Those Years When I Was Forced to Top the Forbes List

Chapter 252 A Product of the New Era
Invest in them.

When Chen Xuebing said this, there was a faint smile on his lips, and no one present thought it was a real investment.

Most people felt a deep sense of crisis: this was a forced merger.

“Mr. Chen, we don’t need any investment,” someone immediately said.

“Yes, our business is doing just fine, we can manage it ourselves! What investment do we need?” someone immediately chimed in.

"Can it be done?" Chen Xuebing asked with a hint of sarcasm. "I think it won't be possible for long."

After he finished speaking, he looked at Ren Ying standing behind him.

Ren Ying carried a large box out from the corner and placed it on the coffee table.

When opened, there were more than ten mobile phones inside. They had a unique design, with the entire front of the phone being a screen and only three buttons at the bottom.

Everyone stared at the phone's design, momentarily stunned.

This screen is freaking huge, it must be at least 3.0 inches, right?
Like the Motorola A768 released in 04, but without a flip cover.

Their imagination can only go so far.

In Chen Xuebing's view, it is somewhat similar to a mobile phone he used back then, a customized phone that Huawei made for China Unicom in 09, the U7510.

This phone was assembled by Lu Weibing. It uses an 80nm Marvell chip, a screen produced by BOE's 5th generation line, a Sharp J-SH53 megapixel rear camera from 2003, a front camera with only 30 pixels, a removable battery, and mediocre charging efficiency.

—Nothing is the best configuration, but it has the roughness that suits Huaqiangbei perfectly.

Ren Ying distributed the items to the bosses one by one.

"Wow, where did this screen come from? How do I use it?"

While Chaozhou Huang was still examining the screen he cared about most, the young billionaire Chen Jinling next to him had already pressed the middle button without any instruction and turned on the screen.

The screen saver features a black background with a glowing blue Earth in the center.

"Slide from bottom to top," Ren Ying began the lesson.

Chen Jinling swiped, and four dots appeared, below which was a virtual numeric keypad.

"The password consists of four zeros."

The screen opens up like a computer desktop, with many programs displayed on it.

"A PDA!" Chen Jinling, who had encountered many new gadgets, immediately looked up and asked, "Mr. Chen, did you make this yourself? This thing is high-end!"

The bosses craned their necks to look, and then unlocked the interface.

Some people directly pressed the phone button at the bottom of the screen and started playing.

When I saw the keyboard again, I hesitated.

Where is the stylus?

This made Chen Xuebing laugh: "I was using my finger to enter the password just now, why would I need a pen now? A phone comes with a pen? It's just a stupid pen."

"."

Soon someone exclaimed in surprise: "This screen is pretty responsive!"

Chen Xuebing's lips curled up in a smile.

The most expensive part of this phone is the screen, which even exceeds the cost of the chip.

The capacitive touchscreen outer panel from Innolux Corporation of Taiwan costs 280 yuan, which is almost three times more expensive than the inner panel from BOE.

The technology is actually just average, with slightly insufficient accuracy, and it's easy to accidentally touch the screen with your palm or clothing. Kirin phones are still considering several better capacitive screen suppliers.

In addition, the screen has a cover glass from Corning in the United States, which is clear and hard, and has a very good texture.

The total cost of the screen assembly is close to 500 pieces.

How do I exit?

"What is this app called 'Camera, Phone, MP3'? Fruit Ninja? A game?"

"UC Browser, for browsing the internet? I think I've seen it before! Wow! Browsing the internet on this big screen sounds great! Is there internet?"

Everyone asked Ren Ying questions, and Ren Ying answered them one by one.

"Press the left side to exit the interface."

"Fruit Ninja is a game; there will be prompts after you open it."

"There is internet access, and a GSM SIM card is inserted."

Chaos started to break out in the office.

Each person opened an app that interested them: taking photos, listening to music, playing games, or surfing the internet.

"This game isn't fun at all, it's just about sliding around like that?"

"How do I switch cameras when taking a picture?"

"That doesn't work yet. Our program is still under development. This is a trial version, and it can only use the rear camera!"

"Starlink? What's that blue icon?"

Chen Xuebing finally spoke: "Starlink is our communication program, an internal trial version. We have already logged into our accounts. You can send messages through this software, which is cheaper than SMS services from telecom operators."

During this period, Lin Bin accelerated the development of self-developed software in accordance with Chen Xuebing's instructions.

What software was a must-have for first-generation mobile phones?
Mobile communication, of course!

This software was the easiest to develop. It only took a little over two weeks to create an internal trial version that only took up 0.6MB. The main interface was similar to WeChat, but the functionality was extremely limited, only allowing the sending of text messages.

"This..." Zhao Wanping looked at the several avatars on the interface and began to nitpick: "This is not as good as installing QQ! The interface of QQ is so much prettier!"

Chen Xuebing chuckled and took the phone from his hand.

"The features and games you're using now are trial versions, not yet fully developed. And each piece of software will be constantly updated. See that [App Store]? We'll connect the compatible software to it and download it online. We'll also develop corresponding programs for computers, so you can update the software anytime using a data cable."

After he finished speaking, he waved to Ren Ying, who then collected everyone's phones and put them back in the box.

Everyone played with it for only two minutes, and they were still a little unsatisfied, staring at the box with their eyes shining.

PDAs are something many people have seen.

But the feel of that touch, the shock it brought when it swiped across the screen, was completely different.

Lightweight, sleek, and user-friendly, it shares similarities with PDA handheld terminals, but the difference in usability between a CRT display (large back) and an LCD screen is like night and day.

In fact, Chen Xuebing was not satisfied with this prototype. The new machine was just a little smoother to use. It would get hot and lag after 20 minutes of use. It didn't have a gyroscope, multi-touch, and the chip and system were not well compatible.

However, it's still a decent device for programmers to test their applications.

“Our final product will be much better than this machine, and it will have many features that you have never seen before. You can’t see the power of this system now, but I can tell you that once my machine comes out and 3G is launched and mobile phones start using the network, all the machines in Huaqiangbei will be instantly eliminated.”

Everyone was a little confused at this point.

How on earth was this thing made? They've never seen anything like it before!

That internet access feature, with its scrollable webpages, is sure to cause a sensation among young people.

It can also install software.

With such a big screen, watching movies must be much more enjoyable than with MP4, right?

With a top-of-the-line webcam, it can rival a digital camera!
As everyone began to reflect on it, they felt as if those two minutes had been Pandora's box; once their thinking broke free of its limitations, the more they thought about it, the more exaggerated it seemed.

I was just surprised, but now a sense of terror is starting to build up.

Many things are probably really going to change.

Li Weijian, who was involved in underground schemes and chip reselling, had noticed some signs of this.

"Mr. Chen, did you develop this system yourself? There weren't any fully touchscreen systems before."

"Yes, it's still under development." Chen Xuebing didn't explain further, leaned back on the table, and turned on the LCD TV mounted on the wall with the remote control.

The TV's VGA port was connected to the computer, and Ren Ying used the laptop to open a PowerPoint presentation.

Chen Xuebing pointed to the phone image and text frame on the screen and said slowly:
"You can assemble the parts to make this phone, but with your capabilities, the price you could get would be astronomical."

“You absolutely cannot make this system. It’s our exclusive product, and the program was developed by several companies I’ve invested in.”

"You can't make chips yourself; you can only rely on integrators like MediaTek or Spreadtrum. And the most crucial part of this phone is internet access. MediaTek doesn't have its own 3G chip, so it can't help you at all." "As for what the future holds, I've already shown you a small part of it, of course."

"This phone is a true smartphone."

"If you abandon MediaTek and choose Singulato and Spreadtrum, we can provide you with an excellent supply chain, let you use our system for free, and supply you with 3G integrated chips. We guarantee that you can produce the same kind of mobile phone more easily than before. You only need to study the appearance, configuration costs and sales. Other manufacturers that have not joined us will be crushed by you one by one. Only those genuine mobile phone manufacturers with R&D capabilities can compete with you."

"Huaqiangbei will still exist, but many people will no longer exist."

Chen Xuebing spoke his last sentence very lightly, but it conveyed a sense of impending pressure.

Some people remembered the advertising slogan they saw downstairs.

Technological singularity, revolutionizing what we see.

"Cost. How much did you pay for that phone?" The speaker's throat was a little dry.

"Two thousand three."

Chen Xuebing's words brought a sigh of relief to everyone.

Two thousand three hundred! How much would that cost?

We still can't defeat them!
Their phones only cost a few hundred yuan to make, with the cheaper ones costing only one or two hundred!

There will always be demand in the low-end market!
"However," Chen Xuebing changed the subject:
"Many of the phone's parts are purchased from the market, and some are custom-made. Once we officially join the supply chain negotiations, the price will be at most 1,800 yuan, and the configuration will be even better."

"Once we start cultivating domestic suppliers, the cost price will drop day by day. The high-end market may not be affected much, but for low-end phones, the price of accessories dropped just as quickly when you were making feature phones. I think smartphones that cost a few hundred yuan each will appear in three years at most. At that time, it will be the end for those manufacturers who can only make shells."

Someone's brows furrowed: "President Chen, isn't this a bit shocking? If you can make it, how could MediaTek, a company worth tens of billions, not be able to?"

"Yeah, they have 3G chips, right? WCDMA! The 3G era is here, so why would they stop doing business in Huaqiangbei?"

Chen Xuebing scoffed, his tone becoming forceful: "WCDMA belongs to Qualcomm. If Qualcomm doesn't authorize it, they're doomed to fail if they dare to enter such a large counterfeit market. You even dare to fabricate network access codes; Qualcomm will never agree to that. Only TD patents belong to us Chinese, and we decide for ourselves."

"Besides, you can go ask MediaTek, ask them if they even know what a smartphone is. Their sales volume is from the 2G era. As for smartphones, we are not only the first in the country, but also the first in the world. We are the trendsetter. Without us, you absolutely cannot compete. If you don't believe me, you can leave now. But once you leave this office, you will never be able to come back."

MediaTek lagged behind in CPUs during the 3G era, lacked its own communication standards, and was also weak in software. It was lagging behind in all aspects and basically entered a period of silence. It was simply impossible for it to remain the big brother of Huaqiangbei.

He dared to show his phone to these people today, so he's not afraid of MediaTek finding out.

Even after TSMC successfully completes the wafer fabrication, he will start advertising for Kirin; now is no longer the time to keep a low profile.

However, there is still a long time between advertising, mass production, sales, and achieving a large-scale impact. He now needs to monetize Spreadtrum's market in advance.

At this moment, Chen Jinling calmly said, "Mr. Chen, I've looked at your Spreadtrum chip. It's still a bit behind MediaTek's MT6225, and the camera only supports 30 pixels, right? They've upgraded to the MT6235 now, which supports 130 million pixels, and they only sell it to us for $11. How much do you sell it for?"

Zhou Chengyun immediately chimed in, "We've upgraded too! The SC6800 is almost identical to their 6235! We'll sell it!"

As he spoke, he frowned and looked at Chen Xuebing for help.

They don't make much profit from this chip. If they sell it for $11, they'll only make about $1.5. There are also labor and service fees in between. If they could negotiate and raise the price a little, Spreadtrum and Singulato would make a lot of money.

Chen Xuebing, however, refused to back down: "Then we'll sell it for $11 too, so you won't lose out."

"President Chen," Zhou Chengyun said, somewhat embarrassed.

Chen Xuebing walked up to him, patted him on the shoulder and said, "You'll have to figure out how to control supply chain prices yourselves."

Everyone relaxed a little. As long as the cost doesn't change much, even if there are slight differences in chip performance, it's acceptable.

What if what they said is true?

Let's gamble on the future.

Chen Jinling still had a question: "What if they lower their prices? Judging from President Zhou's attitude, your chip manufacturing costs are not low, right? Can you win? If they lower their prices and you don't, we will use Spreadtrum's chips, and our cost advantage will be much lower."

Chen Xuebing waved his hand: "As long as you listen to me, they shouldn't lower the price in the short term. Give us time to negotiate with the chip manufacturers, and our costs will also come down. If they don't want to make money then, we can also choose not to make money."

What is MediaTek's current market share?

Besides Huaqiangbei, there are also orders from legitimate manufacturers. Selling chips is not like running a supermarket; the sales radius is almost non-existent. There is no such thing as local price reductions impacting competitors; once a price is lowered, it's a comprehensive price reduction.

Even if Spreadtrum captures a portion of the Huaqiangbei market, MediaTek will still have to consider costs if it wants to significantly reduce prices across the board.

MediaTek, this big frog, needs to be boiled in lukewarm water.

Seeing that the conversation had progressed this far, the people in the room exchanged glances, all looking somewhat embarrassed.

The future is the future. If we switch to Spreadtrum chips, it will mean breaking ties with MediaTek.

MediaTek is reluctant to lower prices, but it's possible they might be given a price increase.

"Mr. Chen, how about we each order half?" Someone hesitated for a moment, then tried to offer a suggestion.

At this moment, Zhao Wanping, who had been looking displeased, suddenly stood up: "Then show us your phone again, okay? I'll try it again, and if it works, I'll stick with you!"

Chen Xuebing chuckled: "It's an internal secret. It's good enough that I'm showing it to you. Don't ask for too much."

"I didn't even get a good look at it before you took it back. How am I supposed to know if it's any good or not?"

Zhao Wanping roared, and the others echoed his words.

"Yes, we'd like to see what we think of your machine!"

Chen Xuebing hesitated for a moment, then waved his hand.

"Ren Ying, show them, ten minutes."

A series of sighs echoed in the office.

This time, everyone held the phone with much more seriousness, beginning to carefully appreciate this product of the new era.

"Hey, look at this webpage! Click twice, and you can zoom in!"

"The photos are much clearer on the big screen! They're even clearer than those from a 500-megapixel camera!"

"Really, it's pretty good! This game is actually quite fun! Look at how smooth the finger slides; there's a trail that follows. It's so fluid! Young people will definitely love it!"

"Mr. Chen, why isn't there a video player? I'd like to see how the video plays!"

"The software is still under development. I'll show it to you in two months. The clarity will definitely be fine. All the software will be updated by then."

Chen Xuebing answered calmly.

A few minutes later, Zhao Wanping suddenly slammed his hand on the coffee table: "I'm going to take on this project! We don't need to modify the production line for this phone, right?"

“Workers will definitely need training. The assembly line doesn’t need to be modified, but if you want to get a cheap supply chain, you need to be straightforward with payments, preferably cash on delivery. But don’t worry, we can consider investing in anyone who joins us, or provide low-interest financing, and even advance material costs to manufacturers for you.”

Upon hearing this, many people's eyes lit up.

"This is fucking a game-changer!" Zhao Wanping exclaimed excitedly. "I'm on your side! I'll work for you from now on! President Chen, we've known each other for a long time, I want to be among the first to produce this phone!"

There was no time to hesitate.

Qiu Yushan gritted his teeth and said, "President Chen, I want the first batch too! I'll switch to your Spreadtrum chips right away! I'll talk to the shop owners who rent stalls from me!"

Chen Xuebing didn't answer, but looked at the rest of the people.

“I’ll go with you.” The third person to speak was Mr. Tai from Feiyang Market, who had worked in the mobile phone and television industries as well.

Chen Xuebing then waved his hand and said, "I won't force you. You can go back and think about it. Once you've decided, come to the 55th floor to find President Zhou. Old Zhao, you three can stay here for now. I have something to arrange for you."

Chen Xuebing began seeing the guests off, looking like he was plotting something, which made some people anxious.

"Mr. Chen, I'll do it too! We can't show favoritism!"

"Mr. Chen! Let's do it too!"

There's a rush to be first, and for every person rushing to be first, there's someone lagging behind.

An hour later, the big bosses from Huaqiangbei came out of the conference room, laughing.

Zhao Wanping was the last one standing.

Qiu Yushan looked around and then stayed in the conference room.

"Mr. Chen, how was my performance? I was the one who invited Mr. Qiu here!"

Zhao Wanping's demeanor changed, and his smile became obsequious: "When can I invest in your fund?"

Chen Xuebing smiled.

"Thank you both. Please go see Mr. Kan in a bit."

(End of this chapter)