MMB Chapter 157 I Taught Lei Jun How to Make a Mobile Phone
Chapter 157 I Taught Lei Jun How to Make a Mobile Phone
Chapter 157 I Taught Lei Jun How to Make a Mobile Phone
Lin Mu said, "President Lei, you know what, I actually have an idea."
"The current operating model of mobile phone manufacturers is not mature enough regarding pre-installed software."
"My thought is this: I've used your MIUI, and in terms of UI design, your phone's virtual screen has three pages."
"You could implement a pay-per-click ranking system for software pre-installation."
"For example, the prices for pre-installed content on the first, second, and third pages are completely different."
"Then you can also create a small folder, just like the folders on a PC, but this folder should be visual, and a batch of pre-installed software should be placed in this folder."
"The price of this folder is based on the second item. Finally, when a user clicks into the folder, you can recommend another batch of software at the bottom of the folder, and the exposure of these software will be priced differently."
Lei Jun's eyes lit up, and he said, "Your plan is good! Following this business model, pre-installed software should generate a lot more revenue for Xiaomi."
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"Okay, I'll use this strategy. I'll give you 100 Xiaomi phones for free. But Mr. Lin, you'll have to wait. Xiaomi hasn't even produced samples yet. You might have to wait until the end of next year to get your hands on them."
Lin Mu waved his hand and said, "It's alright, good things come to those who wait." He thought for a moment and then gave Lei Jun another suggestion: "By the way, Mr. Lei, are you familiar with the current mobile phone software market?"
Lei Jun nodded and said, "I have some understanding of that. Currently, the most powerful players in this area are Wandoujia and 91 Mobile Assistant."
Lin Mu said, "Actually, Xiaomi can also enter this market. Those who only make software simply cannot compete with you hardware companies in terms of market operations."
"In the future, app stores will be like navigation websites in the PC era. People will tend to download software directly from the app store instead of searching in the browser."
A glint of light flashed in Lei Jun's eyes. This was quite interesting; he seemed to have underestimated the potential of the mobile app market, which was equivalent to a core traffic portal on the internet! He said thoughtfully, "Then Xiaomi can implement bidding rankings and keyword pushes in the app market."
Lin Mu laughed and said, "More than that. The more important thing is setting the rules. For example, for security reasons, Xiaomi might warn you that this software wasn't downloaded from an app store and may pose certain risks, advising you not to download it." There's nothing wrong with that, right?
Lei Jun laughed heartily and said, "President Lin, you're really quite the 'rogue'."
After Lin Mu left, Lei Jun seriously considered: if Xiaomi could survive to the next round of financing, should he let Lin Mu participate as well? He didn't need much; a 1% to 10% stake would be enough. Lin Mu's many business insights would have made Xiaomi's path much smoother.
Meanwhile, Lin Mu was thinking to himself: In another two or three years, Xiaomi will have its own app store.
For major mobile phone manufacturers, there's no question of them failing when they develop their own mobile application markets.
He was simply informing Lei Jun in advance about things that would happen a few years from now.
I wonder if this suggestion will be enough to secure Xiaomi's next round of investment.
He didn't mention many other key suggestions, such as mobile cloud storage, offline retail stores, and avoiding the Indian market.
Mid-December, Pinduoduo headquarters.
After half a month of intensive development, the first-generation beta version of Pinduoduo Orchard was officially launched internally.
Lin Mu opened Pinduoduo on his phone, clicked on the beta version, and tried it out.
To be fair, the tech team is really capable; they've made this little game quite well. It follows the concept of QQ Farm, focusing on instant harvesting, and successfully combines the fruits grown with products.
For example, if you plant an orange tree, you can exchange it for oranges later.
However, the overall concept behind this product has some problems.
The product department was treating Duoduo Orchard as a standalone product, but Linmu didn't need it to stand alone.
It's not a platform for Pinduoduo, but rather a supplement to it.
Simply put, it's made too much like a pure game rather than a tool for viral marketing.
Immediately, Lin Mu wrote down several suggestions for revision in the document: First, the name of the icon should be changed. Calling it "Duoduo Orchard" was a miscalculation on his part; it should be renamed "Get Free Fruit." The entry point should be placed next to the 30 RMB flash sale on the homepage, so that there are four categories on the first line of the homepage and under the first-level page, which is just right.
Secondly, there's the product's logical design. While its logic and guidance are well done, it's still not simple and straightforward enough.
After a user enters the game, a page should appear immediately, allowing the user to click on a fruit, select a fruit from a list of products, and add it to the gift bar.
Then, all the user needs to do is keep watering. In fact, the settings don't even require the user to click manually; the watering will be automatic, watering more than ten times, and then reminding the user when the fruit tree is ripe.
Next, users can receive the fruit they just selected for free by logging in for 6 consecutive days.
During the next 6 days of logins, you can continue to give users hooks, such as offering free items or cash rewards.
Lin Mu finished writing the requirements document and sent it to the product department. Not long after, the head of the product department came to him and said, "Mr. Lin, I have a different opinion on your changes to the requirements."
Lin Mu didn't run the company like a one-man show; he had a wealth of talented people under him. He countered, "Tell me about it."
The person in charge said, "Mr. Lin, I think we should change the name back. It shouldn't be called 'Free Fruit Giveaway,' but rather 'Duoduo Orchard.' Pinduoduo's current predicament is a problem of profitability and traffic. All our traffic currently comes from group-buying and viral marketing, which requires burning money on subsidies. But our scale isn't big enough yet. Even if we start charging service fees now, the situation won't improve much."
"So my idea is to support Duoduo Orchard as a legitimate project, using the 'free fruit' as a gimmick, and once it grows large, spin it off independently and start charging membership fees as a supplement to Pinduoduo's profits."
"Moreover, we can not only create a Duoduo Orchard, but also a Duoduo Ranch, Duoduo Mall, and Duoduo Town. The core logic is to give away free products to attract people to play games, and then drive traffic to Pinduoduo through a large enough scale to achieve profitability. We may even be able to get involved in the social networking field."
Lin Mu shook his head repeatedly as he listened. This person in charge was quite ambitious, but unfortunately, it was all too unrealistic.
He explained earnestly, "Xiao Su, Pinduoduo is an e-commerce platform, not a social media app or a gaming center."
"You've made the mistake of not clearly defining your selling point. If things go according to your plan, Pinduoduo will be full of simulation games. How will users know whether Pinduoduo is for selling goods or for playing games?"
"Moreover, a simple simulation management game only needs to be fun, but you have to add another layer of constraints and also promote Pinduoduo. How can you compare with other professional games? And when it comes to burning money, those game companies also have a lot of money. We don't have an advantage at all."
After Lin Mu's thorough and forceful intervention, the product manager's unrealistic ideas were completely dispelled, and he obediently went back to push forward with the product changes.
Lin Mu could understand the product department's dissatisfaction; those who develop internet products all want to create something that satisfies users, is easy to use, and...
The products are aesthetically pleasing, but Pinduoduo is definitely not user-friendly; in fact, it can be quite frustrating in many ways. The pop-up ads are like spiders trying to pounce on your face.
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