The world is in trouble

Chapter 265 A Magnificent Era! Wu Lingxi's Yearning for Love!
The leader listened quietly to Lin Xiao's report.

In fact, he had a clearer understanding of the mobile phone industry, because China's largest mobile phone manufacturer, Bird, was located in Ningbo, Zhejiang.

At this time, Chinese mobile phones can be said to have almost no core technology and are simply assembly plants. Even so, Chinese mobile phones are about to usher in their darkest hour.

Because international giants such as Motorola and Nokia began adjusting their channel strategies in the domestic market last year, the market share of domestic mobile phones has plummeted in just one or two years, and is now barely less than 30%.

Within just one or two years, the market share of domestic mobile phones will plummet by more than half.

Although Bird Mobile sold 1393 million units this year, including 611 million exported, its sales revenue decreased by 11.4% year-on-year, with total sales of around 90 billion RMB and a net loss of 4.8 million RMB.

For the first time since its listing, it has faced huge losses.

Despite claiming to be the eighth largest in the world, Bird's business is on the verge of collapse.

Bird clearly saw this as well, so it began trying to transform into a car manufacturer a year or two ago. It went through three attempts, each time losing more money than the last.

By next year or the year after, waveguide technology will be practically on its last legs.

With the collapse of Bird, large domestic mobile phone manufacturers, while not completely wiped out, are not far off.

However, what replaced it was the rise of a massive number of counterfeit phones.

"Current mobile phones have not yet become smartphones, so they are merely communication tools."

"In the next few years, mobile phones will enter the smart era, which will create a brand new industrial revolution and become one of the pillars of the electronics industry."

"I have poached a third of Android's employees, as well as two of its founders, to establish X Research Institute, which is dedicated to the development of mobile operating systems."

"Currently, the international giants involved in mobile phone system development include Google, Microsoft, Nokia, and Apple."

"Of course, our country's manufacturers also started developing mobile operating systems very early. Two years ago, Lenovo Mobile, Unisplendour, Guodian Future, Kingsoft and other companies formed a mobile technology alliance and developed their own mobile operating system, Hopen OS!"

"This operating system has also signed a series of licensing agreements with ARM, a British company."

"Moreover, prototypes of this system were quickly produced. Lenovo G900 and even NEC adopted the Hopen OS for their products in the domestic market."

"But this operating system has essentially failed."

"Firstly, it's due to technological backwardness; it can't be considered a smart system at all, and its forward-looking approach is far from adequate. But most importantly, it lacks the support of major mobile phone manufacturers."

"Of course, I will face the same problem. Google and Microsoft are both international giants, and mobile phone manufacturers have a natural trust in them."

"Therefore, the operating system we developed was initially used only on our own mobile phones."

"Only when our system achieves great success and recognition on our own mobile phones can it be promoted elsewhere."

"Unlike traditional mobile phone operating systems, the new smartphone system has a much higher threshold and represents a qualitative leap. It has extremely high requirements for the software ecosystem, especially for several heavyweight software applications."

"And coincidentally, our Lightning Group now has the most software applications and software ecosystem in the domestic Internet."

Lin Xiao spent over an hour on the entire report, which was about 10,000 words long.

The materials alone numbered several hundred pages.

After listening, the leader asked, "Bird, the world's eighth-largest mobile phone manufacturer, is on the verge of failure. And the mobile phone technology alliance formed by Lenovo, Tsinghua Unigroup, Kingsoft, Guodian Future, and other top domestic technology companies is also going to fail? Is this your judgment?"

Lin Xiao: "Yes."

Leader: "Both camps have deep roots and great strength, but they will both face defeat when faced with the encirclement and suppression of overseas giants. And you are starting from scratch?"

Lin Xiao: "You could say that, which is why even my uncle said it was my third startup, a gamble."

"The mobile internet revolution is such a massive technological and industrial revolution that we cannot afford to be absent; in fact, the sooner the better."

“One of the biggest advantages of starting from scratch is that I can focus.”

Leader: "Is this why you're handing over all of Lightning Group's businesses? You want to focus on this bigger business?"

Lin Xiao: "Yes."

Leader: "Our mobile phones do not have core technologies. According to what you said, future smartphones will have two cores: an operating system and a processing chip."

"You've already started with the operating system. What about the processing chip?"

Lin Xiao: "I don't have the capability to get involved yet, so I will choose to cooperate with well-known chip companies. We will form a team to participate in chip design and have them tailor a chip for us."

Lin Xiao had been hesitant about this chip company.

If you want speed and good results, then of course you should choose Qualcomm.

However, Qualcomm is a powerful company. Once you choose Qualcomm, you become its vassal, and achieving self-sufficiency in the future will be extremely difficult. Moreover, getting Qualcomm to tailor a chip specifically for you and label it as self-developed is virtually impossible.

MediaTek is much weaker, but MediaTek's technology isn't very good either.

Meizu was at its peak at the beginning, so why did it fall from grace? While there were various reasons, its decision to abandon Qualcomm and choose MediaTek also played a role.

So there is another option: Texas Instruments.

This is a long-established chip manufacturer that was very strong during the 2G era. However, when feature phones transitioned to smartphones, it failed to keep up and eventually fell behind.

In fact, he did try. Huawei had collaborated with him before, and the P1, which laid the foundation for Huawei's brilliant mobile phone business, was made with chips from Texas Instruments.

"But if our phones sell well enough, we will gradually move towards independent chip design."

For Lin Xiao, getting involved in the mobile phone industry also means leading the Lightning Group into the mobile internet era.

At least in the domestic market, Facebook will soon reach its ceiling and will never be able to surpass QQ.

Once the mobile internet era arrives, they will be the first to launch products similar to WeChat, and integrate Facebook, YouTube, Qianqian Music, video applications, and even a large number of games, such as Plants vs. Zombies, Defend the Carrot, and Angry Birds, into mobile phones.

The software and hardware embrace each other, creating a powerful chemical reaction.

Only then can one truly overtake others on a curve and achieve hegemony.

The opportunity to enter the mobile internet era is truly fleeting; being one step ahead and choosing the right strategy is the key to winning in the end.

Meizu's M8 was a huge success when it was launched in 2008, and Xiaomi was also a huge success when it started with only tens of millions of dollars.

Lin Xiao's investment was more than ten times greater. The starting point was so much higher, and the software ecosystem was also much, much stronger.

Of course, Lin Xiao also faced many difficult challenges.

That means he was too early; the supply chain wasn't mature enough, and he needed to pay a higher price to integrate it.

In any case, his product came out earlier than the Meizu M8.

It can be later than Apple's iPhone, but not by too much. It should give people the illusion that the east wind and the west wind are blowing at the same time.

Of course, this raises another issue.

Could the chips available in 2007 or 2008 have supported the smooth operation of the Android system? (Of course, it might not have been called Android.)
Moreover, the X Research Institute will be the first to launch a complete operating system.

Therefore, these things need to be planned several years in advance, especially chip design, which needs to squeeze the best out of TSMC's process technology in the future.

Boss: "Based on your expectations, how much investment will it take to produce your first mobile phone?"

Lin Xiao: "I'm not entirely sure, but it might be close to one billion US dollars?"

Normally, this wouldn't be necessary; you could just directly purchase mature products from suppliers.

However, following Lin Xiao's approach, it might be necessary.

Because the operating system needs to be developed by ourselves.

Furthermore, you need to involve your own team and Texas Instruments in the chip design, have a lot of lead time, and have others tailor-make chips for you, which is completely different from purchasing mature chip products from others.

If you don't reach a certain scale, who will tailor a solution for you?
The leader looked at the young man in front of him and thought, "He's a young man who's fearless."

Their ambition is truly enormous.

The so-called third venture initially targeted international giants as its competitors.

That kind of courage is truly astonishing.

Bird, the world's eighth-largest tech company, failed, and so did the mobile phone technology alliance of China's strongest tech companies.

Can this young man succeed?

This meeting lasted for two or three hours, which was extremely rare.

As he left, the leader shook Lin Xiao's hand and said, "We'll see!"

........................

"Basically, it's a success." Lian Zheng said slowly, "I know the leader; he already has a plan in mind."

“Once it’s settled, when I go there, I won’t do anything else but lay the foundation for you.”

"Once you've completed all the arrangements, bring your team and personnel, and move in immediately."

"I will complete all the infrastructure, industrial parks, supporting facilities, and policies for you in advance."

"It's finally time for us, father and son, to get down to business!"

"Next, are you going to... Linshan?"

Lian Zheng hesitated slightly before asking the last question.

Lin Xiao: "I need to recruit soldiers and build a team to make every second count."

Almost immediately after leaving his superior's office, Lin Xiao went straight to the airport and flew to Guangdong.

Next, he needs to meet with several people to build a core team.

The first person he met was Liu Zuohu, the founder of OnePlus and the vice president of OPPO.

This person is already in a high position. A graduate of Zhejiang University, he currently serves as the head of development at OPPO, leading the development of Blu-ray players. OPPO's Blu-ray players have been incredibly impressive in recent years and will soon become a global phenomenon.

Historically, he also faced a career transition, and was about to travel alone to the United States to promote the Blu-ray player he had spearheaded in developing.

"President Lin..." Liu Zuohu was very excited, he really didn't expect Lin Xiao to make an appointment with him.

Lin Xiao is now an idol to many people, a die-hard fan of Er Gou, and his fame is spread all over the world.

"I want to build a mobile phone, invest one billion US dollars, and make a mobile phone that is unlike any other mobile phone on the market now."

"Which one will usher in the industrial revolution of mobile internet?"

"If you work for me, I'll give you shares, and you'll be number 3."

Number one is Lin Xiao, number two is Wu Di, and if the other party is willing, then it will be number three.

The other party was instantly dumbfounded.

I... I am the head of development and I developed a Blu-ray player, but... I am still just a nobody.

Moreover, I'm about to go to the US to sell my Blu-ray players.

For Liu, this was like being hit by a windfall.

Lin Xiao has an excellent reputation among entrepreneurs; he is a man of his word.

“President Lin, I don’t understand. Given your status and influence, there are plenty of elites willing to join your ranks.” Liu Zuohu: “High-ranking officials from Microsoft and Nokia would be more than willing to do so.”

Why did you find me?

Lin Xiao: "New enough, and fierce enough!"

Liu Zuohu: "Personally, I'd love to quit my job and come over right away. But my job there is very important..."

Lin Xiao: "I'll give you a few months to hand over the reins."

..............................

Already in Guangdong, Lin Xiao found Bai Yongxiang as his second contact.

This former second-in-command of Meizu did his best, but ultimately failed to reverse the decline.

But Lin Xiao believes that Meizu's failure was largely due to its founder.

Its success and failure both stemmed from its yellow color.

Meizu had an incredibly impressive start. Both the M8 and M9 had long waiting lists.

But once Xiaomi rose to prominence, it was too late for them to recover.

As a result, the brand's "small but beautiful" style has always been present throughout its entire history. Although the Meizu Blue series, led by Li Nan, managed to recover some market share, it was ultimately unable to sustain itself.

A brand has its own DNA.

Xiaomi's initial DNA was based on cost-effectiveness and mass appeal!

Meizu's initial DNA was small and beautiful, high-end, and unique.

For the next ten years or so, it was very difficult to break through this brand's DNA.

Xiaomi has repeatedly attempted to break into the high-end market, but has been far from successful. Although its overall sales volume is not low, the proportion of high-end phones is very low.

Meizu has repeatedly tried to break into the mainstream, but without success.

Huawei also initially targeted the mass market, but quickly began to shift its focus to the high-end market.

It's both mainstream and high-end.

The Lin Xiao brand also has excellent inherent qualities.

Because he already has a large following and a very high social standing.

With its self-developed system and self-developed chips (this is just bragging), it's naturally suited for showing off.

Moreover, his personal brand influence, coupled with the powerful reach of the Lightning Group and the alliance system of several major TV stations, all contribute to his success.

Therefore, his mobile phone brand not only has a high-end feel, but is also popular, and will save people a lot of trouble.

At this time, Bai Yongxiang was a complete follower of Huang Zhang. He initially followed Huang Zhang to Aiqin Company, and later, when Huang Zhang wanted to make MP3 players and founded Meizu, Bai followed him to Meizu and moved his entire family there.

When Lin Xiao found him, he was even more surprised.

Because at that time, he was truly completely unknown.

Lin Xiao valued his conscientiousness and responsibility, which made him suitable for managing production and dealing with the supply chain.

At that time, he was in charge of the factory.

"Making mobile phones? Investing a billion dollars? Am I number 5?"

"Why?"

His mind was filled with nothing but shock.

Although Lin Xiao is young, he is now a top-tier, idol-level entrepreneurial leader.

Moreover, Lin Xiao's invitation was more than just exciting for him; it felt like he was soaring through the clouds.

I'm going to be rich!
I'm going to be awesome!

“President Lin, I am extremely honored, and I can't even imagine that you would choose me.” Bai Yongxiang: “However… I need to consult with President Huang. He relies on me a lot, and I can't just walk away like this.” ………………

After that, Lin Xiao met with one person after another.

Li Wanqian, Zhou Guangpin, Lin Bin, and so on.

It almost completely captured the core members of OPPO, Meizu, and Xiaomi, which later became major players in the industry.

This lineup is enough to create the Whampoa Military Academy of the mobile phone industry.

Even... Lin Xiao met a future big shot, who is now a big shot.

Liang Mengsong.

This person is also a graduate of UC Berkeley and has long served as a department head at TSMC. However, he is currently being neglected at TSMC and feels hopeless about promotion. He will soon leave with his core team.

Lin Xiao certainly wanted to recruit this big shot, but... he also knew it was impossible.

My current temple is too small to accommodate this great deity, but it's possible to befriend him in advance.

Moreover, this bigwig in front of us has most likely already found a new job, as he will be joining Samsung as Chief Technology Officer next year. After acquiring him, Samsung Semiconductor made rapid progress, even surpassing TSMC in 14-nanometer process technology, allowing Samsung to snatch large orders from Apple and Samsung, which angered TSMC, leading to a lawsuit against Liang.

"Dr. Liang, I have a favor to ask," Lin Xiao said. "Do you have any very young students you could recommend to me?"

Dr. Liang: "Does President Lin also want to get involved in the chip industry?"

Lin Xiao: "It's still early, it's still early. We're just building a basic team and learning from each other."

After that, Lin Xiao flew all over the country, traveling everywhere.

I even met with He Tingbo, who is now in charge of R&D in the integrated circuit department, a process that began two years ago. Huawei actually launched the K3V1 chip around 2009, but it wasn't very successful.

Even though Ms. He is not a big shot yet, she has important responsibilities and cannot be poached.

However, despite Lin Xiao's tireless efforts over the past half month, he still reaped considerable rewards, recruiting dozens of talented individuals.

In particular, Dr. Liang introduced Lin Xiao to five young people, all of whom were master's or doctoral students from Berkeley.

Unfortunately, Lin Xiao's X Research Institute happens to be located in California.

10 Month 25 Day!
Lin Xiao flew to California again, this time with a group of over twenty people. Most of them were involved in operating system development, while a smaller number were semiconductor designers.

They will all be joining the X Research Institute.

Actually, there were more than twenty people. Lin Xiao found a total of forty or fifty people in China, but some of them had not yet obtained their visas to the United States and would have to go in a second batch.

………………

Wu Lingxi's movements here are too fast.

On the other side of the Faces, Zuckerberg and his partners are already engaged in a power struggle, and it's escalating rapidly.

The nationwide beauty pageant on Facebook in the United States has also begun its pre-launch phase.

The total prize money of $20 million has been approved by the core shareholders.

But as the biggest draw of the entire event, the winner of the campus beauty and handsome guy competition will participate in the production of Hollywood movies and high-budget American TV series.

This requires Lin Xiao to negotiate.

So, Lin Xiao once again approached Amy Pascal, the boss of Sony Columbia.

"You actually copied your Chinese system to America?" Amy asked incredulously.

Lin Xiao: "Will this event be successful?"

Amy: "Of course it will be a success, a greater success than in China, because Hollywood has an immense appeal to American girls, and countless people will go crazy for it. Your award is even much higher than the top prize on America's Got Talent."

"However, once again you've dragged us into endorsing you."

"But I remember that in your Chinese Facebook PK contest, the movie that the school beauty starred in was 'Crazy Stone,' right? She was nominally the female lead, but actually didn't have many scenes. Is it the same this time?"

Lin Xiao: "That's not the case. This time, I've prepared a script for a female-centric movie."

Amy took the script: "The Hunger Games?"

This should be considered the most successful teen movie in Hollywood history.

Originally, Twilight was a better and more cost-effective option, but by then the original Twilight novels had already been published.

Jennifer Lawrence, the lead actress in "The Hunger Games," was already somewhat famous before starring in the film, but she had absolutely no box office appeal. The film had a rather ordinary cast, yet its $7800 million investment yielded a global box office of $6.9 million, ranking eighth worldwide that year—a remarkable achievement.

Jennifer Lawrence also became a top Hollywood actress thanks to this movie.

"The investment for this film is around $7000 million. If you're worried about that, I can cover most of the investment," Lin Xiao said. "We'll do it under the name of Dream Vision."

"In addition, the original novel of this movie is almost finished and can be published at any time."

Lin Xiao genuinely doesn't have time to write the novel right now, and while he's very familiar with the movie story and can write the script, he hasn't actually read the original novel and can only provide a general outline of the story based on the movie.

He went directly to the book's original author, Susan Collins, who is now a screenwriter and hadn't even conceived the idea for "Hunger Stories" yet.

As a result, the beautiful female writer was inspired to create after hearing the story.

Whenever he had free time, he would communicate extensively with Lin Xiao via MSN.

Although the book is not yet finished, a publisher has already been chosen.

However, the publisher originally insisted that only the name of "Master Er Gou" be used, because he had won the Hugo Award and "The Graveyard Book" had sold millions of copies worldwide, making it an absolute bestseller.

Lin Xiao repeatedly requested that the female author's name be added to the author's column.

To date, few would know that this book has topped the New York Times bestseller list for 180 weeks and sold over 3000 million copies worldwide.

After reading the script for "The Hunger Games," Amy Pascal said slowly, "I'm quite optimistic about this movie, but I can't give you an answer yet."

“$7000 million is considered a medium to large-scale production, and this movie is actually for your American Facebook. I need to convince the company’s board of directors.”

Lin Xiao: "Amy, we are absolute strategic allies, right?"

Amy: "Of course, you're already our most important ally."

Lin Xiao: "The power of Facebook in film promotion in China has already been demonstrated. Once Facebook in the United States also achieves great success, it will be a huge boost to the film business of Sony and Columbia."

“I am not like those capitalist colleagues who are blinded by profit; my friendships are very, very long-lasting.”

"Really? How long will it last?" Amy laughed. "OK, OK, I'll do my best to push this project forward."

“You are the boss. In the years we’ve been dealing with each other, you’ve always been in control. You’ve never lost.”

"Our tolerance for the victors far exceeds your imagination."

Amy: "This project will basically be approved, but we need to have a meeting about the investment ratio. If we are very optimistic about it, we might compete for the investment share."

Lin Xiao: "Thank you, then I'll take my leave now."

Amy: "Excuse me? Lin, has our friendship become so mercenary? After we're done talking, you're just going to leave without even having time to have lunch with me?"

Lin Xiao: "I'm so young and handsome. If I were to have a meal with you alone at your company, I'm afraid it would cause rumors."

Amy: "You have too high an opinion of yourself. Keep it up."

Then, the two went to a restaurant for a meal.

Amy: "Lin, how much money do you plan to invest in this year's All-America Campus Beauty and Handsome Boy Contest?"

Lin Xiao: "Does the $70 million investment in the movie 'The Hunger Games' count as part of the investment?"

Amy: "Of course."

Lin Xiao: "That could exceed $1 million."

Amy's eyes widened: "That's insane!"

"Lin, you will succeed, you will definitely succeed."

"It could be an even bigger success than you can imagine. The American craze for Hollywood is beyond your wildest imagination."

"In the Chinese market, you are still constrained, but in the American market, you can do whatever you want."

Lin Xiao reached out to her and said, "We have to thank our powerful ally, the powerful Soren Columbia, for this."

Amy: "No, I should thank you more for your own strength."

........................

After finishing his meal, Lin Xiao left Columbia Company and headed to a nearby hotel.

There was already someone waiting for him for more than two hours because Lin Xiao had been persuaded by Amy to stay for lunch.

He waited anxiously.

Vince Gilligan!
Historically, he was the writer and producer of "Breaking Bad".

The script for this legendary American TV series has already been written for several episodes, but it is not viewed favorably by the entire industry.

Vince Gilligan has faced numerous setbacks this year; he approached countless television stations, only to be rejected by them all.

Showtime, FX, TNT, and HBO all rejected him.

The reason is that no audience would want to watch a story about a middle-aged man as the male lead, a drug dealer.

He kept hitting walls until three years later when the show was finally made, and then it became a global phenomenon, becoming one of the most successful American TV series of all time.

"Hello, Mr. Lin!"

"I am a fan of yours. I love your 'The Last Days' so much. It was absolutely amazing. I am also looking forward to your new work, 'Kung Fu Panda'."

Clearly, Vince had done his homework beforehand, regardless of whether he was telling the truth or not.

"Did you bring the script?" Lin Xiao asked.

The other party immediately presented the script, and seemed slightly uneasy because it was in English, not Chinese.

But now Lin Xiao has no obstacles at all.

I watched it quickly, but the first season's plot wasn't even finished, and it was quite different from the final episode.

"This script is not very complete yet. I need to discuss it with you and make some improvements and revisions."

"I'm very pressed for time. I hope to finish the final script for the first season in the next five hours."

"Oh, my Dream Vision company is willing to invest in this drama," Lin Xiao said. "Do you know this company?"

Vince Gilligan: "Of course I know. It's backed by Sony Columbia and SoftBank. With the global success of 'The Last of Us,' you're working on a huge project worth over $100 million."

How much money are you willing to invest in it?

Lin Xiao thought for a moment: "All of it, twenty million US dollars!"

Wence Gilligan jumped up and roared.

"Oh……"

"Wow……"

"Thank you so much, Mr. Lin."

"I don't know how many times I was rejected. I was almost desperate. I even started to doubt the script myself."

"Although I wrote 'The X-Files,' I was far from experiencing success. You gave me back tremendous confidence and encouragement."

Lin Xiao said slowly, "But there is one request."

Wence Gilligan: "Go ahead."

Lin Xiao: "I have the right to appoint and make decisions regarding the important actors in the show. Of course, most of the time, I will fully respect your wishes. You will be the producer of this show."

Wence Gilligan: "Of course!"

Please accept my deepest gratitude once again.

For the next few hours, Lin Xiao spent the time discussing the script for the first season of Breaking Bad with him.

Perhaps they were genuinely impressed, or perhaps they were just flattering their boss.

Vince Gilligan: "Mr. Lin, you are a genius. You have made up for all the flaws in this script."

"Please be sure to agree to co-sign this script."

………………

After leaving the hotel, Lin Xiao immediately took a car to Facebook's headquarters in the United States.

Although both are in California, one is in the south and the other in the north, separated by several hundred kilometers.

Midway through, Lin Xiao got through to Wu Lingxi on the phone.

"It's basically all set. The All-American Campus Beauty and Handsome Boy Contest can now begin."

“I will get America’s Got Talent to help with the promotion.”

"The winner of the school beauty pageant will be carefully selected because she will star in a $7000 million female-led movie called 'The Hunger Games.' We even need to select the winner based on the character's personality in the movie."

"And the number one campus heartthrob doesn't have to be too handsome, he just needs to be representative. He will play the second male lead in the $2000 million American TV series 'Breaking Bad'."

Wu Lingxi fell silent.

She only asked Lin Xiao for 80 points of support, but Lin Xiao gave her 120 points.

"In addition, the original novel of 'The Hunger Games' will be completed soon and released in the United States, in conjunction with a Facebook event to generate buzz."

"I haven't published a book for several years, and now I'm making a comeback."

"You should make this All-American Campus Beauty and Handsome Guy Contest a huge success, a really big deal, and maybe even make it the number one social networking site in America."

Why aren't you saying anything?

Wu Lingxi asked in a slightly hoarse voice, "Can you get back before midnight?"

Lin Xiao: "It's several hundred kilometers, I'll try my best."

Wu Lingxi: "Then come back and spend my birthday with me tonight. Even if it's only for half an hour, as long as it's not past midnight, my birthday won't be over."

"Dog, hurry up! Do you dare keep me waiting past midnight?"

Then Lin Xiao hung up the phone.

Upon hearing that sound, I immediately had a feeling.

A young woman is in love.

........................

Note: I'm going out again tonight, so I got up early to write. My dear benefactors, do you still have any monthly tickets left? Please remember to give them to me, okay?
(End of this chapter)