Xiaomi Heavy Industry, its first entrepreneurial venture!

Chapter 469 Now is the most dangerous time! (First update!)

Noticing Cook's hesitation, Jobs coughed, picked up the document Cook had just brought him, turned it over, and displayed it in front of him:
"Cook, you're a great maintainer, but you're not a great pioneer."

“I know there are many people in the company who share the same thoughts as you.”

"I think we can win as long as we continue as we are now and proceed step by step."

"But I'm telling you clearly now, and to the people in the company, that now is the most dangerous time."

When he got to the exciting part, Jobs almost couldn't catch his breath, clutching his chest and coughing violently.

Seeing this, Cook quickly went over to help him by patting his back and then picked up a glass of warm water and gave Jobs a sip, which helped him recover.

After things calmed down, Cook asked cautiously, "It can't be that bad, can it?"

After asking that question, he started counting on his fingers:
"Our total shipments last year were 2500 million."

“In the European market, our market share has reached 15%, second only to Nokia and BlackBerry.”

"In the North American market, our market share has reached a staggering 28%, ranking behind BlackBerry. However, the problem is that BlackBerry mainly targets enterprise users, and we can't compete with them yet."

"The Latin American market is relatively poor, and our prices are relatively high, so it's normal that we can't gain a market share there."

"Japan and South Korea both have conservative policies, and they both have their own domestic brands. It's already quite good that we've been able to gain a foothold there."

"We will release the iPhone 4 in June, and the iPhone 4 is expected to lead us to break through this pattern."

"Everything is stabilizing and improving, how could this be the most dangerous time!"

Jobs picked up the glass of water, gulped down the last drop, and slowly began to speak:

“I just said you are a qualified maintainer, not a pioneer. I was wrong. You are just a maintainer, and strictly speaking, you are not qualified.”

"If you look at the data carefully, you will find that our market research shows that the products sold in our stores are being imported into the countries of many third-world countries through parallel imports."

"This segment of sales is huge!"

"These products are destined for countries including but not limited to Central Asia, East Asia, Southeast Asia, and Africa."

"A large portion of them entered China!"

"But you didn't mention a single word about market share in what you just said."

"You need to know that China is the most populous country in the world!"

"There are also hundreds of millions of people in the Southeast Asian peninsula to the south."

"And further west, in India, there are also over a billion people."

"There are also hundreds of millions of people in Central Asia."

"This is a market of billions of people, and you haven't mentioned it at all."

"And you didn't even mention the richest region in the Middle East."

"Isn't this dangerous enough?"

As Jobs spoke, Cook slowly lowered his head and began to recall the documents he had seen.

He quickly found the problem.

There are two reasons for the poor sales in these areas: first, the local operators, and second, they simply don't take these markets seriously.

Or rather, no one in the company took these markets seriously.

Most of Europe consists of developed countries.

Japan and South Korea are developed countries.

America is a developed country.

Australia is a developed country.

These markets are all third-world countries, commonly known as poor countries.

The solution is simple: open stores in these areas and expand your business.

However, this matter requires the marketing department to conduct research and make a comprehensive assessment before deciding whether to add more stores.

One person's opinion doesn't count.

He pinched the space between his eyebrows, then spread his hands and asked Jobs:
"But this has nothing to do with the battery!"

Seeing him ask the question again, Jobs helplessly rested his forehead on his hand, sighed deeply, and then spoke with a hint of anxiety:

"When we make mobile phones, we're essentially dancing on the line between battery life and performance."

"With sufficient battery life, we can develop more features, attract more developers, and thus build our own competitive advantage."

"Other people have phones with tens of thousands of mAh batteries that can run all day long without stopping, and what about you?"

"Take a 20-minute break!"

"Take a 20-minute break!"

"Is your wife willing?"

The strange analogy startled Cook, who blushed and waved his hand, saying, "Don't use that analogy!"

"Since you've said that, I'll pack my bags in a bit. Tell the board of directors so they don't cause me any more trouble."

After Cook finished speaking, he prepared to leave, but after taking only two steps, Jobs called him back. Turning around, he heard Jobs instruct him: "Be quick, get ahead of Samsung!"

Upon hearing Samsung's name, Cook seemed a little confused. He scratched his head and asked, "Shouldn't they be ahead of Nokia and Blackberry?"

"One of these two focuses on durability, while the other focuses on safety."

"Adding a high-performance battery would be like adding wings to a tiger!"

These two sentences made Jobs slap himself in the face again, his hand slowly sliding down his forehead, his eyes peeking out from between his fingers:
"Nokia is doomed!"

"If they continue to act like that, they'll be kicked out of the market in five years at most."

"Blackberry too!"

"They rely too much on the enterprise market, and in the future, the enterprise market will definitely not be able to compete with the consumer market."

"Plus, their headquarters are in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. They're doomed!"

Jobs became more and more agitated as he spoke, and then he started coughing again.

He coughed twice, took out his medicine from the drawer, swallowed it in one gulp, looked up and saw that Cook was still there, so he quickly waved his hand:
"Go quickly!"

…………

On Phillip Street in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, Doug Flekin, the founder of RIM, strolled leisurely into the office of co-founder Mike Ghazalidis, carrying a cup of coffee. He took a sip and handed over the documents in his hand.
"The Xiaomi Heavy Industry company you've been urging me to keep an eye on has finally made a move."

"They formed their own company..."

Doug paused for two seconds, a meaningful smile flashing across his face: "Or perhaps, they invested in and established their own company. "And released a phone powered by a Qualcomm processor."

"Judging from the promotional posters, this phone has pretty good performance and looks good too."

"The timing of their release was a bit clever, just two days before Apple's iPhone 4 was scheduled to launch in China. Our colleagues in the marketing department guessed that they were targeting Apple."

Mike took the documents and began to look through them with a smile. The more he looked, the wider his smile became.

In the end, he even laughed from the bottom of his heart.

He slammed the file on the table and said to his partner with a smile, "This is definitely aimed at Apple!"

"I reckon Jobs is now regretting why he didn't launch the company globally at the same time, and why he delayed the launch in China until September 25th."

"I reckon that after this, people who were originally planning to buy the iPhone 4 are now probably waiting and seeing."

Listening to Mike's words, Doug nodded, then shook his head: "It shouldn't be that bad!"

"iPhone is considered a high-end brand in China, and Chinese people like to buy these things."

“Some people will be hesitant, but that should only be a small portion; most people will still buy.”

"If we want to succeed with Apple, we need to shift our focus from China to other countries."

As soon as he finished speaking, the sound of fingers lightly tapping on the table could be heard from the side.

This is Mike's thinking habit.

The sound of banging on the table lasted for a long time. Mike looked up and grinned at Doug: "Since the online publicity isn't enough, let's give him a hand!"

“Go find those media outlets we’re familiar with, chat with them, and while you’re at it, give us a shout-out.”

"In short, we need to give Steve Jobs a good stab!"

“Okay!” Doug raised his hand in an OK gesture, picked up the document on the table, and turned to leave.

Halfway there, he turned back and said, "Remember to call the finance department. This money can't be transferred through their accounts!"

Mike, standing behind, gave him a reassuring look: "I know!"

Upon leaving the office, Doug immediately contacted a familiar news outlet, the Wall Street Journal, which had previously covered the iPhone 4 launch event.

Because of the distance, Doug's money went to him, but he didn't go to the hospital; he opted for a telephone interview.

In addition to the Wall Street Journal, Doug also contacted Bloomberg, the Financial Times, CNBC, and Reuters.

The connection between these news media outlets and Apple lies primarily in the fact that they have all interviewed Steve Jobs to varying degrees, or analyzed Apple's investment data to provide reference for investors.

Driven by money, these news media outlets acted quickly, but the Wall Street Journal was the fastest.

Less than five hours after Doug and Mike finished their conversation, the related news was posted on the Wall Street Journal's official website by editors, and even on the official accounts of several mainstream social media platforms.

[Does Xiaomi Heavy Industry's poster signify the rise of an Eastern dragon, or is it simply an unknown company attempting to capitalize on the reputation of a veteran to promote itself?]

Following the Wall Street Journal's report, Bloomberg, the Financial Times, CNBC, and Reuters also published their own press releases.

Bloomberg: [Follow-up to the world-shaking high-performance battery: Xiaomi Heavy Industry submits its answer after several months; professional editors analyze this answer to bring you financial freedom.]

CNBC: [Preview: What kind of company is Xiaomi Heavy Industry Group? Stay tuned for our upcoming interview!]

Reuters Finance: [Xiaomi Heavy Industries' Preview Before iPhone 4 Launch: A Game of Thrones, and More Importantly, a Proactive Reshuffling; the Ultimate Winner Will Take All; Professionals Guide You Through Consumer Electronics Industry Data Analysis...]

…………

"Come here, Lao Lin, I've got something good to show you!" Lin Yi had just bought breakfast from the urban village and hadn't even entered the company gate when Lei Jun stopped him.

He was holding a copy of the Southern Finance Newspaper, which had just been published that day, and he looked very happy.

"What's wrong?" Lin Yi put the breakfast in his left hand into his right, and snatched the newspaper from Lei Jun's hand. He immediately noticed the headline in the center of the newspaper.

Apple's stock price plummeted because Xiaomi Heavy Industry Group, a company that has entered the market from another sector, orchestrated a preemptive strike to target Apple's new product launch!

To make the headline more attractive, its color was thoughtfully changed to vermilion, giving it a strange, tattered, and bloody feel against the gray newspaper.

After reading the title, Lin Yi turned to Lei Jun and asked, "What the hell?"

Lei Jun clapped his hands with a smile, took the newspaper back, and explained with a laugh:
“苹果公司在今年6月7号发布了新产品iPhone4，全球首发时间是2010年6月24日。”

"The starting countries are America, England, France, Germany, and Japan."

"Our domestic release date is three months later than the overseas release date; it's officially released on the 25th."

“Since their global launch, these scalpers have already driven the price up to over 1 yuan.”

“We suddenly jumped out before their official release, and for some reason, we were suddenly made a model of challenging Apple.”

"Then a whole bunch of top news outlets took our stuff and started analyzing Apple. After their analysis, the news that America released yesterday morning caused Apple's stock to drop from $264 a share to $217 a share yesterday afternoon."

"I lost more than $40!"

"I'm even thinking about whether I should take this opportunity to make a quick buck and invest some money in Apple stock."

"We're making money anyway!"

Lei Jun's gloating words, when they reached Lin Yi's ears, were like bolts of lightning, making his scalp tingle.

In his past life, he used an iPhone.

But not the first few generations.

Moreover, he wasn't a loyal user, so he naturally wasn't very clear about the specific release dates of the first few generations.

He had originally planned to take advantage of this publicity to announce the completion of Xiaomi Heavy Industry Group's battery factory and attract more orders, especially for these high-selling mobile phones.

But to everyone's surprise, an unintentional publicity stunt caused Apple's stock price to drop by tens of dollars.

If I were Steve Jobs, and someone like that were targeting me, I would definitely find a way to get revenge.

Order?

What a load of rubbish!

Thinking of this, Lin Yi couldn't help but sigh. His body, which had been standing straight, involuntarily bent down, exuding an aura of loneliness. Then he slowly walked into the factory.

Seeing him leave, Lei Jun quickly followed: "Don't go! Do you think I should take some money now and buy some stocks?"

"Buy it! Then you'll be a traitor, producing your own phones and not taking your own company's stock, but taking this company's stock instead, you damned monkey!"

"Never mind then! By the way, I heard your company has come up with some new gadgets, something like an electric car. Where is it? Can I take a look? Just one glimpse! I work in the mobile phone industry, I can't exactly work in the car industry!"

"Go out, turn right, then turn right again, walk straight to the end, and when you're almost at the river, turn left and go to the guardhouse. Tell them your name is Lei Jun, and they'll let you in!"

"By the way, take it easy while you're playing, I'm bringing some people over later!"

(End of this chapter)