The time goes back more than a year ago, when Hu Zhengming just took over Xinxin Technology and visited almost all the major first- and second-tier cities in China. He realized that under the restrictions of the Wassenaar Agreement, Xinxin’s development path was impossible. Copy TSMC’s development path.
China's chip industry only needs to meet the needs of China's 1.3 billion consumers to support a large number of companies.
With such strategic thinking, Hu Zhengming and Guan Jianying went to San Francisco and held a meeting with Zhou Xin on the future development direction. They finally decided to target the Chinese market and create a consumer electronics brand that conforms to China's current situation.
The Matrix brand is too expensive and requires the most advanced chip technology, which is currently not available in China's chip industry.
They need more cost-effective products and do not need to pursue the most advanced performance in terms of performance.
In this way, China's chip manufacturing industry can develop with the help of China's local market.
Therefore, they finally named the brand Xiaomi, and the logo was MI, which was also a way of skirting around the edges and giving consumers a hint that Xiaomi is a sub-brand of Matrix.
Matrix’s logo is M, and Xiaomi’s logo is MI. There is only one I difference. Of course, MI is more rounded.
After the company was established, Hu Zhengming planned to launch two flagship products, one is Xiaomi mobile phone with integrated mobile phone chip, and the other is Xiaomi computer.
The mobile phone has nothing to boast about. It just uses an industrial design language that is technologically and futuristic enough. Technically speaking, it is not much different from the large and small mobile phone brands that have emerged on the market in the past six months. difference.
Self-research of mobile phone integrated chips is a major advantage. Coupled with the strong voice established by Matrix in the supply chain over the past three years, Xiaomi mobile phones, like Xiaomi in the original time and space, have unique advantages in the supply chain and can control costs. must be low enough.
Xiaomi Computer is the flagship product to be launched at this Xiaomi conference, because the chip of Xiaomi Computer is a Pentium-M model chip jointly developed with Intel. New Core Technology participated in the design, and is also manufactured by New Core Technology, specifically for A chip customized for the Chinese market.
Pentium is Pentium. It is the X86 processor production line launched by Intel in 1993. Later, Intel successively launched low-end brands such as Celeron, as well as the Xeon series specially provided for servers.
As for Core, Core was not born until 2006.
Of course, for this chip jointly developed by New Core and Intel, New Core Technology played a very small role in it. It simply sent a group of technicians to jointly develop it with Intel's team.
This product is also optimized based on the Pentium chip under the 0.18 micron process, because the most advanced process of Xinxin Technology’s chip factories in mainland China is 0.18 micron.
At present, the most advanced foreign process has reached 90nm. The wafer factory built by Xinxin Technology in the future will also evolve from 0.18 micron to 0.13 micron. Currently, technology transfer and equipment purchase are still being discussed.
Although the Pentium-M model chip is specially supplied to China, its technology is not lagging behind. It is optimized on the basis of the Pentium 4 chip and uses Intel's latest NetBurst architecture.
Since the launch of Pentium 4 in 2000, the earliest Pentium 4 chip was made using a 0.18 micron process. Pentium 4 is a series that lasted for 6 years and witnessed the chip manufacturing process from 0.18 micron to 65nm.
Zhou Xin fell into memories after hearing Cao Yongluo's question. He knew how difficult it was for Xiaomi Computer to be born.
From the establishment of the project to today, because Xiaomi Computer only planned to make its chips domestically produced at the beginning of the design, Pentium-M was jointly developed and produced by Chinese companies. It accounts for more than half of the chips. It is not an exaggeration to say that they are made in China.
Later, I discovered that memory sticks seemed to be produced by themselves. Huahong specialized in memory chips after cooperating with Xinxin.
Later, I discovered that there seemed to be domestic companies making hard drives. Great Wall launched the first mechanical hard drive as early as 1999, and the sales were pretty good. Later, due to frequent quality problems, it entered into a joint venture with IBM in 2001. A hard drive brand called Yituo.
Later, chips, memory, and hard drives were all solved. Why can't we all use domestic accessories?
Based on this idea, Xiaomi Computer spent a lot of effort in selecting suppliers, and Zhou Xin hoped not to choose the Wanwan brand as much as possible.
As for motherboards, Asus and Gigabyte are both good. If you want to pursue cost-effectiveness, you can also choose MSI. Zhou Xin knew that the biggest rival of China's semiconductor industry in the future was Wanwan. Although the products made by Wanwan were also said to be made in China, Zhou Xin did not want to indirectly fund Wanwan's company.
Of course, there are other choices for motherboards, and that is Lenovo. As the largest computer brand in China, Lenovo has its own motherboard brand called QDI and is the largest motherboard supplier in mainland China.
Zhou Xin didn't want to choose Lenovo, so he finally searched around and found a company called Xintianxia in Pengcheng. They had two motherboard brands called Panshi and Mercedes-Benz.
Later, when I signed the contract, I learned that they were the parent company of Shenzhou and started out as a computer accessories company.
It is precisely because of this persistence that Xiaomi Computer took more than a year to officially launch.
Zhou Xin knows how difficult this matter is. It will not be easy 20 years later, let alone now.
Zhou Xin replied: "Of course I want to go. I am the protagonist of this press conference. If I don't go, who will talk about it?"
It is precisely because Xiaomi computers have concentrated the efforts of countless people, and it is more related to the shaping of the Huaguo brand, that Zhou Xin plans to take action personally, using his own reputation to bring goods.
Cao Yongluo said: "Then when Shen Hai meets, I have been asking you before, but you still refuse to tell me.
But you are also brave. You just slapped Jiaotong University in the face, and then went to Jiaotong University to hold a press conference. "
This is Zhou Xin's first press conference in China. Hanxin's previous press conference was also held by Cao Yongluo.
Zhou Xin said: "Isn't it better to dissolve enemies than to end them? Chen Jin and the corresponding personnel were punished, and Jiaotong University also changed a group of leaders. It was a good time for me to go to Jiaotong University to resolve the misunderstanding."
It just so happens that I can respond positively to my attitude towards things and people. "
The press conference of Xiaomi Computer was held at Jiaotong University and not at Yanjing University. First, because Shenhai is the main factory of Xinxin Technology and will not be held at Yanda. Students from Yanda and even universities in the entire Yanjing area will also help Zhou Xin. As tap water.
Open at Jiaotong University, it is open to students from the entire Shenhai area and the Yangtze River Delta region.
Students have a lot of time and can easily form voices on the Internet. They have the time, willingness and ability to become tap water.
Therefore, although the product launch conference was held at Jiaotong University, students from Jiaotong University were not the only ones who came. Students from universities in the entire Shenhai area were invited. Almost every university issued tickets, and the Second Polytechnic University received more than a few.
Second, the event at Jiaotong University is full of topics, explosive enough, and can attract a lot of eyeballs. Using the traffic of hot events is not Musk’s specialty, and Zhou Xin can also do this.
Cao Yongluo thought for a while and said: "That's right, it's your first product launch in China. Every product launch you held in Silicon Valley has become a classic, and I believe this time is no exception.
It was indeed a great honor to Jiao. Xiaomi will be a successful product, and its cost performance alone is enough to attract consumers.
Our price of 4,000 yuan is comparable to the 7,000 yuan configuration of computers on the market. "
For Zhou Xin, every time he returns to Shenhai, the leaders of Shenhai will be responsible for receiving him, and this time is no exception.
Zhou Xin's matter about Hanxin did not give Shen Hai any face. Shen Hai did not treat Zhou Xin differently because of this, and was even more eager than before.
Zhou Xin’s investment in Zhangjiang is on the one hand, and the production location of Xiaomi computers in Pengcheng is another. In the electronics industry, Pengcheng has more advantages, so Xiaomi is manufactured in Pengcheng from assembly to most of its spare parts.
This made Shenhai feel the crisis. They could not bear the loss of Xinxin Technology's overall relocation to Pengcheng. Xinxin Technology's move to Pengcheng can drive a large number of companies in the integrated circuit field to Pengcheng, and it has given a complete industrial chain to Pengcheng.
No matter how wealthy Shen Hai is, he can't stand this. This is 2002, not 2022. If it were 2022, Shen Hai would not be able to accept it.
Therefore, even though the Hanxin incident has come to an end, Zhou Xin has publicly expressed that he is satisfied with the outcome and hopes that similar incidents will not happen again in the future. He also said that the cooperation with Shenhai is very pleasant and he will work in the Shenhai area for a long time in the future. However, Shen Hai still dare not relax his vigilance.
We are direct competitors, and Shenhai knows very well that Pengcheng will do everything it can to poach Xinxin in private. Because if Xinxin were in Suzhou or Jinling, they would do the same thing.
"Zhou Xin actually came to Jiaotong University for a product launch? It's been a long time since I've seen him. Zhou Xin's brain circuit is really extraordinary."
"What's the point? He came to Jiaotong University to talk about endless topics, so he naturally chose to come to Jiaotong University. Originally, Zhou Xin's main business in China was in Shenhai. He held a product launch conference in Shenhai, so it was normal to choose Jiaotong University.
I asked around my classmates at SJTU, and they all said they were very excited to be able to listen to Zhou Xin's press conference live. This is something that many universities can't win. "
"It's better to go to a prestigious school. There are various activities, such as morning self-study and late self-study in our school. No celebrities have ever come to our school."
"This is also a resource, but this is indeed a rare opportunity for Jiaotong University. It is Zhou Xin's first domestic product launch conference. However, I feel that the name Xiaomi is a bit low-key and does not fit Zhou Xin's naming habits."
"I also think that shouldn't it be named something like the future, new forces, or emerging technologies? Xiaomi? Why not call it rice."
"Xiaomi Computer, I'm still very curious about this computer that Zhou Xin is going to launch. I was planning to change my computer at home, so I'm still waiting for Xiaomi Computer."
"There is already a Xiaomi offline store renovated near my home. I passed by and took a look last time. The style is somewhat similar to the Matrix store. It is softer than the Matrix store. The Matrix store has a sharp feel. Xiaomi's store design The style is more like those selling white goods.”
"Did anyone get a ticket?"
"No, there seem to be more than 2,000 tickets in total. Each university in Shenhai will divide some and give some to the media and leaders. There won't be many left that can be drawn out and distributed to everyone."
"I am a Jiaotong University student. I didn't even win the ticket for our school's internal forum. There is a 1/20 chance that none of the four people in our dormitory got the ticket."
"It's still so popular that it's like a concert ticket."
As time went by, information about Zhou Xin's product launch in Shenhai was gradually released, which naturally attracted widespread attention, especially in digital forums. There were more discussions about this launch.
Everyone is curious about what kind of computer product Zhou Xin is going to launch, and its past performance has made consumers look forward to it.
Zhou Xin walked onto the stage wearing a beige sweater, with the largest MI logo on his back. When Zhou Xin walked onto the stage, cheers, applause and even screams erupted from the audience.
There are also students from Jiaotong University shouting.
After Zhou Xin calmed down, he smiled and said:
“This is my first time coming to Jiaotong University. Everyone is very enthusiastic and they don’t boo me because I treated Jiaotong University students differently some time ago.
What you just called Jiaotong University is Jiaotong University, and Chen Jin is Chen Jin. I heard it, and I think so too. I never thought that Chen Jin could discredit Jiaotong University, and that the academic atmosphere of Jiaotong University would become bad because of Chen Jin.
Chen Jin and Hanxin are just a splash in the century-old history of Jiaotong University, and they cannot affect the development trend of Jiaotong University. "
After Zhou Xin finished speaking, there was another round of cheers in the background.
Zhou Xin stretched out his hands and pressed down: "Okay, that's enough for unhappy things like Hanxin. Today is Xiaomi's product launch, not Hanxin's.
If Dr. Chen Jin can really develop Hanxin in the future and invites me to be the host, I will talk about Hanxin specifically.
Back to Xiaomi, Xiaomi is a brand established specifically for the Chinese market. Before Matrix entered China, I had thought about whether Chinese consumers would really accept a product as high-priced as the Mphone.
Of course, Mphone sales data in China over the past six months show that everyone still supports Mphone. This kind of support is not only support for the product strength of the Mphone itself, but also support for myself.
I am very grateful for the trust of Chinese consumers. The Mphone is the number one product in terms of market share at the price of 5,000 yuan, even beating other mobile phone brands such as Motorola, Nokia, and Samsung to collectively reduce their prices.
But Mphone is still too expensive. I am Chinese. I grew up in China for the first twenty years of my life. I know that China needs more cost-effective products and real discounts.
It is with this concept that we created the Xiaomi brand.
It also carries too many of our expectations, hoping to become a bridge between Chinese consumers and Chinese technology companies, bringing truly good products to Chinese consumers. "
Zhou Xin paused for a moment and then continued: "Let me introduce this product in detail.
First of all, let me state that Xiaomi computers, from the casing to the motherboard, to the chips, hard drives, memory, and monitors, are all made by domestic brands or joint venture brands. "
I owe a chapter, so I’ll make it up next weekend.
(End of chapter)
