Entertainment mogul: Starting his business with the internet

Chapter 446 Mobile System
Monday, December 10th. The Tenda Technology Building reopened to the public after the inspection.

In the lobby on the first floor, staff from branch offices heading to the headquarters and business partners coming to Tengda to discuss business were coming and going in an endless stream.

"Good morning, Chairman." "Good morning, Chairman Song!" "Chairman Song, you looked especially energetic on camera yesterday."

While greeting the big boss, the employees of Tengda couldn't help but whisper among themselves.

Did you watch the news last night?

"I didn't have time to watch it, but there's a clip on Weibo's trending topics! Chairman Song even got a 6-second close-up shot!"

"So it was because of a leadership inspection; no wonder the building was sealed off for so many days."

"The group really got a lot of recognition this time, receiving official approval. It's a real source of pride!"

Standing in front of the elevator, Song Ci, dressed in a sharp suit, looked radiant and smiled slightly, nodding frequently to the employees.

"Have Wu Yi come to my office."

Secretary Jian Ning immediately agreed: "Yes, Chairman Song."

The alloy doors slid open slowly, and Song Ci stepped into the elevator alone, already accustomed to this scene of being alone. The elevator doors closed quietly, carrying him smoothly upwards.

Upon receiving the notification, Wu Yi, the president of WeChat, rushed to the office.

As soon as I sat down, the chairman got straight to the point: "The time is ripe! Let's strike while the iron is hot and launch the WeChat Smart City Service Plan."

Wu Yi felt a sense of relief. Previously, Tengda Group had been communicating with relevant departments in Beiping, hoping to open a WeChat "City Services" portal in the capital.

This portal integrates 14 public services, including transportation, healthcare, and social security, which users can access with a single click via WeChat Wallet.

However, the other party remained hesitant and never made a clear statement.

Now that the inspection has just ended and Tengda Group is enjoying its newfound prestige, it is an excellent opportunity to capitalize on this momentum and continue negotiations with the Beiping government to launch WeChat city services.

Once successfully implemented in the capital region, the promotion of WeChat smart cities in other parts of the country will undoubtedly be much more efficient.

“I will immediately begin coordinating with the Beiping government to advance the ‘Urban Services’ project.”

After a moment's thought, Song Ci instructed, "A key point in the negotiations is to demonstrate to the government that launching WeChat Smart City will significantly improve the efficiency of government services and meet the growing public demand for public services."

"Understood." Wu Yi immediately agreed. "If the cooperation agreement is successfully reached, you may be needed to sign the strategic cooperation agreement with the Beiping government."

"Don't worry about that. I'll handle things that are my responsibility." Song Ci nodded slightly, then changed the subject, "Have you arranged everything for the Spring Festival Gala red envelopes?"

"Rest assured! The R&D team has completed a concurrent test of 10 billion users on a supercomputer. Furthermore, taking into account the large number of viewers in northern China for the Spring Festival Gala, we have added servers at the Beiping Data Service Center to ensure everything goes smoothly."

"Very good." Wu Yi's thoroughness put Song Ci at ease. Now everything was ready, and they were just waiting to make a name for themselves on New Year's Eve.

At this point, Wu Yi asked, "Chairman Song, when will the WeChat red envelope feature be officially launched? Or will it be launched on Christmas Day, as in previous years?"

Song Ci shook his head: "In the past, major version updates were carried out simultaneously worldwide. We chose to do it on Christmas Day because we were considering WeChat's Western users."

WeChat Red Packets are currently only available to users in mainland China, so there's no need to worry about WeChat for now; launching a few days earlier is fine. If the technical team confirms that no further optimization is needed, then let's launch WeChat Red Packets on the Winter Solstice.

After finishing their business, Song Ci gestured for Wu Yi to leave, and then began preparing materials for the afternoon meeting.

In the afternoon, the core senior executives of Tengda Group gathered together.

Inside the meeting room, as the attendees gradually arrived, Zhang Yong gently called out to Song Ci, who was resting with his eyes closed: "Chairman Song, everyone is here."

Song Ci slowly opened his eyes, his imposing gaze sweeping across the room, and announced loudly: "Meeting is now in session."

The reason I've gathered everyone here today is to announce a decision—starting today, Tenda Technology Group is officially entering the mobile operating system field.

These words immediately caused a stir in the conference room, with many feeling that the chairman's decision was too rash.

An executive cautiously suggested, "Chairman Song, in today's mobile operating system market, Apple and Android almost share the market."

"If we rush into this now, our strategic partnership with Google will inevitably fall apart. Shouldn't you reconsider?"

Another executive immediately chimed in: "Chairman Song, mobile operating systems are a completely unfamiliar new field for the group."

The group lacks both technological expertise and professional talent in this area, so please reconsider.

"Yes, Chairman, please reconsider."

"The group's business is already large enough, there is really no need to get involved in this business."

. . .

Inside the meeting room, most of the executives believed that Tenda had no need to get involved in mobile operating systems, and they tried their best to persuade Song Ci to change his mind.

Song Ci seemed not to hear, and turned to Zhang Yong: "President Zhang, you are the CEO of the group, do you think the company should develop a mobile operating system?"

Zhang Yong took a deep breath and slowly said, "Developing a purely domestically produced mobile operating system has a systemic and structural reshaping significance for information security strategy."

Its impact extends far beyond technological substitution itself, encompassing a comprehensive transformation involving underlying security, industrial ecosystems, data ownership, and even international competition.

I believe it is necessary for the group to develop its own mobile operating system.

He knew perfectly well that the 12-second footage of the chairman in last night's news was actually a "national certification ceremony".

Tengda Group has been upgraded from a market economy participant to a "national science and technology will executor." But with great power comes great responsibility.

Yesterday's instructions from the leadership are still ringing in our ears. The chairman had no choice, and Tengda Group had no way out but to face the difficulties head-on and fight our way out.

"Mr. Wang, you're the COO of the group, what's your opinion on this matter?"

Wang Jing also accompanied the inspection yesterday, and naturally understood that there was no room for negotiation; her tone was equally firm:
"Mr. Zhang has clearly explained the importance of developing a domestic mobile phone operating system. Tenda Group has an unshirkable responsibility in this matter."

As Song Ci called out names one by one, the group's core senior executives expressed their firm support for the decision to develop a mobile operating system.

Song Ci nodded, his tone serious: "Since everyone agrees, let's settle on this. I hope everyone will work together to make this happen."

But you can't just do things blindly. Mr. Liu, you are a top-level operating system kernel development engineer. How should you develop a mobile operating system (OS) for ordinary users?
"All the senior executives of the group are here today. Just tell me what resources and support you need, and I'll handle it on the spot!" When Song Ci called out his name, Engineer Liu's expression stiffened. He felt the gazes of the senior executives of the group all falling on him, and he felt the pressure on his shoulders increase sharply.

"Chairman Song, although Android is an open-source system based on the Linux kernel, Google controls key services; Apple's iOS, on the other hand, is a closed ecosystem with extremely high compatibility barriers."

Developing an operating system from scratch would not only require a huge investment of research and development funds, but would also be a lengthy process, conservatively estimated at three to five years, with no possibility of success in the short term.

Song Ci spoke calmly, offering words of comfort: "Engineer Liu, there's no need to worry. I am not a short-sighted person who seeks quick success and instant benefits. This project will be treated as a long-term strategy for the group and will be implemented steadfastly."

Liu felt somewhat relieved. His biggest worry was that developing the OS was just a passing fancy of the chairman, and that it would be abandoned halfway through if no economic benefits were seen soon.

"Chairman Song, the current smartphone market has formed a duopoly between Android and iOS: the former has a market share of 70% and the latter 20%, together monopolizing nine-tenths of the market."

Even more challenging is the fact that Android and iOS already have millions of apps, leading to entrenched user habits.

Song Ci nodded slightly and sighed softly: "Without users, you can't attract developers; without applications, you can't retain users."

The success or failure of the new system ultimately depends on its ecosystem. Mr. Liu, please tell us your overall concept first.

"Tengda should avoid the dead end of building from scratch and instead quickly create a lightweight, customized system based on open-source Android, gradually achieving de-Google integration and compatibility with Apple, while devoting all its resources to building an ecosystem."

Engineer Liu was clearly well-prepared, and he opened the plan on the table and spoke eloquently: "Although the company has no experience in operating system development, it has a deep foundation in the field of software and Internet services."

The technical roadmap should prioritize rapid iteration and compatibility. My short-term goal is to develop Tenda OS, tentatively named TenOS, based on the Android open-source code.

An executive interjected, questioning, "Won't there be legal risks in using the Android architecture at the underlying level?"

"The latest version of open source Android is Android 4.1. Its code is completely open source and free for commercial use, so there are no legal risks."

Another executive pressed further: "Is choosing open-source Android the optimal solution?"

"Android provides a mature kernel and driver framework, which allows us to quickly complete customization modifications, saving a lot of time and costs."

Song Ci pondered: "Similar to Xiaomi's MIUI?"

Engineer Liu nodded in agreement: "Exactly. By leveraging open-source Android, TenOS can be naturally compatible with the Android application ecosystem, thus solving the initial application shortage in one fell swoop."

We only need to strip away Google services, integrate Tenda's own services, and then reduce memory and CPU usage by streamlining the system code, so that TenOS can run smoothly on low-end chips, thus taking a more consumer-friendly approach to seize the market.

With the full support of the group, I am confident that I can overcome all the technical challenges of TenOS within 12 months.

“Support is no problem at all.” Song Ci immediately made the decision. “The group will recruit the necessary R&D personnel with high salaries.”

"I've already had someone contact Nokia's MeeGo system team. They're looking to sell, and this team has extensive experience in operating system development. We must try to secure them," Liu continued.

"The medium-term goal is to build our own core technologies and achieve partial iOS compatibility."

The specific plan involves gradually replacing key modules such as the kernel and virtual machine on the basis of open-source Android, while simultaneously developing an iOS compatibility layer to attract Apple users.

"So, in the medium term, we need to reduce our reliance on open-source Android and shift to developing our own components?" Song Ci confirmed.

“What Chairman Song said is absolutely right!” Engineer Liu’s thinking became clearer and clearer. “I have studied the underlying logic of the BlackBerry QNX system in depth. If we can combine it with Linux technology, we can build a high-efficiency kernel template.”

Further development of translation tools will allow iOS apps to run on TenOS.

Song Ci frowned slightly and pondered, "The technical barriers of iOS's closed-source system are too high. In my opinion, there's no need to force application compatibility."

Instead, focus on data migration and provide tools to allow users to smoothly import their contacts, photos, and other data into TenOS.

Engineer Liu paused for a moment and slowly nodded: "Chairman Song is right! Deep compatibility at the application layer is indeed fraught with difficulties, and data migration is a more pragmatic choice."

Therefore, we can develop a migration tool from iCloud to TenOS and strengthen alternatives to our own services such as WeChat and Tenda Cloud to lower the barrier to migration for users.

He then outlined his vision: "The long-term goal is to completely break free from dependence and create an independent, future-oriented TenOS."

It will adopt a microkernel architecture to achieve cross-platform capabilities, allowing mobile phones and tablets to use the same system core. Only then will the group truly possess ecosystem control.

“Excellent! This three-step strategy is clear and feasible. Mr. Zhang, Mr. Wang,” a glint flashed in Song Ci’s eyes; this was exactly the ultimate form he had been hoping for.

Turning to his two right-hand men, he said, "We have Engineer Liu's technical roadmap; the next step is resource support."

Mr. Zhang, there is no upper limit to the R&D budget. You will lead the finance and strategic investment departments to come up with a preliminary budget within a week, and if necessary, use the group's reserves.

Mr. Wang, you are in charge of coordinating the recruitment of top global talent, especially experts in operating system kernels, compilers, driver development, and ecosystem building.

The Nokia MeeGo team is the primary target, but we need to broaden our horizons: Silicon Valley, Europe—we should spare no expense to poach top talent!

"Understood!" Zhang Yong and Wang Jing said in unison, their expressions solemn and resolute.

The two men knew that this would be the largest and most strategic investment in Tenda's history, and that they had no other choice.

“Also,” Song Ci added, tapping his fingers lightly on the table, “we will establish a TenOS Special Business Unit.”

Mr. Liu is the Chief Technology Officer, reporting directly to me. The business unit has the highest priority, and all resources from the group are allocated to it unconditionally.

At the same time, an OS Strategy Committee was established, with myself as chairman, and General Manager Zhang, General Manager Wang, Engineer Liu, and other core technical personnel who joined later as members. Monthly meetings were held to ensure the strategy was implemented accurately.

This arrangement granted Liu unprecedented authority and responsibility, and also clarified the core position of the project.

Liu took a deep breath, feeling the weight on his shoulders, but a fierce fighting spirit ignited within him.

Song Ci nodded in satisfaction, boosting morale, and gave a final summary: "Gentlemen, developing an independent operating system is by no means a matter of momentary impulse."

This is a strategic high ground that concerns the group's core competitiveness for the next ten years, and even the country's competitiveness in the mobile internet era!
The road ahead is bound to be fraught with difficulties: Google's countermeasures, Apple's barriers, developers' hesitation, user habits, and competition from rival companies... Every hurdle is a tough battle.

But I believe that with Tenda's technological expertise, financial strength, the stickiness of the WeChat ecosystem, and the strategic needs at the national level, we have a great chance of success!

Song Ci's gaze sharpened and became powerful once again as he swept over each executive: "Today's decision is Tenda's 'moon landing plan'."

The investment is huge and the risk is extremely high, but once successful, the returns will be immeasurable.

I urge everyone to put aside your doubts and go all out! We'll provide manpower, funding, and policy support if needed!
There is only one goal: to etch Tenda's name into the core of the mobile internet! Meeting adjourned!

(End of this chapter)