SWDnovel Chapter 119 caused a sensation throughout the industry!
Chapter 119 caused a sensation throughout the industry!
"The Android era of the low-altitude economy! Hongyuan Flying Bird 2.0 redefines the industry rules!"
This is the title of the in-depth report that 36Kr published at 3 pm that day.
"A 999 yuan communication base station + a 1299 yuan flight control module: Is Hongyuan doing charity or playing a long game?"
This was the top analysis article on Huxiu.com that evening.
"From Shenzhen to Beijing: How a press conference shook the entire low-altitude airspace industry chain – A complete interpretation of Hongyuan Flying Bird 2.0."
This is the cover story of Low Altitude Vision, the leading media outlet in the drone industry.
"Private Enterprises Challenge Industry Standard Monopoly: Hongyuan H-Link vs. Hangxindatong LDCL – The Battle for Low-Altitude Communication Standards Intensifies."
This was a nearly three-minute special report on CCTV's Finance Channel's "Economic Information Broadcast" program that evening.
……
Within 48 hours of the press conference, reports about Hongyuan Flying Bird 2.0 appeared everywhere in almost all mainstream technology and industry media.
The discussion on Weibo, Zhihu, and industry forums was incredibly heated – the hashtag "#HongyuanPressConference#" dominated the Zhihu hot list for three consecutive days, accumulating over 20 million views.
What surprised Su Chen the most was a commentary article from The Paper—
When a 26-year-old decides to define the standards of an industry
The article provides a detailed account of Su Chen's entrepreneurial journey over the past four years, from inheriting Hongyuan Intelligent in 2016 to the present, from the initial F2 flight controller to the Feiniao platform and then to the H-Link communication standard. It concludes with Su Chen's "Seeds and Harvest" speech at the press conference.
"This young man may not just be after money. He wants to establish a fundamental standard for the industry—an ambition extremely rare among private enterprises in China."
Su Chen was sitting in his office on the third floor of the company when he saw the article.
The nights in Shenzhen in July were still sweltering, and the lights of Longhua twinkled in the distance outside the window.
He closed the tablet in his hand, shut his eyes, leaned back in his chair, and let out a long breath.
Three days have passed since the press conference.
Tuesday, October 2020, 7.
Three days is enough time for him to calm down from the excitement of the press conference and begin to face the truly thorny issues.
On the table was a sales data summary sheet that Xu Lang had just delivered.
Su Chen opened his eyes, picked up the summary sheet, and his gaze swept over the heart-pounding numbers—
发布会后72小时销售数据（7月18日-7月21日）：
H-Link Lite air-to-ground communication base station: The first batch of 3000 units sold out within 15 minutes of the launch event. An additional 5200 units were ordered, with delivery expected within two weeks.
H-Link Pro air-to-ground communication base station: The first batch of 1500 units sold out within 30 minutes of the launch event. An additional 2100 units were pre-ordered.
Feiniao S1 Flight Control and Communication Integrated Module: 5000 units pre-ordered on the day of the launch. Cumulative pre-orders within 72 hours: 12800 units.
12800 yuan!
Su Chen's fingers trembled slightly.
It's worth noting that the cumulative sales of the Feiniao 1.0 platform (3-speed flight controller, 499/699/999) in the three months since its launch were only a little over 20,000 units.
The Asuka S1 received 12800 pre-orders within 72 hours!
What excited Su Chen even more was a note at the bottom of the summary table—
"370+家飞鸟生态合作伙伴中，已有186家提交了追加採购意向，预计月均採购量将从原来的约8000块（飞鸟1.0全系）提升至约15000块（含S1及1.0系列）。"
Su Chen put down the summary sheet, took out a blank A4 sheet from the drawer, and began to write and draw on it.
This is his habit—whenever he needs to clarify his thoughts, he draws on paper with a pen.
Hardware revenue:
H-Link Lite: 999 yuan, cost approximately 650 yuan, gross profit approximately 349 yuan per unit. A total of 8200 units will be produced in the initial batch and subsequent orders.
→ Gross profit of approximately 286 million.
H-Link Pro: 2999 yuan, cost approximately 1800 yuan, gross profit approximately 1199 yuan/unit. Initial batch + additional orders total 3600 units.
→ Gross profit of approximately 432 million.
飞鸟S1：1299元，成本约800元，毛利约499元/块。预订12800块。
→ Gross profit of approximately 639 million.
The total gross profit from hardware for the three products in the first round was approximately 1357 million.
Su Chen looked at the number, and the corner of his mouth twitched slightly.
1357 million—this number seems large, but in reality…
After deducting the operating costs of warehousing and logistics, after-sales service, and technical support team, the net profit is approximately eight to nine million.
Compared to the thunderous applause at the press conference, this number seems rather "meager".
But Su Chen knew very well that hardware had never been Hongyuan's main source of profit.
He drew a horizontal line on the paper and wrote the second set of numbers below it:
H-Link protocol licensing revenue:
Xingyao Technology's Han Shijie's agreement for development-level licensing: The first year's licensing fee is 800 million yuan (already received).
"Protocol Extension Feedback" clause: Xingyao's extended protocol based on H-Link is automatically granted to Hongyuan.
Four new potential licensees were proactively contacted after the press conference (two communication module manufacturers, one chip design company, and one industrial IoT company).
It is expected that 2-3 new licenses will be granted within the year, with estimated licensing revenue of 1500-2500 million yuan.
Su Chen drew a circle under the numbers and wrote: "Licensing revenue = net profit, marginal cost is almost zero."
This is the advantage of standard setters—they sell their technology once and collect money countless times.
Then he drew a third set of numbers on the paper:
Strategic cooperation related to Lianchuang Group:
Zhongyi Aviation is switching its entire product line to Feiniao S1 + H-Link: the estimated annual purchase volume is about 5000 Feiniao S1 units + 2000 H-Link Pro base stations.
→ Annual hardware revenue is approximately 1249 million, with a gross profit of approximately 649 million.
鸿翼低空通信实验室：联创出资60%（9000万），鸿远出资40%（6000万），三年1.5亿。
→ Hongyuan invested approximately 2000 million yuan in the first year, but the laboratory results are shared by both parties, and Hongyuan has the right to set standards.
Zhongyi Aviation's capital increase and share expansion: Due diligence is expected to be completed by mid-August, with an estimated investment of 580 million yuan, corresponding to Hongyuan's valuation.
Su Chen stopped writing here.
5.8 million.
He took a deep breath.
Once this money arrives, Hongyuan Intelligent's cash reserves will surge to an unprecedented level.
Including hardware sales revenue, licensing fees, and remaining funds from the previous Series B funding round—
Su Chen roughly estimated that by the end of this year, Hongyuan's available funds would reach six to seven hundred million yuan.
Six to seven hundred million.
Four years ago, when he took over Hongyuan Intelligent, he had less than two million in the account.
In four years, the company grew from two million to six or seven hundred million – a growth rate that would be terrifying for any company.
But Su Chen's expression didn't show much joy.
Because he knew all too well that there was never enough money.
He put down his pen and pulled out another document that was underneath the summary table—
"Feiniao S1 Production Bottleneck Analysis Report" - Jointly written by Zhao Jiancheng and Huang Zhihua
Su Chen's gaze fell on the core conclusions on the first page of the report:
"飞鸟S1模组的产能瓶颈在于自研主控晶片。目前微感半导体的晶片封装测试产线月产能仅3万颗，实际良率约82%，月有效产出约24600颗。每块飞鸟S1需要2颗主控晶片（双冗余架构），因此飞鸟S1的月产能上限为12300块。"
"按当前预订速度（72小时12800块），仅首轮预订就需要约1个月的满产能交付。如果月均新增预订维持在8000-10000块的水平，将在3个月内出现严重的交付延迟。"
After reading this passage, Su Chen remained silent for a long time.
With a monthly production capacity of 12300 units, this figure is like trying to scoop up the ocean with a spoon in the face of explosive demand.
But that's the reality.
The advantage of developing our own chips is complete control over core technologies and extremely low costs. The disadvantage is that production capacity is severely constrained by our own chip manufacturing capabilities.
This is precisely the deeper strategic significance of signing the H-Link licensing agreement with Han Shijie of Xingyao Technology three days ago.
Han Shijie's Xingyao Technology is not only an authorized partner, but also a potential OEM channel.
Xingyao has three advanced semiconductor packaging and testing production lines with a monthly capacity exceeding 50 units. If the main control chip for the Feibiao S1 were manufactured by Xingyao—
Monthly production capacity will surge from 12300 units to over 25 units!
Of course, contract manufacturing means that chip design blueprints need to be made available to Xingyao, which involves the security of core technologies. However, Han Shijie signed strict technology confidentiality clauses in the licensing agreement, and the "protocol extension feedback" clause also gave Hongyuan an extra layer of protection—Hongyuan automatically obtained the right to use any technology extension based on H-Link.
Su Chen had already thought of this move during the negotiations.
However, the OEM partnership still requires time for negotiation and production line debugging, and it will take at least two to three months to start production. Before that, the delivery of the Flybird S1 will rely entirely on Microsensor Semiconductor's monthly production capacity of 12300 units.
Su Chen wrote down a timetable on the paper:
July-September: MicroSense's own production lines are operating at full capacity, prioritizing deliveries to Lianchuang/Zhongyi and large customers.
Starting in October: Xingyao OEM production line will be put into operation (target), with monthly production capacity increasing to over 50,000 units.
Q1 2021: The Xingyao production line is operating at full capacity and the expansion of the Weigan production line is completed, with a monthly production capacity of 10 units.
After finishing the timetable, Su Chen turned to the last page of the production capacity report.
Zhao Jiancheng added a handwritten note at the end—
"Mr. Su, the MEMS gyroscope array in the Feibiao S1's OIS active vibration damping system is currently an outsourced component, supplied by Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd. of Japan. Murata's lead time is 8-12 weeks, and the price increases by 5%-8% annually. In the long run, MEMS sensors will become the largest external dependency in Feibiao S1's cost structure. We suggest paying attention to the domestic MEMS sensor industry chain."
Su Chen's gaze lingered on this note for a long time.
MEMS sensor – this is one of the few core components in the Flybird S1 that Hongyuan does not have the capability to develop in-house.
Currently, the global MEMS sensor market is monopolized by a few giants such as Murata of Japan, Bosch of Germany, and TDK-InvenSense of the United States. Although there are several MEMS companies in China, their technological level and yield rate are still far behind.
If one day Murata suddenly cuts off supplies, or restricts exports to Chinese companies under external pressure—
The supply chain of the Asuka S1 will be directly cut off.
Su Chen opened the bottom drawer of his desk and pulled out a document.
He had asked lawyer Fang Xu to prepare this document two months ago, and it had been sitting untouched in his drawer ever since.
The document cover reads—
Domestic MEMS Sensor Industry Chain Survey Report
Su Chen opened the file, his gaze falling on a name circled in red on the third page:
Suzhou Microchip Sensing Technology Co., Ltd.
Established in 2012.
Core Team: Founder and CEO Dr. Li Wei, PhD in Microelectronics from Tsinghua University, formerly served as Chief Engineer at Murata Manufacturing Shanghai R&D Center.
Main business: High-precision MEMS gyroscopes, MEMS accelerometers, MEMS barometers.
Core technology: MEMS inertial sensor manufacturing process with completely independent intellectual property rights, and has been granted 47 patents.
Current situation: Annual revenue of approximately 3500 million RMB, and net profit of approximately 400 million RMB. Due to issues with the yield rate and brand recognition of domestically produced MEMS, market share is extremely low. Seeking strategic investors for Series B funding, with a valuation of approximately 1.8 million RMB.
Su Chen's gaze lingered on "Series B financing" and "1.8 million valuation" for five seconds.
1.8 million.
For Hongyuan at present, this number is completely within an acceptable range.
Especially after Zhongyi Aviation's 5.8 million yuan capital increase is in place...
Su Chen picked up the phone on the table and dialed a number.
"Fang Xu, I've finished reading that research report on Suzhou Microchip Sensing."
A slightly surprised voice came from the other end of the phone: "President Su, you've made a decision so quickly?"
"It's not decided yet, but we can start making contact."
Su Chen paused for a moment:
"Could you arrange a meeting with Dr. Li Wei from Microchip Sensing? Tell him that Hongyuan is interested in participating in their Series B funding round—but I'd like to meet them first to discuss their technical background."
"Okay, I'll arrange it tomorrow."
"Also—don't just contact Li Wei, have Shen Yumeng keep an eye on things too. If Microchip Sensing's Series B funding doesn't go smoothly, perhaps we can discuss a more in-depth plan."
Fang Xu paused for a second, then said softly, "You mean... a controlling stake?"
Su Chen did not answer the question directly.
He simply said something profound:
"Every external dependency in the core supply chain is a time bomb. The best way to defuse it is to turn it into your own weapon."
After hanging up the phone, Su Chen put the MEMS report back in the drawer.
He stood up and walked to the window.
Outside the window is the night view of Shenzhen in July—the skyscrapers of Nanshan District are brightly lit in the distance, while scattered lights still flicker in the industrial park of Longhua nearby. Among those lights, perhaps some are startups like Hongyuan, working overtime late into the night to meet deadlines.
Su Chen leaned against the window, the words Zhou Zhenguo had said at the press conference three days ago flashing through his mind—
"Su Chen, this young man, has shown me the future of China's low-altitude economy."
future.
Su Chen let out a soft breath.
The future is still far away, and the road ahead is still long.
The bottleneck in chip production capacity needs to be overcome; the supply chain of MEMS sensors needs to be self-reliant and controllable; the H-Link standard needs more companies to join in and form a real ecosystem barrier; DJI's counterattack will come sooner or later; Hangxindatong will not be willing to withdraw from the stage; and the catching-up speed of Huawei's Low-Altitude Intelligent Connectivity Lab should not be underestimated...
Every problem is a mountain that needs to be climbed.
But at least—
Today's Hongyuan is no longer the small workshop with only two million in its accounts that it was four years ago.
Today, Hongyuan boasts its own core chips, its own communication standards, its own ecosystem platform, the strategic backing of Lianchuang Group, the capital support of Zhou Zhenguo, and the trust of over 370 ecosystem partners.
And an ambition to define the underlying standards of the industry.
Su Chen turned and walked back to his desk, writing a line at the very bottom of the A4 sheet of paper:
Next step: Self-sufficiency in MEMS sensors. Target: Suzhou Microchip Sensing.
Then he opened another drawer and pulled out a document marked "Top Secret"—
That's a new product disassembly drawing that the system just unlocked today.
The title of the drawing caused Su Chen's pupils to contract slightly—
That was a complete design drawing of a MEMS inertial navigation chip.
Precision, yield, cost—every parameter far surpasses any product currently on the market.
Su Chen stared at the blueprint for a very long time.
Then he slowly closed the file, a smile that only he could understand appearing on his lips.
"Dr. Levi from Microchip Sensing..."
He murmured to himself:
"I hope you'd be willing to work with me to create a MEMS chip that truly belongs to China."
The night view of Shenzhen outside the window is already deep.
But for Su Chen, it was almost dawn.