Those Years When I Was Forced to Top the Forbes List

Chapter 102 Why were they able to go public?!
Octagonal Building, Henggang Building.

Before Qi Guangming and Gao Shu could even greet President Chen and his entourage who rushed in, Chen Xuebing had already raised his hand and made arrangements quickly.

"Director Qi, I need to use the computer."

"Ren Ying, copy the Great Wisdom software and Rising Antivirus from the USB drive, and run a virus scan!"

"Jiao Gui, take my card and go to Huaqiangbei to get me five computers, just like the ones in the Chongqing office."

"By the way, Director Gao, go with Jiao Gui and pick out a wall-mounted air conditioner. It's fucking hot!"

"Lu Yiwen called Huo Xiaowen and told him to come over and bring all the latest mobile phone samples, parameters, and account statements from the manufacturers he could contact."

"Gou Hongyi, use the other computer to organize the recent Taobao accounts as well. We'll have a meeting at 3:10."

"Hurry up, get moving! Once we get to Shenzhen, it'll be Shenzhen speed!"

Chen Xuebing's words were as scalding as the ground in Shenzhen.

Fortunately, each person didn't have many tasks, and Lu Yiwen and Gou Hongyi didn't even have time to complain about the simplicity of the office! Urged by Chen Xuebing, they each started doing their own things, and Qi Guangming also consciously poured Chen Xuebing a glass of cold water.

"Mr. Chen...drink some water."

Qi Guangming felt a little guilty because the system game Spider Solitaire was still running on his computer.

During this period, they were all just lying around collecting their wages.

Chen Xuebing took the water, noticed his slight unease, and smiled:
"Director Qi, you must be bored out of your mind."

Although he owed a lot of money at the construction site, he never shortchanged Qi Guangming and Gao Shu on their wages.

He clearly understood the difference in rules between the two sides.

Qi Guangming clicked his tongue and sighed, "President Chen, you won't let us work at the counter, so we can only run around the market more. We've already made three material price inquiries in this period, and we've found all the spare parts! We've also been to the factory construction site several times, but the final payment keeps getting delayed. We... sigh! The situation is really not good right now, it's not suitable to open a factory, or... I might as well resign!"

He said this with a lot of mixed feelings, because his old factory was now operating at half capacity. The OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) business was being heavily investigated, and the number of mobile phone factories and small workshops in Shenzhen had suddenly increased by thousands, making the competition fierce. He couldn't go back to his old factory even if he wanted to.

If you actually resign, you'll be unemployed.

So before resigning, I described in detail what I had been doing recently.

Chen Xuebing chuckled lightly, leaned back against the desk, took a sip of water, and looked relaxed.

"Don't worry, I'm definitely going to open the factory, and I'll make it big. Just consider these three months a vacation. You'll be busy in a while, and I'll make you work overtime. Don't complain about being tired."

Qi Guangming frowned, somewhat incredulous: "President Chen, major international brands are all making low-end phones now, like Motorola phones that cost a few hundred yuan! Thousands more mobile phone shops have opened in Shenzhen in the last six months, and nearly a thousand have closed this month alone! And you're still opening one?"

Seeing his anxious expression, Chen Xuebing felt a mix of amusement and emotion.

Even industry veterans like Qi Guangming are panicking.

That's how the market is; it's full of heart-pounding moments.

Many people have read stories of businesses that gave up before the light was in the air, and feel sorry or laugh at their missed opportunities. In fact, no one in those failure cases was stupid; they were just afraid.

Looking at the historical development chart of the entire two decades after the millennium, the size of many industries has been growing rapidly.

However, if you refine and enlarge this graphic, you can discover one exaggerated wave after another hidden within it.

A real market needs to be viewed on a daily and weekly basis, especially a hot market like Huaqiangbei, where every small downward trend can bring huge losses and panic.

Stockpiling, overstocking, and price reductions are sometimes due to objective factors, and sometimes to negative external news. When these factors and news come together, people get a certain feeling:
Damn it, this is definitely the end for us.

When people are in the unknown darkness, they can't help but feel pessimistic and can't get through this short but long wave.

Just like Huaqiangbei right now.

Sometimes, however, a prolonged upward trend can foster blind optimism, making people unwilling to exit the market.

Just like in 2008, Huaqiangbei was severely affected by the impact of Apple's new definition of smartphones on the domestic market.

Chen Xuebing is very lucky; he not only has visionaries of the times, but also information from high-level industry figures.

On his way to Shenzhen, he called Mr. Lu, the manager at MediaTek, and learned some information.

"Director Qi, a phone costing a few hundred yuan has the functions and quality of a phone costing a few hundred yuan. Foreign brands have such high premiums, what functions can they possibly have in a phone costing a few hundred yuan? It's nothing more than a durable PHS phone, and it doesn't compete with us. In addition, several domestic brand manufacturers have recently partnered with MediaTek to develop new phones, and their orders are very large. MediaTek's production capacity is currently a bit insufficient to meet demand, and their chips may be going to increase in price."

"Hmm?" Qi Guangming composed himself upon hearing this.

Then I saw Mr. Chen's faint smile, a smile that clearly conveyed the meaning of "wanting to get rich".

"Chip prices are rising?" His mind raced, savoring the nuances of the statement. Chips are a major component of a phone's cost, especially for today's popular multimedia phones.

"You mean... mobile phone prices in Huaqiangbei are going to rise too?"

Chen Xuebing grinned: "I'm afraid it's more than that. Price increases and panic buying usually have a cyclical effect, spiraling upwards, just like houses. The higher the price goes, the more people rush to buy, and the more people rush to buy, the higher the price goes. Once the goods outside are sold out, Huaqiangbei's opportunity will come."

"Hiss..." Qi Guangming gasped.

MediaTek is a mainstream chip manufacturer now, used by both large and small companies. If they raise prices, it will shake the industry.

"Mr. Chen, it's done!" Ren Ying called out.

Chen Xuebing smiled and patted Qi Guangming on the shoulder.

“You used to be the deputy factory director in charge of technology, but now you are the factory director. You can’t just focus on technology, you also need to pay attention to the market.”

……

The stock market hit another high point today.

It reached a peak increase of 2.5%, and closed at 1124.64, up 2.07%.

Chen Xuebing sold more than half of his overvalued stocks when the market began to pull back at 2 p.m., preparing to switch between high and low positions.

He selected a few stocks from the 38 shortlisted stocks that were at their 10-day lows and was about to buy them when there was a sudden sharp drop at the end of the trading day. He looked at the 30-day moving average and had a bad feeling. He hesitated for a moment and did not make any moves.

I checked my profits and made a killing today, earning over 5 yuan. I have 117 million yuan in cash and 92 yuan in my portfolio, for a total of 209.1 million yuan. I feel great.

After a short break, the meeting will begin at 3:10.

With Ren Ying there, they quickly reviewed the recent accounts, determined the current payment ratios to various manufacturers, and arranged for the relocation of Taobao sales to Shenzhen and the recruitment of new employees.

It was past four o'clock when we started selecting products.

Chen Xuebing asked everyone to select two or three of each of the dozen or so new mobile phones that Huo Xiaowen brought, identify their advantages and disadvantages, and then discuss them in turn.

Mobile phones are updated and replaced very quickly, so when it comes to stockpiling inventory, we should aim for the best options.

Huo Xiaowen recommended a red flip phone, saying it was a knock-off of a knock-off phone. The original knock-off even had a brand called Tianyu Phone, which sold very well.

Chen Xuebing frowned: "Tianyu? Yu as in language?"

Huo Xiaowen immediately replied, "The 'Yu' in 'universe'."

Qi Guangming shook his head: "It's the 'Yu' in language. The company is called Tianyu Langtong, and the mobile phone is called Tianyu. They used to make both OEM and unlicensed products. But they're not counterfeit anymore. They passed ISO9001 and 3C certifications in May. Their self-developed mobile phones are already on the market, and they'll probably get licenses soon."

Qi Guangming previously worked in OEM manufacturing and paid close attention to some successful OEM manufacturers.

Chen Xuebing was stunned for a moment after confirming that it was Tianyu.

He really didn't know that Tianyu was a counterfeit.

But he knew that Tianyu had won the top sales position among domestic mobile phones.

Upon hearing this, he got a little angry and slammed his hand on the table.

"Damn, they don't have a production license, so how can they produce openly and even go public?"

The people at the table were a bit confused, not knowing what made Mr. Chen so popular.

Let him go to the city! We're just running a copycat business, what's there to be angry about?
Qi Guangming, however, sensed something amiss and cautiously said, "It seems they built their factory in the Yizhuang Development Zone back in 03, with a relatively large investment... It's probably a case of 'getting on the train first and then buying the ticket later.' Besides, the approval system has now been changed to a review system. Actually, as long as our R&D mobile phones can be submitted to Hong Kong for testing and pass the review, and we change our company's registered capital, the chances of the provincial development and reform commission approving production are very high... I know that some actual operations differ from the regulations, mainly due to the scale issue."

Upon hearing the word "scale," Chen Xuebing fell silent and pondered.

"I've seen the documents. The registered capital needs to be 200 million, right?"

Everyone at the table was taken aback.

He really was planning to…

Qi Guangming nodded: "That's right."

Chen Xuebing stroked his chin: "I understand."

After a moment of hesitation, Chen Xuebing looked up and found everyone staring at him in astonishment. He then slammed his hand on the table again.

"Why are you all staring at me? I'm selecting products! Shenzhen speed!"

(End of this chapter)