chsdbacks Chapter 11 Channel Lockdown
Chapter 11 Channel Lockdown
A week later, Su Chen had twelve F2 engineering prototypes that had passed the tests.
Each aircraft underwent at least 48 hours of continuous flight testing by Zhang Lei's team—indoor hovering, outdoor wind resistance, rapid maneuvering, long-endurance endurance, and image transmission distance limits—all of which were passed.
At the same time, good news also came from Fang Xu's side.
The court approved the application to return part of the frozen funds in advance, and 180,000 of the 230,000 will be transferred to Hongyuan Intelligent's company account within three working days.
With the remaining less than 200,000 in the account, Su Chen had a total of nearly 380,000 in usable funds.
It's tight, but it's enough.
It's enough to start small-scale production of the first batch of F2s—the material and production costs for about one hundred complete aircraft.
Su Chen convened the company's second all-staff meeting on a Monday morning.
This time, the atmosphere in the workshop was completely different from the last time.
The last time was during an emergency assembly in a crisis, and everyone's face showed unease.
This time, most people's expressions were filled with anticipation.
Although the factory has not yet resumed normal production during this period, news of the new flight control board upgrade and the test flight of the F2 engineering prototype could not be kept secret in the small company of more than fifty people. Especially on the day of the maiden flight, Zhang Lei was so excited that he could not contain himself. That night, he said in the technical group's group chat that "the F2's flight performance exceeded expectations," and the news immediately spread throughout the entire company.
Although the employees did not understand the technical details of flight control algorithms and sensor fusion, they knew a very simple truth: if the product is good, there will be a way to survive.
Su Chen stood on that familiar metal tool cabinet, facing everyone.
"I have two announcements to make."
"First, production lines will resume operation starting this Wednesday. However, we will no longer produce the Flyer F1; instead, we will fully switch to the upgraded version—the Flyer F2."
"The difference between F2 and F1 can be summed up in one sentence: for the same price, flying feels like using a machine that costs twice as much."
A murmur of discussion arose in the workshop. Several workers who had participated in the on-site support for the test flight took the lead in applauding, inspiring those around them to join in.
"The second thing," Su Chen said, as the applause subsided, "I've arranged for Manager Meng to lead a team to introduce the new product to dealers starting this week. We'll be bringing engineering prototypes of the F2 to demonstrate it on-site, letting them see our product capabilities firsthand."
He paused, his gaze sweeping across everyone's faces.
"I know the returns have been a difficult experience for everyone. But from today onwards, Hongyuan is no longer the Hongyuan with quality issues. We are the Hongyuan that has developed industry-leading flight control technology."
"This is our chance to turn the tide."
The applause was even more enthusiastic than last time.
As Su Chen jumped down from the tool cabinet, Zhou Ming leaned forward and whispered, "Mr. Su, these sample units will definitely perform well when we demonstrate them to the distributors. But the problem is—even if the distributors are satisfied with the product, whether they're willing to place an order depends on their confidence in our company. The return incident happened less than a month ago..."
"I know," Su Chen nodded, "so I won't foolishly wait for the distributor to change their mind."
"I have a plan."
He patted Zhou Ming on the shoulder.
I'll explain in detail later.
……
Meng Xiaoting's channel promotion will begin on Wednesday.
She started visiting dealers at eight in the morning, carrying two F2 engineering prototypes and a portable charging case.
Our first stop was "Yidian Digital" in Nanshan District, one of Hongyuan's closest distributors. The owner, surnamed Wang, was in his forties and had been in the digital product retail business for over ten years, with excellent connections in the industry.
Meng Xiaoting arranged a time over the phone, and the other party agreed to give her twenty minutes.
When she arrived at the store, Mr. Wang's attitude was more polite than she had expected—there was no cold face or excuses, but there was a clear sense of distance behind the politeness.
"Manager Meng, please sit down and have some tea."
"Brother Wang, you're too kind. I'm here today to show you our new Flyer F2."
Meng Xiaoting took an F2 out of the box and placed it on the table in front of Boss Wang.
Mr. Wang's gaze lingered on the F2 for a few seconds—it looked very similar to the F1, but he noticed the newly added digital image transmission module at the bottom and the slightly modified landing gear design.
"It doesn't look like much has been changed," said Boss Wang.
"The exterior changes aren't that significant, but the interior is completely different," Meng Xiaoting said with a smile. "How about this, Brother Wang, let's fly around in the open space by the entrance and see how it goes."
After hesitating for a moment, Boss Wang stood up.
Five minutes later, Boss Wang stood in the open space in front of his shop, watching the F2 perform various maneuvers in the air. His expression changed from polite to serious, and from serious to focused.
In the end, it turned into shock.
"This...this is a flight control system that can be made for a cost of two thousand yuan?" Boss Wang turned to look at Meng Xiaoting.
"Our new boss personally wrote the flight control firmware," Meng Xiaoting said, seizing the opportunity. "Brother Wang, the F2 is priced at 3499, 500 more expensive than the original F1, but it adds digital image transmission, making the flight control performance a qualitative leap. At this price point, no competing product on the market can rival it."
Boss Wang fell silent.
He looked at the F2, which was still hovering steadily in the air, and unconsciously rubbed his fingers together.
His ten years of experience in digital retail told him—this product could sell. Not just "a little," but "a lot."
But the first thing he said was:
"Manager Meng, to be honest, I'm impressed with this product. Its flight performance truly surpasses all competitors in the same price range."
"but--"
Meng Xiaoting's heart sank.
"But I recently signed an exclusive support agreement with Tianying."
"What agreement?" Meng Xiaoting was stunned.
"Tianying has launched a 'Core Distributor Support Program,' increasing the annual rebate by two percentage points, and there are also quarterly performance bonuses," Boss Wang said with a hint of helplessness. "The condition is—my quarterly sales of Tianying products cannot be less than 60%."
Meng Xiaoting's face turned pale instantly.
The 60% requirement means that at least half of the shelves and recommended spots in Mr. Wang's store must be reserved for Tianying products. The remaining 40% must be allocated to DJI, ZeroTech, and other brands, leaving almost no space for Hongyuan.
"When was this agreement signed?" Meng Xiaoting asked.
"It's been going on for the last few days. Tianying's sales director came over personally to discuss it, saying that next year's new policy has been locked in in advance."
Meng Xiaoting remained silent for a few seconds.
"Brother Wang, do you think it's just a coincidence that Tianying suddenly launched this policy at this time?"
Boss Wang's expression subtly changed.
Having been in the industry for so many years, he certainly didn't believe it was a coincidence. Tianying suddenly implemented such a powerful channel-locking policy, and the timing was perfect, coinciding with Hongyuan's launch of a new product—the intention behind it was obvious.
But knowing is one thing, doing business is another.
The two-percentage-point rebate increase from Tianying means he can earn an extra tens of thousands of yuan each year. In the current market environment, tens of thousands of yuan is not a small amount.
"Manager Meng, you're in business too, you should understand my predicament," Mr. Wang said with genuine apology. "I know the product is really good. But the terms Tianying offered were there, and I couldn't refuse."
Meng Xiaoting forced a smile and said nothing more.
She put the F2 back in the box, said goodbye to Boss Wang, and got into the car.
Then she took out her phone and opened today's visit schedule.
There are still five more distributors to reach.
She gritted her teeth and started the car.
……
At 7:30 p.m., Meng Xiaoting dragged two boxes containing F2 prototypes back to the second-floor office area of Hongyuan Intelligent.
Her face looked very pale.
Su Chen was discussing the mass production schedule of the F2 with Zhang Lei in the conference room when he saw Meng Xiaoting walk in. He immediately read the result from her expression.
"How is it?"
"A complete failure." Meng Xiaoting put the box on the ground, her voice filled with suppressed anger. "We visited six distributors, and every single one of them said the product was good, competitive, and promising after seeing the demonstration. But every single one of them refused to order from us."
"What's the reason?"
"The same reason—Tianying's 'Core Dealer Support Program'."
Meng Xiaoting recounted in detail what she had learned that day.
Tianying's channel lock-in policy covers almost all core distributors in South China. In exchange for increased rebates, quarterly bonuses, and priority supply rights, distributors are required to maintain a minimum of 60% of their sales from Tianying products each quarter.
"It's not sixty percent; in fact, the space left for new brands is less than forty percent," Meng Xiaoting added. "Because brands like DJI and ZeroTech are mandatory for distributors, they've already taken up most of the remaining space. What's left for Hongyuan is probably less than five percent."
Silence fell over the meeting room.
Zhang Lei's brows furrowed. He didn't understand business strategy, but he could tell what it meant—no matter how good the product was, if no one was willing to sell it, it was worthless.
"This was done by Tianying on purpose," Zhang Lei said in a low voice.
"Of course it's intentional," Meng Xiaoting said through gritted teeth. "Wu Zheng was rejected when he tried to acquire us last time, so now he's changed his tactics—he'll block your way if you don't buy."
Su Chen listened quietly without interrupting.
His fingers tapped lightly on the table a few times, the rhythm was slow, as if he was thinking about something.
"How many dealers does Tianying's support program cover?" he asked.
"I've confirmed fourteen companies so far, all of which are the core professional drone distributors in South China. There are also some general digital product distributors, which I haven't contacted yet, but I estimate the situation is similar," Meng Xiaoting replied.
Su Chen asked another question:
"What about online channels? Those distribution stores on Tmall and JD.com?"
"We haven't received similar messages online yet," Meng Xiaoting thought for a moment, "but online distributors have already suspended cooperation due to the return incident, and rebuilding trust will take time."
"Mm." Su Chen nodded and then stood up.
He walked to the window and looked out at the already darkened industrial park. A few streetlights were on in the distance, casting a warm yellow glow in the damp night sky.
"Why do you think Skyhawk would use this method to deal with us?" Su Chen's voice was calm.
Zhang Lei and Meng Xiaoting exchanged a glance.
"Because our F2s are a threat to them?" Zhang Lei asked tentatively.
"That's right." Su Chen turned around. "If the F2 were just a mediocre product, Tianying wouldn't have wasted millions in channel costs on some kind of support program. The fact that they did this proves one thing—"
"They are afraid of us."
This statement subtly changed the atmosphere in the meeting room.
Meng Xiaoting's anger subsided somewhat, replaced by a strange feeling—excitement?
Yes, it's inspiring.
A large company that sells 100,000 units a year would spend millions to blockade a small factory with only 50 employees—who would do such a thing if they weren't forced into it?
"So the problem isn't with the product," Su Chen continued. "The product has already proven its value. The problem is—how do we bypass channel blockades and get the product into consumers' hands?"