Those Years When I Was Forced to Top the Forbes List

Chapter 257 The storm is coming
The MediaTek phone-locking incident, which had just subsided, has been deliberately amplified by certain individuals, resurfacing daily like a trending post.

MediaTek can't unlock it again!
Today someone caused a scene at MediaTek's office, demanding 100 yuan in compensation!
Spreadtrum stockpiled millions of MediaTek chips; this time they'll have to pay a hefty price!

As the news continued to spread, many merchants who had accepted the 50 yuan compensation agreement became restless and sent people to MediaTek's office every day to observe the situation.

Seeing others profit is like seeing yourself lose.

Now that Spreadtrum is available, people no longer need to worry about MediaTek cutting off supplies.

They want it, and so do we!

MediaTek executives hold an emergency meeting in Hsinchu, Taiwan.

After reviewing the sales report for the month, Vice Chairman Zhuo Shizhe took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes.

"President Cai, you've raised a tiger that will eventually turn on you."

As soon as this voice came out, the marketing manager below immediately spoke up: "I have inquired and found out that they are in talks with Hua Hong and SMIC. If we continue to let them expand their market, these two contract manufacturers may lower their prices. At that time, the chips we produce at Taiwan will not have any price advantage. They may even turn around and start a price war with us."

Everyone else was looking at Tsai Ming-chieh.

Spreadtrum was a company that the chairman invested in.

It's not MediaTek; it's a personal investment by the chairman.

Cai Mingjie coughed.

“I have already asked them to withdraw their investment and buy back my shares, but their new major shareholder has injected funds into Spreadtrum and reached an agreement with management and other shareholders, so it has not had a deterrent effect.”

This high-sounding explanation did not dispel the doubts of the higher-ups.

Did the proposed withdrawal of shares actually happen?

MediaTek has been expanding rapidly in recent years, and the founder's equity has been transferred and diluted in large quantities.

Tsai Ming-kai holds more than 10% of the shares in his competitors, but less than 10% in MediaTek, yet he still serves as the chairman.
Which side are you on?

Tsai Ming-kai certainly doesn't have any political stance issues. MediaTek was founded by him and is the culmination of his hard work. It's just that Spreadtrum will be listed next year, and there will definitely be a wave of high returns.

He had previously turned a blind eye to Spreadtrum and hadn't fully suppressed it, hoping they would go public quickly so he could cash out.

But now Spreadtrum's actions are too aggressive, and he has to make his stance clear.

"Don't worry, everyone. As a shareholder of Spreadtrum, I know their situation very well. Since they have used some despicable means in the market, we don't need to hold back."

"Spreadtrum was founded with TD technology in mind. My investment in them was also for 3G deployment. Mainland China has priority in TD communication. If we want to continue to survive in this market, we must master the next generation of technology channels."

"Now that they are not cooperating and are even fighting us, we can find help. Datang has the TD protocol stack license and has a high degree of control over Spreadtrum."

"I propose to accelerate the acquisition negotiations for ADI's mobile phone chip business, agree to their offer, and since ADI is one of Datang's chip outsourcing providers, we can negotiate with Datang to jointly develop TD technology. We also promise not to touch their protocol stack control in exchange for Datang's full support."

A silence fell over the room as people considered the gains and losses.

ADI's mobile chip division is very expensive, with a quote of over 300 million US dollars, which is a heavy price for MediaTek.

Seeing this, Cai Mingjie turned the tables on him.

“I have spoken with Chairman Zhou of Datang on the phone and informed him of Spreadtrum’s current situation. I also told him some of the rumors we’ve heard. He has agreed that as long as we acquire ADI and establish a technology R&D company led by Datang to cooperate with their industrialization, they will cut off Spreadtrum’s design outsourcing and cooperate with us to suppress Spreadtrum.”

"Spreadtrum was not founded by me alone. Their founder, Chen Datong, is quite capable of raising funds. They will exist whether I am here or not. I have already come up with the best solution. If you disagree, then don't say behind my back that I, Cai, have a problematic stance."

After these words were spoken, no one dared to respond easily.

Zhuo Shizhe slowly put his glasses back on and asked, "Can Datang suppress their 2G market?"

Tsai Ming-chieh chuckled: "Datang promised to find a way. Besides, in the 3G market, our patent reserves are weak. If we don't bet on TD, will we still have a chance with WCDMA and CDMA2000? Does that mean we won't make mobile phones in the next era?"

Zhuo Shizhe pondered for a long time, then nodded: "Okay, I agree."

"I agree."

"I agree!"

Two days later.

Datang Board of Directors.

The conference room was coldly lit, and the executives sat upright on both sides of the long table, a stark contrast to the atmosphere of meetings at MediaTek.

"boom!"

Chairman Zhou Huan slammed the two reports onto the table, causing the metal pen holder to tip over and roll to the ground.

One copy of "Finance" magazine, and one copy of "Digital Communications World".

Just two months ago, two media outlets launched an attack on Datang "for no reason".

"How absurd!"

"absurd!"

"Our own companies, struggling to survive, are bribing the media to question our technology! Now they're even claiming to be developing new technologies in the Huaqiangbei market, leading those counterfeit phone manufacturers in a 3G revolution! And we're actually giving them licenses and delaying their patent fee payments! Intellectual Property Department, Patent Operation Center, what are you doing?!"

The heads of both departments were trembling.

"Chairman, we have no dealings with these two media outlets and were unaware that they commissioned the publication of the article."

"Their patent has been granted. There are still two years left."

"Didn't know? Now you know!" Zhou Huan challenged Zhen Caiji, the newly arrived director of the technology research institute: "Director Zhen! People are now questioning the quality of our technology! They're wondering if you're the real director or a fake one! What do you think?"

A million grass mud horses galloped through Zhencaiji's mind.

Zhou Huan and Tang Ru'an, one a chairman and the other a president, were constantly targeting him, trying to prevent him from taking over smoothly. He couldn't allow them to suppress him.

"Chairman, the report was published two months ago, when I had just arrived. I'm afraid it's not my fault."

Zhou Huan chuckled inwardly; these were exactly the words he had been waiting for.

"Great! The former head of technology has been transferred, so it's Mr. Tang's problem now. Mr. Tang, you'll handle it!"

Tang Ru'an smiled:

"I think it's easy to resolve. MediaTek has already contacted me and is preparing to acquire ADI soon. They want to cooperate with us to develop TD and smart antenna technologies, and they have agreed to give us control over the technology. Since Spreadtrum is not listening, we should urge them to pay the patent fees they owe."

"Furthermore, I heard that they sold a lot of 2G chips in Huaqiangbei, which use dual-mode technology. Does this involve our handover technology? Shouldn't they pay us for that?"

"Furthermore, are they privately upgrading some phones to 3G? Have they reported their profits and patent fees to us? This is definitely infringement. We should sue them and revoke their patents!"

"How about this, I'll take charge of bringing in MediaTek. Dean Zhen, you're in charge of the technology, so the collection of payments and lawsuits will be your responsibility. What do you think?"

Zhen Caiji's expression gradually turned serious as he listened.

Technology licensing cooperation should be within his authority. Datang's core asset is its dominance in TD technology. If it forms a joint venture with MediaTek and licenses the technology to the joint venture, its say in commercialization will be reduced.

The two of them, working in tandem, interfered in his field and conveniently handed him a troublesome and arduous task—what a clever scheme!

"Chairman, Mr. Tang, TD is a national independent strategy. No matter what, Spreadtrum is a domestic chip company supported by Shanghai. MediaTek is, after all, a Taiwanese company. When you made this choice, did you consider self-sufficiency?"

"Heh." Tang Ruan smiled: "Spreadtrum is independent? They went to the US to apply for listing, wanting to open their arms to the capitalist market. MediaTek's joint venture is led by us! If you think Spreadtrum is independent, go talk to them! Let them merge with Datang! Zhou Dong and I both agree!"

MediaTek acquired ADI and used ADI to establish a partnership, but Spreadtrum is a chip company in itself, so to bring it in entirely is asking the impossible.

Zhen Caiji knew this was impossible, so he could only say with a stern face, "Spreadtrum has many national honors and the support of Shanghai. It can't be banned just like that. I think this matter needs to be reported to the Ministry of Information Industry and let the leaders make a decision."

Big hats flew around.

Zhou Huan frowned and slammed his hand on the table again: "Demanding payment or filing a lawsuit is a market decision. Control has always been in our hands. Just because they have honors doesn't mean they can avoid paying patent fees. I will consult with the leadership about MediaTek, but you must carry out the task assigned to you! Vote!" Zhen Caiji gritted his teeth and didn't raise his hand.

After much deliberation, five board members raised their hands, following Zhou Huan and Tang Ru'an.

Eleven people, seven to four.

Zhou Huan's expression darkened upon seeing this.

Despite his own strength, there were three people standing on the opposite side.

Hmph, everyone's waiting for him to retire.

If Zhen Caiji really takes over, how many people will listen to him after that?

Alright, alright, just wait and see.

"I hereby announce that the board resolution has been passed and shall be implemented immediately!"

Zhen Caiji stood up with a cold face.

"I will implement the board's resolution, but I reserve my opinion and will report to the department leaders."

Shenzhen.

Chen Xuebing was quite surprised to receive a sudden phone call from Wu Ping.

MediaTek is acquiring ADI? Is it following Datang's lead in TD technology?

Analog Devices (ADI), an American semiconductor company with a 40-year history, has a high-end image and its technological barriers are concentrated in the field of high-precision analog chips. Their mobile phone chip division is also a force to be reckoned with.

However, their baseband chip solutions are expensive and lack localization support, making them unsuccessful in the Chinese market. Although they have also participated in the development of TD chips, they have only been used in a few test networks and have never been among Spreadtrum's competitors.

He knew about this company, but only recently.

Did MediaTek acquire ADI in its previous life? And did it also work on TD technology?

Chen Xuebing's understanding of 3G messaging in his previous life was too general to know for sure.

All he knew was that MediaTek had not yet secured any cooperation with any leading 3G standard providers, nor did it have any relevant design experience, and its decline in the following years was largely due to this.

MediaTek is not a mobile phone manufacturer, but an IC design company. If it wants to enter the WCDMA and CDMA2000 market, it cannot be compensated by ADI alone. If it gets its communication patents blocked, then it will be out of the game. Just the licensing fees alone will be crushed by Qualcomm, which is in the same field.

However, thinking about it this way, MediaTek's deployment of TD technology at least prevents it from being held back by overseas competitors. Moreover, their market is mainly in mainland China, so it is reasonable for them to follow the standards dominated by mainland China.

It's just that the TD standard didn't work out in its previous life either, and WCDMA took over the market, which is why it declined.

It seems I underestimated MediaTek when I told those manufacturers that it didn't support 3G.

That's why they've come knocking on our door.

Chen Xuebing frowned, sensing something was wrong.

"They haven't even finished the acquisition, how do you know that?"

Wu Ping hesitated for a moment and said, "It was a technical section chief from Datang who told me. This person was previously in charge of agreement authorization, and now he works under the newly arrived director of the Technical Research Institute, Zhen Caiji. He is somewhat familiar with us, but not this familiar. He actually took the initiative to tell us this. I guess it might be at Zhen Caiji's behest. I'm not sure."

"Real materials base?"

Chen Xuebing recalled the information Ren Ying had provided about the Tang Dynasty and immediately understood.

Internal strife.

Spreading such fake news is completely pointless; it can only lead to internal strife.

"Heh, damn it." Chen Xuebing laughed and cursed.

Even MediaTek knows that overseas competition is fierce, so it has begun to proactively deploy TD technology.

The morale for TD market R&D was already bleak, yet the leaders were still indulging in infighting, no wonder they made such a mess of TD3G.

"They're going to sue us. If we revoke the authorization, it'll be a huge problem." Wu Ping was extremely worried.

Chen Xuebing pondered for a moment and said, "Focus on R&D. Even if we don't license the patents, the technology is still in our hands, right? Leave the lawsuits to me. The TD standard comes with policy backing. The real moat isn't the underlying patents, but the trial-and-error costs that our competitors can't match. Whoever masters the real high-end technology has the right to speak."

Wu Ping sighed deeply: "This matter is very troublesome. I'm afraid we won't even have the chance to go to court."

"Don't underestimate yourself." Chen Xuebing chuckled dryly. "Will I be able to get a sample of your upgraded chip by September?"

The 90nm 3G baseband chip he ordered from Wu Ping is an upgraded version that is a migration from the 0.13-micron design. The previous generation design has already been verified, so it shouldn't take long.

Wu Ping replied, "It's not that simple. If HSDPA is to be added to your system, the amount of code will increase dramatically. We've already done our best. We've already negotiated with SMIC to let us skip the cut-out process. It should be around October or November."

Chen Xuebing frowned: "I don't have that much time. I have a press conference in October."

Apple's launch event is in January next year, and he's now racing against Apple for the time.

It's not that we necessarily want to be number one, but rather that it relates to our next strategic move.

He wants to use this press conference to force Apple to come and negotiate with him.

This is crucial for gaining time for development.

If the peace talks fail, his phone could become a thorn in the side of the Americans once it's released. If it gets on their radar, he might not even have many opportunities to move around much afterward.

"No matter how fast I am, it's impossible to finish in September! Why don't you come to Shanghai and see for yourself? You'll understand when you see it—millions of lines of assembly code!"

Chen Xuebing paused for a moment.

"If we wait until the end of October, could you also add your smart analog antenna to the chip?"

Wu Ping was speechless. What others considered insurmountable technological barriers were as simple as drinking water in this person's mouth.

But then I thought about it again, and it seems that their time is not on the same level as theirs. They have become so successful in just two years and even produced a stunning mobile phone. MediaTek has been cultivating the Huaqiangbei market for a year and a half, but Spreadtrum took a quarter of it in less than a month.

Thinking about this, he couldn't stay angry anymore.

"It's all up to fate! We've been secretly accumulating this technology for two years. If we really can't break through, we can give you a low-end version!"

Chen Xuebing then said with satisfaction, "Okay, if all else fails, we'll cheat and make sure to shock the whole country."

"I'm not saying anything more, I'm going back to the research institute." Wu Ping hung up immediately.

Chen Xuebing immediately called Lu Weibing to his office and ordered the press conference time to be changed from October 1st, National Day, to the time when the first advertisement of the press conference was launched.

Lu Weibing also breathed a sigh of relief.

TSMC just notified us of the successful tape-out, but we won't be able to get the samples until at least early August. If the press conference is held in October, the time for prototype debugging will be very tight.

After Lu Weibing left, Chen Xuebing made another phone call.

"Hello, Mr. Xu."

The voice on the other end sounded somewhat helpless: "President Chen, President Ren really hasn't had time lately. What's the matter? Why don't you talk to me?"

Xu Zhijun didn't understand why he had to discuss any business with General Manager Ren.

He's the vice president of Huawei, and he personally called to agree to a meeting—isn't that enough?

Chen Xuebing had been harassing Xu Zhijun for several days and had lost his patience: "Mr. Xu, if you really don't want this order from Chongqing, or if you don't believe in my abilities, I'll go to ZTE."

Xu Zhijun was in a real bind.

"Okay, okay, I'll report it to you again."

(End of this chapter)