Technology Bigshot - Chapter 48
Chapter 48: Booming Sale
Stepping from the age of hand control to the age of voice control, the wearable smart device S-1 is changing the world!!!——<>
Chinese company XlouS shines with new products! S-1’s major performance suppresses the iPhone 7S-Plus. New technology products of emerging Chinese companies in the industry leading the world!——<>
S-1! A gift from God! But he gave it to China? Why? Why? Why?——<>
Cyrus Ren! The Steve Jobs of China? He’s changing the world! 21 years old; incredibly young and rich!——<>
The iPhone, Apple’s core business, is finally facing a most formidable and powerful rival. Under the pressure of the S-1 with all-round performance and price, the iPhone can barely breathe. Apple is on the verge of its worst crisis since the post-Jobs era!——<>
Immediately after launch, the news spread rapidly around the world. With major newspapers reporting it, news of XlouS dominated the front pages of almost every media outlet in the world in a single day.
The wearable smart device S-1 was a dazzling surprise like the iPhone in 2007.
From the era of hand control to voice control, the world was changing as much as the birth of the smartphone.
XlouS stunned the smartphone industry with its unparalleled wearable smart device. As for the entrance of this newcomer, the world had been caught off guard. But from this moment on, no one dared to underestimate them.
The appearance of the voice assistant ‘Little You’ caused an uproar in the entire AI field. In particular, Europe and the U.S. had always believed that they led the world in AI, especially Alphabet, which prided itself on being unparalleled in the field. A few years ago, AlphaGo and BostonDynamics made Alphabet famous worldwide.
But now, a Chinese company was suddenly born with such excellent AI technology. The level of intelligence of Little You and Ren Hong’s interaction at the press conference was just its first glimpse. With the exception of China’s XlouS, no one else in the world had been able to do this well in the field of AI, at least not with a product that users would willingly pay for.
It was also worth noting that during the stock market opening the next day after the launch, Apple’s stock plunged 11.6%. Not only that, but it also didn’t settle down, with more than 150 billion USD of Apple’s market cap evaporating. Alphabet took advantage of the momentum and became the world’s second-largest public company by market capitalization, stomping Apple for a second time. It was certainly a heavy blow to Apple.
It was apparent even to an average person that the iPhone had no defense whatsoever against the S-1. At a similar price of 1199 USD, the S-1 was 10 times better than the iPhone. Both sides didn’t even have to compete to know the result.
This resulted in a big shake in Apple’s stock. Smartphones, Apple’s core business, were now being attacked by a powerful and irresistible opponent. People were also pessimistic about Apple’s performance, as evidenced by the stock’s plunge.
In contrast, the only physical S-1 store opened at the XlouS headquarters was a different story. As soon as Ren Hong announced the news at the press conference, people already started heading to the store. Users in Wanning enjoyed the benefits first. However, they still weren’t the first batch of buyers. Shortly after the announcement, some really rich people lined up early in the store entrance, which used to only happen at Apple’s sale points. But now, it was even more obvious here.
“No!” The next day, Pan Ce arrived in Nanqiao town of Wanning with a clear purpose. He wanted the S-1. He was fortunate enough to be in Hainan for a vacation.
But when he arrived at XlouS’s headquarters’ direct store, he spotted a tragically long queue.
Pan Ce was furious.
How long will this damn queue last?
At the thought of more and more people coming this way, he became part of the very long line. As expected, all the new faces that came were here for the S-1.
“This is insane. It’s only 6 o’clock. I thought… Argh!”
“Can’t help it, the S-1 left me defenseless. This device can be my family heirloom from now on!” A buddy in front of him in line waved the iPhone 7S-Plus in his hand and said.
“Right! The iPhone is so weak compared to the S-1. I’ve already thought of an exclusive name for Little You. I’ll call her Nicole! Hehehe,” Pan Ce replied, watching as dozens more people queued behind him in less than a few minutes. At that moment, he was glad that he wasn’t too late.
The queue here was quickly filmed by reporters who reported on the Internet. S-1 displayed its exploding popularity, and people who had no idea might think that it was a new Apple product on the market. Those who weren’t in Wanning would have to wait for the official website to open for online purchase.
The wait was undoubtedly the most boring, but the people in the queue were elated. One had to know that the queue was almost filled with iPhone users. It was apparent that if Cook knew about this, one wouldn’t know how he would feel.
10:00am.
The closed door of the direct store finally opened and the staff was startled by the huge crowd. He held a megaphone and shouted: “Everyone remain calm. We will proceed according to the order of the queue, you can rest assured that we have very adequate inventory for S-1. We will not run out of stock, so please do not cause a stampede!”
“Cut the crap! Quickly start the sale, I have to catch an afternoon flight back to Shanghai!” A person at the back of the queue yelled.
The staff broke out into a cold sweat. There were just too many people, where the end of the queue couldn’t be seen at a glance. More than 30 staff members worked intensely, pushing out the big, closed, hardcover boxes one by one to the sales counter at the direct sales point.
“10 units for me, please!” The chubby man who was the first in line ordered, while answering the phone, “Huh? Got it. No problem, don’t worry. 5 more units, huh?” He turned to the salesman and added,”Give me 5 more! Thanks!”
“No problem, Sir. Please collect your devices at the side after swiping your card!” The young female staff member said with a professional smile.
If it weren’t for the fact that this was the company’s headquarters and with the guarantee of the front staff, no one at the back of the queue could tolerate this guy who ordered 15 units for himself.
While sales were hot at the physical store, the official website opened its doors for ordering at the same time. One by one, transaction orders were generated. In the era of online shopping, there weren’t many people out there who wouldn’t place an order.
Meanwhile, the warehouse was also overwhelmed.
“1 million units in for the main distribution agent for California!”
“Half a million for Wisconsin.”
“300,000 units for Germany!”
“France 650,000!”
“UK 700,000!”
“Guangdong 600,000!”
“Shanghai 800,000!”
“1.2 million for North China Region”
…
After the launch, calls from agent distributors all over the world came into the headquarters to place orders. It was apparent that Ren Hong wasn’t willing to open more physical stores. Instead, he sold them to agent distributors who would purchase in bulk. S-1 had a huge consumer market even at a 200 USD premium. Its price was still too low for the performance it was paired with, and just because Ren Hong wasn’t willing to make the money didn’t mean others weren’t either. At least for the time being, there was a huge demand for the S-1.
