Losing Money to Become a Tycoon: Starting with Games
Chapter 433: OTTO E1
February 28th, Monday.
OTTO Technology.
"This is the final version of the phone. It's already in mass production, so it's hard to make any more changes," Chang You said as he handed a phone to Lin Wan.
Lin Wan reached out to take it and noticed that, compared to the previous prototype, the device still felt just as heavy—but its appearance had changed dramatically.
The earlier prototype could be summed up in a few words: bulky, clunky, and crude. Its black plastic casing had no decoration at all, and it felt heavy in the hand—oppressively so. From every angle—front, back, or sides—it had no redeeming visual qualities. No matter how you looked at it, it just didn't seem like something that could sell.
But now, after switching to a custom glass casing, the feeling was completely different.
The glass back felt nice to the touch, with a matte frosted finish that didn't attract fingerprints. Compared to the prototype, it seemed slightly slimmer, and the edges felt more rounded and comfortable in hand.
The back was very minimalistic, featuring only a solid-color logo—the same one that appeared in the movie A Better Tomorrow.
And it lit up, with an optional breathing light effect.
Of course, if one was worried about battery consumption, it could be turned off.
But for a phone equipped with a 5800mAh battery, even leaving the light on constantly would still easily last an entire day.
The front design was relatively conventional, with both a top bezel and a chin, though they had been made as narrow as possible.
At present, full-screen display solutions on the market were still immature. Considering that this phone had high-end specifications and could essentially be regarded as a gaming phone, users needed a place to grip the device when holding it horizontally.
So no matter how it was considered, this was the only viable design.
The sides also differed somewhat from typical smartphones—the charging port was placed on the side. This allowed users to play games while charging without the cable getting in the way of their hands.
Overall, the appearance closely resembled the phone shown in the movie. The design was simple yet carried a sense of technology and futurism.
It wasn't exactly identical because the phone in the movie featured a fully bezel-less display for a more futuristic look, which wasn't achievable in reality.
However, when viewed from the back or sides—or when the screen was off—it looked almost identical to the one in the film.
Lin Wan couldn't help but weigh it in her hand.
Yep—still heavy.
Although the new glass casing made it look slightly smaller and more like a typical large smartphone, the weight hadn't changed at all.
But features like a high refresh rate display and a top-tier SoC were power-hungry. Without a 5800mAh battery, battery life would be a serious issue—and a large battery inevitably meant increased weight.
It supported fingerprint unlocking. The default desktop had very few native apps, and there were absolutely no pre-installed bloatware. The only notable aspect was that the UI animations were exceptionally smooth.
Chang You cleared his throat and explained, "That was President Pei's requirement."
"He didn't want us to include bundled apps—he wanted to preserve the native experience of the Aizhuo OS as much as possible. So there's no bloatware at all. Any apps users might need are recommended in the app store instead."
"Of course, we didn't just sit idle—we optimized UI animations across the board."
"I wouldn't say it's completely meaningless… at least it looks a lot smoother…"
Even Chang You sounded a bit uncertain as he said this.
Optimizing UI animations—like smoother app switching and scaling—did feel more responsive, especially on a high refresh rate display. But in reality, it didn't actually improve the phone's performance.
However, Lin Wan's eyes lit up with excitement.
She repeatedly opened an app, killed it, reopened it, and killed it again, clearly enjoying herself.
Then she took out her latest Shenhua flagship phone for comparison. In terms of this particular experience, the OTTO phone was clearly superior.
"I think it's great. It really aligns with President Pei's design philosophy—taking something simple and perfecting it," Lin Wan praised.
After examining the phone from top to bottom, she came to a conclusion:
"Other than being heavy and expensive, it doesn't seem to have any major flaws."
Chang You nodded. "That's true, but those two drawbacks are hard to fix…"
"Of course, we're only producing 1,000 units in the initial batch, priced at 8,199 each. Since the volume is small, this approach is still workable. After all, this isn't meant for the mass market—we're not aiming for tens of millions in sales. We'll just sell a few thousand, maybe tens of thousands, gradually."
"Even if it's a bit heavy and expensive, we just need to target people who aren't too sensitive to weight and price."
"The key question is whether this phone has something attractive enough to make them willing to sacrifice a bit of comfort and money."
Lin Wan nodded. "That's exactly why I'm here today."
She pushed a document toward Chang You and explained, "This lists all the benefits we've secured for this phone. Take a look."
Chang You reached out and took it. The table was filled with previously discussed exclusive perks customized for OTTO phone users, roughly divided into several categories:
[Games]
Blood War Anthem: Enhanced Edition (mobile version) supports high frame rate mode with special optimizations.GOG mobile platform (still under development) supports high frame rate mode with special optimizations.Link a Tengda Group game account to receive one new game per year.Tengda Group games will regularly release exclusive skins, appearances, weapons, etc. for phone users at discounted prices.
[Entertainment]
Terminal Chinese Web Ultimate VIP: highest initial recommendation tickets and monthly votes on the platform, 30% discount on subscriptions, and priority access to experimental features.Feihuang Studio Connoisseur: free access to all web dramas, plus two early screening tickets for every new movie release.(Hidden benefit) High-priority user status on the TPDb website.
[Lifestyle]
Moyu Internet Café Gaming Expert: 30% discount on spending, plus one free drink daily.Moyu Delivery Premium Member: regular coupons and free delivery.Mingyun Private Kitchen VIP: receive a complimentary dish for single bills over 3,000 (specific dish depends on spending).Against the Wind Logistics VIP: priority for sending and receiving packages.
[Other]
Trade-in program: an extra 500 yuan discount on top of the old phone's assessed value.Replacement instead of repair: for non-human-caused faults, a new phone is delivered with data transfer while the old one is reclaimed; for user-caused damage, up to three free repairs per year.Free accessories: up to five free claims per year for screen protectors and phone cases for this model.5% discount on all purchases: applicable across Tengda Group-related industries (listed on the TPDb website), stacking on top of existing discounts.Lifetime benefit updates: whenever Tengda Group launches a new business, a new exclusive perk will be added for OTTO phone users.…
After reading through the entire table, Chang You couldn't help but sigh with emotion.
Now it finally justified that 8,199 price tag!
Mission accomplished.
Previously, when President Pei insisted on pricing the phone at 8,000+, Chang You had thought it would be extremely difficult—almost impossible.
But now it was clear that President Pei had already anticipated everything. With Tengda Group's extensive ecosystem backing it, this phone truly could be sold at that price.
The perks covered a wide range. Some had clearly defined standards, while others were more vague and seemed a bit like filler.
For example, the "lifetime benefit updates" only promised that future Tengda Group businesses would offer exclusive perks to phone users, but didn't specify the extent of those benefits.
This was mainly to avoid overpromising and failing to deliver later.
Overall, these benefits spanned nearly every department within Tengda Group, and the discounts were quite substantial—especially for people living in Jingzhou, where they could really take full advantage of all these perks.
Of course, while users were "taking advantage" of Tengda Group's perks, Tengda Group was also using these benefits to attract new users—so neither side was losing out.
These perks weren't simply different departments subsidizing OTTO Technology or giving up profits. In fact, the value of these benefits was already built into the phone's premium pricing.
At 8,199, this phone was two to three thousand more expensive than the current flagship models from Pineapple and Shenhua. After accounting for hardware and brand premiums, the extra cost was essentially for these added services.
After the phone was sold, Chang You would naturally return part of the profits to those departments.
With only 1,000 units in the initial batch, this profit-sharing would be minimal. But if future sales reached hundreds of thousands—or even millions—this portion of the profit would become quite substantial.
As for how it would work, the method was simple. The phone had NFC. Once users linked their identity and accounts, they could just tap their phone at internet cafés and offline stores. Online, everything could be handled through a single Tengda Group account.
Chang You looked over the details of these benefits again and raised a few questions.
"What exactly is this GOG game? Is enabling high frame rate mode and exclusive optimization difficult?"
Lin Wan replied, "It's a competitive game currently being developed by Tengda Group's game division."
"High frame rate mode and exclusive optimizations aren't difficult, but we don't plan to make them available for other phone models. High frame rate mode requires higher screen refresh rates and also significantly increases power consumption."
"The mobile version of GOG isn't fully developed yet. It'll probably be released in the phone's app store after the device officially launches."
"As for Blood War Anthem: Enhanced Edition, that's already arranged. Its high frame rate mode might be more of a gimmick than a real improvement, but that's fine. The game has a large player base—just a bit of promotion should help sell quite a few phones."
Chang You hesitated. "I'm a bit worried that we're owing too many favors to other departments. It might be hard to deal with later."
Lin Wan smiled. "You don't need to worry about that."
"There's no favoritism between departments within Tengda Group. As long as OTTO Technology grows stronger—if someday your phones sell millions or tens of millions of units like Shenhua—then the phone itself will become a platform to promote other businesses."
"So don't feel uneasy. Just focus on doing the phone business well, that's the best way to repay everyone."
"By the way, how many product lines have you planned so far?"
Chang You fell silent for a moment. "We don't have any plans for multiple product lines for now."
"Because in President Pei's vision, we're only making high-end phones. If we're selling an 8,000-yuan phone while keeping overall net profit margins low, we have to go all-in on hardware."
"But product line segmentation—like business phones, camera-focused phones, or design-oriented models—targets different user groups. That inevitably means cutting back on features that certain groups don't care about. For example, phones designed for photography often prioritize looks but don't include top-tier flagship chips."
"Our phone is maxed out in every aspect. In simple terms, it's a 'well-rounded powerhouse'—a straightforward, no-compromise device. The product form is basically set."
"So… we're not sure whether there's even a need for additional product lines."
"I'll find a chance to ask President Pei. He's probably been busy with other work lately—I haven't been able to reach him."
Lin Wan thought for a moment. "Yeah, that makes sense. I was getting ahead of myself—thinking about flying before we've even learned to walk. Let's focus on this phone first and sell the initial 1,000 units."
"So… should we call it OTTO 1? That sounds a bit odd."
Lin Chang said, "Let's call it OTTO E1."
"The 'E' stands for the prefix 'extra' in English—like extraordinary, extravagant, extreme—representing that this phone is extreme, luxurious, and full of added value."
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