jialing looked at Li Wanqiang and said word by word: "This is not only what I mean, but also what Wei Zai means."
Li Wanqiang's heart skipped a beat and he subconsciously looked at Lei Jun, only to find that the makeup artist was fixing Lei Jun's hairstyle and clothes, preparing him to go on stage.
Fuck fuck fuck! What should I do?
"Mrs. Liang, the Note2 is indeed our high-end product line. Da Mimi is only endorsing a new conceptual product, and her endorsement fee is far less than Mr. Liang's. It's just that this product is the highlight of our press conference, so it will be presented last. We haven't violated the contract."
Li Wanqiang was extremely anxious. He watched Lei Jun put on his earphones, took the page turner, and walked out of the backstage.
There were bursts of applause and whistles from the stands.
(End of this chapter)
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