Chapter 1141: The popularization of mobile phones

Leaving the road, Zhang Ke accompanied Tang Xueqian and Xu Ruiping for a walk on the river embankment, and occasionally looked at the river water with sparkling waves under the river embankment.

In 1998, Jinshan Lake collapsed, and the lake water poured back to the Jiujiang River on the edge of the city before it was blocked by the temporary earth dam. The new district was flooded, and now there is no trace of flooding from the river in front of you. This river is only separated from the construction site of Zhongjing Microcore Kingsoft Factory, and stone mounds are all covered with stones along the river, which is about ten meters wide, and willows are planted in the middle of a main road. At the turn of spring and summer, the tender green willow strips have a bit of appearance. The flood caused Jinshan and the wounds brought to the East China Sea have almost healed.

The construction cycle of Zhongjing Microchip Kingsoft Factory is relatively long, and the construction speed of nearby Kewang Hi-Tech and Xinyuan Electric Appliances factories is very fast, and it has become a scale in more than three months.

The person in charge of Xinyuan Electric Appliances in Kingsoft is Ding Wenxiang's niece and Ding Lihua's husband Zhou Xiaobing, both of whom are acquaintances, so Zhang Ke accompanied Tang Xueqian to visit the factory area of ​​Xinyuan Electric Appliances.

They walked through the paths in the Metasequoia forest. The Metasequoia were covered with new leaves. The forest was full of tender green weeds and unknown purple flowers. They were busy with government affairs and business, and rarely had the experience of walking through the wild.

Zhang Ke also told Tang Xueqian that Ding Wenxiang was interested in Zhou Xiaobing's outstanding ability, Caijilao and his niece Ding Lihua and Zhou Xiaobing. When Xinyuan Electric Appliances was not yet very large, although Ding Wenxiang was a very outstanding private entrepreneur in Haizhou, he still had a strong traditional idea of ​​inheriting his father's business; he had a late son, and his only son was only in junior high school now, so he needed an oversuccessor, and Zhou Xiaobing was the candidate he looked for at that time - but over the years, Xinyuan

The development of electrical appliances is also very rapid. Ding Wenxiang's business management ideas have changed a bit. Especially in 1997, in order to gain support from Kumho, Xinyuan Electric Appliances strengthened the disc machine business and reorganized the larger scale of SINO with five other disc machine companies. Xinyuan Electric gradually abandoned the color of family enterprises and completed the transformation into an electronic enterprise with a modern enterprise system. It recruited high-quality professional managers on a large scale, and achieved the management system of SINO at this time. However, Zhou Xiaobing has always been Ding Wenxiang's most capable right-hand man.

"Do you know these gossip news?" Tang Xueqian asked Zhang Ke with a smile.

"Teacher Xu often says that the wisdom of the city is. Teacher Xu and I have time to meet each other, play chess and drink tea, and talk more about these gossips. Xu Ruiping should often hear these rumors of the city, right?" Zhang Ke asked Xu Ruiping.

Xu Ruiping smiled and said, "I have met my dad more often than you have met him. Even if I talk to my dad on the phone, I will probably be scolded. There are fewer rumors in the market..."

Xu Ruiping served as secretary to Tang Xueqian, and his wife and children lived in Jinshan all year round. He had few opportunities to return to Haizhou. He did not meet his father Xu Hongbo often. He asked about his well-being on the phone and rarely talked about work. Xu Ruiping sometimes found it strange, but his father and Zhang Ke said everything.

When he walked to Xinyuan Electrical Factory, Zhou Xiaobing was already waiting there.

"Singyuan is very fast. It seems that the factory will be able to be opened soon..." Tang Xueqian stood in front of the factory gate, looked at the factory and said with emotion.

Before the Spring Festival, it was still a wasteland without tiles. At this time, it was a neat factory area. Straight roads crisscross the factory area, and the factories were tall and new. Gardeners were laying lawns on the open space in the factory area, and there were also a few trees.

"The assembly factory with large span steel structures is prefabricated, and it is connected by bolts. It is vividly like plate furniture. The factory produces good luck construction site to install it, and the ground is flattened with cement. Even if the factory is built... the speed is faster than the traditional factory construction," Zhou Xiaobing introduced the construction situation of the factory. "The first batch of workers have also been trained for a month. In almost one and a half months to two months, the first mobile phone we produced at the Kingsoft factory will be born from the production line..."

"It's really good. When your factory produces the first mobile phone, I will come and take a look..." Tang Xueqian's hometown is Xintai, but he spent his middle-aged and young life in Haizhou. He felt more intimate about Haizhou and was particularly concerned about Xinyuan Electric Appliances, such as Haizhou-born and raised companies. Besides, the rise of Xinyuan Electric Appliances in Haizhou was also a matter of Tang Xueqian's mastery of Haizhou, and his relationship with Kumho was also very close.

"We were afraid that we would disturb Governor Tang before, so we would dare to send invitations to Governor Tang and Gu Shao..." Zhou Xiaobing said.

"It's enough for you to invite Governor Tang. Forget me. I don't want to run a long distance for a meal," Zhang Ke hurriedly joked and refused, "But your speed is fast enough."

Xinyuan Electric Appliances is mainly about producing mobile phones for Jinhu and Lianxin. Zhang Ke knew that the orders obtained by Xinyuan Electric Appliances only require the Haizhou factory to complete the task, and there is no need for the Kingsoft factory to be opened before the middle of the year.

Zhou Xiaobing smiled and said, even if he asked Zhang Ke for advice, he didn't even think that he would make a special trip. What he wanted to do was not up to his sex. He said, "There is no way to go. Kewang has already obtained a sales license in Singapore and Malaysia, and Kewang is talking about acquiring an Indian telecommunications company..."

After hearing what Zhou Xiaobing said, Zhang Ke understood that Xinyuan Electric Appliances was not willing to stick to its current achievements and was not enterprising. He smiled and said, "Is Xinyuan going to open up overseas markets?"

"Maybe I will follow the footsteps of King Ke and try out the Indian market first..." Zhou Xiaobing said that this may be an extremely important commercial secret for Xinyuan in front of others, but it is really not considered a commercial secret in front of Zhang Ke.

Tang Xueqian was quite excited when he heard that the province's outward-oriented economy has always been poor. If both companies aim to export electronic communication products to Southeast Asia and South Asia markets, it will undoubtedly make the province's outward-oriented economy improve greatly. He said: "India's telecommunications market is relatively complex. You must prepare well. The Provincial Department of Foreign Trade and Economic Affairs will also provide you with convenience at any time..."

Since India's domestic telecommunications system is reformed every one or two years, India has encouraged private investment in the basic telecommunications industry since 1997, hundreds of telecommunications companies emerged in India for a time. So many telecommunications companies in India are naturally mixed, with fish and fish. Those with weaker strength may only need one or two million US dollars to acquire one. At present, foreign acquisition of Indian telecommunications companies is strictly restricted, and their holdings are not allowed to exceed 49%. Before the further reform of the Indian telecommunications industry system, acquiring small and medium-sized telecommunications companies in India is not of great significance, but Kewang's acquisition of small and medium-sized telecommunications companies in India should still lay the groundwork for its mobile phone products to enter the Indian market and clear the obstacles.

India's mobile communications market at this time was similar to China's 1995 and 1996, and was in its infancy.

Although India's population is second only to China, India's economic development level is relatively low, and the gap between the rich and the poor is more serious. The construction of telecommunications infrastructure is backward. When mobile phones are still luxury goods for civilians, the capacity of India's mobile phone market is far lower than that of China.

Although Kumho also developed the South Asian market at this time, its strength was not particularly strong.

The situation is not constant, India's telecommunications basic equipment is also gradually improving. It can be predicted that when mobile phones become popular, the Indian mobile phone market will be very exciting. Xie Jiannan should have seen that the ESS mobile phone chipset developed by Kumho will be the key to the popularization of mobile phones, so he took the lead in laying out the Indian market.

Xinyuan Electric has long been a competitor of Kewang, especially the Ministry of Information and Industry officially closed the door to enter the domestic mobile phone market in mid-April, and announced that it would no longer issue new mobile phone licenses within three years. In the mobile phone industry, Xinyuan and Kewang have a similar position, and must adopt step-by-step measures.

When Zhang Ke agreed to Xie Jiannan to purchase ESS mobile phone chipsets from Kumho, he restricted Kewang's products from flowing to China in two years, forcing Kewang to use existing marketing channels to transport mobile phone products to Southeast Asia and South Asia. Xinyuan Electric was not slow to catch up. While producing mobile phones for Kumho, Lianxin and other companies in China, he also had to follow Kewang and turn his attention to Southeast Asia and South Asia markets.

"This year... this year should be a key year for the popularization of mobile phones," Zhang Ke said in a new factory in the distance, "at least, it is necessary to make ordinary working people no longer think that mobile phones are luxury goods. This is a goal for Kumho in the past two years."

"Lianxin, Kewang Hi-Tech uses ESS mobile phone chipsets to launch it on the market, with sales floating around 1,400 yuan and 1,500 yuan; the customized mobile phones provided to China Unicom have actually entered the ranks of 1,000 yuan. Even so, Lianxin, Kewang Hi-Tech still has considerable profit margins in customizing mobile phones," Xu Ruiping smiled, "I see that the heavy responsibility of mobile phones has fallen on China Unicom, and it has been on the move..."

"I'm ashamed," Zhang Ke said with a smile, "I tried my best to give up the radical market expansion plan before the New Year... Unicom really wanted to implement the radical market expansion plan, and the mobile communication fee was probably a substantial drop at this time." The few people present were qualified to know the confidentiality, and Xinyuan Electric was also directly a section of China Unicom's development of customized mobile phone business. It was casual to talk about these things.

"Let China Unicom prepare more to have stronger competitive strength. As the saying goes, haste will not be achieved," Tang Xueqian said with a smile, "Everyone also needs time to prepare."

Following Tang Xueqian's gaze, Zhang Ke looked back and saw that Zhongjing Microchip's factory was much more complicated than ordinary assembly factories, especially the construction of a super clean workshop was a arduous task. It would take almost a year to complete and put into trial production.

Of course, this is just one aspect of preparation.

Even if the second-generation enhanced ESS baseband chipset that has now entered the testing stage is already suitable for most mid- and low-end mobile phone models, it cannot be claimed that Kumho's technology in mobile phone baseband and RF chips has matured, and there is still a trade-off in sacrificing functions to ensure performance. Only when the third- and fourth-generation technologies are developed can it be considered that some foundation has been truly accumulated.

Whether it is the second-generation ESS base frequency chipset that is mass-producing at this time or the second-generation enhanced ESS base frequency chipset that is entering the testing stage, they are all designed on the 0.35 micron thread platform. Zhongjing Microchip's Xinpu factory has the ability to carry out mass production. At this time, the mobile phone chip R&D department of Oak Park uses 0.25 micron thread to design the third-generation ESS base frequency chipset, which requires the Kingsoft Factory to be built before mass production.

It will take about a year to enter the practical use of the third-generation ESS base frequency chipset, and it will take about a year to complete the Kingsoft Factory of Zhongjing Microchip. It will take about a year to start the scale of the mobile phone manufacturing base built by Xinyuan and Kewang Hi-Tech in Kingsoft (at this time, Kewang will be added). During this period, there will be no mistakes. At about next year, you can deliver low-priced mobile phones to various parts of the country, Southeast Asia and South Asia markets on a large scale, and turn the mobile phones into popular communication tools.

Kewang, Xinyuan started to deploy overseas markets in advance at this time, which was just right.

After years of deciphering the plan at this time, many people may wonder why Kumho allowed Kumho to participate. Some people may even doubt what trap Kumho set for Kumho again, but Zhou Xiaobing did not feel confused. He has been familiar with Kumho's business style and demeanor over the years. It is this demeanor that Kumho has begun to take the scale of a chaebol in China's special political environment.

Indeed, Kumho has begun to take shape as a chaebol. Since most people do not believe that the domestic political environment can tolerate the existence of such a chaebol-like private economy, it does exist and is very stable. Zhou Xiaobing doesn’t know which private economy in China can shake Kumho at all. Even in specific industrial fields, Zhou Xiaobing does not believe that there is a specific central enterprise that can shake Kumho at all in fair competition. Hongxin from East Zhejiang obviously cannot.

Lee Jae-soo has also caused dizziness in the impact of the subversion of the new economic wave bubble burst these days.

In 1998, Samsung almost wiped out the Asian financial crisis. Although this time is different from 1997 and 1998, the destructive power at least is limited to the Internet investment field, and may affect the telecommunications and electronic basic equipment manufacturing fields, and will have less impact on traditional industries, but its impact on Samsung is also significant.

Samsung has been paying attention to the development of its memory chip business over the years, and the memory chip market accounts for almost one-third of the entire semiconductor market. Since the mid-1990s, Samsung has ranked first in the memory chip market, and the memory chip business has also become Samsung's main source of profit.

The new economic wave in the past two years has led to a sharp increase in global Internet and telecom investment, and the market demand for memory chips has also surged. This is also an important reason why Samsung has been able to quickly get rid of the shadow of the Asian financial crisis in the past two years.

The current situation is already quite obvious. It is the excessive investment in the Internet and telecommunications industry that leads to the current new economic wave bubble crisis in the global securities capital market. Even if the current crisis can be smoothly overcome, global investment in the Internet and telecommunications industry will drop significantly, which will directly affect the market's demand for memory chips.

At the emergency discussion meeting of Samsung Electronics on the beginning of May, everyone agreed that the profit level of memory chips would drop sharply, and some senior executives would even worry that the memory chip business would suffer losses. In 1999, the memory chip business contributed nearly one billion US dollars in net profit to Samsung Electronics.

This worry is really frustrating. It is drizzling outside the window. Lee Jae-soo picked up the phone on his desk and was about to notify Yan Wenjie in person. Samsung intends to delay the construction plan of Samsung Hongxin Fab.

"...Worrying that profit levels are falling, shouldn't Samsung move the wafer factory to China to reduce manufacturing costs?" Yan Wenjie asked on the other end of the phone that the delay in Samsung's Hongxin wafer factory was definitely negative news for Haisu Technology.

"..." Li Jae-soo couldn't answer Yan Wenjie's doubts, and he couldn't tell him that Samsung had delayed the construction plan of the new factory in its headquarters and then he was able to ease the relocation of the old factory in turn.

Kim Nam-yong stood at the desk, and Yeon Wen-skook's voice was a bit high-profile on the phone, and he could hear it clearly. He had known that Hongxin had other plans for Haisu Technology. Sometimes he thought that the businessmen in this country were really happy, such a naked and unconcealed behavior. HG also had it in the 1960s and 1970s, but he had to restrain himself in recent years. Just like Samsung's spiritual leader Lee Kun-hee retired because of the scandal of bribery. No matter what Hongxin's plan for Haisu Technology, Samsung naturally could not consider the interests of others when making decisions. Although Lee Jae-soo did not answer Yan Wen-skook's doubts positively, Kim Nam-yong noticed that his hand holding the microphone was very tight, and he seemed very determined, and there was no room for negotiation.

"Can you not announce this news for the time being?" Yan Wenjie also realized from Lee Jae-soo's silence that Samsung's decision was difficult to change. Perhaps Lee Jae-soo was just an executor. He took a step back and hoped that Samsung could temporarily conceal the news and not announce it to the public. This would not have a direct impact on the stock price of Haisu Technology.

Lee Jae-soo was also happy to see that Hongxin, who was not in the way of dealing with Kumho, could be stronger. He didn't mind helping Hongxin with such a little busyness, and said, "Within my authority, I am always willing to help others."

Putting down the phone, Lee Jae-soo squeezed his eyebrows with his fingers to relieve his tense nerves. Yu Er asked Kim Nam-yong in front of the office again: "Can Hongxin pose a threat to Kumho in China?"

Jin Nanyong shook his head without any expression. Before the Nasdaq index plummeted, Kumho will complete the reduction of 17 million Quantum Online stocks and complete the equity transaction of Global Music Online with Microsoft. The 1.7 billion US dollars of funds provide new impetus for Kumho's next development. Either Kumho has lost his luck again, or Kumho's senior management has mastered the global economic situation to the extreme - Kumho's physical industries under Kumho are obviously in a safe area of ​​this crisis. What poses Hongxin's threat to Kumho?

Lee Jae-soo smiled bitterly, the answer was obvious, he asked more questions just now.

In the past few years he has been in China, he has also had a clear understanding of the human world of Chinese people. Even if the Chinese government has no support for Kumho, it has not been excessively restrained. This can be clearly judged from the performance of the newly appointed governor of Donghai Province, Jiang Minzhi, during this period. If Hongxin did not have special support from the Chinese government, it would be impossible to pose a threat to Kumho from an industrial perspective.

Hongxin's industries are mainly concentrated in shipbuilding, energy, steel, real estate and engineering construction. In fact, Kumho has entered the shipbuilding, steel, real estate and engineering construction industries in the past two years, which has put great pressure on Hongxin. Hongxin Branch has simply been unable to cause any impact on Kumho's core industries - consumer electronics products, home appliances, chain home appliance stores, and papermaking.

People in China seem to be familiar with Kumho's mobile phones and disc products, and rarely know that the IPlayer is the weapon for Kumho to make money in the overseas market. As of the end of 1999, Kumho's cumulative sales of the IPlayer in the overseas market exceeded 2 million pieces. The price of Ida's IPlayer overseas ranges from US$199 to US$699. Kim Nanyong speculates that Kumho's profit margin will not be lower than 40%, and it may even be much higher than this number, which means that Kumho has made huge profits of more than US$300 million from the overseas market in the past two years with just one product of the IPlayer.

Kumho has always been accustomed to using the Spring Festival as the beginning of the New Year and also used to adjusting market strategies with the Spring Festival as the dividing line. In early March, in addition to upgrading the IPlayers across the board, Kumho also significantly adjusted the price of high-end IPlayers in North America, Europe and RB markets, and adjusted the price of the IPlayer overseas to a range of $199 to $499. In March and April, Kumho's sales of the IPlayer products in the overseas market rose sharply. Before the end of this year, Kumho's total sales of Kumho's overseas markets will not be surprising.

Lee Jae-soo believes that although Kumho has lowered the price of high-end IPlayers, due to Kumho's enhanced control over the overseas market and the further dilution of R&D costs and manufacturing costs, Kumho's profit margin on the IPlayer will not decline, which means that Kumho can directly win nearly US$400 million in profits from the overseas market this year with just one product of the IPlayer.

Lee Jae-soo also knew that Kumho's intention to occupy overseas business under Kumho Commercial was to improve Kumho Commercial's financing capabilities in overseas markets. With Kumho's profitability in overseas markets, he could almost bear six to ten times the debt quota. Moreover, Kumho Commercial has a very good reputation in the overseas Chinese circle. Even if Kumho Commercial's financing behavior in 1998 was a bit like taking advantage of the situation, once a virtuous cycle was formed, Kumho Commercial would not feel much trouble increasing the debt quota to $4 billion this year.

With such a chance, Kumho can barely become a rival to Samsung.
Chapter completed!