Restart life

Chapter 329, Page 0326: [Smartphones are the Real Direction]

Aside from deciding to enter the Hong Kong and Macau markets, opening up the ByteDance platform, adjusting advertising costs, and vigorously promoting Weibo, Chen Guiliang has not taken any other actions since obtaining funding from the United States.

The company executives were puzzled. Under Chang Zhongxiang's boasting, everyone really thought that doing e-commerce was a good thing.

The main reason is that Renren and HaiNei have a large number of loyal users, and these user groups can be fully utilized to develop e-commerce.

Chen Guiliang kept his suggestion to himself and never revealed his true thoughts.

Because the time isn't right yet!
In Chen Guiliang's view, doing business means targeting blue ocean markets.

E-commerce was still somewhat viable in 2006, but by 2007 it had become a red ocean market.

In 2006, venture capitalists flocked to invest in Web 2.0. By 2007, the Web 2.0 concept had suddenly cooled down, and venture capitalists then flocked to invest in e-commerce.

In that year alone, two to three hundred new e-commerce websites were established. Of these, 99% were websites you'd never even heard of before, and they disappeared in the tide of the internet.

So what is a blue ocean?

Smartphones, of course.

The transformation and breakthrough of platforms such as Renren and HaiNei should also be considered in the field of smartphones.

But we can't act now.

Whether it's acquiring a company with a mobile phone license, acquiring a design company, or poaching talent, the costs are too high at this stage.

We'll have to wait until after the 2008 financial crisis to talk about it.

By then, it will be very cheap to buy companies or poach talent.

Initially, joining the Android alliance and collaborating with all mobile phone brands worldwide was essential to resisting Apple's dominance. Trying to create a closed system on your own was suicidal; even the powerful Symbian system couldn't withstand it and ultimately ended up in the graveyard of history alongside Nokia!
Moreover, Apple has built up patent barriers in areas such as capacitive touchscreen technology.

Early adopters of smartphones either followed the path of Samsung and other brands, developing their own technology while simultaneously pursuing patent infringements and collectively accepting Google's protection, or they acted like Taiwanese sausage manufacturers, infringing on Apple's patents in an attempt to evade legal consequences, only to lose the lawsuit and have to pay the "Apple tax."

Even Samsung, because it stood out, couldn't get away with its patents even when they were just skirting the edges, and was also sued by Apple and had to pay up.

Chen Guiliang must and can only join the Android alliance. If anything goes wrong, Google and Samsung will take the blame, while he secretly infringes on Apple's patents to make money. He infringes on patents while simultaneously developing his own technology. Once domestic laboratories achieve a technological breakthrough, he can then circumvent Apple's patents and develop normally.

Domestic mobile phone brands, including Huawei and Vivo, all developed in this way, quietly.

……

After returning to China for a month and passing the quiet period following the IPO, Chen Guiliang finally began giving interviews.

I have to agree to interviews with certain media outlets.

These media outlets had a good relationship with Chen Guiliang and used to only say good things about him. Since they were so cooperative, Chen Guiliang naturally had to reciprocate; otherwise, the relationship would gradually fade.

The first was the China Youth Daily. The second was the Xihua City Daily. Then came the Shanghai Youth Daily, China Entrepreneur, and so on... None of them reported any negative news about Chen Guiliang; on the contrary, they kept praising him.

Chen Guiliang gave exclusive interviews to more than ten media outlets. He also gave the reporters generous travel expenses, which were included in the company's public relations budget.

The China Youth Daily's exclusive interview was titled: "China's Ark Goes Against the Current: Chen Guiliang Rings the Bell in Desperate Circumstances."

The article details ByteDance's IPO process, particularly highlighting the setbacks this year caused by the cooling of the Web 2.0 concept, which led to frequent obstacles in the pre-IPO review. Then came the volatility of the US stock market, making investors exceptionally cautious. Chen Guiliang and his team worked under immense pressure, conducting extensive roadshows, and ultimately overcame all obstacles to successfully list on the stock exchange.

The reporter's writing is exceptionally good; the details are written like a business novel. At key points, the reporter adds their own touches, such as how Chen Guiliang faced difficulties but gained recognition by telling Chinese stories.

After the newspaper was published, the public response was very positive.

Many readers were unaware for the first time that there were so many procedures involved in going public, and that Chen Guiliang had encountered so many troubles.

It's true that nothing is easy.

In particular, Chen Guiliang's roadshow arrangements were so busy that he even ate meals during the roadshows. He called them lunch meetings and dinner meetings, but in reality, it was just that there wasn't enough time for the roadshows, so he would bring investors over to eat while he was doing the roadshows.

After lunch, we immediately headed to the next meeting venue, without a break in between, as we had to hold a meeting with the team to discuss the matter.

The article in the Xihua City Daily was titled: "A young super-rich man is born in Sichuan: A Sichuan native staged a dramatic comeback in the United States."

As a major local newspaper, it naturally wanted to highlight its local character and continued its fervent praise of Chen Guiliang.

Media outlets in Sichuan, including those in Chongqing, widely reprinted this report.

If we only consider the Sichuan and Chongqing region, Chen Guiliang is more famous than Li Yanhong.

Zhu Mingyao, the CEO of ZBJ.com, is very adept at networking. Using reports about Chen Guiliang and ByteDance, he claimed that ByteDance's IPO was inseparable from ZBJ.com's profitable performance. He also said that Americans were imitating ZBJ.com, and then went around negotiating business, successfully securing numerous orders from companies.

Needless to say, Chen Guiliang's personal accounts on Renren and Haiwainet were already incredibly lively in the comment sections, with people congratulating him while also making fun of him.

"I was wrong. I shouldn't have called him Chen Eight Hundred Million; I should have called him Chen Ten Hundred Million. This time it's Ten Billion Dollars!"

"Share the profits, share the profits, everyone gets a share. I watched ByteDance grow from nothing, so I'm a spiritual shareholder. If I don't get stock options, Chen Shiyi is a wicked capitalist."

Chen Guiliang: Alright, alright, you're a spiritual shareholder, right? I'll give you 100 million yuan in spiritual options. You can cash them out the day your mental illness is cured.

"Does anyone remember when Chen Guiliang was in his senior year of high school, he told reporters about his 'small goal' of 100 million yuan? He wanted to earn 100 million yuan before graduating from university, and the reporters all laughed at the time."

"How many times has this been brought up? Don't those reporters have any shame?"

"The targeted advertising on Renren.com is amazing! A couple of days ago I searched for postgraduate entrance exams on the site and joined a postgraduate entrance exam interest group. Today I was bombarded with ads for postgraduate entrance exam study classes. In the same ad slot, my roommate was shown condoms."

"Hahaha, please tell me in detail what your roommate did."

"I don't know either. A few of us went to see what was going on, and my roommate got so angry that he said he would never use Renren again. Now everyone calls him 'Tao Ge' (a nickname for a guy).

"This is truly a sad story." "..."

……

Towards the end of the year, there are many industry conferences and award ceremonies.

One of them was called the "First Mobile Internet Conference," which was held at Peking University and was hosted by Mobile Circle Media (a comprehensive magazine covering the mobile phone industry chain).

Chen Guiliang will definitely attend in person, firstly because the event will be held on the Peking University campus, and secondly because he wants to get to know the editor-in-chief of "Mobile Circle".

In the future, when acquiring mobile phone manufacturers or mobile phone design companies, you can inquire with the editor-in-chief of "Mobile Phone Circle" for information.

By the way, Mr. Chen has changed his car again.

He'd ridden that beat-up secondhand bicycle for years, and for the past year it'd been parked downstairs and barely ridden. It was badly rusted and worn out; even thieves would shake their heads at it. So he went and bought a new one.

"Jingle Bell!"

There were quite a few students ahead of him, so Chen Guiliang slowed down and rang the bell to remind them.

The students shifted slightly, making way for a narrow passage.

Some people joked, "Wow, Mr. Chen has changed his car. A listed company really makes a difference."

Chen Guiliang laughed and said, "Of course it's different. This one is a brand new 28-inch bicycle, a well-established domestic brand, it costs two or three hundred yuan."

Another student asked, "Chen Guiliang, are you going to attend the Mobile Internet Conference?"

"Yes."

"I want to be in the audience too, can I join you?"

"boarding."

"okay!"

The student jumped onto the back of Chen Guiliang's bicycle and proudly boasted to the other students, "See that? I'm a big shot, Mr. Chen is my driver!"

Chen Guiliang laughed and scolded, "Just sit still and stop talking nonsense."

The crowd burst into laughter.

Two professors nearby also laughed at the sight. They had more life experience and their ideas differed from the students'.

The students might not think much of it, but the professors considered it remarkable.

They've seen too many people who, after achieving a little success and status, become arrogant and look down on everyone else.

Soon, Chen Guiliang drove his classmate to the venue of the Mobile Internet Conference.

There have been many so-called "first Mobile Internet Conferences," one in 2012 and another in 2014. The organizers and topics were different, but they all claimed to be the "first."

This shows that the effort in 2007 was not successful and will not have a significant impact on the future.

But the scale is actually quite large.

More than 100 organizations and companies participated in the conference, including: China Mobile Research Institute, Intel, Google, Nokia, Motorola, ARM, Lenovo Research Institute, Founder Apabi, Kongzhong, 3G Portal, Tencent Mobile, Sohu Mobile, Sina Mobile, etc.

In addition, there were professors and researchers from major universities and research institutes in Beijing.

Chen Guiliang wanted to take the opportunity to get to know many of the delegates at the conference in order to prepare for his official entry into the mobile phone market next year.

"Hello Mr. Chen, I am Wang Jun from Datou.com."

As soon as Chen Guiliang entered, someone greeted him.

"Hello, Mr. Wang, it's a pleasure to meet you."

"Holding the Mobile Internet Conference at Peking University this time can be considered as coming to Mr. Chen's home base."

"Haha, I wouldn't dare say that. ByteDance doesn't have enough experience in making mobile websites, so we should learn from your Datou.com."

"Not at all, Mr. Chen, you're too modest. Your mobile Weibo account is quite good."

"..."

Datou.com's positioning is similar to Kongzhong.com, but it has stronger social attributes and also functions as an SNS website like HaiNei.com.

It serves as an intermediary between the domestic and international networks and the air network, and has already developed millions of users.

This year, Datou.com became the fourth company in China to launch a microblogging-like product. The previous three were: HaiNei.com, Saiwo.com, and Kongzhong.com.

The two chatted as they walked, and upon entering the venue, someone from the organizers immediately came over to shake their hands.

"Mr. Chen, Mr. Wang, I am Pu Yuanbing, editor-in-chief of Mobile Phone Circle."

"Hello, Editor-in-Chief Pu, I've long admired your name."

This is the person Chen Guiliang wants to meet. "Mobile Phone Circle" doesn't just report on mobile phone websites; it also reports on news from the entire mobile phone industry chain.

As the editor-in-chief of the magazine, Pu Yuanbing knows almost all the well-known figures in the entire industry chain and has a deep understanding of every aspect of China's mobile phone industry chain.

Asking him about the trends in the mobile phone industry is more reliable than contacting a consulting firm directly.

(End of this chapter)