Lei Jun stared at the China Star homepage.
The Star Series was sold out again—in less than 10 minutes.
He closed the tab and leaned back in thought.
"Should I approach him about buying the Qinglong chip used in the Star M1?"
"If I had that chip, I could match the Hongmeng S1R's level. It might put us on equal footing."
Lei wasn't just watching the Star Q1 and M1 from a market angle. He was focused on what made them strong—and it always came back to one thing:
Chips.
As an engineer at heart, Lei understood something most investors didn't:
Battery? Camera? All secondary.
Processor = soul of the phone.
Meanwhile, Zhao Liangyun was sweating bullets at Honor HQ.
The Star Q1 had sold out in 10 minutes flat.
And Honor? The launch numbers were in—and they were grim.
By 9:15, Zhao was glued to the backend sales dashboard.
First 10 minutes: 150,000 units
After that? Growth flatlined. Orders trickled in slower and slower
It was clear:
Only the users who got coupons had bought.
No one else was interested.
"Manager!" someone rushed in.
"Xiaomi dropped the Mi Red price to 699 RMB (≈ $96.21) and bundled a 200 RMB (≈ $27.52) headset!"
Zhao's heart sank deeper.
We didn't beat China Star... and we didn't beat Xiaomi either.
He collapsed into his chair, staring blankly at the screen.
I've already lost.
Emergency Orders from the Top
His phone rang.
He knew what was coming—and answered anyway.
Thirty minutes later, Zhao looked hollow.
He threw the phone aside and slumped in his chair.
"The Honor brand is being pulled back under the Huawei name."
"Prices must drop another 100 to 200 RMB. Clear inventory. No excuses."
It was the only move left.
Cancel the sub-brand.
Dump the stock.
Cut losses fast.
Zhao gave the order:
"Drop Honor's prices by 200 RMB across the board."
It was brutal but necessary.
If these phones stayed unsold, they'd rot in warehouses.
Discounting cut margins, but bulk volume could still generate profit—or at least stop the bleeding.
Two hours later, the Honor phones were re-listed at 799 RMB (≈ $110).
Day-one price cuts like this were unheard of.
In the mobile industry, it was considered a record-breaking collapse.
But it worked.
Sales started picking up.
By 2:00 PM, Xiaomi's Mi Red was sold out.
By 6:00 PM, Honor had moved nearly 1 million units.
Mr. Ren Watches from Afar
Back at Huawei HQ, Ren sat quietly reviewing the day's data.
Nearly 3 million phones were sold across the three companies daily.
It was a historic moment in China's smartphone industry.
Even with Honor's retraction, even after taking a loss, Ren didn't regret it.
"We might've pulled the brand...
But I won't give up on the sub-1,000 RMB market."
He turned to his daughter, Meng Wanzhou.
"How's Hisilicon's low-end chip development going?"
Meng, composed as ever, answered:
"Still in progress. Developing a new chip isn't easy."
"But the 8-series is maturing.
The 6 and 7-series will be ready soon—for the low-end entry market."
For now, China Star had seized the lead.
But the race was far from over.