Around 6 o'clock, the lights in the auditorium suddenly dimmed.
The chatter in the audience gradually disappeared, and everyone was staring at the stage in front. There was a beam of light on the stage, and a person walked up from the side, still dressed casually, holding a bottle of water. It was Bai Yongxiang.
His forehead and neck were all wet, a layer of sticky residue left after wiping sweat with a towel. His mentality had been adjusted within a dozen steps after taking the stage. After all, he was also a momentary hero.
"Good evening!"
Bai Yongxiang gave a simple greeting, paused for two seconds based on the pre-rehearsed rehearsal, and continued: "In the winter of 2005, Meizu held a unique press conference.
I and miniplayer have become the focus together. Meizu's entrepreneurial story and products are also very popular. After that, friends and businessmen have learned from each other and tried to hold press conferences. Unfortunately, the taste is not good.
They couldn't figure out our original intention of doing this, and they just thought it was a clever propaganda show.
As of today, miniplayer has sold 1.3 million units at home and abroad, with sales of 1.32 billion. It is Meizu's most successful music player.
Today, I want to introduce two products of this level, the first one..."
Bai Yongxiang turned sideways and motioned for everyone to look at the big screen. When the screen lit up, a large picture appeared. The whole audience was stunned, and then burst into laughter.
"Ha ha ha ha!"
Bai Yongxiang also smiled, because that was the design of "Meizu Plagiarism Gate" that was widely circulated on the Internet! The guests were even more energetic. They didn't expect that they were so bold and made fun of themselves.
This rhythm is like playing a drama. The audience sometimes laughs, and the actors on the stage have to let go of the laughter before they can continue the performance.
Bai Yongxiang waited for a while, and when the silence returned, he said again: "Okay, let me put it away first, and let's talk about the music player first.
Music card! Music card, this is the name of the new product.
The thickness of a bank card is 0.76 mm, the thickness of a one-yuan coin is 1.85 mm, the thickness of an iPod nano is 7 mm..."
As he narrated, the PPT on the screen was very concretely presented.
"Then what are the standards for Music cards?"
brush!
The PPT switches to a comparison chart between Music card and iPod nano, which is 81mm×39mm×6.9mm, just a little smaller.
Immediately afterwards, the picture becomes three-dimensional, showing the full picture of the product.
One black and one white, full of aesthetics!
Bai Yongxiang was holding a physical phone, took out a wallet from his pocket, opened it in front of everyone, stuffed the phone into it like a card, and put it back into his pocket.
"Whoosh!"
The atmosphere became heated, and everyone was willing to applaud such a press conference and such a product. When the guests and reporters recalled attending other press conferences, they felt that it was indeed lacking in taste and soul.
After that, Bai Yongxiang began to explain the data parameters and various functions of the Music card in detail. When talking about the sound quality, he also connected the speakers on the spot and played the song "Life is Like a Summer Flower".
"I am here, right here, as short-lived as a sudden moment, as gorgeous as summer flowers..."
This is pure nonsense, the music player and even the speakers cannot reflect the original sound quality at all, but what is important for the press conference is the overall atmosphere and the mood.
This is called psychology, and there are countless little tricks.
Bai Yongxiang successfully guided the rhythm, introduced Music Card, and finally said: "Making valuable products has always been Meizu's pursuit. We pursue quality, artistic sense, resonance, and let those who love it feel the most beautiful.
Elements.
Music card will be Meizu’s last music player!”
Um???
Everyone was stunned again, and Bai Yongxiang kept trying for a long time, stirring up the atmosphere and successfully making everyone have the urge to buy, and finally came up with this sentence.
I wanted to continue listening, but when they finished, Shuimunianhua came up and sang.
Intermission!
After Shuimunianhua sang two songs, Bai Yongxiang came on stage again for the second half.
The big screen lit up, and an unfamiliar phrase appeared: "Involution!"
"Involution is a word that Boss Yao often talks about. He is the captain in your mouth, Commander Yao."
"In 2005, on the eve of the release of miniplayer, we were all confident and knew that it would be an extremely successful product. Boss Yao was also confident, but he secretly found me and said to me: Let's make a mobile phone!
I was confused at the time, why did Hao Duanduan make a mobile phone?
He told me what involution is.
MP3 emerged at the beginning of the new century, but fell into vicious competition in just 2-3 years. Technology was upgraded rapidly, barriers to entry were lowered, and costs and profits continued to decline.
In 2005, hundreds of factories closed down in the south; in 2006, there were fewer and fewer brands on the market.
We sell 4GB for 800 yuan, but they dare to sell it for 600 yuan. We added video functions and sold them for 800 yuan. They not only have videos, but also e-books and radio stations, and they still sell them for 600 yuan...
The market is not shuffling, but rushing towards annihilation.
When a model reaches a certain stage of development and stagnates, unable to evolve to a more advanced model, everyone is trapped here, paying more and more but getting less and less.
This is called involution!
Miniplayer was born in this environment, and Music Card is a step further based on miniplayer. We gritted our teeth, held back our energy, and rolled ourselves, so you can call us the king of rolls!"
"Hahaha!"
There was another burst of laughter. The audience were all elites and top academics, and only advanced and interesting things can impress them. The concept of involution has been around for a long time, but now it is being applied in a popular way.
"Think about it, today's consumers' requirements for MP3 are: large capacity, thin and easy to carry, videos, pictures, documents, songs... They just want to be able to make phone calls.
Is this still called MP3?
Stop barking!
So in 2005, Boss Yao said to me, why don’t we make mobile phones?!”
"..."
Bai Yongxiang repeated it, and after another two-second pause, the large screen flashed again, switching to a mobile phone design with a screen on top and a physical keyboard below.
He pointed and said: "This is the first draft of the exterior design we made at the end of 2005."
Then the screen changed again.
"This is the second draft...the third draft...the fourth draft..."
With the carousel-like changes, it is obvious that the appearance is constantly evolving, from a traditional keyboard to a small number of keys, to a whimsical one with no keys and only a large screen, among which the design drawings of "plagiarism gate" also appeared.
The date above is from mid-2006, and there is a string of patent numbers, indicating that it has been registered long ago, and it is not just someone who was eager to plagiarize it after seeing Apple as rumored on the Internet.
When this picture was shown, everyone in the audience understood.
But Bai Yongxiang did not give any explanation, or even disdain to explain, and continued: "I have no experience in making mobile phones, and neither does Boss Yao. I was completely blind when I took over the task.
At the time, we thought it was only a little more difficult than making MP3 players, but soon we were beaten to pieces by reality.
This is more than a little difficult? It’s as difficult as climbing to the sky!”
Bai Yongxiang's tone was deep, and Stanislavski's soul possessed him, and he began to be emotionally involved.