Reborn since 1993

Chapter 1181: A Person's Name, a Tree's Shadow

Huang Zhang's experience is basically a microcosm of the past ten years or so in China. It means that if a person is talented, willing to put in the effort to study technology, and is also willing to humble himself, he has a very good chance of standing out from the crowd.

This is a characteristic of an era. There are always people who like to claim that heroes create the era, but in reality, it is more often the times that create heroes.

Huang Zhang is a big fan of electronic products and has shown a talent for it since childhood. He likes to disassemble home appliances, which in traditional culture would be considered as being idle or even a spendthrift.

After graduating from high school, Huang Zhang was "kicked out" of his home, or rather, his family wanted him to experience some hardship so that he would "turn over a new leaf".

It's like many children don't like studying, so their parents make them drop out of school and send them to work on a deadly assembly line, construction site, or restaurant to suffer, so they'll understand the importance of studying. Or they can sit in a classroom and read books, which is easier than carrying sandbags.

So after graduating from high school, Huang Zhang did not continue his studies and went to Xiangshan to make a living and seek opportunities. This may also be related to the boss of Giant, Mr. Shi. At that time, Mr. Shi, the Bill Gates of the mainland, was at the height of his power, and countless young people in the country rushed to join him.

Without any formal education, Huang Zhang's first job upon arriving in Xiangshan was as a dockworker carrying heavy loads. This shows that Huang Zhang was a ruthless person, ruthless to others and even more ruthless to himself!
While working as a dockworker, Huang Zhang did not give up his pursuit of technology and first went to work in an audio equipment store.

His passion for technology and his "craftsmanship" attracted the attention of Aiqin, a Singaporean Chinese audio brand that mainly deals in audio equipment and VCDs, at its local office, and he was recruited by Aiqin.

This is also a characteristic of this era: academic qualifications have not become an insurmountable barrier. As long as you have skills and can seize opportunities, you can turn your life around.

But this has only been happening for the past few years. In a few years, when college graduates are as numerous as carp crossing a river, the college certificate will no longer be proof of skills and abilities, but rather an entry ticket. Without that certificate, you won't be able to get into any company.

Different periods have different characteristics; one cannot use the sword of the previous dynasty to kill people of the current dynasty.

Huang Zhang's return to Xiangshan from the Singapore headquarters was actually to establish an Aegean branch in Xiangshan. This is one of the most important decisions made by Aegean Singapore, marking the beginning of its localization in mainland China.

With the rise of the domestic OEM industry, the advantages of the entire industrial chain of heavy and light industries have gradually become apparent. Any company that does not set up a production base in China will have significantly higher costs than its competitors.

Huang Zhang was already familiar with Xiangshan, and was sent there to establish the R&D center, production base, and operations center of Aiqin Company.

If this is done, Huang Zhang will likely have the opportunity to take over the position of general manager of Aiqin Company in the future!
But as soon as he returned to Xiangshan, Huang Zhang heard the news of the establishment of the International Music Foundation and its willingness to license MP3 patents, so he immediately rushed to Yanjing.

Huang Zhang is obsessed with electronic products. He was one of the first to buy the Feiyan MP3 player and even disassembled it.

As an electronics enthusiast, he couldn't resist taking apart Feiyan's MP3 player, but he couldn't settle down to do so.

After disassembling the device, Huang Zhang was quite amazed by the workmanship of the Feiyan MP3 player. In Huang Zhang's eyes, the workmanship and materials of the Feiyan MP3 player were already comparable to those of Japanese giants such as Sony. This was also the first time Huang Zhang had seen a domestic product with such workmanship.

However, after disassembling the device, Huang Zhang also discovered that the materials used in the Feiyan MP3 player were too expensive. This made him feel that even if the Feiyan MP3 music player could become a trend, it would probably not be able to become popular on a large scale in the short term due to cost issues.

But just recently, the world's second MP3 player was released, and Aigo MP3 players have been soaring in sales, selling like hotcakes in places like South Korea.

Huang Zhang also disassembled the Aigo YP-MP3 player and found that the workmanship of the Aigo MP3 player was almost identical to that of the Feiyan MP3 player, but the cost of materials was obviously much lower.

If the emergence of Aigo MP3 made Huang Zhang feel that the era of affordable MP3 players might be coming, then the subsequent statement from the International Music Foundation made Huang Zhang suddenly realize that this was an opportunity.

Upon arriving in Xiangshan, Huang Zhang, without even having time to report to the Singapore headquarters, immediately rushed to Yanjing, hoping to find the International Music Foundation to inquire about MP3 licensing.

When Huang Zhang arrived at the International Music Foundation's office on the floor of the Tianya Building in Zhongguancun, he was greeted by a scene of "a sea of ​​people".

"People from UTStarcom have arrived too!"

"All the domestic manufacturers, including BBK, Panda, Kejian, UTStarcom, Bird, and Amoi, are here!"

"More than that!"

"I heard that home appliance manufacturers like Haier, TCL, and Skyworth have also sent people here."

"These companies are crazy, they actually want to steal the MP3 market!"

"Who wouldn't want that? UTStarcom's market value has already exceeded three billion US dollars. Who in China doesn't want to become the next UTStarcom?"

When Huang Zhang arrived, he heard a large number of manufacturers, big and small, registering with the International Music Foundation and waiting in line, discussing among themselves.

Huang Zhang had a general idea of ​​the rules of the International Music Foundation: first, a deposit of US$500,000, which could also be called an application fee, must be paid.

This deposit is to ensure that companies using the International Music Foundation's MP3 patent will not breach the contract. If there is no breach of contract, the deposit will be refunded after the cooperation ends.

If a breach of contract occurs, the penalty fee will naturally be forfeited.

Other patent fees are charged based on the volume of shipments; the larger the shipment volume, the lower the patent fee.

Huang Zhang could see that the rules set by the International Music Foundation were very binding on small and medium-sized manufacturers, but these rules might not be able to bind large manufacturers.

Huang Zhang originally wanted to go in, but seeing the long queue and the presence of manufacturers like UTStarcom ahead of him, he knew he probably wouldn't have a chance to discuss things in detail with the International Music Foundation today. After leaving, Huang Zhang found a hotel and excitedly began contacting the Singapore headquarters, initiating a conference call.

Huang Zhang explained the future prospects of MP3 players to the headquarters of Aegean Company in Singapore.

"This is a new opportunity. Compared to the more profitable VCD industry, with Aiqin's reputation and technology, it has the potential to establish itself in the MP3 industry!"

Huang Zhang excitedly went to headquarters to explain his expectations for the future of the MP3 industry, but after a moment of silence, headquarters rejected Huang Zhang's proposal.

"The MP3 industry is too risky. A deposit of five hundred thousand US dollars is Aiqin's net profit for a month!"
Moreover, with so many companies suddenly entering the MP3 market, competition in the entire MP3 industry will likely be incredibly fierce.

"The company's plan is to build a research and development and production base in Xiangshan, which has already cost a lot of money. We are not considering the MP3 market for the time being!"

When the conference call ended, Huang Zhang sat by the phone like a statue, remaining silent for a long time.

After a moment, Huang Zhang covered his face with his hands. He felt that this was an excellent opportunity for Ai Qin to complete her transformation.

To be honest, Aegean's audio equipment and VCD business is not very outstanding, and the profit margin is constantly decreasing; otherwise, they wouldn't have come to China to build a production base.

However, Aiqin Company was somewhat conservative in the face of Huang Zhang's proposal, naturally having concerns about entering a completely new industry.

The rejection from the Singapore headquarters left Huang Zhang somewhat disheartened, and his original intention to negotiate with the International Music Foundation vanished without a trace.

"where u from?"

"You're also looking for that international music foundation, right?"

Once Huang Zhang got into the taxi, the taxi driver in Yanjing automatically switched into a chatty mode.

Without waiting for Huang Zhang's reply, the taxi driver continued to ramble on, "To be honest, you made the right choice coming here!"
I have inside information: this international music foundation belongs to Dongling High-Tech!

When he said this, the taxi driver lowered his voice and looked mysterious, as if it were top secret. However, Huang Zhang had heard about this news before. It wasn't exactly top secret in the industry; it was even being discussed at Tianya Building yesterday.

You know Dongling High-Tech, right?

"Shenzhou USB flash drives, electronic dictionaries, Shenzhou repeaters, and Shenzhou computers are all from Dongling Hi-Tech. My family has bought a lot of their products."

Over the years, companies that followed Dongling High-Tech's lead have made a fortune. I even heard that UTStarcom is listed on NASDAQ in America!

"If you ask me, we're sure to make money by working with Dongling High-Tech this time. These days, the timid starve, and the bold get rich!"

The taxi driver was just rambling and trying to fool laymen who weren't in the tech industry. They were definitely being misled, just like hearing the name Buffett and thinking that buying stocks with him would guarantee no losses.

But upon hearing this long-winded talk, Huang Zhang's eyes lit up. After arriving at Yanjing Airport, he tossed a ticket to the driver and headed straight for the ticket counter. "Change my ticket! Give me a ticket to Pingyang in Hanxi!"

Huang Zhang has no plans to return to Xiangshan; he's going to try his luck in Pingyang!
……

"This afternoon, the heads of Tianya Company, Yahoo! Mainland, Jiangmin Antivirus, Kingsoft and other companies will all arrive in Pingyang."

"Tomorrow, the heads of these companies, along with General Manager Zhang from Torch Group, will travel to Gangcheng with General Manager Li. Gangcheng Dongling High-Tech Company and the Digital Port are already prepared!"

Shen Xingyao, the chief assistant who was always responsible for accompanying Li Dongling on his trips, spoke to Li Dongling.

This time, Mr. Li's trip to Hong Kong was a grand affair, with the media creating a buzz. Since he was going to promote himself online, he definitely needed to increase the topic's popularity and influence.

"Mr. Li, there is a man named Huang Zhang who claims to be from a Singapore company and wants to see you. Should we let him in?"

Another assistant, Du Qishan, also spoke to Li Dongling.

Now, although Li Dongling still meets with industry newcomers who come seeking his expertise, the probability is very low. After all, Dongling Hi-Tech has now established many venture capital departments and channels. Truly creative newcomers might have a better chance of meeting Li Dongling by submitting their projects to these departments and trying their luck.

Du Qishan was just following protocol and hadn't expected Li Dongling to meet Huang Zhang.

But Li Dongling was taken aback when he heard the name, and couldn't help but think of a company associated with the name: Meizu!

Li Dashanren didn't know whether this Huang Zhang was the same Huang Zhang as the other Huang Zhang.

"Let him in!" After thinking for a moment, the philanthropist Li said.

(End of this chapter)