Rebirth 08: Rise from copycat phones

Chapter 430 Zhao Liquan's Investigation
The next day, Xu Shenxue called Ji Chenghe and Gu Zhiming over.

After showing them the prototype of the AI ​​glasses, he told them to start preparing marketing plans and mass production plans.

To launch a new smart terminal product on the market, marketing and mass production are of paramount importance.

The marketing work that Ji Chenghe is in charge of is directly related to the information penetration rate of the product after it is launched on the market, how many people will know about it, who will know about it, how much purchasing power these people who know about the new product information have, and how many orders can be converted.

At the same time, we must cooperate with the legal department and overseas subsidiaries to ensure that the products can adapt to the laws and cultural customs of various countries, so as to avoid causing resentment in certain parts of the overseas market and having a negative impact.

For ordinary companies, product marketing may just involve conventional advertising and promotion. However, for multinational companies such as Zhiyun Group that target the global market, product marketing is actually very complicated.

Different marketing strategies need to be adopted for different regions, and many public relations issues need to be resolved.

For example, in some areas that have high requirements for personal privacy information, or are more concerned about and sensitive to local information security, Zhiyun Group's products or services need to be handled in a targeted manner when they are listed and sold locally.

For example, data related to personal privacy needs to be stored in local servers, or some services may simply be cut off.

Then there are some content areas that also need targeted treatment.

Because the ecological content in different regions is different.

In China, the application ecosystem of AI glasses mainly consists of the group’s own services or services of other domestic Internet manufacturers. The services of some foreign software manufacturers cannot be used... This requires Zhiyun Group to carry out targeted processing.

However, it cannot be used in some overseas countries, or the local people are not used to using the content services of Zhiyun or Huaxia Internet manufacturers. This requires targeted selection of software manufacturers that occupy the mainstream market in the local area to provide adaptive content.

For example, map software is a typical example.

Zhiyun Group owns Zhiyun Map, which is a free application. It has become a world-class map application as Zhiyun mobile phones have expanded to many countries around the world. However, Zhiyun map services are not available in many countries, or local consumers rarely use Zhiyun map services, but instead use Google Maps or map services from other software manufacturers.

Therefore, in some overseas countries, it is necessary to install Google Maps or other map software manufacturers' map services in advance.

Payment software is also a typical example. There are huge differences in payment software in different countries' markets.

Although Zhiyun Group has its own payment software, it is actually very different from common Internet payment software. The so-called payment software of Zhiyun Group is just a software used to collect money by itself. To put it bluntly, it is a recharge and payment system and does not support payment to other people.

Therefore, it is also necessary to connect to other regular payment software.

The ones used in the domestic market are naturally WeChat and Alipay.

As for overseas markets, payment methods are connected according to the different situations in each country. For example, some countries use credit cards, some countries use local Internet payment software, or other payment methods.

Corresponding adjustments will be made based on the situation in different countries.

Similar situations exist with maps, payments, and calls to other ecological applications.

So, to some extent, Zhiyun Group actually has a lot of cooperative software/Internet manufacturers. Basically, any manufacturer that is well-known globally or has a certain market share in a certain regional market will more or less cooperate with Zhiyun Group.

As a smart terminal product, AI glasses also need content support from these software manufacturers.

Therefore, Zhiyun Group will target different markets and screen various cooperative manufacturers worldwide to provide various ecological contents for its new product AI glasses, ensuring that after the product is launched on the market, consumers around the world can obtain corresponding ecological services.

In addition to the important work of marketing, mass production is also a top priority!

The supply chain business is under the charge of the group's senior vice president Gu Zhiming.

AI glasses look small and seem to be just ordinary glasses. They seem simple at first glance... However, they are actually very technologically advanced, making mass production even more difficult.

Many core components were not available before and were specially developed this time.

For example, the battery used here is a semi-solid battery pack customized in a special shape, in which the battery body is provided by the battery factory under Hailan Automobile. However, the battery provided by the battery factory under Hailan Automobile is just the battery itself... After all, the battery factory under Hailan Automobile has never made any battery packs for smart terminals before. They are engaged in power batteries, so their expertise is not right.

Therefore, the battery factory under Hailan Automobile only provides basic battery packs for semi-solid-state batteries.

Subsequently, battery management chips specifically for lightweight smart devices provided by Zhiyun Semiconductor will be needed, and other spare parts provided by other suppliers will need to be integrated. Finally, they will be assembled at Desay Technology, the core battery supplier of Zhiyun Group, to form the complete battery pack that people see.

Such battery packs will be sent to the finished product OEM factory for assembly and then installed in AI glasses.

Just for the battery pack dedicated to AI glasses, there are more than a dozen first-tier diode suppliers involved.

Then there is the core display module in AI glasses, which involves more suppliers and the entire production process is more complicated. In addition to subsidiaries of Zhiyun Group, Xiannvshan Holdings and sister companies under Liuhe Investment, there are more than a dozen other domestic first- or second-tier suppliers.

Plus the acoustic module, camera module, and sensor module.

There are also three more core hardware cores: SOC, running memory, and flash memory.

"According to our preliminary statistics, our AI glasses initially involve 38 first-tier suppliers and 137 second-tier suppliers!"

The so-called first-tier or second-tier suppliers refer to suppliers that are directly managed by Zhiyun Group’s supply chain system and are major suppliers.

These suppliers either directly supply subsystems or supply some special or important raw materials or components.

For these important supply chain manufacturers, Zhiyun Group often directly sends people to participate in supervision to ensure that there are no problems with production capacity and quality.

Gu Zhiming said: "According to our investigation, among the current suppliers, 80% have ready-made technology and mass production capabilities, so we don't need to worry too much about this. However, there are still 20% of suppliers who have problems with technology and production capacity, which requires our technical and financial support!"

"This mainly involves some newly developed new technology products or raw materials. Some of the technologies we have developed need to be handed over to suppliers for production, purchasing equipment, and assisting them in setting up production lines, etc!"

This model actually means that all the technical patents of the products belong to Zhiyun, even the equipment on the production line belongs to Zhiyun, and even the various raw materials and parts are ordered by Zhiyun.

This OEM factory is simply responsible for production.

Therefore, the products produced also belong to Zhiyun, and the OEM factory cannot use the equipment, raw materials, and technical patents of this production line to produce similar products and then put them on the market.

There are also some suppliers that are suppliers in the conventional sense. They have their own technologies and products. Zhiyun Group only purchases their products for use. These companies are generally large companies and are not short of money.

Of course, sometimes we encounter some special situations, such as some manufacturers, especially some start-ups, or small and medium-sized enterprises, but one day they suddenly come up with something good that Zhiyun Group happens to need.

This creates a dilemma where the company has the technology but lacks the money to carry out large-scale mass production.

At this time, Zhiyun Group will provide various support, such as strategic investment.

Sometimes, Zhiyun Group does not even need to make a strategic investment. It only needs to sign a letter of intent with the other party and then provide them with a platform. They can then turn around and take the contract to the local bank to request a loan.

Normally it is very easy to get a loan. As long as the company does not have any other major problems, it will be approved in seconds.

Because this is Zhiyun supply chain certification, it is very reliable! As long as such companies do not act recklessly, they can basically make a profit... Because for many companies, orders from Zhiyun Group are astronomical orders.

Even Zhiyun can help you set up the production line and manage it. As long as the boss is not stupid and doesn't mess around, you can still make a lot of money for several years even if you don't do anything good.

The loan risk is very low!
Furthermore, for most ordinary places, especially those with relatively weak economies, many of the smart cloud supply chain companies are local high-tech leading companies.

Even if it is still a start-up, it will become a local high-tech leader in a few years.
This also means huge employment and tax revenue.

Therefore, we can often get strong support from local areas!

This matter is actually no different from a big pie falling from the sky.

The large-scale high-tech enterprise investment that you had begged for but could not get in the past, suddenly emerged from your own company. You must be so happy!
Nowadays, it is very difficult for a company engaged in high-tech industry, especially those related to the electronic consumer field, to enter the smart cloud supply chain. From a technical point of view, it needs to achieve the top three technical levels in this field in China.

As long as the company enters the Zhiyun supply chain, even if it was a startup before, it means that the company has achieved the top three domestic technical level in this field... Then Zhiyun Group's financial support, technical support, and various support in the management/public relations fields will come.

It won’t be long before this startup becomes a large enterprise with a valuation of tens of billions of dollars. After a few more years of hard work and stability, it will be easy to go public.

These companies that have gone public with the help of Zhiyun Group are also referred to as "Zhiyun-related companies" by many investors, and their stock price fluctuations will be greatly affected by Zhiyun Group.

This is not to say how much control Zhiyun Group has over these companies. It is purely because the orders given by Zhiyun Group will be very large and will account for most of the revenue of these companies.

The number of orders often directly determines the revenue and profits of these companies, and the revenue and profits in turn affect the stock price.

For Zhiyun Group, every time it develops a new product, it is troublesome to deal with the supply chain, especially for some specially designed spare parts or spare parts with new technologies.

Therefore, it is necessary to provide certain support to the corresponding enterprises, otherwise they will not be able to succeed on their own.

The work in this area is mainly led by the people in the supply chain department headed by Gu Zhiming. Of course, it also requires the cooperation of other departments in the company, such as the investment department, public relations department, and legal department.

Organizing a supply chain for a new product is still very troublesome and complicated.

However, the supply chain department of Zhiyun Group, led by Gu Zhiming, is also familiar with these things and has a stable and effective logic for doing things.

After Xu Shenxue and Gu Zhiming had a discussion and finalized the supply chain matters, Gu Zhiming left in a hurry.

Afterwards, Gu Zhiming convened the heads of various departments of the supply chain to begin assigning tasks. The next day, some middle and senior managers of the supply chain department began their business trips.

Two days later, in an inconspicuous small city in the central part of China.

At the highway intersection, several cars and a group of people were waiting quietly.

After waiting for about an hour, a small convoy came down from the highway intersection. This small convoy consisting of several large sea-blue SLC luxury cars is nothing in a big city, but it is quite conspicuous here.

As these sea-blue SLC cars exited the highway intersection, they first stopped slowly, and then the people waiting there came to greet them.

Many people in the convoy got out of the car. Leading the group was a middle-aged man in a suit and tie. When he saw the people coming, he immediately took two steps forward.

The young man in the lead on the opposite side was still a little nervous at this time: "Welcome Mr. Zhao, I am Sun Yulin from Bafang Technology."

Zhao Li responded with a smile: "Mr. Sun, you are too polite. I asked you to wait here in such a hot day. I told you not to come to pick me up. Really, there was a traffic jam on the highway just now. I am really sorry for keeping you waiting for so long!"

Sun Yulin said at this time: "It hasn't been long, we just arrived too!"

In addition, local representatives came forward to express various welcomes, saying that the local area will continue to support the high-tech industry and hope that Zhiyun Group's local cooperation will proceed smoothly. If there are any subsequent investment plans, rest assured that the local area will provide all necessary conveniences.

Zhao Liquan naturally responded enthusiastically. Although Zhiyun Group had no business in the local area and no investment plans, it did have a potential important supplier here. A core component in the supply chain of the AI ​​glasses project had to rely on a key material newly developed by Bafang Technology, so they had to build a good relationship with it.

If you help others, you will also help yourself!
The few of them chatted for a few more minutes, then got into their cars, and then the dozen or so cars left the highway intersection.

This made the staff at the highway intersection a little confused. This scene was a bit strange. Could it be some important person? It looked a bit like him, but not quite like him!
Big shot? Zhao Liquan himself doesn't think so!

He is just an M7-level deputy director of the supply chain department in Zhiyun Group. At best, he is upper-middle level and is mainly responsible for part of the supply chain business. He is still far from becoming a real executive of the company.

Above him, there is the group director at the M8 level, the group executive vice president at the M9 level, the group vice president at the M10 level, and the group senior vice president at the M11 level. As for M12, that is Xu Shenxue!

With his M7 level, he is not even qualified to participate in the company's expanded strategic meeting!

Even within the supply chain department, he was unable to participate in core decision-making, and he still had a long way to go before he could become a true senior manager of a growing company.

In Zhiyun Group, generally speaking, the vice president of M10 Group is considered to be a true company executive, who actually manages some business lines, important departments or core subsidiaries, travels with business jets and security personnel.

People of this level often appear in financial and even social news overseas.

Of course... this is the internal view of Zhiyun Group. In fact, in the eyes of many people, especially in other places, a deputy director of the Zhiyun Group headquarters at the level of M7, or the head of a subsidiary, is already considered a senior executive.

After all, many heads of some seemingly large subsidiaries of Zhiyun Group are only at this level.

The levels of ordinary employees in Zhiyun Group are N1-N4, and those of management are M5-M12. The levels are relatively clear.

In actual management, many middle and low-level management positions in subsidiaries are actually held by N3 or N4 level employees. Strictly speaking, this level is not even considered as the management level in Zhiyun Group’s personnel management system. They still belong to the sequence of ordinary employees. M5 level and above are managers in the company’s personnel system, and are managed and paid benefits according to the model of managers.

But in actual application, M5 and M6 levels are often senior managers in a subsidiary.

M7 and M8 can basically only be found in regional branches, important subsidiaries, and business departments under the group headquarters.

Therefore, there is a certain difference between internal and external views, and the reason for this difference is simple: Zhiyun is too big...

Within Zhiyun Group, it is just an ordinary subsidiary managed by an M6-level management team. In some small and medium-sized regions, it is often already a top-level leading technology company in the local area...

Zhao Liquan has a clear understanding of his own positioning, but the outside world does not see it that way!

Especially this time he came to inspect on behalf of Zhiyun Group headquarters... If everything goes well, this small city that used to have nothing will soon welcome a top high-tech enterprise that can enter the Zhiyun supply chain system!

Therefore, the local Bafang Technology and others attach great importance to it...

In order to pass the supply chain inspection of Zhiyun Group’s headquarters, enter Zhiyun Group’s supply chain, and obtain various strategic support from Zhiyun Group, Bafang Technology and the local area were extremely well prepared.

It was so sufficient that even Zhao Liquan, who has visited a large number of companies and is considered to be well-informed, had to admit that the local area's desire for high-tech companies is burning.

(End of this chapter)