Who would still start a business seriously after being reborn?

Chapter 672 Mobile Ecosystem

"The key to breaking the deadlock lies in the Chinese market and the online ecosystem," Cheng Yi said confidently. "The three German giants value their global channels, especially the mature markets in Europe and America. But they all know that the biggest growth engine in the future is in China, which is why companies like Microsoft are desperately trying to squeeze in."

"As a new species, BBA mobile phones will face great pressure in the early stages of the mainstream channels in Europe and the United States, where they will be besieged by Nokia and Motorola. However, if they can open up the market in China, the significance will be completely different."

He looked at Lei Jun, his gaze intense, and said, "And you are the key to unlocking the Chinese market. You have a deep understanding of the domestic government and enterprise market, the software ecosystem, and consumer psychology. Add to that the influence of our Momo Group in China..."

"Although Momo Group only holds 5% of BBA's shares, we control the resources they desperately need. I can package these resources as a dowry to support your appointment."

"I will propose to Enze Capital and Mr. Lei Jun that Momo Group should step in and offer a deep strategic partnership in exchange for a core executive position at BBA Company. This position will be responsible for emerging markets in Asia. And you are the best candidate recommended by Momo Group."

Cheng Yi's strategy was meticulously planned, cleverly transforming a disadvantage in shareholding into a resource advantage, which greatly impressed Lei Jun.

He hadn't expected that Cheng Yi had thought so far ahead behind the scenes, not only seeing the opportunity but also devising a path to realize it.

This is more than just a job offer; it's part of a carefully planned business strategy.

"I understand." Lei Jun let out a long breath, his eyes becoming incredibly determined, and said, "I can definitely do it."

“Very good!” Cheng Yi smiled sincerely and said, “Then, from this moment on, your identity is no longer just Lei Jun of Kingsoft Software. You need to start taking action immediately.”

Cheng Yi pressed the call bell on the table, and Li Weiwei immediately came in.

"Weiwei," Cheng Yi instructed quickly, "Contact the Group's Intelligence and Analysis Department. I need to see an in-depth analysis report within 24 hours on the latest financial reports of Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Audi, the backgrounds of their core management teams, and their major marketing decisions and their effects over the past three years."

"Also, coordinate with Honor Computer to arrange for Mr. Lei to visit our computer production line and R&D center as soon as possible, especially the hardware integration and quality control departments, so that he can have a more direct understanding of hardware manufacturing. Also, have the strategic investment department compile a detailed list of major global mobile phone brands, key component suppliers, and telecom operators."

The series of instructions were clear and unambiguous, demonstrating Cheng Yi's determination to quickly push Lei Jun onto a new track.

Li Weiwei quickly wrote it down and repeated it for confirmation, then hurriedly left the office.

Lei Jun felt this efficient, even somewhat oppressive, rhythm, but instead of feeling uncomfortable, he became even more excited.

He knew he was now on a fast track.

Cheng Yi walked over to Lei Jun, patted him on the shoulder, and said, “You’re going to be very busy from now on. You’ll need to assemble a small, efficient team of advisors to help you process information and conduct simulations. You’ll need to brush up on all the knowledge I just mentioned. You might even need to start learning basic German, at least to be able to understand some key business terms.”

"I will." Lei Jun nodded heavily.

Cheng Yi said, "I've prepared the best suite for you at the industrial park's guesthouse. The internet is great, and you'll receive a steady stream of materials. Use this time to brush up on your basics."

"Okay." Lei Jun said no more, picked up the folder and stood up.

Watching Lei Jun leave, Cheng Yi slowly walked back to the world map, his gaze falling on Europe once more.

He knew that placing Lei Jun as a pawn in the BBA game was an inevitable step.

Lei Jun's combination of an engineer's meticulousness and a marketing master's insight, along with his established network in Europe, is exactly what this new project needs.

In the following days, Lei Jun kept studying automotive-grade products, electronic product development and promotion, as well as the marketing strategies of several mobile phone giants.

Often, geniuses aren't scary; what's scary is that geniuses work harder than ordinary people.

Yanjing, the core area of ​​Zhongguancun, the headquarters building of Microsoft Asia United Group.

The office of President Waters was somewhat messy, with chairs, clutter, a whiteboard, and a constant flow of people coming and going.

This place is more like a temporary command center.

On the huge writing board are market data, user feedback and competitor updates from all over China.

At this moment, the curve representing the market share of the Moc-os system has already broken through the 70% mark, and the momentum shows no signs of slowing down.

Waters stared at the Microsoft system graph, which was showing a downward trend, and felt quite heavy-hearted.

This market, which he had once been determined to conquer, now filled him with an unprecedented sense of powerlessness.

They seem to have won the tug-of-war in Europe, but they appear to have been drawn into a much larger conflict.

Enze Capital appears to have lost, but it also seems like it has won.

This is fucking weird.

Now, he feels an even heavier burden on his shoulders.

He held a freshly printed in-depth analysis report in his hand, the report's conclusions glaringly obvious.

Moc-OS, with its deep optimization for low-configuration hardware and its closed-loop ecosystem encompassing internet cafes, gaming, and office environments, has successfully established a strong foothold among basic users and price-sensitive consumers. Its growth momentum is unlikely to reverse in the short term…

"Irreversible?" Waters gently placed the report on the expensive mahogany desk and said slowly, "In Microsoft's dictionary, there is no such word as 'irreversible,' only 'unresolved.'"

Standing before him were seven or eight core executives, including the Asia Regional Marketing Director, Chief Technology Officer, and Government Relations Director. Everyone was holding their breath, and the atmosphere was tense.

“We have to admit that we made a fatal mistake.” Waters’ voice echoed in the spacious office, filled with deep self-reflection.

"In the past, we were too focused on guiding users toward higher-performance hardware and a more glamorous Vista. But we neglected, or rather, we deliberately abandoned users who were still using computers from five years ago. Cheng Yi, this cunning speculator, seized our blind spot and occupied the territory we had given up with our own hands."

"Their growth is also partly due to the support of the Chinese government, after all, the Momo system now has China Software Group as a shareholder," said a senior executive of Chinese nationality.

Waters shook his head and said, "Very unlikely."

“The support the Chinese government can give them is very limited, mainly in terms of preferential treatment in government and corporate procurement,” Waters said. “But in many areas, the Momo system simply cannot do it, and they still need to grow.”

"In the general consumer sector, government support alone won't suffice," Waters sneered. "Even if the Chinese government assigns tasks to districts and counties to install it on users one by one, as long as we come up with a better option, many users will still install it and then uninstall it."

"A market economy should still be value-oriented."

Waters looked around at everyone, especially the Chinese executives, and said, "Don't worry, the Chinese government doesn't dare to openly protect the Momo OS system. If they dare to do so, it will be an advantage for us. We can use the power of the government to solve this problem."

Waters sighed and said, "However, I think that given the Chinese government's prudence, they are unlikely to give us this leverage. In other words, if we want to regain the market, we still have to rely on market forces."

He walked to the writing tablet, pointed sharply at the curve representing the Momo OS system, and said, "Now, we've not only lost market share, but the foundation of our Windows brand is also beginning to crumble. Once users form the perception that 'Windows is slow and laggy, while the Momo system is fast and easy to use,' once this system gains a foothold in China, we can leverage its massive user base and cash flow to complete technological iterations and ecosystem expansion..."

At this point, Waterston paused, then said with deep emotion, "Gentlemen, can you imagine what it will be like when it carries the successful experience of the Chinese market out of Asia and into emerging markets in Africa and Latin America that also have a lot of outdated equipment? It will not be a commercial competition, but a complete erosion of our global monopoly position."

"Therefore, we must, and we must, block its path of expansion only in China."

Waters looked at the Chief Technology Officer and asked, "I'd like to ask why our XP Speed ​​Edition hasn't been optimized to its full potential as I requested?"

The Chief Technology Officer adjusted his glasses and cautiously began, “Mr. Waters, I understand your concerns. However, headquarters has high hopes for the promotion of Vista. If we release an XP Extreme Edition in Asia now, and further optimize it for low-end computers, this… runs counter to our long-term strategy and may cause concern from headquarters and partners like Intel…”

“Strategy?” Waters interrupted him, saying, “Survival is the highest strategy! Tell headquarters that if the Chinese market is lost, Vista’s promotion in the Asia-Pacific region will lose its most important foothold. As for Intel…”

He snorted and said, "They've enjoyed the monopoly benefits for so many years, it's time for them to pay some price to protect this market. During the last round of sanctions, they were just going through the motions, and their contribution was even less than that of Chaowei."

He gave no one a chance to question him, stating firmly, "I'm in charge of the Asia-Pacific region now. Just do as I say!"

"I've pulled the most skilled experts from our Seattle headquarters, those with expertise in the Windows NT kernel, memory management, and driver models, and asked them to optimize a slimmed-down version of XP Speed ​​Edition for me within ten days, based on our Speed ​​Edition framework. My only requirement is that, under extremely low-spec conditions with a Celeron 1GHz CPU and 256MB of RAM, the system's smoothness and stability must completely surpass Moc-OS. I want you to perform surgery on me, stripping away all non-core services, fancy visual effects, and even some future scalability, leaving only the most essential stability and compatibility."

The chief technology officer immediately fell silent.

Waters is on the right track, but there's too much resistance to it.

The XP Speed ​​Edition project, specifically for China and Southeast Asia, has been in development for several months. Although it was completed long ago, there is considerable resistance from headquarters. After all, the Vista system, which Microsoft Group has invested heavily in developing, is about to be released, and this release of Vista will drive another wave of graphics card replacements.

However, if XP Speed ​​Edition is released, the release of Vista will be delayed, which will inevitably cause great dissatisfaction among partners such as Intel.

However, Microsoft's efforts in Europe have not been successful, and it seems that XP Speed ​​Edition is the only option left.

"Furthermore," Waters turned to the Marketing Director, "we're launching a public welfare campaign to revitalize genuine Windows systems across all our Microsoft-certified partners in Asia. The slogan is 'Say goodbye to lag, get factory optimization, and give your old computer a new lease on life!' We can provide almost free official licenses, and we must get this system on every old computer in every corner of China in the shortest possible time."

"Yes!"

"Next, I should have a good talk with that guy Lee Jae-young."

The atmosphere inside the reception room of Samsung's headquarters building in Seoul, South Korea, was very serious.

Waters sat opposite Li Zairong and got straight to the point: "Mr. Li, I think you have seen Enze Capital's performance in Munich. That Lei Jun, who joined forces with Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Audi to make some automotive-grade chips, is actually not making any in-car mobile phone accessories at all, but a mobile phone that is completely aimed at the high-end market. If they succeed, it will probably be a disruptive challenge to the existing mobile phone landscape."

Lee Jae-yong's face remained calm, revealing no inner turmoil. He simply nodded slightly, signaling Waters to continue.

He certainly knew what BBA Mobile Communications wanted to do, and this matter had already sparked heated discussions within Samsung.

“Alright, let’s set aside those flashy but impractical smart driving concepts and look at the essence.” Waters said sharply, “What did Enze Capital provide? ARM’s chip architecture, capacitive touch technology, Android operating system… Chairman Li, you know better than me what the combination of these three things means.”

"This means that Europeans are trying to build a mobile ecosystem completely independent of the existing mobile phone system and core American technologies, from chips and hardware to operating systems." Waters raised his voice a few decibels and said, "Currently, this ecosystem also relies on the brands and channels of the German automotive industry. If they succeed, who will be the first to be impacted?"

He answered his own question with a cold laugh: "It's automotive electronics. How many automotive chips, displays, and storage devices does Samsung supply to global automakers every year? When Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Audi start using products from European small and medium-sized semiconductor companies invested in by Enze Capital in their own phones, will they still be 100% dependent on Samsung in the future? And this is just the beginning."

(End of this chapter)