Who would still start a business seriously after being reborn?

Chapter 562 QR Code

Cheng Yi stood up and asked with a smile, "What did Ma Huateng say?"

Kong Feng quickly said, "Mr. Ma means that he wants our Global Vision to help promote it, and it would be best if we could give him a discount on the promotion fee."

"Approved." Cheng Yi nodded and said, "Mr. Ma should have no problem dealing with MSN."

In its previous life, Microsoft did not pay much attention to MSN. In China, MSN was not even updated once a year or so, and its main focus was on a laid-back approach.

But things are different now. The meteoric rise of Momo Group has caught the attention of Microsoft.

The first to be affected is Tencent.

However, given the foundation QQ has built in China, it is unlikely that Microsoft will replace QQ in the short term.

Their model, which combines games and instant messaging software, is quite cutting-edge.

Unlike other games, Audition Online places great emphasis on social interaction, which is also a key aspect of instant messaging software.

Combining the two makes it incredibly resilient.

Most importantly, it has the support of Microsoft and Samsung.

Cheng Yi took out his phone and dialed the number of Samsung President Lee Jae-young.

As soon as the call connected, Li Zairong's gentle laughter came from the other end: "President Cheng, you rarely call me. What's up?"

Lee Jae-yong's tone was relaxed, but with a hint of schadenfreude.

Cheng Yi smiled and said, "It's nothing, I just heard that you recently invested in a game company, so I was just checking in."

Li Zairong asked doubtfully, "Investing in game companies? That's impossible. Game companies have too low profit margins and have already been removed from our industry chain."

Cheng Yi wasn't surprised by Lee Jae-young's answer. He smiled and asked, "Does this T3 company have no connection with Samsung?"

“Absolutely no connection.” Li Zairong immediately said, “Their company is quite wealthy, so they purchased our offline promotion channels. President Cheng, you don’t suspect that we have any connection with this company, do you? We’re just doing business. If you need, our offline promotion channels can also be used by Momo Group.”

Lee Jae-young's words were watertight, completely distancing himself from T3 and their relationship.

Cheng Yi laughed and said, "That's good. Since it has nothing to do with Samsung, then I can go all out."

Li Zairong chuckled and said, "President Cheng, this game doesn't seem to conflict with yours, does it? Their game categories are completely different from yours."

"Indeed, there was no conflict."

"Then why does President Cheng still want to deal with them?" Li Zairong asked tentatively.

Cheng Yi slowly said, "Although there was no conflict, I just don't like them. They run a game company in Asia, but they don't come to our Momo Group to pay their respects. That's a bit impolite."

"..." Cheng Yi's arrogant words left Li Zairong with only the sound of breathing.

Cheng Yi said, "Alright, I won't bother you any longer, Mr. Li. I'll hang up now."

Cheng Yi hung up the phone and asked, "Do you have any Samsung promotional flyers?"

"Yes." Kong Feng immediately went to get a few flyers and handed them to Cheng Yi.

The flyer design is excellent, and the paper quality is also good; it should cost at least two cents per flyer.

Cheng Yi carefully read through the flyer, and his gaze sharpened when he saw the logo in the lower right corner.

This...this even has a QR code?
Am I seeing things?

He checked carefully and confirmed that it was indeed a QR code.

Below the QR code, there is a line of smaller text.

Scan the QR code to download...

Holding this flyer, Cheng Yi felt as if he had traveled through time.

"What is this thing?" Cheng Yi asked Kong Feng.

Kong Feng said, "This is a Japanese QR code, which is an abbreviation for Quick Response."

"How do you use it?" This was indeed a blind spot for Cheng Yi.

Kong Feng said, "It depends on the system. If it's a bloatware system, you'll need a scanning tool. If it's a Windows Mobile smart system, you can just take a picture with your camera to recognize it."

Cheng Yi's phone uses the Windows Mobile operating system, a smart system that Microsoft heavily invested in and used in smartphones as early as 2001.

Cheng Yi took a picture of the QR code on the flyer with his camera, and soon, a download request for the MSN mobile app appeared on his phone.

Do you agree to download the MSN mobile version to your phone? (2.1MB)

"Fuck!" Cheng Yi couldn't help but swear, drawing puzzled glances from many people around him.

Audition Online was a trap he set for Microsoft and Samsung, so he didn't take Audition Online seriously.

But now, seeing this familiar QR code, Cheng Yi felt a little flustered.

This was the first time he had been shocked since his rebirth.

He suddenly realized that Microsoft and Samsung were not as simple as he had seen them in his previous life.

In the PC field, he is a versatile expert who has worked his way up, but in the mobile phone field, Cheng Yi is not familiar with it. In his opinion, QR codes are a product of several years in the future, and QR code scanning for downloads will not be available until the smartphone era in 2009.

In his plan, smartphones won't appear for several more years.

But now he suddenly realizes that smartphones have already begun to appear subtly and gradually.

This kind of subtle influence is accumulated little by little, like a gentle rain nourishing the earth.

The emergence of Apple smartphones merely propelled smartphones to an explosive peak, but it was not the starting point for smartphones.

The rollout of 3G networks in China was too slow, so many people attribute the emergence of smartphones to the era of Apple smartphones.

But no one, including Cheng Yi, realized it.

3G networks were first introduced in countries such as Japan, South Korea, and the United States as early as 2001.

However, China's 3G network was not completed until 2008.

This is the error caused by slow development!
Such errors are too fatal for businesses.

The rise of smartphones in 2008 was simply because 3G networks appeared in China that year, not because the whole world was waiting for the smartphone industry to take off in 2008.

Seeing Cheng Yi standing there in a daze, Kong Feng said, "QR codes are nothing special. They've been open to free licensing for a long time. Two years ago, Japan promoted QR code applications on mobile phones. We don't use them much here, but Japan has 60 to 70 million QR code users. They use them for things like downloading apps and ringtones."

"Hmm." Cheng Yi didn't expect that a flyer would actually give him a wake-up call.

Cheng Yi glanced at Kong Feng and asked, "Mr. Kong, how much do you know about smartphone operating systems?"

Kong Feng is a senior operating system expert in the industry. Although he is now involved in games, which are universally criticized, his understanding of operating systems is still very comprehensive. He thought for a moment and said, "Smartphone systems are constrained by hardware issues. I don't think this path is necessarily viable; it's just a concept."

Kong Feng immediately added, "For example, Microsoft's Windows Mobile has been researched for so many years, but there hasn't been any substantial breakthrough. Mobile phone memory is so limited, and they are now focusing all their energy on how to reduce the size of the software. I think an industry that only focuses on subtraction and not addition has no future."

From the current perspective, Kong Feng's analysis is not without merit.

This isn't just Kong Feng's opinion; all experts researching operating systems in this era share this view.

The limitations of mobile phone hardware make smart systems a joke.

That's why Microsoft completely missed the boat on intelligent operating systems.

"Oh, right," Kong Feng suddenly said, "I watched an overseas press conference a while ago, and it seems that Microsoft is going to release the Wi-Fi function for Windows Mobile phones in August."

"?" Cheng Yi was stunned again.

He suddenly realized that the smartphone business needed to be rolled out as soon as possible.

In the smartphone field, it was the most important step for him to overtake Microsoft and break free from its constraints.

Without this track, Momo Group may forever remain a lousy internet cafe operator subject to Microsoft's control.

Enze Capital has been increasing its investment in Andy Rubin, the father of Android, but so far, Andy Rubin has not produced a decent smart system.

In the semiconductor field, which Enze Capital has invested in, there are not many companies that have made substantial progress. Cheng Yi was not in a hurry at first, but now that he has discovered that his understanding has been slightly flawed, he realizes the seriousness of the problem.

After hastily ending the meeting, Cheng Yi grabbed the flyer and hurriedly returned to his office.

He turned on his computer, enabled the VPN, and entered the addresses of several professional technical forums and industry analysis websites into the browser's address bar.

The page loads very quickly, and a large amount of information in English, Japanese, and Korean comes to you.

Keyword search: Mobile OS Market Share 2005...

Keyword search: Smartphone OS Development...

Keyword search: QR Code Adoption Asia...

Keyword search: Windows Mobile 2005 Features...

The search engine results came up quickly.

In 2005, the Symbian system still held an absolute dominant position. The flagship models of giants such as Nokia, Sony Ericsson, and Motorola were almost all equipped with the Symbian system. In the global smartphone shipments that year, Symbian accounted for an astonishing 72.8%. At this time, Nokia's N series, which was hailed as the king of smartphones, had begun to emerge.

Overseas forums are also filled with enthusiastic discussions and resource sharing on the development of the Symbian S60 platform.

Its maturity and ecosystem sophistication have exceeded Cheng Yi's expectations for smartphones of this era.

As Kong Feng said, Microsoft has not been without achievements in this area.

Their latest version, Windows Mobile 5.0, was recently released and has gained a foothold in personal digital assistants and some business models, with Samsung being its biggest partner.

Windows Mobile's iconic Start Menu and Office Mobile suite became their main selling points.

Cheng Yi also confirmed the information mentioned by Kong Feng in several forums. Microsoft did indeed plan to add WiFi support modules to some Windows Mobile devices in the third quarter of 2005, which was regarded as an important leap for smartphones.

The remaining operating systems are much less competitive.

While BlackBerry OS enjoys a near-monopoly among North American business elites and boasts exceptional security, its lack of closed ecosystem and entertainment features has limited its global reach.

As for Palm OS, the former king of the PDA era, it has been struggling in the wave of smartphone transformation, with its market share being significantly squeezed by Symbian and Microsoft, mainly relying on a few loyal users and specific industry applications.

Currently, the hottest concept on overseas technology forums is Linux Mobile. Although its open-source community is very active, it is fragmented in versions and has a rough user experience. It still has a long way to go before it becomes a mature and commercially viable mainstream operating system. Andy Rubin, the father of Android, who was invested in by Enze Capital, is now studying this field.

In addition, Cheng Yi confirmed something else, something that made him feel slightly excited.

QR code applications.

He never imagined that QR code applications would be so deeply integrated into daily life in developed countries.

Beyond just scanning flyers to download apps, QR codes have an extremely wide range of applications, including convenience store payments, e-ticketing, information inquiries, and quick website access.

NTT DoCoMo, Japan's largest mobile operator, is at the forefront of QR code promotion. Its massive user base far exceeds the 60 to 70 million mentioned by Kong Feng. What surprised Cheng Yi the most was that the APIs and development tools related to the QR code ecosystem were already quite mature.

However, he had never paid attention to this field.

Since his rebirth, he has been doing things based on his knowledge from his previous life. He rarely uses VPNs to check current overseas information. Most of the information is compiled by his secretary and assistant from overseas forums and then summarized for him to read.

Li Weiwei and her group probably didn't realize what the QR code represented.

Cheng Yi scrolled through the webpage, his brows furrowing deeper and deeper.

He was like a chess player in control of the whole game, but suddenly discovered that there was a vast battlefield outside the chessboard that he had never set foot on, yet where fierce battles had already broken out.

This feeling is very unpleasant; this is the consequence of not studying.

Fortunately, Samsung was kind enough to help him point out this very serious problem through on-the-ground promotion.

Momo Group is a one-man show run by Cheng Yi.

The advantage of a one-man rule is that it ensures that orders are obeyed, but the disadvantage is that if the leader of the one-man rule lacks vision, the group will slowly decline.

I must study!

The emergence of QR codes served as a significant warning to Cheng Yi.

This world is far from what he knew in his previous life.

His understanding was invincible in China, but once he stepped into the world, he discovered that the information he had obtained in his previous life in China was seriously deviated from the truth.

Microsoft and Samsung's joint promotion of MSN+ Audition Online, using QR codes for rapid user acquisition, is not just a competition in social networking and gaming; it's more like a strategic move to secure territory and cultivate user habits for the upcoming mobile internet era.

Once the World Esports Championships conclude, we must increase our investment in the smartphone sector.

Just as Cheng Yi was contemplating his future development path, his phone rang.

The call was from Johnson.

"President Cheng Yi, good afternoon." Johnson's signature American English, with a slightly lazy tone, came from the other end of the phone.

Cheng Yi replied in fluent English, "Mr. Johnson, is there anything I can do for you?"

“It’s not a service,” Johnson said with a gentle smile. “I just want to ask you for a favor, about the Lianjiang Group.”

"Lianjiang Group?" Cheng Yi raised an eyebrow.

Since Zhao He's downfall, Lianjiang Group's internet cafe business has almost come to a standstill. They have been operating in accordance with Momo Group's requirements, but since Momo Group has to give 70% of the revenue to third parties, they are not having a very pleasant time.

(End of this chapter)