Pei Qian remained silent for a moment: “The goal is good, but I think modern society is one of mutual benefit. Always thinking in terms of zero-sum games makes your perspective too narrow.”
“Besides, I think we can look even further ahead. Although Shenhua’s mobile phone business is good, its influence is mainly significant domestically.”
Chang You was taken aback: “Then what do you mean, Mr. Pei?”
Pei Qian: “The ultimate goal should be set higher. Instead of taking down Shenhua, why not acquire Apple?”
Chang You immediately felt profound respect.
What was this feeling?
It was like finding a kindred spirit who truly understood him!
Chang You knew very clearly that this meeting was a two-way selection.
Mr. Pei was considering whether to hire him, and he was also considering whether to work under Mr. Pei.
Chang You had always been the type of person who spoke his mind and never held back.
Because of this, he often made shocking statements on Weibo and at press conferences, earning the nickname “Big Mouth Chang.”
Many tech company bosses disliked him because of this, thinking he was all talk and no action.
But even so, Chang You had never thought about changing his style.
He would only scoff inwardly, thinking: How can sparrows understand the ambitions of a great swan?
He believed that he would eventually meet a boss who could understand him!
And now, Mr. Pei had casually uttered the four words “acquire Apple,” which undoubtedly aligned with Chang You’s thinking.
And his vision was even higher!
Indeed, why must they take down competitors? Wouldn’t acquisition be better?
Chang You nodded thoughtfully: “Excellent insight, Mr. Pei!”
Pei Qian thought for a moment and asked: “What’s your working style in daily operations?”
Chang You immediately replied: “I’m quite autocratic. All employees under me must completely obey my orders. I’m also a perfectionist who doesn’t allow any imperfections.”
Pei Qian nodded: “Good! A leader must have their ideas and not be easily influenced by others. I completely agree with your view!”
“Then, what’s your attitude toward phone appearance? Do you agree with imitating Apple phones?”
Chang You firmly stated: “Absolutely not! Appearance is a crucial part of brand image, so we certainly can’t imitate other phones. A phone of our design should be unique!”
Pei Qian asked again: “Then what about phone pricing? Should we make budget phones?”
Chang You thought for a moment: “I believe only high-end models can truly reflect a tech company’s strength!”
Pei Qian further inquired: “So, what’s your view on Shenhua as a representative of domestic products?”
Chang You proudly said, “They’ve done well, but someday, I will surpass them!”
Pei Qian couldn’t help but give a thumbs up: “Excellent, that’s exactly what I think too!”
Pei Qian was extremely satisfied with Chang You.
He perfectly matched his ideas!
Regarding what kind of phone to make, Pei Qian already had a rough idea.
For an emerging phone brand, the most likely path to success would undoubtedly be the value-for-money route—lowering profit margins to make phones appear more cost-effective than current well-known manufacturers, targeting the mid-to-low-end market.
In the next decade or more, the domestic economy would continue to develop, but overall, regional economic disparities would ensure that people who care about phone cost-effectiveness would always exist.
In other words, phones that were both good and relatively inexpensive would always have a market.
Since Pei Qian’s goal was to ruin this phone brand, he would definitely have to do the opposite—absolutely avoid targeting the mid-to-low-end market with a value-for-money approach.
Instead, he would resolutely aim for the high-end market!
Currently, the domestic high-end market is generally divided among Apple, MSC, and Shenhua, with Shenhua only daring to price their flagship models at around 5,000 yuan.
Those who had attempted to break into the high-end market had mostly failed.
It was evident that the most reliable method was to make high-end phones!
And Chang You obviously shared the same thinking as Mr. Pei!
During their brief chat, Pei Qian also discovered that Chang You’s image differed slightly from what he had imagined.
Originally, Pei Qian had thought Chang You was simply overambitious, but now he saw that his goals were very clear.
And upon closer observation, Pei Qian found some admirable qualities in Mr. Chang.
For instance… he didn’t treat all competitors as idiots but could objectively acknowledge Shenhua’s achievements.
Moreover, Mr. Chang spoke politely in person. Although he carried some pride, he wasn’t the type of person who would be impossible to get along with.
He didn’t seem to be as stubborn and autocratic as he claimed.
However, these minor flaws didn’t affect Pei Qian’s judgment of him.
In any case, since he was determined to target the high-end market, that aligned with Pei Qian’s own thinking and made him worth employing!
Just as Pei Qian was about to shake hands with Chang You to indicate a successful partnership, he thought of a few more questions and hurried to clarify them.
“If you don’t mind, could you briefly explain what exactly happened when you were at Hongcheng Technology?”
Pei Qian needed to confirm whether the bankruptcy of such a large company was Chang You’s achievement or the company owner’s.
Chang You shook his head somewhat helplessly: “Ah, it’s not appropriate to criticize my former employer after leaving. I can’t give details.”
“I can only say that we had major differences in direction.”
“I always believed Hongcheng Technology should pursue the high-end route, but in reality, Hongcheng Technology kept making low-end phones and liked to do price promotions, which made cash flow very tight at times.”
“The owner of Hongcheng Technology had… a small hobby of spending money, which exacerbated this problem.”
“Later… the capital chain broke, and things became irreversible.”
“Of course, I must be honest—the project I was responsible for exceeded the budget in development yet didn’t produce good enough results. This was also one of the reasons for the capital chain issues.”
Pei Qian nodded: “I understand!”
It seemed this situation couldn’t be blamed on just one person; both had some responsibility.
Hongcheng Technology had always been making low-end phones, which Pei Qian knew.
Price promotions had increased Hongcheng Technology’s sales, but cash flow remained poor, which was what the owner meant in the interview by saying “Hongcheng Technology never truly made money.”
Then, Chang You insisted on pursuing the high-end route and spent a lot on R&D, causing the company’s capital chain to break, and it quickly collapsed.
As for the owner having a hobby of spending money…
Pei Qian felt this was mostly Chang You shifting blame!
How much could a boss with a spending hobby possibly spend? Enough to affect tens of millions or even hundreds of millions in the capital chain?
Although Chang You was shifting blame, Pei Qian wasn’t angry.
In this enlightened era, Mr. Pei had finally caught a great treacherous minister!
Seeing Mr. Pei’s trusting smile, Chang You couldn’t help but smile back.
A kindred spirit!
Regarding the Hongcheng Technology matter, he had actually been very troubled.
Hongcheng Technology’s bankruptcy didn’t have much to do with him.
Although he was nominally in charge of the products Hongcheng Technology released, the owner was always meddling behind the scenes.
They had long set the goal of entering the high-end market, but the owner was hesitant about this direction, with insufficient funds and personnel.
In the end, the owner lost 120 million yuan due to his “small hobby,” directly breaking the capital chain and declaring Hongcheng Technology bankrupt.
Chang You had no choice. This news was currently well-concealed and hadn’t leaked out. Out of principle, he couldn’t speak ill of his former employer, which would make him look petty.
As a result, he became the scapegoat for no reason.
Onlookers would naturally wonder: How did Hongcheng Technology, which was originally doing fine, go bankrupt as soon as Chang You became Vice President?
Consequently, when Chang You wanted to continue in the phone business, he faced numerous difficulties because neither other manufacturers nor consumers believed in him, thinking he was just a fraud!
But with Mr. Pei, Chang, You felt a long-lost warmth and trust.
He could see that every word Mr. Pei spoke came from the heart and wasn’t deceiving him. Moreover, Mr. Pei’s warm smile was impossible to fake!
At this moment, Chang You decided that even if Mr. Pei couldn’t offer much money, even if it was currently just a small phone manufacturer, he would grow with this company and stay loyal!
Chang You asked: “Mr. Pei, may I ask what price range our first phone will target?”
Pei Qian thought for a moment: “For the first phone… we should be conservative.”
Chang You was slightly disappointed, as he wanted to make high-end phones.
But thinking about it, this was after all a startup gaming company, so they couldn’t aim too high initially.
Making the first phone call more cautiously to test the waters before charging into the high-end market was understandable.
After all, Mr. Pei was a kindred spirit, and Chang You felt he could endure this small compromise.
Chang You nodded: “Alright, I’m willing to make an exception for you!”
Pei Qian looked at him and continued: “When making products, we need to target market gaps. I think our first phone must be positioned in a price range where there’s currently a market gap.”
Chang You thought: “Below one thousand yuan, or around 3,000 yuan?”
Currently, low-end models were mainly priced around 2,000 yuan, while high-end phones ranged from 4,000 to 6,000.
Even Apple phones, in their highest configuration, only reached around 7,000 yuan.
Pei Qian shook his head: “Neither.”
Chang You was surprised: “Then… there are no other gaps.”
Pei Qian: “There is—isn’t the range above 7,000 yuan empty?”
“We’ll directly launch a phone in the 8,000 yuan range, and we’ll definitely have no competitors!”
Chang You was stunned.
For the first time, he felt he had met a dreamer who dreamed even bigger than himself.