Those Years When I Was Forced to Top the Forbes List

Chapter 341 Tide
The people present were making all sorts of guesses.

The hardware manufacturers probably have a general idea of ​​what they're here for today.

The Kunlun system is about to be opened for external installation.

This was something that had been agreed upon long ago. Singularity held those Huaqiangbei and domestic manufacturers in its hands, who were already eagerly waiting for Singularity to hand them over. They were also secretly integrating the production lines for the next generation of mobile phones, and once the orders integrated by Singularity arrived, they would start full-scale production.

While enthusiasts and detractors outside the industry are still speculating and discussing the pros and cons of Kirin phones, little do they know that hardware and mobile phone manufacturers in the Kunlun Alliance have already deeply experienced the superiority of the Kunlun system and are gearing up for a charge.

Below the surface, the water was already surging.

However, most of these software companies are still somewhat confused about what they are doing here today, and are waiting for Chen Xuebing to clarify things.

Sitting next to Chen Xuebing, Wu Jiesi silently observed the strength of the companies present.

To be precise, it's Chen Xuebing's ability.

"cough."

Chen Xuebing cleared his throat, and the entire room fell silent.

"We've invited everyone here today for a scheduling meeting to discuss the production launch of Kunlun system mobile phones next year."

"This meeting should have been discussed separately for hardware and software."

"However, I'm quite busy right now. Also, considering that everyone should have a comprehensive understanding of Kunlun's development, let's listen to each other's thoughts today so that we can have a complete idea of ​​our future product optimization direction."

At this point, Chen Xuebing's voice became louder.

"Over the past few months, we've been thinking about what role Singularity Technology should play in smartphone manufacturing?"

"Should we act as middlemen and profit from the price difference, or let manufacturers and end-product producers communicate on their own?"

"After thinking about it, none of them are quite right."

“Everyone pursues a fair trading environment, and we shouldn’t stand in the middle. However, terminal manufacturers also lack understanding of smartphone development. Without us, allowing terminal manufacturers to imagine freely, frankly speaking, it’s easy to produce some bizarre and inferior products that not only don’t sell well but also make our system seem very stupid.”

"You should all be familiar with the products from Huaqiangbei. They cut corners wherever possible and try to be as strange as possible. They either imitate highly or find a way out in a completely unorthodox direction."

All three hardware vendors laughed.

This competitive model makes it difficult for them to enter the supply market of Huaqiangbei. Everyone is looking for the cheapest option, and the lack of standardized products makes it hard to reduce costs.

"Therefore, Singularity Technology positions itself as a solutions provider."

“Singularity schedules both ends and performs standardized integration. Whether it’s chips, screens, batteries, cameras, sensors, or storage, we provide a unified standard. However, each component also has three differentiated solutions, divided into high, medium, and low grades, for terminal manufacturers to choose from freely.”

"In other words, hardware manufacturers only need to follow the standards we provide and make three production lines to meet the needs of 56 Huaqiangbei manufacturers and two licensed manufacturers, Tianyu and Bird."

"We negotiate parts supply uniformly and do not charge any price difference. Our price requirements for you are not strict at all. The cost of the whole machine should start at a minimum of 900 yuan, and the cost of high-end products is about 1,500 yuan."

Starting at 900, and going up to 1500.

Everyone has seen smartphones, and they generally know the proportion of each component. If the cost of a low-end product is 900, then everyone can definitely make a profit.

At this moment, Lu Weibing instructed his secretary to distribute the parameter sheets. The three manufacturers took them and looked at them, revealing smiles of "I knew it!"

Wow, that's a lot of profit!
"Mr. Chen, can terminal manufacturers accept a starting price of 900?" Liu Xiaodong from BOE asked cautiously.

“This is our red line standard. We have already discussed it with the terminal manufacturers, and everyone…” Chen Xuebing’s lips curled up slightly, “They are all quite receptive to advice.”

The three families secretly clicked their tongues in disbelief.

Previously, the cost of producing a mobile phone in Huaqiangbei started at over one hundred yuan!

Nine hundred now!

Only Qidian could force Niu Touqiang to drink water.

I heard that those bosses made a lot of money in the stock market by following Long March Capital. Singularity also has the system in hand, so they have no ability to imitate it at all. Whatever Singularity says, they can only accept it.

"If they cost so much to build, how much do they sell it for?" Fan Renyong asked.

Spreadtrum is a beneficiary of the feature phone market, and if smartphones are priced too high, it will definitely be detrimental to sales.

"The minimum is 1,300, and high-end models will cost over 3,000." Chen Xuebing dropped a bombshell, then leaned back in his chair and said leisurely:
"With the arrival of the smartphone era, the era in which domestically produced machines were cheaper than foreign machines is coming to an end."

“Our material standards are no worse than theirs, and our concepts and designs are more advanced. So why should we sell them cheaper than their so-called smartphones?”
"We need to take advantage of the opportunity when foreign manufacturers are unable to fight back due to their smart systems, and overturn the previous pricing logic in one fell swoop, impacting the mid-range and above market, so that both upstream and downstream manufacturers can get a certain profit!"

"but."

Chen Xuebing then changed the subject: "I've secured sales and profits for you, so you must guarantee quality. All components must undergo random inspections in Qidian's warehouse before being distributed to end-users. We will also conduct unannounced inspections of your production lines at any time, and any problems will result in hefty fines. Your R&D must also keep pace with international manufacturers, and even surpass them. Let me be clear from the outset: our mandatory intervention with end-users will only last for one year. After that, we will gradually open up the market, allowing them to freely contact other suppliers. So, within this year, whether you acquire or cooperate, you must ensure both quality and supply volume. After one year, you will need to consider parameter issues and cost-effectiveness. I hope you won't fall behind in either step; quality control and R&D must go hand in hand."

His words were harsh, but there was also a sense of helplessness in them.

In another year, the stock market will no longer be profitable. Without the binding of interests, it will be more difficult to completely control these manufacturers.

He can create a system, and so can anyone else. If it's just for running a touchscreen smartphone, modifying an existing smartphone system to create a new one wouldn't take much time.

Meizu once did just that.

Starting from scratch with only Windows CE, which lacked a built-in communication module and whose code was not yet mature, and with Microsoft refusing to provide any technical support for the source code platform, they still completed a deep customization and transformation in less than two years to adapt to the interaction needs of smartphones.

It was done very well.

In this life, he will open-source his underlying technology. Perhaps, besides Android as a competitor, it will also attract other competitors to copy it or develop similar products.

The shell is not difficult to make.

The challenge lies in the ecology.

Therefore, time is tight for him; he must quickly build an effective ecosystem so that consumers are widely aware of the difference between having an ecosystem and not having one.

Fortunately, he had already planned this step, so he definitely had the advantage of being the first to act.

Chen Xuebing gave Lu Weibing a wink, and several Kirin phones were brought in and distributed to Zhang Fan of Shunwei and several software vendors.

Wu Jiesi also sent one.

Apart from Wu Jiesi, everyone else had watched the launch event, but it was their first time using a Kirin phone, and they all picked it up and operated it with some curiosity.

Chen Xuebing also got one.

"These are our previous engineering prototypes, I'm giving them to you. Take them back and look at them at your leisure. Now I'm going to show you the future of internet commerce. Everyone, open Taobao on your desktop."

Lu Weibing arranged for someone to assist, and everyone quickly opened the Taobao interface.

"hiss"

"It's almost the same as on the computer!"

"Taobao software has been developed! Is browsing online stores really that easy? You don't even need to go to a webpage?"

The most excited person was Hu Li, who was the first to see Qilin, but back then Qilin didn't have the Taobao app.

Qin Yangzhi of Alipay knew what was about to happen and sat up straight with a smile.

"There's a shopping cart screen below. Your order is already placed. Just click to checkout."

A few seconds later.

The screen of Zhang Fan's phone went black, and then it exited the Taobao interface and returned to the desktop.

He frowned and said, "Mr. Chen, this won't work."

Chen Xuebing gestured for him to reopen the app and make the payment again.

The second time I opened the app, I clicked to pay in the shopping cart. My phone froze slightly and then opened the Alipay interface, but it just stayed there without doing anything.

Chen Xuebing coughed and said, "Mr. Zhang, you're really unlucky. A 40% failure rate, and you've encountered it twice?"

Zhang Fan was a little embarrassed. For someone who works in investment to be told he has bad luck is definitely a questioning of his abilities.

However, he also secretly wanted to complain.

With a 40% failure rate, what are you going to do with it?
However, some people succeeded.

"This! Can I just enter the password to pay?" Hu Li asked, holding up her phone.

Upon closer inspection, everyone noticed a password interface on her screen.

“Yes, the password is six 1s,” Chen Xuebing said.

"Wow! It worked!" Hu Li exclaimed happily. "Does this mean the order is placed?"

"Yes, there is money in this test account, and the payment has been completed."

Everyone was shocked.

Online payment is that simple?

It's even faster than the SMS messages that used to deduct phone bills from SP services!
Chen Xuebing offered an even more explosive explanation: "This system currently relies on Alipay's deposit account. Once the central bank authorizes third-party payment licenses, it will be able to deduct funds directly from bank cards."

Silence.

You could hear a pin drop. The shock of breaking through the banking channels was even greater than the technology on display.

A few years ago, Chinese people had to queue for half a day at the bank to buy things online, and U-shields only became popular a couple of years ago.

That's it for now...
Just a quick swipe, and it's done?
Chen Xuebing then smiled and said, "It's still early. This is just a test software. Basic functions such as real-name authentication and card binding are not yet perfect. Our machines are also not compatible enough, the CPU processing power is weak, and the encryption calculation efficiency is also very low, which can easily lead to payment process timeouts or crashes. Internet speed is also still a problem."

"but."

"Mr. Ma from Alipay is willing to give it a try and is working day and night to develop it using the SDK software and API interfaces we provide. Mr. Qin is the head of Alipay's mobile phone R&D department."

Jack Ma is forward-thinking.

And they are very bold.

When the two first decided to cooperate in September, they proposed the idea of ​​developing online payment together.

Jack Ma's willingness to share Alipay with Chen Xuebing shows that he values ​​not only the Kunlun system platform but also Chen's personal influence.

Chen Xuebing not only has the ability to promote investments, but also has supporters in the Ministry of Information Industry. This prerequisite determines that everyone can work together to obtain that payment license.

Alipay can currently conduct online payments, but it operates in an unlicensed gray area, and direct access to the banking system is impossible; account top-ups must be redirected to the online banking page of a partner bank.

Furthermore, user deposits are not held in custody by the central bank and remain in Alipay's own accounts for a long time, posing a risk of misappropriation or financial losses. This is what's known as a gray area, and they can be shut down at any time.

Only by obtaining special payment permission from non-financial institutions can everything proceed smoothly.

Jack Ma's influence is limited right now. Without Chen Xuebing's involvement, he wouldn't even dare to consider the payment license issue.

The two of them had already agreed: first, they would focus on developing the mobile ecosystem, and once the mobile ecosystem reached a certain level and was considered a national strategic priority, they would then discuss payment.

Jack Ma is now actively exploring network application companies suitable for the smartphone ecosystem, expanding the ecosystem, and developing Alibaba-related apps.

The person in front of you, Qin Yangzhi, is a software development talent that Jack Ma specially recruited from the UK. He is not part of the original Alibaba founding team.

Jack Ma is a visionary in creating the future internet ecosystem, and he also has very strong execution capabilities.

Chen Xuebing needs allies, which is the core reason why he chose not to take action against Alibaba.

As for the Tencent wave, he won't proactively provide Tencent with a boat; he'll be lucky if they don't get a couple of blows.

Anyway, penguins can swim, so let them swim on their own.

"Our development won't take long, maybe one or two years, maybe two or three years."

"Once such payment redirection is implemented, your website and software, when integrated into mobile phones, will have the means for consumers to make payments. You can imagine how much your online shopping platform consumption, video software memberships, and game software top-ups will be boosted."

"Therefore, as a shareholder, I want you to be among the first to board the ship. I suggest you start development early, preferably now."

Chen Xuebing began handing out admission tickets to everyone.

Xu Ran from JD.com then said somewhat sourly, "President Chen, you pre-installed the Taobao software, but we at JD.com... you can't be too biased, can you? You're a shareholder."

Xu Ran was in her thirties, yet she made no attempt to hide her pitiful gaze at Chen Xuebing.

She was recruited to JD.com by Chen Xuebing.

After Liu Qiangdong secured funding and gained full control of the company, he lacked a suitable deputy to expand the group. Chen Xuebing knew of Xu Ran, a renowned female executive from JD.com in his previous life. Coincidentally, Xu Ran worked at PricewaterhouseCoopers' Beijing office. Chen Xuebing found a publicly available audit document bearing her name online and instructed Rong Xianwen to use his connections to recruit her to JD.com ahead of schedule. Liu Qiangdong was quite satisfied with her, and out of respect for the major shareholder, he directly appointed her as CEO.

With Chen Xuebing's recommendation in this life, Liu Qiangdong may not be able to confide in Xu Ran as openly as he did in his previous life, but Chen Xuebing's label has been added to JD.com's management team.

"Hehe." Chen Xuebing chuckled: "The pre-installation of Taobao and Alipay is a strategic necessity. Terminal manufacturers' mobile phones have limited memory, and I can't force everyone's software into them. However, since you are all here today, I will arrange a meeting between you and the terminal manufacturers. You can talk to each other. If they are willing to use their memory to install your software, we will provide pre-installation services."

This is a benefit for terminal manufacturers and an opportunity for software manufacturers.

It was a mutual consent process.

"President Chen!" Xu Yunfeng seemed to have already considered the huge potential of mobile payment for games, and stood up excitedly: "If our 'Land of Glory' is developed for mobile phones, the gameplay can be highly compatible! But it will definitely take up a lot of memory! At least hundreds of megabytes! If the manufacturers don't agree to pre-install it, how can we get users to install such a large game!"

This brings us to the core issue.

Chen Xuebing smiled but didn't speak, gesturing for Lu Weibing to answer.

“We have a 3G experience store!” Lu Weibing stood up. “Our 3G Magic Cube Experience Center is under construction. One part is responsible for the sales of Kunlun mobile phones, and the other part is to allow customers to use free WIFI network to experience and wired download services. The SDK development software we provide to you can directly upload products to our app store. Mobile phone users can connect to the Kunlun app store in our experience store to download. Our staff will give priority to recommending the software here.”

Now, everyone showed a look of joy.

Lu Weibing then added, "Of course, we will charge a channel fee. Kunlun's software and online shopping platforms will provide a fixed service fee every year. For virtual product top-ups, we will charge 20%."

Everyone was stunned.

Lu Weibing immediately explained, "Maintenance and system upgrades cost money, and the cost is huge. According to our understanding, Apple's system store also charges a fee, and the fee rate is 30%, which is already very low. In addition, we also charge terminal manufacturers. We provide assembly solutions, production guidance, and sales channels, and none of these are free. We charge 3%-5% of the terminal sales price for the overall service. We need to invest this money in maintenance and R&D to provide you with better back-end services."

The toll fee will be the same for everyone; there is no room for negotiation.

Fortunately, virtual products have no cost, so 20% is still acceptable to most people.

Wu Jiesi's eyes suddenly lit up at that moment.

He has only a superficial understanding of the internet. Even after learning about Qidian's operating model these past two days, he is still confused and doesn't understand why the R&D cost of the Kunlun system is higher than that of a mobile phone.

Can the system be sold for money? Isn't it provided for free?
Now I understand.

This means they're taking a cut of the entire market share!
This isn't a mobile phone factory.

This is...this is...Microsoft!

Smart, so smart.

Chen Xuebing, unaware of Wu Jiesi's inner praise, coldly poured cold water on everyone: "Also, I've invested in more than just your few internet companies. First, you need to make good products. Hu Li, your current video website's playback is still a bit lacking. If you want to make mobile software, I must personally review it before it can be launched."

Hu Li's face immediately fell: "We'll do whatever you say! IDG has already hired a technical team for us. As long as we have the investment, the video quality will definitely improve!"

Chen Xuebing neither confirmed nor denied, and continued:

"Kunlun's mobile ecosystem needs to be built in all aspects, including games, videos, online shopping, payment, and messaging, none of which can be missing."

"Currently, Mr. He's UC is the best performing browser. A single browser homepage can almost meet the information needs of users, so we use UC as the sole browser entry point."

"I can assert that UC can obtain the opportunity to go public based solely on its product strength, without much market investment."

"This battle is no different from the primordial era of the PC Internet. As time goes by, more and more participants will come. The first to enter are the four major portals, and the best can become Tencent. To capture users' minds, you need speed and quality. That's all I have to say. You can seize the opportunity yourself."

He Xiaopeng, who had been silent all along, was now beaming. He stood up and said emotionally, "Thank you, President Chen, for your continued support. We at UC will definitely work hard!"

Seeing that the brothers he had recommended to President Lei and President Chen were now standing up, Li Xueling also wanted to stand up.

Unfortunately, YY's PC version has only just been released.

In fact, the Kirin launch event also gave him a lot of inspiration. If Starlink can send voice messages, why can't YY log in to a smartphone?
However, he doesn't have to follow the same path as these people.

He needs to register a mobile phone account, and his existing account also needs to be linked to his mobile phone number!
Once he builds up his PC user base, the mobile version will launch...
Overtake on the curve!

Everyone present had their own thoughts, and the core contradiction of development lay within themselves. Only Xu Ran glanced warily at Qin Yangzhi of Alipay, hesitated for a moment, and then voiced her anxiety:
"Mr. Chen, Alipay is, after all, a payment platform developed by Alibaba. We at JD.com want to develop our own payment system, but you're not allowing us to. Will Alipay be the only option for mobile payments in the future? What if JD.com becomes a competitor to Alibaba?"

Qin Yangzhi immediately explained, "President Xu, our CEO Ma is discussing with the group about spinning off Alipay as an independent business. It will definitely not be the situation you're worried about!"

Who wants to live under someone else's roof?
He has no emotional attachment to Alibaba; he's only responsible for developing Alipay. The greatest potential lies in making Alipay a household name.

Chen Xuebing understood Qin Yangzhi's mindset, but he also knew how protective Ma Yun was of his own.

Let alone Alipay, any product within the Alibaba ecosystem will have its webpage background dyed orange.

He smiled and waved his hand, saying, "Right now we need to focus our resources on promoting one payment app. Too many apps would be cluttered and inconvenient for users. But don't worry, there won't be just one payment app."

Online payment is what he's going to do, how could he only be using Alipay?
Two of the internet companies he invested in were not present today.

One is Cheng Danting's Xinglian Registration Network. She is preparing to completely rely on Xinglian. She was already working on Xinglian's mini-program when developing the medical system. Now she is busy with testing in Hefei and there is no need for her to come here.

However, Chen Xuebing deliberately did not notify the other company, Lakala.

Lakala manufactures POS machines, and their terminals are the first to be deployed to stores, becoming the largest offline payment gateway in the future.

They were ahead of any other online platform in handling utility bill payments and credit card repayments. Moreover, when licenses were issued in 2011, Alipay received a third-party payment license, while Lakala received a full payment license.

Lakala is one of his overtaking license plates.

Now, let Alipay take the lead, let Jack Ma dream about building his ecosystem, and wait until the technology is more mature before making a move. What's wrong with that?
Thinking it over, he smiled slightly and turned to Zhang Fan, saying, "The internet within the mobile phone ecosystem is the internet we want to invest in. I've invited you to this meeting today so you can figure out the direction of your investments."

Zhang Fan, fiddling with his phone, was already quite excited: "This is definitely a new direction, and I already have some ideas!"

"Okay." Chen Xuebing looked at the hardware vendors:
"The clarity of the screen, the smoothness of the chip, and the battery life are all in the hands of a few people. The more technological foundation you provide, the more demand software companies can create. We are mutually dependent."

The three nodded solemnly.

"understand!"

At this moment, the conference room was like a giant engine, with everyone voluntarily becoming a cog in the machine under Chen Xuebing's command.

This is a magnificent scene that Chen Xuebing spent two years creating.

(End of this chapter)