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Chapter 342, page 0339: [Mobile OMS System]

Because each episode of "One on One" has a fixed topic, and it is often related to current social phenomena, it is frequently discussed in newspapers right after it airs.

Among them are major newspapers such as Southern Metropolis Daily.

The episode featuring Chen Guiliang was a kind of spice in the Two Sessions period.

The previous episode mainly discussed the issue of high housing prices, while the next episode discussed the employment difficulties faced by college graduates. All the guests invited were representatives of the National People's Congress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. Isn't that incredibly prestigious? Yet, it still manages to be down-to-earth.

Sandwiched between these two programs, if Chen Guiliang doesn't spout nonsense, it will be difficult for him to attract public attention, or even get newspaper reports and discussions.

Chen Guiliang, who had worked as a reporter before his rebirth, knew very well what kind of news those newspapers wanted. He could even guess the direction of their reports and their general headlines.

Heated Debate on the Future of the Smartphone Industry: The "Queen of Counterfeit Phones" and a Peking University Graduate Make a Bold Bet!

Yes, betting is the most eye-catching thing.

Newsmakers need sensational stories; as long as you provide them, they're willing to promote for free.

After more than twenty newspapers reported on it, many readers' first reaction was: What is a smartphone? How is it different from a current mobile phone?
This shows that other competitors don't know how to create hype. Lenovo made a high-profile announcement that it would make smartphones, but its announcement lacked any newsworthy elements. It simply failed to attract the attention of ordinary readers.

What's more interesting than Chen Guiliang making bets with people?
A few days after the program aired, Huang Xiaoqing, the director of the Mobile Research Institute, personally came to Chen Guiliang to have a discussion.

The two had met before, at the first Mobile Internet Conference held at Peking University.

"Dean Huang, you're too kind. I should be the one paying you a visit," Chen Guiliang said warmly.

Huang Xiaoqing laughed and said, "Not at all. I heard that President Chen is going to make smartphones, so I came to see if there are any opportunities for cooperation."

Chen Guiliang asked, "Does China Mobile have any smartphone-related projects?"

Huang Xiaoqing countered, "Have you ever heard of OMS?"

"Forgive my ignorance," Chen Guiliang shook his head.

Huang Xiaoqing said, "OMS is the smartphone operating system that China Mobile is developing. Our goal is to have all domestically produced phones use this system. Microsoft dominated the computer system back then, and we can't let foreigners dominate the mobile phone system now."

Chen Guiliang asked in surprise, "China Mobile actually has such a plan? Is it already underway?"

Huang Xiaoqing said, "The OMS project was launched in January last year, and I was responsible for its establishment and served as the project leader. In March last year, it was decided to base it on open source technology. In September last year, Bosi Communications Company was established to be responsible for the technical development of the OMS system, and a technical alliance was formed with companies such as Google and Marvell."

Chen Guiliang was puzzled.

Is China Mobile really that advanced?

Their mobile operating system project has been in the works for over a year and they have even formed an alliance with Google.

But Android hasn't been released yet, has it?

Chen Guiliang asked, "What is the OMS system based on?"

Huang Xiaoqing said, "Google recently open-sourced the AOSP (Android) code, and we have already determined which code to base our OMS system on."

China Mobile's OMS plan was very ambitious, but it went astray from this point on.

They developed it based on early Android open-source code, and it's completely different from the real Android.

Huang Xiaoqing continued, "Many domestic mobile phone brands, including Lenovo, have decided to adopt China Mobile's OMS. We hope that HarmonyOS phones can also use the OMS system, and together we can build a mobile phone alliance that belongs to the Chinese people."

It wasn't just Lenovo; later, some Samsung and Motorola phones in China also adopted the China Mobile OMS system.

Mobile companies still have a lot of appeal.

"Well... let me think about it," Chen Guiliang said.

Although Chen Guiliang didn't understand the OMS system, he could guess that there was a big problem with it!
Actually, there aren't many problems, just these few: high operation latency, prone to crashing; slow version upgrades, outdated functions, frequent vulnerabilities; six pre-installed mobile applications that cannot be uninstalled; fixed home screen icons that cannot be deleted or replaced; no secondary confirmation mechanism for internet access, resulting in extremely high data charges for accidental data usage… They even forcibly assign OMS installation quotas, forcing provincial branches of China Mobile to cooperate with a bunch of low-quality phones just to scam subsidies, in order to meet their targets.

Huang Xiaoqing continued, "China Mobile is about to launch a 3G promotion subsidy program. If HarmonyOS produces customized 3G phones for China Mobile that are equipped with the OMS system, not only can China Mobile's channels help with sales, but users can also receive subsidies of up to 70% of the phone's retail price. For a phone priced at 1000 yuan, as long as the user prepays enough for phone credit, China Mobile can subsidize 700 yuan."

This discount is really generous; it perfectly solves the sales problem.

But the more China Mobile acted this way, the more Chen Guiliang felt there was a huge pitfall ahead. Once they stepped into it, they would be tied to China Mobile's OMS, creating a path dependency on China Mobile. Is this how Lenovo smartphones fell into decline?
Chen Guiliang declined, saying, "The HarmonyOS system is already under development. We will cooperate with China Mobile when there is an opportunity in the future."

"Of course you can." Huang Xiaoqing didn't insist.

Whenever he heard that a company was making smartphones, he wanted to bring them into the OMS alliance. Meizu and Tianyu, among others, received invitations from China Mobile, but all politely declined. Their reasons for declining were exactly the same as Chen Guiliang's: they had already begun developing their own smartphones.

Chen Guiliang personally saw Huang Xiaoqing off, then went to check on the construction site and the temporary R&D center of HarmonyOS Technology.

This so-called temporary R&D center was actually Motorola's Beijing Research Institute. Since the lease had not yet expired and Motorola had undergone large-scale layoffs, the space was temporarily sublet to Chen Guiliang.

Some of the experimental equipment was sold to Chen Guiliang.

I heard that laboratories in Tianjin have also started small-scale layoffs.

“The team I brought from Motorola has resistive touchscreen technology. And it doesn’t infringe on Motorola’s patents,” Zhou Guangping said. “The advantages are that it can be designed quickly and at a lower cost, with a resolution higher than Apple’s. The disadvantage is that the touch experience is somewhat worse.”

Chen Guiliang asked, "How much is 'slightly different'?"

Zhou Guangping said, "A stylus is needed to assist with this."

Chen Guiliang shook his head: "No, you have to be able to use your fingers to play on the phone."

Zhou Guangping said, "It's very difficult to bypass Apple's gesture patent. It requires an investment of at least 10 to 20 million yuan, and we don't even know when we'll see results. I've discussed this with several professors, and they're not entirely sure either."

"If all else fails, we should pay Apple patent fees. We absolutely cannot require a stylus to use the phone. If Apple refuses, then we'll have to fight it out in court," Chen Guiliang insisted.

Zhou Guangping sighed, "I'll try my best, maybe I can succeed. Your requirements are really high, especially multitasking; we simply can't find a suitable chip."

The upcoming iPhone 3G, released this year, only supports basic multitasking. The iPhone 3GS, launching next year, will also support multitasking, but it's prone to lag when handling multiple tasks.

Chen Guiliang made this request, and even Apple couldn't meet it. What else could Zhou Guangping do? Design optimization is only one aspect; more importantly, there needs to be a high-performance chip.

This also involves supply chain issues. If manufacturers like Apple and Samsung have demand, the newly launched high-performance chips will definitely be prioritized for large companies. Chen Guiliang can't buy them even if he wants to!

If the purchase volume is too small, the chip manufacturer will classify it as a third-tier small manufacturer, and it can only follow behind other manufacturers to purchase leftover stock.

Therefore, Zhou Guangping suggested that the first HarmonyOS phone should not be designed to use the latest high-end chips. It would be disastrous if they couldn't procure them during production.

Chen Guiliang said, "We'll design it using the best performing chip currently available. With Apple leading the trend, the chip iteration speed will likely accelerate. This year's cutting-edge chip might not be cutting-edge next year. At worst, we'll delay the phone's release. We can't compromise on our first phone; we'd rather delay it than make it too low-end."

Zhou Guangping sighed, "I don't know where you get so many ideas from. There are many features that Apple doesn't have. It's really difficult when it comes to hardware. You can't cook without rice."

Zhou Guangping had previously regarded Chen Guiliang as an outsider who was only responsible for providing the money.

But after Chen Guiliang rattled off a whole host of forward-thinking ideas, Zhou Guangping's impression of him completely changed—this boss certainly didn't understand technology, but his ideas came one after another, and they all sounded quite reasonable. It's just that most of these ideas couldn't be implemented for the time being.

Chen Guiliang has already instructed ByteDance's programmers to create an official website for HarmonyOS phones, and has also asked marketing personnel to create HarmonyOS phone groups on campus networks and overseas networks.

Yes, these operations all require payment, and the parent company and subsidiary companies have separate finances.

Chen Guiliang also posted on his personal account, calling on fans to leave messages on the official website, groups, and forums of HarmonyOS phones, expressing their expectations and requirements for smartphones.

Not many netizens responded to his call, mainly because they didn't see anything, and the comments section turned into a fan chat.

Don't rush, take your time.

Once photos of the prototype are released, its popularity will naturally increase.

As for various TV programs and newspaper interviews, Chen Guiliang plans to do so once a month to maintain the exposure of HarmonyOS phones.

After leaving the temporary R&D center, Chen Guiliang returned to the company and logged onto the HarmonyOS official website.

He noticed that the official website, which previously had very few users, suddenly saw a surge in popularity today. He carefully checked the comments section and was speechless; someone was posting photos of Teacher Chen.

"What the hell are you guys doing? This is the official website for HarmonyOS mobile phones!" Chen Guiliang couldn't help but exclaim.

One netizen immediately replied: "If you post those photos now, they'll be deleted everywhere else. It seems like no one cares about you here, haha, the ones you posted yesterday are still here."

Chen Guiliang was speechless: "Couldn't you have just shared it privately? Why did you have to post it on the website?"

"do not!"

The comments section was filled with lamentations.

(End of this chapter)