The actions of the Jiangnan Group clearly show that their marketing strategy is very simple: market the Tianzhou terminal as extremely scarce, to the point where money can't buy it, thereby enhancing the product's influence and further stimulating purchasing desire.
This tactic is Xiaomi's specialty, and now Mr. Huang has adopted it.
Of course, this tactic has a very important characteristic: the product is genuinely beautiful, genuinely cost-effective, and genuinely appealing.
So, what could be more enticing than the Tianzhou terminal priced at 1999 RMB?
Thus, during the period before the second batch went on sale, the entire internet was abuzz with marketing about the Tianzhou terminal being sold out, while simultaneously constantly telling everyone how powerful, how cost-effective, and how it crushed all other similar products in the world.
No, the terminal has no similar products in the world; it is unique.
The direct result of this marketing was that on second-hand trading platforms like Jiangnan Mall, Oriental Amazon, and eBay, the price of the Tianzhou terminal began to soar.
A Tianzhou terminal originally priced at 1999 RMB or $279 USD was now fetching prices of 4000 RMB or $500 USD per unit on second-hand platforms.
The entire internet was filled with the notion that if you could snag a Tianzhou terminal on September 12th, you could get rich overnight just by reselling it.
That's right, the second public online release of the Tianzhou terminal was on September 12th, and the people lining up online and offline to buy it this time were completely different from before.
During the first sale, there was media coverage of someone camping out at a service point; however, this was merely an isolated case, and in fact, it was a plant specifically arranged by Mr. Huang to be interviewed.
But the second time was different. Outside many physical stores, people actually appeared a day in advance, bringing tents to queue.
And the numbers were significant. Media outlets across the United States photographed these dedicated individuals.
This doesn't mean the Tianzhou terminal had a massive fan base before even being released. Instead, many people realized that reselling a Tianzhou could yield a pure profit of at least $150 per unit.
While those queuing could only purchase with their own ID, they could carry others' IDs to help them make purchases.
Each person could purchase a maximum of two units.
This meant a person queuing could buy up to three Tianzhou units, reselling them for a profit of $450. At that time, most Americans' monthly income was only around $2000-$3000. By queuing for just one day, they could earn $450. It was obvious to anyone how profitable this was, leading many to queue one or two days in advance.
After all, grabbing one online depended on reflexes, but buying offline, as long as you were at the front of the line, you were guaranteed to get a Tianzhou.
Time slowly ticked by until September 12th.
The second batch of Tianzhou terminals was about to go on sale, and it was at this point that buyers discovered a new announcement from the official source: this time, in addition to the base 0.5+4 version priced at 1999 RMB or $279 USD, a 1+8 version would also be available, priced at 2599 RMB and $349 USD respectively.
However, the quantity in the second batch was smaller than the first. In the United States, the base version was only 100,000 units, while the 1+8 version was a mere 10,000 units.
Simultaneously, the official sales page included an explanation stating that due to difficulties in the production of various components, the Tianzhou terminal was very challenging to manufacture, resulting in extremely low output. The second batch represented all remaining inventory.
Even more alarming, the announcement directly stated that the third batch would not be available until October 1st, and the total global sales quantity would be even less than the second batch.
Well, this was like pouring fuel on the fire.
Unbeknownst to all the buyers, behind the scenes, Mr. Huang explicitly instructed all staff that the market would only have one second to purchase, after which all products would be immediately controlled to be sold out and taken offline.
In other words, to buy a Tianzhou terminal, one had to be precisely at their computer at the scheduled time, place an order immediately without a second's hesitation, or it would be gone.
"Boss, with this approach, a significant portion of the Tianzhou terminals will likely fall into the hands of scalpers. I heard many scalpers have prepared scripts, and it's likely only they will be able to grab them immediately, while the vast majority of ordinary users won't be able to get any Tianzhou!" a staff member whispered.
"It's fine. That's the intended effect. When scalpers buy in large quantities, we won't need to manage prices in the secondary market anymore. These scalpers will help us maintain prices at our desired levels!" Mr. Huang said with a smile, and the others could only exclaim about the boss's brilliance.
"Brother-in-law, but what if netizens curse us for playing games with them? If we keep doing this, it will actually offend people!" Leng Zhiruo dared to offer further suggestions.
"Ah, I'm not a demon. I'm just using these methods to enhance value!" Mr. Huang sighed. "This method will only delay things by about a month. Starting with the third batch, we will gradually release stock, giving everyone at least a minute to purchase before it sells out!"
"The boss is benevolent!" the crowd continued to marvel.
Huang He couldn't wait to see the results. After issuing the orders, he took Leng Zhiruo to have fun. Upon waking up and moving Leng Zhiruo's leg off him, Huang He saw a message from his secretary.
"Damn..." Mr. Huang muttered as he looked at the data.
Huang He swore that his order to shut down immediately after one second was solely to create the illusion of a rapid sell-out; he never expected such a situation to actually occur.
But the reality was that even after the system secretly shut down all orders after one second, the entire stock in both the China and US markets was sold out, not a single unit left. It was reported that over 40,000 orders had failed to secure a purchase and were blocked.
"Orders for France and Germany also sold about 70%. The only market without significant change was Fusang. However, due to Mr. Huang's leniency last time, Fusang was once again directly bypassed, with no immediate sell-out in the first second."
"But with the experience from last time, many smart people realized the opportunity on the Fusang platform and began to purchase Fusang versions of the Tianzhou terminal directly from overseas. Ultimately, within about three minutes, all 30,000 units for Fusang were sold out!"
It is worth noting that what Huang He ordered to be cleared immediately was the 1999 base version. The limited quantity of the 1+8 version did not have the lock command. As a result, these only lasted a few more seconds.
The 1+8 versions in China and the US were gone in five seconds, while France and Germany lasted about a minute. Fusang... Fusang did not launch the high-end version this time.
With the extensive media hype from the first sale, the attention for the second sale was nearly ten times that of the first. Otherwise, it would have been impossible to achieve a one-second sell-out, to the extent that even machines couldn't keep up.
This consequently allowed more users to directly experience the popularity of the Tianzhou terminal.
Users who had already purchased a Tianzhou terminal were overjoyed. Those who hadn't, faced with waiting until October, could only reluctantly turn to various second-hand platforms. The prices on these second-hand platforms became even more exorbitant. The base version of the Tianzhou had actually risen to $599 USD, making it more expensive than Apple or Google products.
And there was no room for negotiation. If you didn't buy, you could wait another twenty-odd days to try and grab a piece of the third batch, which was rumored to be even more limited.
Suddenly, the entire internet was filled with complaints. Most people were cursing the scalpers, but a portion of them were also cursing the Jiangnan Group.
Under these circumstances, the Jiangnan Group announced its decision to urgently add an additional sale of Tianzhou terminals on September 20th.
However, the quantity of the base version in this batch was even smaller. Even in the China market, which had the largest number of units, there were less than 50,000 units of the base version this time.
This sale primarily featured the so-called Elite version (1+8), the Luxury version (1+16), and the Supreme version (2+32).
Due to the high price and low production volume of these versions, they would be sold on a pre-order basis. There was no need to rush; users could simply register their personal information online or at offline stores, pay the full amount, and once stock was available, it would be shipped according to the registered order.
Currently, there were about 10,000 units of each version in stock. Registering immediately would ensure receiving the goods within a short period.
The vast majority of users in the world would only consider purchasing the standard versions. Before experiencing the limitations of memory and storage space on a smart device, they would all believe the standard version was the most cost-effective.
Therefore, these more expensive versions did not appeal to ordinary users. However, some users with slightly more disposable income were tempted.
After all, if you went to a second-hand platform to buy a base version for $600, but could pre-order a 1+8 Elite version online for only $349, the price difference was quite significant.
Thus, many users chose to seize the opportunity on this day to pre-order the Elite version. Some users, thinking that the Elite version would also have many people competing for it, decided to directly pre-order the Luxury version priced at $499 USD or the Supreme version at $699 USD.
This way, they figured, no one would be competing with them.
Consequently, on September 20th, after the pre-sale of the Luxury version began, the data was quickly reported to Mr. Huang. The Elite version had the highest pre-order volume, with nearly 400,000 Elite units reserved globally in a single day.
The pre-order volume for the Luxury version was 80,000 units, and the Supreme version had about 30,000 units reserved.
Mr. Huang rubbed his nose and then ordered, "Ship the Elite version at a rate of 5,000 units per day, dispatching them according to the reservation order."
As for the Luxury and Supreme versions, Mr. Huang waved his hand, stating they would be shipped the next day. After all, the actual stock of these high-end versions was not significantly less than the standard versions. Why not take this opportunity to clear out the high-end models?
Thus, under Mr. Huang's direction, the market presented a situation like this:
It was extremely difficult to purchase standard or Elite versions of the Tianzhou through offline or online channels. Prices on second-hand platforms had soared to astronomical figures. Although the price of the standard version had fallen back from $600 to $500, it was still a very unreasonable price. Meanwhile, the scalper price for the Elite version had also risen to $600.
However, many users soon discovered that if they purchased the Luxury or Supreme versions, the delivery speed was surprisingly fast. According to customer service, there were not many people buying these two versions, and those who could afford these more conventional models were considered affluent.
When people looked at the second-hand market price of $500 per unit and then at the fact that they could buy a Luxury version on the spot for $499, their decision became quite predictable.