Chapter 127: Budget Model

Director Kim Seong-jae took the documents from Bong Sang-min and began to flip through them.

His fingertips trembled slightly as he read the report.

“What… what is this?”

“These are the performance logs of Lunar running on a Titan 2 test device.”

Bong Sang-min added an explanation in a voice dripping with sweat.

“It worked normally right after booting, but after running KTalk and Voicetalk simultaneously, the system interrupt level spiked abnormally.”

“Interrupt level?”

“Yes. Network processing speed decreased by about 23% compared to normal, and multitasking process switching speed was also more than 18% slower on average.”

Clear figures were displayed on the back of the report, along with charts.

• Network latency increase: 22.8%

• App switching speed decrease: 18.5%

• Battery consumption increase: 14.3%

• Perceived responsiveness decrease: 87%

• …….

Kim Seong-jae, looking at the documents, muttered quietly.

“……Mirage regulator. Is Dojin manipulating something?”

“From what we’ve confirmed, it seems the system resource allocation is adjusted according to the authentication code of the Mirage module embedded in Lunar.”

Bong Sang-min replied that the test device running Lunar hadn’t received official certification from Dojin, which seemed to limit its performance.

“Exactly what parts were restricted?”

Chairman Cheon Ho-tae asked irritably.

“Network transmission priority queue, system cache access level, multitasking interrupt scheduler, and core system resources were all demoted to secondary priority.”

“…….”

The chairman’s eyes slowly darkened.

An icy chill filled Mujinwon.

“So, you’re saying users who buy the Titan 2 might feel it’s ‘slow’?”

Bong Sang-min closed his eyes and answered.

“……Yes, Chairman. It may appear normal on the surface, but the perceived performance could be significantly lower than the Quantum.”

At those words,

Chairman Cheon slammed the table.

Bang-!

The conference room shook.

“Has Kang Tae-joon been planning this from the start?”

“It seems… Dojin has turned Lunar into a hidden shackle.”

“This is bullshit……”

Chairman Cheon Ho-tae’s voice was cold, as if scraping the bottom of a deep pit.

Angrily, he gripped the Titan 2 test device on the table.

The urge to throw it spread to his fingertips,

but he soon set it down.

Slowly, he took a deep breath.

His instincts told him this was a time for judgment, not anger.

He looked at the executives in the room, including Kim Seong-jae.

“……So, we have to negotiate with those Dojin bastards?”

Amid the silence,

Director Kim Seong-jae spoke with difficulty.

“Chairman, to launch the Titan 2 on schedule… we must resolve the Lunar issue.”

Cheon Ho-tae pressed a hand to his forehead.

Suppressing his rage, he slowly opened his mouth.

“……Fine.”

It was a short but heavy approval.

“Negotiate with Dojin. But remember, we’ll let this slide for now, but this must never happen again with the next model.”

Kim Seong-jae stood up and bowed deeply.

“Yes, Chairman. For the next model, I’ll find a solution to ensure this doesn’t happen again.”

＊＊＊

“After negotiating with Ahsung, they’ve agreed to increase production of the X1 as needed.”

I nodded at Hong Chung-ki’s words.

“How many units have we secured?”

“We can receive up to 5 million units per month.”

Through continuous capacity (CAPA) expansion, the current producible number of Quantum units was about 4.5 million per month.

“It seems like there won’t be any immediate production issues. But considering the upcoming A-series launch, we’ll need to secure more units.”

The A-series was a model Chilbong was working hard to develop, targeting low-cost markets like Southeast Asia.

“We’re already in additional negotiations with Ahsung on that front. We should be able to increase the supply by another million units in time for next month’s launch.”

An additional million units, combined with the previously agreed quantity, would allow us to produce a total of 6 million Quantum devices.

Of course, before that, we also had to finalize the smartphone production capacity expansion.

Lee Hye-ryeong asked a follow-up question.

“What should the production ratio be between the Quantum 1-S and Quantum 1-A?”

Quantum 1-S.

Quantum 1-A.

The two models weren’t just different in price.

The Quantum 1-S was the culmination of all the technology I’d developed so far.

Camera module, LCD, battery, Lunar, KTalk, and more.

A truly optimized smartphone.

But the Quantum 1-A was slightly different.

Some specs were reduced to lower the price, and production costs were tightly controlled.

However, we didn’t compromise on the core, which was ‘Lunar.’

Because as many people as possible needed to experience the world—no, the ecosystem—I’d created.

I made my decision right there.

“Let’s set the A-series at around 35% of total production.”

“So, you’re saying to produce about 2.1 million units of the Quantum 1-A?”

Considering yield, that would be roughly 2 million units.

“Let’s release it in Southeast Asia, South America, the Middle East, and India, and adjust production based on the response.”

“What price should we set, then?”

The Quantum 1-S was selling for around 1.2 million won.

Considering profit margins, the Quantum 1-A should be priced around 900,000 won.

However, at that price, it would be difficult to achieve our goal of launching a budget model.

‘In countries where monthly wages are less than 200,000 to 300,000 won, no one would easily buy a 900,000 won phone.’

The Quantum 1-S had to be the spear that elevated the brand,

and the Quantum 1-A had to be the net that spread the ecosystem.

“Let’s set the price at 590,000 won.”

The conference room fell silent.

“……Sir, 590,000 won is almost at cost.”

Hong Chung-ki said, looking troubled.

But I didn’t change my decision.

“The Quantum 1-A we’re launching this time isn’t about profit.”

The team leaders in the meeting held their breath.

“My goal isn’t immediate profit, but ‘domination’ of the ecosystem.”

I said firmly.

“How quickly and deeply we can spread this ecosystem will determine victory or defeat. I believe the next year will be crucial.”

Within a year, we needed to achieve a 30% smartphone market share

and a 50% Lunar adoption rate in the smartphone market to establish a solid foothold.

I pointed to the red download figures marked on the world map displayed on the screen.

“Now is the time to spread. Lower the price, push the devices, and change user habits.”

If they didn’t enter my ecosystem, they wouldn’t be able to do anything because it would be too inconvenient……

“If that happens, later on, even if we raise the device prices, users won’t be able to leave.”

Han Yu-ju spoke, and I smiled and nodded.

“Right.”

Once it becomes a habit, infrastructure, and part of daily life,

I could set the prices as I pleased.

.

.

.

The day before the budget Quantum launch,

the media and market were already buzzing.

[Dojin Tech Unveils 590,000 Won Budget Smartphone ‘Quantum 1-A’]

[Voicetalk Enabled, AQC Module Included]

[Same Quantum 1-S Tech… Just a Lower Price, a Monster Smartphone]

[Global Smartphone Market Shake-Up Expected]

A single sentence.

“Quantum 1-A, 590,000 won.”

This sentence shook the world.

And

on the same day, at 2 PM,

Ahsung Electronics also unveiled the Titan 2.

[Ahsung Electronics Officially Announces Next-Gen Smartphone ‘Titan 2’]

[20MP Camera, High-Performance X2 AP Onboard]

[Titan 2 Aims to Reclaim Premium Market]

Unfortunately, the world didn’t notice the Titan 2.

• SNS, Communities, Portal Searches

Quantum 1A

590,000 Won Smartphone

Free KTalk Calls

Dojin Lunar

The Quantum 1-A dominated every topic.

└LOL Titan 2, what’s that? Something to eat?

└Considering what happened with Titan 1, I don’t really want to use it.

└Still, this time KTalk works, and Ani-pung and Pang Pang seem to work well too.

└So what? The price is ridiculously high. Who’s going to pay over a million won for a device without a built-in AQC module?

└True, the 590,000 won model has a built-in AQC module, so you can use Voicetalk anytime. The Titan 2 requires separate earbuds, which is inconvenient.

└Still, Ahsung makes good phones, right? I like how sturdy they are.

└LOL Is that you, Chairman Cheon Ho-tae?

└Chairman, you shouldn’t be here.

The board reactions were overwhelmingly in favor of Quantum,

but thanks to Ahsung’s brand recognition, sales weren’t completely nonexistent.

[Quantum 1-A: Over 500,000 Units Sold in First 6 Hours]

[Titan 2: Around 230,000 Units Sold in First 6 Hours]

Less than half of Quantum’s sales.

It wasn’t a price issue—it was an ecosystem issue.

Even the Titan 2, which used Lunar, could access infrastructure like KTalk,

but savvy users knew the real star was Quantum.

And that evening,

real-time data appeared on the dashboard in the conference room.

• New KTalk Subscribers: +4.2 Million

• Active Lunar Devices: +2.8 Million

• Quantum 1-A Pre-Orders: +1.3 Million

Exclamations of surprise filled the room.

“Sir, the pre-order numbers are rising way too fast.”

“Major e-commerce platforms like Armorzon, Ibear, AliExpress, and Pang Pang are all sold out.”

“Every forum is demanding more stock.”

I let out a delighted cry at the overwhelming reports.

I wasn’t too worried,

but I did think we should strike while the iron was hot.

“How’s the capacity expansion going?”

“The third phase of capacity expansion is complete, and the fourth phase is underway. However, after this, there won’t be much room left to increase capacity.”

The Dongtan Plant 1 site, which I’d purchased with Seong-hwan a few years ago, had reached its limits.

For further expansion, construction of Plant 2 on the recently acquired land needed to be completed quickly.

So, I decided to meet with Park Cheol-jin of Dojin Construction after a long time, to check the progress.

While I was at it, I’d also check on the Qatar project, which was in its final stages.