America's No. 1 financial conglomerate

Chapter 284 Samsung Gives Up

Cook, along with the rest of his inspection team, left BYD's factory in a hurry, as if they had just completed a tense preliminary test.

His schedule was packed this time, and he will be heading to other factories for further inspections immediately.

As someone with a background in supply chain management, he is well aware that in the electronics industry, every adjustment and confirmation of the supply chain will affect the market competitiveness of subsequent products, and he dares not slack off in the slightest.

Wang Chuanfu and the others who remained at the BYD factory watched the staff left behind by Cook's team walk away with the selected battery samples, and their tense nerves finally relaxed. Everyone couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

"You're really daring! When you just gave me that data, my back was soaked with sweat. Didn't you think about what if Cook was an expert? Wouldn't your decision have backfired completely?" Yang Longzhong patted his chest with lingering fear, his tone full of lingering apprehension.

Wang Chuanfu, however, looked unconvinced and gently shook his hand, saying slowly, "These electronics manufacturers only ever focus on the surface data. How could they possibly understand the deeper details of the battery industry? They care about whether the battery is compatible with their products and whether it is the most advanced product on the market right now. As for the pace of technological iteration and cost control in the battery industry, they don't have that much energy to delve into them."

His words conveyed a sense of precise control, as if everything was under his command.

From a purely technical standpoint, BYD is indeed not as good as Japan's top lithium battery manufacturers.

According to reliable sources within BYD, Panasonic's lithium-ion batteries have achieved a cycle life of 600 cycles.

This level of skill is what truly represents the pinnacle of the industry today.

The reason it went unnoticed by the outside world is thanks to the sudden Asian financial crisis.

The Southeast Asian financial crisis, like a fierce tsunami, swept across the economic markets of Asia and even the world. Under the impact of this storm, global demand for battery products plummeted, and market prices plunged by 20% to 40%.

This is undoubtedly a devastating blow to Japanese manufacturers who prioritize technological leadership and therefore invest heavily in their products and services. Many companies are now on the verge of losses, and even maintaining normal production and operations has become extremely difficult.

Ordinary batteries are not selling well due to sluggish demand, let alone the most advanced lithium batteries, which have higher technological content and higher research and development costs.

Therefore, for Japanese manufacturers, the most urgent task is not to invest in building the most advanced lithium battery production lines or to continue to improve their technology, but rather to control costs and reduce losses so that the companies can survive this crisis.

They had to focus their limited resources on maintaining existing businesses, temporarily slowing down the pace of technology iteration and capacity expansion.

It was precisely because of this that Wang Chuanfu keenly perceived this point and made a brilliant use of the time and information gap.

This is the art of sales; it's not just about selling products, but also about selling timing and strategy.

I glanced at the time; dinner time had already passed.

"Let's go, I'll treat everyone to dinner." Wang Chuanfu was in a very good mood, and the group followed him out of the factory in a grand manner.

In the days that followed, as they awaited Aike Technology's final response, both the BYD team and the relevant staff of the Shenzhen government felt as if each day was an eternity, with every minute and second feeling exceptionally long.

Although BYD has some confidence in its products and prices, the orders have not yet been officially signed, and everything is still uncertain before it is all settled.

The Shenzhen government, on the other hand, had even more complicated feelings.

I was on tenterhooks the whole time, thinking about how to make amends and take remedial measures if the lie was exposed.

This matter has had a huge impact; even the top official of SZ City personally intervened and learned the ins and outs of the matter, which shows how much importance he attached to it.

On the morning of the third day, just as sunlight streamed into the office through the window, Li Shicai had barely entered the office and hadn't even had time to deal with the documents on his desk when his secretary hurriedly pushed open the door and walked in, her face showing a hint of urgency.

"Mayor Li, we've received news from BYD."

Two days ago, he was specifically instructed to report any developments from BYD immediately without any delay.

Upon hearing this news, Mayor Li's heart skipped a beat. He put down his pen, looked up at his secretary, and asked in a serious tone, "What do you mean?"

"They—they applied for a 50 million yuan support loan to expand their factory."

Mayor Li was stunned for a moment, then looked up at his secretary with an incredulous expression, as if he had heard something unbelievable.

Isn't this utter nonsense? They falsify data and still have the nerve to ask for loans? Who gave them the audacity? Who gave them the nerve?

Instead of reflecting on its data fabrication issues, BYD still dared to ask for loans?

Why would they bother to come and notify me of this? I should have just thrown the application in their faces.

"Throw the loan application back at him," Mayor Li said, trying to suppress his anger, his tone revealing his dissatisfaction.

"But BYD said that without expanding the factory and increasing production scale, it would be impossible to deliver the American orders within the stipulated time."

"How dare Wang Chuanfu mention American orders? Doesn't he have any idea how much trouble he's caused?"

Just as Mayor Li was about to continue his tirade, he suddenly realized what he was saying, abruptly stopped, and stared blankly at his secretary, demanding, "What did you just say? An American order? They—they signed a contract?"

His tone was filled with shock, as if he couldn't even believe his ears.

In his view, given BYD's data situation, it would be quite good if they could avoid being held accountable by AI Technology, so how could they have successfully signed a contract?

The secretary nodded quickly and said with certainty, "It seems so. My information is that AIoT has placed an order with BYD for more than $6000 million, requiring AIoT to supply ten million standard lithium batteries within the next ten months, at a unit price of $6.12 each."

"Is the data real? What exactly is going on?" Mayor Li sat in his chair, his brows furrowed tightly.

If the data BYD reported to AI Technology is true, wouldn't that mean BYD's lithium battery technology has surpassed that of Japanese companies?

This is a major event that could shock the entire nation, the kind that deserves a prominent 30-minute news report.

Japanese companies have long held an absolute dominant position in the lithium battery field. If BYD can surpass them, it will be a landmark breakthrough for China's battery industry.

While the $6000 million order wasn't particularly high, the key point was that BYD successfully entered the international market with this order, entering a high-end market that was originally monopolized by Japanese companies.

Once this gap is opened, will subsequent orders be far behind?

Once BYD establishes a firm foothold in this field, it will not only bring huge development opportunities to the company itself, but also drive the development of related industrial chains in Shenzhen and even the whole country.

Thinking of this, Mayor Li could no longer sit still. He immediately told his secretary, "Quickly, notify Wang Chuanfu and the heads of relevant departments to come to my office right now. I need to find out what exactly happened in person."

While Cook was leading his team to conduct intensive research and build a supply chain in China, a series of bad news came from Samsung Group in South Korea, which stood in stark contrast to BYD's success.

Previously, Lee Kun-hee was confident that Samsung could weather the economic crisis thanks to the enthusiastic investment from Wall Street giants, which would boost the company's stock price, coupled with the support of the South Korean government and internal reforms.

However, the subsequent impact of the signing of the IMF-related agreements was like a sudden and massive storm, completely shattering Lee Kun-hee's illusions.

South Koreans have lost confidence in their domestic banks and are therefore accelerating the process of converting Korean won into US dollars.

In an instant, the Korean won's exchange rate plummeted again, like a kite with a broken string.

In just a few days, the South Korean won exchange rate plummeted to a historic low of 1710 won to the US dollar, and there was no sign of it stopping. The entire South Korean financial market was thrown into chaos.

Under such circumstances, the Korean won has almost completely become worthless. People are no longer considering the overall interests of the country, because in their view, the country has already surrendered.

Panic spread throughout South Korean society, further exacerbating economic turmoil.

Affected by the sharp depreciation of the Korean won, Samsung Group's overseas raw material procurement costs have increased significantly again, with an increase of 11%.

Furthermore, the company's overseas debt has also increased. Samsung's already fragile cash flow is now in even greater danger due to the further depreciation of the Korean won, and it could break down at any time.

For a large company, everyone knows what a broken cash flow means.

However, just when Samsung was struggling with its funding problems, several core suppliers stopped supplying goods because they were worried that Samsung would not be able to make payments on time.

This was undoubtedly adding insult to injury, directly leading to the shutdown of Samsung's production lines at its Seoul factory, putting nearly 10,000 employees at risk of losing their jobs.

The once bustling scene of machines in the factory has disappeared, replaced by a desolate atmosphere. The employees are filled with anxiety, unsure of their future.

Lee Hak-joo rushed into Lee Kun-hee's office with an urgent financial report in hand. "Chairman, the situation—the situation is getting worse."

"The emergency loans provided by the government are simply not enough to offset the currency devaluation losses caused by the sharp drop in exchange rates. This can't go on. We must find new sources of funding and secure new orders as soon as possible, otherwise Samsung will really be completely wiped out."

His face was etched with anxiety, and the financial statements in his hands seemed to weigh a ton.

Lee Kun-hee took the financial statement, his gaze falling on the glaring red deficit figures. His expression gradually became serious, and his fingers trembled slightly as he gripped the pen.

The atmosphere in the office was extremely oppressive; the only sound was the heavy breathing of the two people.

After a long silence, Lee Kun-hee finally spoke, his tone filled with helplessness and self-deprecation: "Let's contact Ernst Asset Management Company first."

Saying those words seemed to have exhausted all his strength.

Prior to this, because several Wall Street institutions had shown great interest in acquiring stakes in Samsung, Lee Kun-hee was confident that Samsung could turn its fortunes around. Therefore, he directly rejected Ernst Asset Management's offer of cooperation.

The reason he did this was to send a signal to the outside world that Samsung's business was in good condition and that even Wall Street giants were eager to invest in it. Samsung simply didn't bother with ordinary financial institutions like Ernst Asset Management.

But who could have imagined that things would develop to this point?

Since Ernst Asset Management was rejected by Samsung, all the institutions on Wall Street have suddenly become ambiguous and are no longer as proactive as before in negotiating equity participation with Samsung.

Connecting the events that occurred before and after, even if Lee Kun-hee was naive, he would understand that the reason those Wall Street institutions were so enthusiastic back then was not because of Samsung Group at all, but because Ernst Asset Management was interested in Samsung.

In other words, they weren't after Samsung, but rather that man.

Now that Ernst Asset Management has withdrawn, they have naturally lost interest, which makes Lee Kun-hee feel like he has been tricked.

Now, Lee Kun-hee has no choice but to humble himself and contact Ernst Asset Management, a company he had previously rejected, which is undoubtedly a slap in his own face.

But he knew in his heart that now was not the time to worry about saving face; preserving Samsung was the most important thing.

Li Hezhu, standing to the side, naturally understood the reasoning behind it.

He knew that Ernst Asset Management would likely make even more demanding requests this time, but even so, Samsung had no choice but to agree.

Because now Ernst Asset Management has become almost Samsung's only lifeline, that's Samsung's fate.

As the founders of Samsung, the Lee family, no matter how unwilling they were, and even if they felt that Perrin Houston was pissing on their heads, had no choice but to endure it.