Song Sining nodded:
"Boss, chargers, charging heads, and earphones are not a big problem. OEM factories have high-quality product solutions; we can acquire a factory and produce them directly. However, Bluetooth earphones will take some time and probably won't be able to launch with the phone."
Wang Yi didn't mind:
"It's fine. If the Bluetooth earphones can't make it in time, we can make samples first, announce them, and start pre-sales! Smart bands can also be pre-sold!"
Accessories like earphones, chargers, charging cables, and power banks do not require Xingyi Technology to spend time on research and development itself.
Instead, they can directly acquire a specialized factory with outstanding quality, change the appearance of its professional products, and put Xingyi Technology's brand on them.
Even Apple's accessories are manufactured by OEM factories.
There's no way around it; phones involve too many things to cover all aspects personally. Most are integrations of supplier solutions.
Brands like Apple and Huawei doing core processor and system self-development are already quite impressive.
After all, most brands are pure supplier solution integration + OEM.
In another two years, many domestic phone brands won't even do their own R&D and design, but will instead directly find OEM factories for branding.
For example, some major brands' mid-range models directly buy designs from Wingtech, have Wingtech manufacture them, and then attach their own brand.
A new XX brand phone is then produced.
From R&D and design to OEM production, everything is handled by the OEM factory.
This is why, in a few years, phones from different brands will look very similar, like identical twins.
They are all researched, designed, and manufactured by the same OEM, all made from public molds; how could they be different?
"Ah? Pre-sales? Is that allowed?"
Song Sining was a little surprised.
"What's wrong with that? Xiaomi phones were released in August but didn't hit the market until October. Our Bluetooth earphones, bands, power banks, and such can be released in December and then launched in January or February; that's perfectly fine."
"Okay, Boss."
Song Sining was still young and hadn't seen products that underwent three years of preliminary research, or those where even prototypes hadn't been made, but a PPT presentation was held prematurely...
The lowest common denominator for some domestic brands is having no lowest common denominator.
For Xingyi Bluetooth earphones to be launched within two months after their announcement is a normal pace.
It can only be said that they benefit from the comparison with their peers.
Wang Yi continued:
"Also, have the design department design some attractive phone cases and leather protective covers. Acquire another accessory factory for production, and also produce tempered glass screen protectors and other peripheral accessories."
Girls love these things, and boys can't do without them either.
For the first few months after buying a phone, it's like Princess Iron Fan, cherished dearly.
Only after a few months will it become like Mrs. Niu.
Wang Yi thought clearly: sales of tempered glass screen protectors and phone cases are tremendous, and profits are astonishing.
The OEM fees paid for a year of contract manufacturing would be enough to acquire several factories!
Moreover, brand-name tempered glass screen protectors and protective cases are more expensive, yield higher profits, and with increased sales, money will pour in like a tide.
Tempered glass screen protectors were just starting a few years earlier in 2011 and were still quite expensive.
Tempered glass screen protectors bought on Taobao cost 10-40 yuan, and those applied on the street cost 20-50 yuan.
An iPhone 4 tempered glass screen protector at an Apple store cost 168 yuan!
As for the cost, low-quality ones cost one yuan, and high-quality ones only two or three yuan.
Pure profiteering.
Protective cases sold for even more and had greater profits.
The profit margins for brands selling these accessories are far more terrifying than for phones.
Especially for the female users of Meiyou, they will continuously 'chop their hands' (buy compulsively).
For a 3000-yuan phone, they might buy three or four hundred yuan worth of peripheral accessories!
When they go to a Meiyou store to look at clothes and see a new protective case, as long as it looks good enough, even if it sells for 99 yuan, they won't hesitate!
If some co-branded products are introduced, selling for 199 yuan would be no problem.
Boys might only replace their phone cases when they are worn out or discolored, likely buying one from Taobao for value for money.
Girls buy several phone cases at once and change them like clothes.
Once they get dirty, they replace them with new ones, often buying official genuine products.
The same goes for tempered glass screen protectors.
Boys buy one online for a dozen yuan and apply it themselves.
Girls go to Meiyou stores, choose an official screen protector + manual application fee, costing 59-99 yuan per visit.
That's right, once the factories are acquired, Wang Yi will launch high-quality tempered glass screen protectors, such as 3D tempered glass, anti-fingerprint tempered glass, anti-blue light tempered glass, anti-peep tempered glass...
These will be common street goods worth nothing in ten years.
But in 2011, they were unique "black technologies," and selling them for 99 yuan would be no problem!
After all, Xingyi phones are positioned in the mid-to-high end and cannot be sold cheaply!
Once a brand is sold cheaply, it's over.
Song Sining understood that Xingyi Technology's business was about to expand again.
This was unavoidable.
When Xingyi phones first came out, as a new brand, there would be no matching tempered glass screen protectors or protective cases on the market for a short time.
Consumers wouldn't be able to buy them, which would be awkward.
Xingyi phones could only make and profit from them themselves.
"By the way, Boss, should we open domestic Xingyi phone flagship stores and exclusive stores?"
"Xingyi phone flagship stores, exclusive stores..."
Wang Yi fell into contemplation.
Exclusive stores are not urgent at the moment, as there is only one generation and one model of Xingyi phone.
It's meaningless and a waste of resources to open hundreds or thousands of exclusive stores nationwide for a single phone model.
Moreover, there are thousands of Meiyou flagship stores, exclusive stores, and franchised stores across the country that can sell Xingyi phones, so there's no shortage of offline channels.
Later, when there are more Xingyi phone models, more accessories, and more products, Xingyi exclusive stores can be opened on a large scale.
"Sining, Xingyi phone exclusive stores are not urgent. They can be sold in Meiyou, Zhenyou flagship stores, exclusive stores, and franchised stores. However, Xingyi phone flagship stores can open one per city, and they can open in late December."
"The role of flagship stores is not just to sell phones, but more importantly, to provide after-sales service! To reassure consumers and let the public see that our Xingyi phones have after-sales service and offline physical stores, they are not just online brands!"
In 2011, after-sales service was highly valued.
People were not confident about new brands without physical stores or after-sales service.
"Okay, Boss, I'll arrange for the marketing department to survey potential locations right away."
"Remember to focus on commercial complexes in city centers. If suitable, buy the property directly. Also, Zhenyou flagship stores need to be located and opened. In the future, domestic Zhenyou and Meiyou should also be separated and operated independently. Zhenyou franchisees can also be recruited."
"Understood,"
Song Sining responded one by one.
Once Zhenyou exclusive stores open, all Zhenyou clothing in Meiyou stores will need to be moved out.
The space freed up by Zhenyou will be perfectly suited for Xingyi phones and their accessories such as earphones, power banks, tempered glass screen protectors, and protective cases.
It's not appropriate for a light luxury brand and a mid-range brand to be consistently placed together.
The future direction of development is specialization and refinement.
Wang Yi continued:
"Zhenyou flagship stores and exclusive stores should open more in first and second-tier cities and fewer in smaller cities. We won't open Zhenyou exclusive stores in counties with salaries around two thousand yuan; there isn't much consumption power there. In these unopened areas, Zhenyou products will continue to be sold in Meiyou stores!"
"Okay, that's most suitable,"
Song Sining replied.
In prosperous areas, Zhenyou exclusive stores and Meiyou exclusive stores will be separate and operated independently.
In remote areas with lower consumption power, it doesn't matter; Zhenyou can be sold directly in Meiyou stores.
After giving these instructions, Wang Yi opened his email to handle work-related messages.
One email was from Kucha, the chief editor of Meiyou Novels:
[Boss, Yu Wanwan has finished the ending of the customized short story.]
Yu Wanwan was the real name of Xiangwan Buwan.
Wang Yi opened the attachment and read it carefully.
The outline of the ending for this short story was at most A-level, but Yu Wanwan wrote it so well that it fully reached S-level!
Her exceptional writing skill and emotional manipulation made the last twenty thousand words grand and moving, captivating Wang Yi, an old bookworm.
Even when Wu Shuang had finished cooking and called Wang Yi downstairs for dinner, Wang Yi ignored her, completely immersed in the plot.
It wasn't until he finished reading the twenty thousand words that Wang Yi sighed deeply:
"Yu Wanwan is good. Tomorrow, have her sign the contract and start writing Mo Dao Zu Shi."
Just in time, after Mo Dao Zu Shi becomes popular, official co-branded phone cases can be released!
Even if they sell for 199 yuan, fans will rush to buy them!
Physical books and merchandise can also be released simultaneously.
In his previous life, Lan Wangji's forehead ribbon, just that silk ribbon, sold for 450 yuan, and thousands of them quickly sold out.
A five-yuan notebook, with Mo Dao Zu Shi branding, sold directly for 59 yuan, and over 5000 were sold.
A 29-yuan ordinary thermos cup, with a picture of the male lead, went for 129 yuan, and thousands were sold.
It can only be said that IP merchandise is that profitable!
However, Wang Yi wouldn't be so unscrupulous.
At the very least, he would upgrade them to a 59-yuan high-grade 316 thermos cup before selling it for 129 yuan.
Co-branded lipsticks can also be released.
Even comics, animations, and TV shows can be produced.
The original intention of establishing Meiyou Novels was for IP development.
Female-oriented novels differ from male-oriented novels; they have fewer words, less subscription revenue, and rely entirely on IP adaptations and merchandise.
Establishing Xingyi Film and Television for comic adaptations, animation adaptations, and film and television adaptations is an unavoidable development direction for any novel website.
To put it bluntly, if a website doesn't pursue IP dramatization, top authors won't be willing to join.
Conversely, if Meiyou Novels quickly adapts its IPs into film and television, the top authors from Chunjiang Novels will all jump ship to Meiyou.
Some time ago, Wang Yi had the novel marketing department acquire many popular IPs, and subsequent hit novels from Meiyou Novels can also be directly adapted into comics.
After all, comic adaptations don't require huge investments in actors, and the cost is much lower, making them completely feasible.
Of course, comic adaptations are even easier.
Acquire an animation team, and in the future, all popular works from Meiyou Novels that can be adapted will be directly arranged for comic adaptation and the launch of dynamic comics!
This will greatly enhance the author's visibility, and Wang Yi can also sell physical comics, dynamic comic copyrights, comic merchandise, and later even produce anime...
A weekly update model will continuously maintain popularity and drive novel sales!
It's a win-win situation!
More importantly, the current animation giant Xuanji is only just emerging and has not yet fully grown.
Qin Shi Ming Yue has only reached its third season, progressing slowly.
Wang Yi could very well invest heavily to acquire the Xuanji team in advance!
After all, Xuanji is not miHoYo; it's not that difficult to acquire.
And another animation giant, Ruosen, is just starting out, with its first work, Xia Lan, set to launch next June.
To put it bluntly, Ruosen at present is an unknown small studio without a single work.
And it's also in the capital city!
Wang Yi could acquire them with some money at this time, no problem.
This way, not only can they produce Xia Lan, but they can also produce Mo Dao Zu Shi anime!
If they acquire the two giants Ruosen and Xuanji, it's equivalent to securing half of the future animation industry!
Future comic adaptations for Meiyou Novels would also be no problem.
Of course, after a full acquisition, to prevent the original team from losing motivation, Wang Yi will give the original team some phantom shares.
These phantom shares will enjoy dividends but will not have shareholder rights, cannot be transferred, and cannot be sold.
Once they leave, these phantom shares will be fully reclaimed.
But with phantom shares, they will also go all out for the dividends!
However, these operations require top-tier talent and must be located in the capital city!
Wu Shuang saw Wang Yi come downstairs and quickly stood up:
"Boss, please sit. The dishes are cold; I'll reheat them."
"Good,"
Wang Yi smiled and nodded.
The money wasn't wasted; the chef was very dedicated.
Wu Shuang also felt she should be diligent, after all, following Wang Yi was easy, and she could earn 40,000 yuan a month, which was too good to be true.
Several times, she woke up laughing from dreams.
Before, she worked as a bodyguard for a female boss for only 10,000 yuan a month!
The next morning, Wang Yi arrived at the novel department.
Seeing Wang Yi, Yu Wanwan instantly perked up:
"Boss, are you satisfied with the ending I wrote? If not, I'll revise it until you are completely satisfied!"
Wang Yi nodded:
"It's barely acceptable."
"Yay!"
Yu Wanwan jumped up excitedly, still with the temperament of a 17-year-old.
No, she had her birthday, so she was already 18.
Wang Yi took out the agreement he had prepared earlier and handed it to Yu Wanwan:
"This contract is for thirty years directly. Within these thirty years, as a contracted writer for Meiyou Novels, you will receive a guaranteed 100+ yuan per thousand characters plus royalties! After a fifty-fifty split of royalties, if it's less than 100 yuan per thousand characters, it will be calculated as 100 yuan per thousand characters.
If it exceeds 100 yuan per thousand characters, the exceeding part of the royalties will be compensated to you! In addition, you will be provided with six insurances and two funds, and if you write well, you will get household registration in the capital city within three years!"
"What? A hundred yuan per thousand characters? Isn't it fifty yuan per thousand characters?"
Yu Wanwan was completely dumbfounded.
Wang Yi smiled:
"What a silly child, aren't you happy with more?"
"Happy, happy! Boss, you really are my own boss, this is wonderful!"
Yu Wanwan's joy was evident:
"And if it exceeds a hundred yuan per thousand characters, it can still be a fifty-fifty split, that's really good. And household registration in the capital city! Boss, I'll sign it now!"
Wang Yi waved his hand:
"No rush, read the terms carefully first. For example, the requirements here state that the book is a collaboration between you and Meiyou, and the copyright and pen name belong to Meiyou Technology.
If you don't write well, Meiyou has the right to replace you to complete it and stop subsequent royalty payments. The contract is for thirty years, with a penalty of ten million yuan for breach..."
Yu Wanwan was not surprised and carefully read the agreement:
"The outline, chapter outlines, and opening were all provided by Meiyou, so of course the copyright belongs to Meiyou; I have no objection. I'm very satisfied to get a hundred yuan per thousand characters + royalties. As for thirty years, it doesn't matter. Isn't it just a contract of servitude? I'll sign it now. I live for Meiyou, and I die for Meiyou! Boss, even if you chase me away, I won't leave!"
With that, Yu Wanwan signed the agreement directly.
A hundred yuan per thousand characters, in the online novel industry of 2011, even top female authors might not get it.
Yu Wanwan never even dared to dream of it.
She found the fifty yuan per thousand characters Wang Yi promised before to be unbelievable enough.
Let alone a hundred yuan per thousand characters!
It completely exceeded her expectations.
After signing the contract, Xiangwan Buwan officially committed to Meiyou Technology, becoming Meiyou Technology's first contracted writer.
Subsequently, another new contract was signed, specifically the contract for Mo Dao Zu Shi.
Wang Yi said earnestly:
"If you write this book well, it will definitely become a hit, and your income will be much more than a hundred yuan per thousand characters. As for how much more, that depends on your ability."
"The opening, overall outline, chapter outlines, and character settings are all ready at the Meiyou Novels editorial department. You just need to follow along and write. Of course, you can't use the pen name Xiangwan Buwan anymore; instead..."
Wang Yi thought for a moment:
"Let's call you You Wanwan!"
"You Wanwan? Okay, I'll follow the organization's arrangements!"
Yu Wanwan said excitedly:
"Boss is giving so much; I can't wait to start working now!"
"Haha, after signing the contract and completing the procedures, you can go back, read the outline, and start working!"
"Alright!"
Yu Wanwan checked the agreement, found no issues, quickly signed it, then picked up the outline, and was about to read it when Wang Yi called out to her again:
"There's one last agreement, a non-compete agreement."
Meiyou Novels invested too much in Yu Wanwan.
Among other things, just the outline of Mo Dao Zu Shi that Wang Yi put together would bring Yu Wanwan both fame and fortune, earning her a huge sum.
If she were truly insatiably greedy, she might even pay the ten million yuan penalty to switch companies.
And a two-year non-compete agreement is the best restriction!
"Okay, Boss,"
Yu Wanwan looked at the agreement and signed it directly.
Given that Wang Yi offered her an astronomical guaranteed salary of 100 yuan per thousand characters, she would have found it abnormal if there were no non-compete agreement.
At this point, the contract of servitude was settled.
"Write well. An editor will follow your progress and guide you throughout."
Wang Yi patted Yu Wanwan on the shoulder.
"I will work hard!"
Yu Wanwan said, raising her hand:
"Boss!"
"Keep it up!"
Wang Yi high-fived her.
"Ganbatte!"
Afterward, Wang Yi met Kucha again to discuss recent data.
"Boss, the first batch of books reaching 50,000-70,000 words has begun paid internal testing. According to current standards, 1,000 average subscriptions is D-level, 2,000 is C-level, 3,000 is B-level, 5,000 is A-level, 10,000 is S-level, 50,000 is SS-level, and 100,000 is SSS-level.
Three books have reached A-level and are expected to challenge S-level with ten thousand subscriptions. There are also five books at B-level, seven at C-level, and ten at D-level."
Female-oriented novels generally have a total word count of 200,000-1,000,000 words, so they are put on shelves for paid reading at 50,000-70,000 words.
Listing them early also means average subscriptions increase quickly.
Although Meiyou Novels has not yet officially launched and is still in targeted promotion, there are currently few books, so each book receives a tremendous amount of traffic.
Therefore, as long as the quality is strong enough, it's easy to reach five thousand or even ten thousand subscriptions!
"Very good, keep up the hard work. If we continue to develop in this mode, the library will gradually be established. Next month, Meiyou Novels can officially launch!"
"Don't worry, Boss, there will be a second and third batch of new books coming to shelves soon. A-level books will increase, and S-level books are also hopeful! Our customized works are also performing very well. One has already reached seven thousand average subscriptions."
"Keep working hard. As long as there are results, nothing is a problem."
With experienced editors like Kucha and Wang Yi's willingness to spend money to poach talent, Meiyou Novels has no worries about not growing big.
Next month, when Mo Dao Zu Shi, written by Yu Wanwan, breaks out, will be the official launch of Meiyou Novels!
Wang Yi had everything planned out.
Subsequently, Wang Yi called Jian Ziyan:
"Ziyan, please prepare the simple resumes of these high-end talents we've recruited and print them out!"
"Okay, Boss."
This information will be useful today!
Leaving the novel department, Wang Yi went directly to the phone department.
"Boss, you're here. The first batch of prototypes was completed yesterday! We planned to make thirty units, but the software and imaging departments both need to test, so we made sixty units directly!"
Zhu Changlin was excited:
"Look, they are all being tested, and no problems have been found yet."
"They're done!"
Wang Yi was excited and hurried over.
He saw that each person in the phone hardware department had a Xingyi phone in hand, conducting various tests.
Another 20 units were sent to the imaging department, where engineers from Sony were working with them on image tuning.
20 units were sent to the software department for Android 4.0 adaptation.
The currently pre-installed system was still the previously developed Android 2.3, as Android 4.0 had just been released.
Wang Yi took one and experienced it himself; it was really good.
Both the workmanship and texture were top-tier at the time, no less than the iPhone 4S.
Coupled with a 4.3-inch 1080*720P high-resolution screen, it was significantly better than the iPhone 4S's 3.5-inch 960x640 low-resolution screen.
Especially when watching videos and playing games, the difference was huge.
3.5 inches was really too small, not much better than Nokia.
"Excellent, test it as quickly as possible. I'll contact the factory soon."
With that, Wang Yi tucked a Xingyi phone into his pocket.
Zhu Changlin nodded:
"Testing started yesterday morning and has been going on for over 24 hours now. No hardware issues have been found yet!"
"It's good that the hardware is fine. System issues can be solved through OTA, but hardware issues cannot. Test them in shifts these few days, non-stop for 24 hours. If there are truly no issues, next week we'll debug the production line, trial produce engineering units, and then test them again!"
The hardware development team Wang Yi poached were elites from HTC, adept at making phones, so there were naturally no problems.
As for adapting to Android 4.0, that depends on the ability of Yang Yan and his team.
Currently, Android 2.3 is testing well.
With that, Wang Yi took the Xingyi phone from Zhu Changlin's hand again, gave a few instructions, and turned to leave.
It wasn't until Wang Yi was far away that Zhu Changlin came back to his senses:
"How many phones did the boss take?"
"Two!"
his subordinate said.
Zhu Changlin: "..."
Sixty prototypes seemed like a lot, but divided among the hardware, software, and imaging departments, it wasn't much.
"Boss, here, the information you asked for!"
Jian Ziyan handed over a document.
"Good!"
Wang Yi looked at it, put it in his bag, called Wu Shuang, and headed straight to the Haicheng District Management Committee.
Early in the morning, he had Jian Ziyan make an appointment with Director Qin.
Today was the day to visit and ask for benefits!
Twenty minutes later, Wang Yi arrived at Director Qin's office.
The secretary served tea and then left.
"Director Wang, please have some tea,"
Director Qin said with a smile.
"Thank you."
"We haven't met in a while, and you're no longer the Wang boss from before, but the famous Director Wang!"
Director Qin's expression was somewhat complex:
"Especially yesterday, a 3.5 billion strategic investment in BYD, amazing, truly amazing!"
"Director, you flatter me. I just admire companies like BYD that are committed to R&D, and I'm just offering a little support."
"Supporting companies committed to R&D! Very good, I didn't misjudge you to have such awareness!"
Director Qin was beaming with joy.
Wang Yi didn't just verbally support; he put up 3.5 billion Hong Kong dollars in real money to support!
This act was not only well-regarded by Director Qin but also by other officials!
"The factory I promised you has been settled. It's located in Haicheng District of the capital city, fully equipped with the most advanced smartphone production lines, with an annual capacity of 20 million units. Is that enough for you?"
"20 million units! That's enough, thank you, leader!"
Wang Yi was extremely excited.
BYD's Shenzhen phone OEM factory's annual capacity was also twenty million.
Wang Yi thought Director Qin would give him a small factory with an annual capacity of five million, just as a gesture.
Who would have thought Director Qin directly gave him a factory with an annual capacity of twenty million!
It was an unexpected surprise.
As for why it's in Haicheng District?
Of course, to keep the benefits within the family.
Haicheng District also has industrial land and needs GDP growth.
How much GDP can such a large phone factory create?
As for expensive labor costs?
That's not a big problem.
Many workers come from other regions, so wages won't be much more expensive.
Most locals are residents displaced by redevelopment or indigenous residents of the capital city who collect rent and await redevelopment; few are willing to work in factories.
And factories in the capital city, regardless of whether they are redeveloped in the future, will make a huge profit!
Director Qin continued:
"That factory, besides numerous workshops, also has many warehouses, which should be enough for you. As long as you complete our gambling agreement, this factory will be yours forever!"
"Don't worry, Xingyi phone revenue reaching 10 billion in 2012 is no pressure; it will definitely be completed!"
Wang Yi was full of confidence.
A factory worth a billion, he was getting it for free.
Xingyi phones, priced at 2999-3999 yuan, calculated at an average price of 3500 yuan, only need to sell 2.86 million units to reach 10 billion in revenue, which is not much pressure.
Moreover, Wang Yi's target for next year is 10 million-12 million units!
"As expected of Director Wang, full of confidence!"
Director Qin smiled slightly, with a hint of malice:
"Next to the factory, there's also an empty plot of land, also industrial land. Want to raise the stakes a bit?"
"There's still empty land!"
Wang Yi smiled:
"How big?"
"The same size as the factory I'm giving you!"
Wang Yi became interested:
"How much to raise the stakes?"
"5 billion!"
Director Qin extended five fingers:
"Next year, if Xingyi phone revenue exceeds 15 billion, the billion-yuan factory + a plot of land will both be yours. If you fail to complete the gambling agreement, then please buy them at the original price."
"No problem, I'm in!"
Wang Yi didn't hesitate at such a good deal.
Aside from getting it for free if he succeeded.
More importantly, even if he failed, it would just mean buying them at the original price, and Wang Yi wouldn't suffer much loss.
Moreover, failure was impossible!
Next year, if he sells just ten million Xingyi phones, revenue can exceed 35 billion!
The 15 billion gambling agreement is no pressure.
"Excellent! I like confident young people like you."
Director Qin grinned, thinking:
'Young man, you are still young. 15 billion? It's not that easy; it's just a new brand. By then, you'll have to pay for the factory and land yourself, thoroughly tied to Haicheng District. Political achievements and GDP will both be secured, haha.'
Wang Yi also beamed with joy: 'Director Qin is a great benefactor, looking more and more agreeable! Here to give away gold coins again, no, give away land.'
The two looked at each other, full of smugness, both thinking they had made a huge profit!
(End of chapter)