May 13th, Sunday.
Approaching 3 PM, Pei Qian was in his living room, drinking a soda while playing games.
Suddenly, his phone alarm went off, with a memo reminder appearing on the screen: “Press Conference.”
Pei Qian immediately saved his game, then used screen casting on his phone to start watching Outu Technology’s new press conference.
This time, they were launching the Smart Fitness Drying Rack.
The venue was the usual place—the banquet hall of the Oasis Four Seasons Hotel, not far from Pei Qian’s residence.
But Pei Qian didn’t attend this time.
Because Pei Qian felt that the E1 phone and G1 phone launch events had been hugely successful, so maybe the problem was with him.
It seemed like whenever he attended in person, something always went right with the press conference?
So this time he decided not to go in person, and instead watch the livestream from home.
Sometimes, one has to acknowledge the existence of superstition.
Although he wasn’t at the venue, he could basically guess the reactions of the audience from the danmu (scrolling comments).
At this moment, the press conference hadn’t officially started yet. The livestream showed a wide-angle shot, giving a complete view of the entire stage.
On the large screen was a line of artistic text: Outu Technology Intelligent New Product!
Below were several keywords: Smart Living, Healthy Living, Convenient Living, Efficient Living, and so on.
These keywords were the principles of Outu Technology’s intelligent product department, which aimed to bring customers convenient, efficient, and healthy lifestyles by combining artificial intelligence technology with everyday digital products or other household items.
Although he couldn’t see the seating situation in the entire venue, it was easy to guess that it would be packed.
Every press conference invited various tech media outlets, and also screened many loyal users from Jingzhou through ticket giveaways. There were even some dedicated Tenda fans who came from nearby, willing to stand just to watch the event in person.
Moreover, the previous E1 phone and G1 phone press conferences had received very enthusiastic on-site responses. The hype for the G1 phone hadn’t completely died down yet, and now another press conference was being held. Everyone was eagerly anticipating what kind of product Outu Technology would bring this time.
The livestream danmu had already started discussing.
“Why hasn’t it started yet?”
“No need to rush, Tenda’s press conferences are always punctual, it’ll start soon.”
“Anyway, it’ll definitely be exactly one hour, no more no less. Even if it starts early, we won’t get to see an extra minute.”
“Wonder what product will be launched this time? A brand new intelligent product—most likely smart home appliances, right?”
“Hard to say. Previously, Outu Technology made things like the Fully Automated Intelligent Contrarian Machine. Given their style, I don’t think they’d make something as overdone as smart home appliances…”
“Who’s the main speaker this time? It won’t be Jiang Yuan again, will it? No offense to him, but I really want to see Director Chang!”
“I heard this project is indeed led by Director Chang, but not sure if he’ll personally take the stage.”
“Alright, alright, it’s starting! It’s Director Chang!”
Amid a chorus of cheers in the danmu, Chang You took the stage.
Sure enough, enthusiastic applause and cheers erupted from the venue.
Although Jiang Yuan’s G1 phone press conference was quite successful—his somewhat timid speaking style formed a stark contrast with a bold, tradition-defying phone product using lots of new technology—ultimately, his ability to create buzz was not remotely on the same level as Chang You.
So after more than a year, seeing Chang You return to the stage for a press conference gave everyone a sense of “it’s been a while.”
“Hello everyone, I’m Chang You.”
“Thank you all for taking time from your busy schedules to attend Outu Technology’s intelligent new product press conference. On behalf of all colleagues at Outu Technology, I’d first like to express my sincere gratitude for your presence!”
It was the same old opening, but the atmosphere seemed particularly enthusiastic this time.
Perhaps after losing Chang You, people realized how dry, dull, and uninteresting other press conferences were, so everyone especially cherished this moment.
Chang You was also moved.
These enthusiastic applause and cheers represented everyone’s recognition of him!
Before coming to Tenda, Chang You had never enjoyed such treatment.
After joining Tenda, not only had Outu Technology established itself in the digital circle, but he himself had become a meme celebrity, even generating traffic on his own, quickly gaining followers on Weibo and acquiring a group of loyal fans.
All of this was clearly inseparable from Mr. Pei’s careful cultivation.
When the applause subsided slightly, Chang You began introducing the main topic of the press conference.
“Many friends might be very curious—why wasn’t I the main speaker at the G1 phone press conference?”
“This goes back to when the E1 phone and Fully Automated Intelligent Contrarian Machine were hugely successful, and I received an outstanding employee award within Tenda…”
Chang You spoke eloquently, narrating his experience of being “eliminated first” in a humorous and witty manner.
Bursts of laughter erupted from the venue from time to time.
“So he was reassigned because his work was too outstanding? Is that how it works?”
“Is this the legendary ‘first to be eliminated’ at Tenda?”
“Although I already knew many details through rumors, hearing Director Chang tell it himself with such a particularly helpless tone still makes it especially funny, hahaha…”
Of course, Chang You was narrating with a joking tone, and the live audience was listening with the same playful attitude. Most of the discussion consisted of teasing and memes.
Reassigned because his work was too outstanding? How could that be possible!
It must be because Mr. Pei recognized Chang You’s strong abilities, so he assigned him to develop new business!
If that’s the case, today’s intelligent new product might hold an even higher position in Mr. Pei’s heart than this year’s flagship G1 phone?
Many audience members couldn’t help but form such speculations, full of curiosity about what product would be launched today.
At the beginning, Chang You had briefly explained the changes in his position and Outu Technology’s business developments during this period, and he did so concisely without taking up too much time.
After all, regarding press conference duration, Mr. Pei always had very clear requirements—it couldn’t exceed one hour.
The main event was still to come.
Chang You pressed the remote control, and four large characters instantly appeared on the big screen.
“Price Section”!
As soon as these four characters appeared, the live audience, as if they had been expecting this, burst into laughter.
The livestream audience also had expressions of finally getting what they wanted, feeling satisfied.
“Hahaha, here it comes, the traditional skill—reveal the price first!”
“Saved us two hours of watching again!”
“This is even more outrageous than the E1 phone launch! At least then we knew it was a phone. This time we don’t even know what the product is yet, and they’re already showing the price. Are they making us guess the product from the price?”
A relaxed and humorous atmosphere pervaded everywhere.
After all, at this press conference, the product was secondary—the key was watching Director Chang create buzz.
Seeing such a lively atmosphere, Pei Qian couldn’t help but break into a cold sweat.
They haven’t even explained anything yet!
He could only hope that everyone would be greatly disappointed once they saw the product.
Chang You pressed the remote control again, and four large numbers appeared on the screen.
“4999”!
He also specially explained: “Actually, setting this price put us under a lot of pressure, because considering the comprehensive R&D costs and material costs, this is a relatively extreme price point.”
“In the foreseeable future, this price may decrease due to subsidies, but by no more than 200 yuan.”
The price of 5,000 yuan was set from the beginning. In fact, this pricing had some profit margin, but it was small. After all, fitness equipment is all metal—reliability and safety must be guaranteed, and the cost of raw materials alone was completely uncontrollable.
Moreover, the Smart Fitness Drying Rack had design costs, AI chips, and the development costs of “Fitness Battle.”
Of course, the “Fitness Battle” game itself could also make money to recover costs, and might even become the main source of profit, which is why the price of the Smart Fitness Drying Rack could be compressed to this level.
The live audience and danmu viewers began discussing enthusiastically.
“5,000 yuan? Looks like it’s something big!”
“What could it be? High-end speakers? Washing machine? Refrigerator? Air conditioner?”
“These don’t really have much to do with intelligence, do they? I think it might be a TV, which would connect well with Tenda’s gaming business.”
“Could also be a robot vacuum cleaner?”
In the livestream, all kinds of danmu floated by, with people guessing everything imaginable, but not a single person hit the mark.
This was normal—who could guess something as bizarre as a “Smart Fitness Drying Rack”?
Currently, smart home appliances are just a few types. Household products with strong practicality like refrigerators, washing machines, and air conditioners are basically the domain of traditional enterprises—slapping on a “smart” label doesn’t necessarily make them better. Products like robot vacuum cleaners and TVs are quite common and slightly more likely possibilities.
But this price of 5,000 yuan made many guesses seem less reasonable.
For example, a robot vacuum cleaner would cost at most 3,000 yuan; selling one for 5,000 would be truly bewildering and unrealistic.
Everyone speculated wildly but couldn’t get on the right track.
And some long-time fans were already vaguely sensing that things weren’t so simple.
Everyone was guessing conventional products, but was Outu Technology the kind of manufacturer that would make conventional products?
Their thinking was not something ordinary people could predict. After all, their previous product was the “Fully Automated Intelligent Contrarian Machine.” If they released a conventional product this time, wouldn’t that be disappointing?
Chang You pressed the remote control again, and a size diagram appeared on the screen: 2.1 meters long, 1.4 meters wide, 2.1 meters high, occupying 3 square meters of floor space, with a total weight of 218 kg.
This size diagram didn’t show the specific shape of the Smart Fitness Drying Rack, but only used dotted lines to mark the dimensions and parameters it would occupy.
Everyone was confused again.