Who would still start a business seriously after being reborn?

Chapter 579 Collapse... It's broken.

The Audition Elf cheat was like a boulder thrown into a pond, causing ripples far exceeding Microsoft and Samsung's expectations.

Just as Microsoft's technical team arrived at T3, an even bigger wave was already brewing in the peripheral market.

This is no longer just a game-wide balance breakdown; it has quickly spread to the hardware market, especially the keyboard sector, which has also been affected.

The violent banging became a nightmare for countless internet cafes and KFC service centers.

The space bar, a key that is used moderately every day and is usually the most sturdy, has also encountered an unbearable burden in its life.

Players saw it as a way to unleash their passion, putting all their effort into every strike.

The result was disastrous.

Initially, after one or two weeks, some malfunctions and poor rebound began to appear.

Next came the complete collapse of a large area of ​​the spacebar – the keycaps broke, the bracket shattered, and the silicone dome on the bottom cracked or even stuck together.

Finally, the entire keyboard prematurely ended its mission due to the failure of its core keys.

This trend quickly impacted the entire keyboard industry chain.

The first to react were the major reputable keyboard brands.

After-sales service centers of brands such as Logitech, BenQ, and Microsoft Hardware Division were flooded with warranty applications within just a few weeks.

The reason for sending it for repair is highly consistent: the spacebar is not due to human-caused damage.

"This absolutely cannot be considered normal wear and tear!" The technical manager of a Logitech after-sales service center roared into the phone, looking at the mountain of injured people: "This looks more like they were hit with a hammer! We must adjust our warranty policy."

Similar conversations took place within each brand.

Cost pressures are like a mountain pressing down on us, making everyone feel uneasy.

Soon, a series of cold announcements quietly appeared in the corners of various brand websites:

[Dear customers, in view of the recent abnormal increase in the rate of abnormal wear and tear on keyboard products, in order to ensure sustainable service capabilities, our company has decided to adjust the warranty period for keyboard products from the original one year to three months, effective June 7, 2005...]

The news caused an uproar in the market.

Players and internet cafe owners were outraged, accusing the company of being irresponsible.

The criticism intensified, and just when everyone thought the keyboard manufacturer would realize its mistake, another announcement came:
[Dear customers, in view of the recent rapid increase in the abnormal wear and tear rate of keyboard products, after careful consideration, our group has decided to adjust the warranty period for keyboard products for the second time, shortening it from three months to one month, effective June 11, 2005...]

This only made the users criticize even more fiercely.

However, the complaints could not change the fact that the keyboards were still breaking down rapidly.

The bigger problem is that even with warranty coverage, the repair process is lengthy, and internet cafes and service centers simply can't afford to wait.

Every day business is suspended is a loss.

A huge vacuum suddenly appeared in the market.

At this critical juncture, a high-quality, affordable Samsung gaming keyboard with a tactile feel shines like a firefly in the night.

For internet cafe owners struggling to make ends meet due to high replacement costs, the price of 40 yuan is like a godsend.

What's more, it's backed by the international brand Samsung. Even though the logo looks a bit rough upon closer inspection, who cares?
"Buy a batch to tide us over! We won't feel bad if they break!"

"Samsung is a better brand than those no-name brands, right? And it's so cheap!"

User demand immediately began to grow explosively.

Southeast Asia, a port warehouse.

Chen Zhi looked at the mountain of containers in front of him and a satisfied smile appeared on his face.

Each shipping container was filled with meticulously packaged Samsung gaming keyboards.

These masterpieces from Honor Computer's Iwata City factory are ridiculously cheap and are adorned with Samsung logos that are indistinguishable from the real thing.

"Boss, Mr. Liu is urging us to deliver the third batch of goods. They're severely out of stock," a younger brother said, running up with the phone.

"Tell them that everything will arrive by the day after tomorrow at the latest," Chen Zhi shouted with a wave of his hand, full of vigor.

Nowadays, in Southeast Asian countries, from large computer malls in the capital to small appliance stores in towns and even roadside stalls, 'Genuine Samsung' keyboards are everywhere.

He picked up a keyboard and flicked the space bar hard with his fingers, making a crisp plastic sound.

At $5 apiece, it's more than half the price of Logitech products on the market. It looks nice and has the Samsung logo on it. What else would poor students and internet cafe owners buy if not this?
Countless players who are frantically pounding the spacebar because of "Audition" are rapidly wearing down these Samsung keyboards.

At this time, the production line of the Glory Computer Keyboard Factory in Iwata City was also roaring 24 hours a day, and the smell of plastic melting was pervasive.

The workers work in three shifts, but they are no longer producing complete computer sets; instead, they seem to be unable to meet the ever-growing demand for keyboards.

"Mr. Li, we've got another huge order! Southeast Asia has added another 500,000 units, and Mr. Shi from China is also pressing us, saying he'll take as many as we have." The production manager shouted hoarsely as he ran into Li Xiang's temporary office.

Li Xiang looked at the report, his brows furrowed.

Behind this spectacular scene lies a deeper strategic plan.

He knew the quality of these keyboards well; the spacebar design was practically a prime example of planned obsolescence, its materials and structure simply unable to withstand heavy typing.

"Can the quality... be reduced a little more?" Li Xiang asked, almost as if possessed.

He was surprised when he said that. As a person with a technical background, he actually started to think about how to reduce the quality.

The production manager paused for a moment, then whispered, "Mr. Li, actually, we've already reached our limit with the materials we're using. If we reduce them any further, they might not even pass the factory inspection, or they might break down in just a few days. That would actually cause more problems. The current situation is just right; it can last for a week or two, which is right at the point where the customers' tolerance is at its limit."

Li Xiang remained silent and waved for the manager to get back to work.

He walked to the window, looked at the bustling factory area outside, and felt a mix of emotions.

Cheng Yi is employing a massive, overt business strategy to extract huge profits while simultaneously destroying his competitors' distribution channels and Samsung's brand reputation.

However, this is not enough.

Just as Samsung keyboards were rapidly dominating the low-end market due to their price advantage, a marketing campaign aimed at completely clearing out the market was quietly launched.

Some sales promoters active in computer malls, all wearing T-shirts with a blurred Samsung logo and carrying boxes of brand-new Samsung keyboards, launched a strategy that left all competitors speechless—trade-in for a brand upgrade. Huge posters were also plastered throughout the corridors of major computer malls.

[Broken keyboard? Don't worry!]

Starting today, you can exchange any brand of damaged keyboard for a brand new original Samsung gaming keyboard!

The redemption details are as follows:

Used brand-name keyboards priced between 100-200 yuan can be exchanged for two brand-new Samsung keyboards!
Used brand-name keyboards priced between 200-300 yuan can be exchanged for two brand-new Samsung keyboards!
You can exchange a used brand-name keyboard priced at 300 or more for 3 brand-new Samsung keyboards!
Limited quantities available, while supplies last!
The news of the trade-in program quickly gained momentum.

In the computer mall, you can see crowds of people holding damaged keyboards, queuing up to exchange them.

Internet cafe owners were overjoyed.

The authorized dealers of those reputable keyboard brands were deserted, and they were annoyed but helpless as they looked at the long lines forming at the Samsung redemption point across the street.

They couldn't understand it. Had Samsung gone mad? How could they do something like this—losing money to gain publicity while destroying their own foundation?
Some individual users, even those who were looking for a bargain, brought their old keyboards that they had used for many years to try and redeem, and they actually succeeded!

At this moment, in the senior management meeting room of Samsung's Asia region.

An urgent report from the marketing department was presented to a group of senior executives.

"...Market monitoring has revealed that recently, a large number of keyboard products bearing our company's logo have appeared in Southeast Asia and parts of China. These products are priced far below normal production costs and are of extremely poor quality... Simultaneously, large-scale, unofficial trade-in programs have emerged, severely damaging our brand image and our genuine keyboard business... Preliminary investigations suggest this is an organized, large-scale counterfeiting and malicious commercial defamation campaign..."

The atmosphere in the meeting room was heavy.

"Investigate! Find out right now who's behind this!" Samsung Group Vice President and President of Asia Region Kim Joon-ho slammed his fist on the table in anger and roared, "Where's the legal department? What are they doing here? File a lawsuit immediately!"

“Our legal department has contacted the local law enforcement agencies, but these channels are very secretive, the distribution process is very complicated, and there seems to be local forces behind them, making the investigation very difficult… and…”

"And what?" Kim Jun-ho demanded angrily.

“And their trademark is only highly similar to ours.” The marketing representative immediately produced a photo and said, “Look at the differences between these two trademarks.”

Kim Jun-ho examined it carefully, then frowned and asked, "What's the difference?"

“Our logo has an ‘M’ in it, while theirs has an ‘N’,” the marketing representative said.

"Damn it!" Kim Junho looked at it again carefully and couldn't help but curse.

really.

The logo on this keyboard looks and is the same as theirs, but there are slight differences in the number of characters inside.

The fake is SANSUNG, while they are SAMSUNG.

However, if we use the pinyin format of Huaxia to distinguish them, the former is more like the genuine product.

Most importantly, aside from die-hard fans, who the hell can remember the differences between the letters in the logo?

The letters are all different. Even if we resolve this through legal channels, the best we can do is probably to force them to rectify the trademark within a specified period.

But right now, it's not a matter of rectifying trademarks within a specified period anymore.

They really can't afford to delay any longer.

"What's going on with Microsoft? Have they finally fixed that damn game cheat?"

"They're working on it at a breakneck pace, and they're in a real mess. The designer of that cheat is brilliant. As you know, it's easy to break but difficult to fix," a representative from the technical department immediately stood up and said.

The senior executives of Samsung's Asia region immediately felt a sense of frustration.

They seemed to be facing an invisible enemy whose attack methods were extremely despicable, and most importantly, very effective, hitting them right where it hurt.

If this terrible keyboard continues to be sold, their brand reputation will inevitably suffer a huge crisis.

They had a strong technical and legal team, but for a moment they didn't know where to start their counterattack.

Kim Jun-ho slowly sat down, calmed down, and said, "Immediately contact major Asian online media outlets to issue a statement and clarify as soon as possible that the Samsung keyboards on the market are counterfeit products, and that our SAM is not SAN."

"Yes!" The public relations manager immediately stood up and said, "I'll arrange it right now."

"Hmm." Kim Jun-ho said with a hint of regret, "Don't worry about the money. Brand influence is the most important thing right now."

"clear."

"President Cheng, the trade-in program has been running for a week, and we've already collected over two million damaged keyboards of various brands. The Yantai factory has also reached its production capacity limit, but it's still not enough to meet the demand. President Li asked if we should open a few more production lines to alleviate the pressure." In the office, Li Weiwei reported the latest results to Cheng Yi.

“No way.” Cheng Yi immediately rejected the idea. “The quality must be controlled at the Yantai factory. Even if it’s a little slower, it doesn’t matter. We can’t produce these inferior keyboards for long. This is just a small test.”

"Yes." Li Weiwei wrote it down.

"In addition, let Shi Lei and Chen Zhi take the next step." Cheng Yi said calmly, "Let them set up a repair shop locally, repair and refurbish those high-end brand keyboards that have been recycled, replace the spacebars with new ones, and then sell them at low prices to Europe and America through Huang Fei's channels, so as to stir up the keyboard market prices there. Since it's a carnival, we should make sure everyone gets a share."

“Yes.” Li Weiwei immediately understood Cheng Yi’s intention.

A chill ran down her spine.

She used to think Cheng Yi was getting arrogant, but this isn't just getting arrogant, it's practically sharpening his knife.

"And another thing," Cheng Yi added, "I heard that Audition Online has been updating quite frequently these past few days. I estimate that the Microsoft technical team has already arrived. You can have the Audition Online team prepare for the next version update. The anti-cheat war cannot fundamentally solve the problem; it can only be a chase. We need to update before they do and fight a war of attrition with them."

"Yes." Li Weiwei immediately wrote it down.

Cheng Yi's orders were quickly relayed to all departments by Li Weiwei.

A new round of technical breakthroughs has also begun at the Operating System Research and Development Center of Handong University.

After successfully developing Audition Elf and sparking a keyboard frenzy, Lin Qingyin's team barely rested before immediately throwing themselves into the development of the next version.

"This time, we must completely break down their anti-cheating team..." Lin Qingyin said, staring intently at the screen in front of her.

On the screen are the complex core code of Audition and the structure diagram of the disassembled Audition client from T3 Corporation.

“Simply assisting and disguising is no longer enough.” A core researcher pushed up his glasses and said with a serious expression, “Microsoft’s technical team is not to be trifled with. They may have already detected some abnormal data patterns, but they are looking for solid evidence and ways to minimize false bans. In the next version, we must be more aggressive and disrupt their rhythm.”

“Aggression…” A shrewd glint flashed in Lin Qingyin’s eyes as she said, “This time, we can attack their judgment itself.”

(End of this chapter)