SWDnovel Chapter 49 The Competitors' Reactions
Chapter 49 The Competitors' Reactions
The ripples of the media storm not only reached the agricultural machinery factory and overseas—but also Tianying.
According to a clip that Wu Zheng later inadvertently revealed at an industry event, Lu Weimin slammed his fist on the table during an internal meeting after seeing the reports.
"This kid surnamed Su is causing trouble for us in the plant protection market."
Tianying's agricultural protection business has only been operating for six months, primarily relying on a general flight control solution combined with its own frame. The flight control system is of average quality, but it can still fly. Tianying's strength lies in marketing and distribution channels, not in technology.
Hongyuan is now using a flight control solution that far surpasses Tianying's to turn agricultural machinery factories across the country into its own firepower—which is equivalent to having Tianying's plant protection business taken over before it even took shape.
Lu Weimin initially did not include Hongyuan in his list of competitors in the plant protection field—in his eyes, the competitor was DJI, not a small company that makes drones.
But DJI doesn't pose a threat to Tianying right now—because DJI's agricultural drone sells for 25,000 yuan, while Tianying's agricultural drone sells for 19,000 yuan, and the price difference is enough to differentiate the customer base.
But Hongyuan is different. Hongyuan's model is to sell flight controllers to agricultural machinery manufacturers, who then set the prices themselves. Boss Guo's plant protection drone is priced at 18,000 yuan—1,000 yuan lower than Tianying's, while the quality of its flight controller is far superior to the general-purpose solution used by Tianying.
This means that Hongyuan, using lower prices and better flight control systems, is subtly eroding Tianying's plant protection market through other people's hardware and channels.
Tianying didn't even know who to fight—because the opponents weren't just Hongyuan, but seven, ten, or even twenty different agricultural machinery factories.
This is what makes the wolf pack strategy so terrifying.
Su Chen was unaware that Lu Weimin had slammed his fist on the table during the internal meeting. But he knew that Tianying would definitely feel the pressure—because all the methods Tianying had tried, from price wars to media wars to patent wars, had failed to stop Hongyuan.
Hongyuan has now pioneered a path that Tianying cannot replicate—because Tianying did not develop its own flight control system. Tianying's hardware uses a general solution plus Tianying's own parameter adjustments, a solution with much lower technological barriers.
Tianying wants to compete with Hongyuan on flight control systems, but it can't win. If it wants to compete on price, Hongyuan doesn't need to lower its own prices—because it's the agricultural machinery manufacturers that lower their prices, not Hongyuan.
Su Chen's model turns the "opponent not knowing who to attack" into a structural advantage.
Moreover, this advantage will continue to grow as the number of SDK customers increases.
In mid-May, Su Chen sat in his office looking at the first data forecast for May.
In the consumer segment—May's monthly sales are projected to exceed 3,500 units. Capacity utilization has already surpassed 95 percentage points.
This means that the capacity of the five production lines is nearing its limit. If sales continue to grow, new capacity will be needed.
Su Chen wrote a question mark on the whiteboard:
[A sixth production line?]
After thinking about it, he wiped it off again.
Not urgent.
The F3 is nearing completion of its engineering development. It is positioned as the next-generation replacement for the F2—not a simple parameter upgrade, but a complete iteration from the underlying flight control architecture to the hardware design. Its core selling point is "stability in harsh environments"—crash-resistant, waterproof, wide-temperature range, and low-maintenance. It is positioned as a "flying tool for small businesses in county towns," rather than a "recreational tool for travelers."
Once the F3 is completed, Hongyuan will have a differentiated product in the consumer market that DJI Mavic Pro cannot replicate.
The production capacity issue can be resolved when the F3 goes into mass production.
In the crop protection sector—weekly orders for the SDK have stabilized at over thirty sets. The company has cumulatively partnered with more than ten agricultural machinery manufacturers. Ding De'an of Toyota is already preparing the formal text of an exclusive distribution agreement.
Regarding overseas operations, AgriWing has already provided detailed aircraft specifications. Su Chen had Zhang Lei conduct a preliminary technical feasibility assessment—the conclusion being that Hongyuan's flight control module is fully compatible with their hardware platform. However, Su Chen decided against rushing things—overseas business requires dedicated technical support and after-sales service, capabilities that the current team does not yet possess.
But the direction has been confirmed.
In the draft of the three-year plan, Su Chen added a note to the section on the "third curve":
[Southeast Asian Crop Protection Market - Timely Launch]
He closed the document, stood up, and walked to the window.
Outside the window is Shenzhen in May. Night is gradually falling, and the lights of Longhua District are lighting up at a quiet pace.
Fourteen months have passed since my rebirth.
From a small, dying factory with only 1.2 million yuan in cash to a flight control platform company with monthly sales of 3,500 consumer-grade units, plant protection flight control systems covering more than ten agricultural machinery factories, and overseas companies starting to actively seek its services.
Fourteen months.
Many companies can't even produce a single product in fourteen months.
Su Chen knew this speed was abnormal. It relied on memories from his past life, the acceleration from the virtual disassembly lab, and the invisible boost the system's enhancement aura provided to the team.
But Su Chen also knew that these advantages would not last forever.
Memories of past lives become invalid as the timeline shifts—some events have already begun to drift in time. The Virtual Disassembly Lab's level progression is becoming increasingly slow. While the system's bonus aura's stock-holding red line is safe, it must never be crossed.
So Su Chen has been doing the same thing all along—transforming the advantage of relying on personal ability into the advantage of relying on organizational ability.
Zhang Lei and his ten-person team are already capable of independently handling over 90% of the daily development work. The dealer and ground sales system is operating like a machine that Su Chen doesn't need to worry about. Under the leadership of Ding Dean and Chen Hongyuan, the agricultural flight control ecosystem is expanding at its own pace.
Su Chen's personal abilities are becoming less important in this company.
The importance of organizational capabilities is increasing.
This is the situation Su Chen most wanted to see.
Because he knew that a company's lifespan shouldn't be equal to that of its founder. It should be able to survive without Su Chen.
This was the third most important lesson he learned from his fifteen-year career as a product manager in his previous life.
Su Chen turned and left the window, walking towards the technical department.
The F3 is about to enter its final verification phase. If all goes well, it will be ready for mass production in three months.
At that time, DJI's Mavic Pro had already been on the market for three months.
The reshuffling will reach its climax in the second half of the year.
Hongyuan needs to prepare his weapons before that.
Su Chen pushed open the door to the technical department.
"Zhang Lei, let's review the final testing plan for the F3. Mass production is in three months. Time is tight."
Zhang Lei looked up.
"I know. Preparations are underway."
Su Chen sat down.
In the technical department, ten engineers were divided into three groups—Plant Protection SDK, F2 Routine Maintenance, and F3 Development. Each group operated independently, eliminating the need for Su Chen to personally intervene in every technical decision.
Su Chen sat next to Zhang Lei, looking at the F3 test curve on the screen.
A little over a year ago, there were only two people in front of this screen.
There are ten now.
What's displayed on the screen is no longer the algorithm curve of a single product—but the future of a company.