Chapter 47

What’s the selling price?

The bullet screens on the major video sites were flooded with the same question.

[What do you think the price of S-1 will be?]

[It must be very expensive. Labor workers like me can only look at it from a distance. Sad life!]

[It should be more expensive than an iPhone, I think!]

[Will it cost more than 50,000 RMB? I think even that is still considered very cheap. Also, the number of people who buy it will not be less since S-1 is really awesome!]

[Brother Ren~ Oh my gosh, hurry up and announce the price! We’ve all read the specifications ourselves, so hurry up and stop torturing us!]

Finally, Ren Hong announced the details that everyone was waiting for.

“Regarding the price of S-1.” Ren Hong’s voice echoed throughout the entire conference hall. “The official flat price of the wearable smart device, S-1, is… 1199 USD!”

“How can S-1 be so cheap when the 128GB version of the iPhone 7S-Plus is 1,099 USD?” A foreign correspondent mumbled to himself in a tone of incredulous surprise. How could the cost of such a device be so low?

The audience ushered in a low-pitched exclamation, which was followed by a wave of warm applause. 1199 USD wasn’t a small figure; this figure was higher than the iPhone 7S-Plus by 100 USD, albeit at a similar price. Compared to the iPhone, the wearable smart device S-1 is definitely considered good value for money.

It was apparent that when Ren Hong announced the price of S-1, users were undoubtedly the most excited, especially those who originally owned iPhones. They called themselves hard-core Apple fans, but in the face of two products that were about 1000 USD… The left was the iPhone and the right was the S-1…

Perhaps not many people would put their money on the left, which was a perfectly valid choice.

The users were excited. They had no idea that S-1 would be so cheap! In fact, the price wasn’t cheap and was already in the category of high-end consumer electronics. However, after comparing it with the iPhone, users thought that S-1 was really too cheap. The voice assistant, configuration, and experience were miles ahead of the iPhone and yet, only cost 100 USD more. It was ridiculously cheap!

Many thought that S-1 would cost at least more than 2000 USD, but unexpectedly, it was only 1199 USD, or 7755 RMB.

Even though some people were joyful, others were woeful. Mobile phone makers were covered with thick dark clouds, while domestic mobile phone makers such as Xiaomi, OPPO, etc. didn’t have a feeling of impending disaster since this didn’t affect them much. The reason was obvious. Their target market was low and mid-range consumers, while the high-end market had been dominated by Apple, LG, and other foreign brands. This wearable smart device that XlouS launched also targeted the high-end market.

“What I’m curious about is what kind of face Cook is showing now! The Chinese business and technology circles have produced a remarkable young man.” Lei Jun, co-founder and chairman of Xiaomi, watched the livestream from home and gloated in Cook’s misfortune.

Right now, even a blind man could see that XlouS’s wearable smart device, S-1, was made to compete directly with Apple’s iPhone series for a share of the high-end market with its 1199 USD price tag!

From 2007 to now, was there finally a company and a product that could compete with iPhones at the high end of the market?

“Did you see it?”

Cook’s phone rang. He picked up and after a long time, responded. “Prepare for a meeting tomorrow!” When he finished, he hung up the phone and couldn’t help but take off his glasses and cover his face with his hands.

How could they resist the enemy?

1,199 USD! This was the equivalent of declaring war on Apple! But with such a revolutionary product, how would they stand out from the cutthroat competition?

Unless the new generation of iPhones was equally revolutionary, innovative, and superior to their rival’s!

But when Cook thought of the performance and configuration of the flagship version of the iPhone 8S compared to S-1, even he felt a strong sense of powerlessness.

Cook couldn’t help but cast his eyes to the livestream, looking at the confident young man who wore a calm smile. He seemed to carry the shadow of Steve Jobs. Whenever Jobs stood on the scene of the launch, he was also full of confidence…

“How could such a person appear in China?” Cook mused.

On the other side, XlouS’s news conference in the far eastern hemisphere was now in the reporter’s Q&A session.

“Greetings, Mr. Ren! Will your new product S-1 directly compete with Apple’s iPhone?”

“My foreign correspondent friend, I need to emphasize one thing: the Chinese think differently from Europeans and Americans. We don’t go looking for a competitor deliberately. I believe every product has its value and corresponding position, and I just need to find where it is and where its value lies! So, no!”

“Greetings! Mr. Ren, will your company establish a direct offline distribution channel for S-1 globally?”

“The company has partnered with a number of logistics companies and will not be setting up any stores or sales channels offline. Consumers get their orders on the company’s sales website, and a professional courier will personally deliver the device to their doorstep. Our only physical store is at our headquarters, which will open promptly tomorrow at 10:00am and start selling the device to the public!”

However, just as the presentation was coming to an end, Ren Hong suddenly added: “There was an announcement I planned to make at the end, and now is the time.” He seemed to be trying to build up his emotions for a moment, and finally said, “We still think about the mid-range consumers, and we also want to provide products and services for them…”

At that moment, Lei Jun and the other bigwigs couldn’t remain calm any longer. They suddenly stared at the livestream. Do you have any idea how many phone manufacturers will be affected? A lot of people will starve to death!!!

Ren Hong continued: “For that, the company will launch a specific version of the voice assistant, Little You, for this group of users. On May 25th, XlouS’s website will unveil the download section for the Android version of the smart voice assistant, Little You.

“Thanks to the open-source nature of its operating system, we have the ability to launch an Android version of Little You, which is the only service we can offer to mid-range consumers. However, the Android version of Little You only supports version 8.0 and above.

“With the Android version of Little You, phones that cost around the range of 2000 RMB will also bid farewell to the era of hand control and become a member of the voice control club.

“The Android version of Little You will be a paid application, under a monthly fee system with an official flat price of 5 USD a month. The download section will be available on the official website tomorrow!”

This last piece of news came as a pleasant surprise to Android phone users around the world. After seeing the power of Little You, it suddenly became clear that Cortana, Xiaoice, and Siri were ridiculously stupid.

It was apparent that for those who couldn’t afford S-1, this was a blessing in disguise. It was a paid application, but for 5 USD a month, one could bring a lifeless machine to life. Not many people would skimp on that.

For 5 USD, one could take one’s phone from hand control to voice control.

Android users rejoiced, but Apple fans around the world weren’t happy to see the news. Why wasn’t an iOS version announced? Ren Hong, have you forgotten about the iOS version? When will the iOS download be announced?

No iOS? How can we tolerate that?

As soon as Ren Hong made this announcement, a number of posts on XlouS’s forum were calling for an iOS version.

Only phones with Little You installed were truly smart devices. An 899 USD iPhone that wasn’t as smart as a 200 USD Android would never be tolerated. Are you kidding me?

“Shameless Chinese!” Cook couldn’t help but curse when he saw this last bit of news. Cook found that he had underestimated this young Chinese man who was already taking a shot at the iPhone before his product was even available. How dirty!

It was apparent that that the iPhone took a huge hit from Ren Hong. Cook refused to believe the absurd notion that an iOS version wouldn’t be released for open source reasons. An Android version and XlouS’s flagship version existed, but there was no iOS version. Everyone knew the evil intention behind it.

S-1 was the industry leader in performance, and its price was the same as the iPhone. With Little You as its assistant, the iPhone was almost defenseless.

Just imagine spending 800 USD or even 1000 USD on an iPhone that wasn’t as smart or convenient as a 200 USD Android device when one could have gotten a better S-1 for 100 USD more. Would any iPhone users feel great about that?

It was imaginable how disgusted iPhone users would feel. They would also be laughed at by their friends for being stupid; paying for an iPhone 7S-Plus and not even wanting to pay 100 USD more for an S-1.

One would even be ridiculed by some Android users who showed off their voice-activated features with a 200 USD product. One couldn’t refute that.

Ren Hong’s release of Little You wasn’t only to attack the iPhone, but more importantly, to target huge business opportunities. 70% of the world’s smartphone users came from Android users, which was undoubtedly a huge vault. Even 10% accounted to an immeasurable wealth.

The Android version of Little You was actually a lesser version of S-1’s. The important and excellent security and privacy features weren’t available on the Android version. But even so, the Android version was also so powerful that voice control could replace almost all hand controls.

And most importantly, it was a divine feature that was even more powerful than the iPhone’s!

It was apparent that once people got used to the experience and convenience of voice control, it would be hard for them to leave the application. It would also make these users pay attention to S-1 and they would become the greatest potential consumers of S-1.

It was a great way to gain huge revenue, impede the iPhone, and nurture potential users for S-1—killing three birds with one stone!