Chapter 694: The Age of Intelligence

A video is playing on the computer. In the middle of the video is a thin man with round rimless glasses, holding a small cuboid in his hand.

This thin man is Apple's Steve Jobs, and the cuboid he is holding in his hand is Apple's first-generation smartphone iPhone.

I saw Jobs swipe the phone screen with his finger to enlarge a picture, and on the big screen behind him, the picture was also enlarged.

Alas!

The audience below the stage suddenly burst into exclamations, followed by continuous applause.

For people at the time, it was a shocking operation to zoom in on the photos on the phone with a swipe of a finger.

But it's normal to think about it carefully. The first generation iPhone has a poor 3.5-inch screen, and people with bad eyes really have to zoom in on the photo to see it clearly. This function is really needed.

The emergence of smart phones will not only bring about a revolution in communications, but also a revolution in information, completely changing people's lives.

The functions of landline phones, cameras, camcorders, TV sets, PC computers, newspapers and magazines, etc., have been gradually replaced by smart phones, and functions such as online shopping, takeaways, and taxis have completely changed the way of life of human beings.

However, in 2007, when the first generation of iPhone was just released, no one realized the great changes that smartphones would bring to human beings. People generally regarded smartphones as a kind of technological and trendy mobile communication devices.

Therefore, this press conference of Jobs, which was recorded in the annals of history, only caused some waves in the technology industry, and the attention was far less than that of the next few Apple product launches.

At that time, not many Chinese netizens were paying attention to this Apple conference. After all, China was still dominated by traditional mobile phone brands such as Nokia and Motorola.

At that time, Chinese netizens paid the most attention to the news about the debut of the J-10 fighter jet.

The Chinese Air Force began to replace the J-10 fighter jets as early as 2004, but until 2007, the Aviation Industry Group officially disclosed the J-10 fighter jets to the outside world.

China has a self-developed high-performance, multi-purpose third-generation fighter jet, which is more topical than a mobile phone launch on the other side of the world.

However, Li Weidong knows how much the world will change with the advent of smartphones.

Smartphone, this is a big cash cow! Li Weidong showed an expression that was just about to move.

After entering the Internet era, electronic consumer products are the industries that are most likely to bring cash flow.

In just a few years after Apple launched the iPhone, it became the company with the most cash in the world. Xiaomi, which focuses on cost-effectiveness, has a low net profit margin in this industry, and it can still easily reserve hundreds of billions of cash.

When the United States restricted Huawei, the main target was the mobile phone business, which was also to hit Huawei's cash flow.

Huawei's mobile phone business continues to provide financial support for Huawei's research and development. Once the cash flow is limited, it will limit Huawei's continued increase in research and development investment in communication technology, which will slow down the pace of Huawei's technology research and development.

The iPhone was just released, the smartphone was just getting started, maybe try to get into the industry.

Thinking of this, Li Weidong picked up the phone. He planned to find a few people in the industry to inquire about this aspect.

...

In the 2G era, smart phones were still inferior to feature phones. After entering the 3G era, the advantages of smart phones were gradually manifested, and there were more and more functions, and feature phones were gradually eliminated.

In 2007, it was the era when all kinds of feature phones were in full bloom. There were flat, flip, slide, large screen, dual-screen, high-pixel camera, clear sound quality, and all kinds of styles.

And when it comes to making mobile phones, it is natural to recommend Huaqiangbei in the special zone in China.

In the era of feature phones, Huaqiangbei is the home base of copycat mobile phones. Huaqiangbei is not just imitating mobile phones of big brands such as Nokia and Motorola.

There are also many small brands that assemble their own mobile phones, and even many brands already have the ability to innovate themselves.

Li Weidong quickly got in touch with a self-employed owner who was doing a copycat machine business in Huaqiangbei, and he was a relatively large business.

This person's name is Chen Nandu, a young guy in his twenties.

Chen Nandu was born in a rural area in Jiangxi Province. After graduating from junior high school and completing the nine-year compulsory education, he went to work in the city. He first worked in a factory in the Special Economic Zone. Later, he felt that the work on the assembly line was too boring and boring, so he went to a store in Huaqiangbei. As an apprentice, learn how to repair and flash mobile phones.

Chen Nandu is also a person who is willing to study. After a period of hard work, he has mastered the assembly skills of most mobile phones, so he decided to go out and do it alone. He rented a small facade of less than five square meters in Huaqiangbei and opened it. his way to wealth.

From small shops selling cottage machines, to general agents, to big agents, and finally to the exclusive agent of the manufacturer, Chen Nan has saved hundreds of millions of dollars by selling cottage machines. Just in Huaqiangbei, there are There are more than a dozen stores, and many of Huaqiangbei's counterparts who sell copycat machines will ask Chen Nandu to pick up the goods.

But Chen Nan was not satisfied with all this, he opened an electronics factory again, and started a one-stop production and sales.

Being in his twenties and worth hundreds of millions of dollars is a very remarkable thing today. In Huaqiangbei, Chen Nandu is also known as the Little Prince of Shanzhai Machines.

It's just that in front of a top industrial tycoon like Li Weidong, Chen Nandu is still a little shrimp. To have the opportunity to make friends with a businessman like Li Weidong is something that Chen Nandu could not wish for.

In the reception room, Chen Nandu personally made Li Weidong a cup of Gongfu tea.

Chairman Li, try this tea, it's my treasure. Chen Nandu said.

Mr. Chen has a heart. Li Weidong picked up the teacup.

Just call me Xiao Chen. Chen Nandu said quickly.

Li Weidong smiled and said, I'm a few years older than you, or I'll just call you Nandu.

You can call it whatever you like. Chen Nandu said.

Li Weidong continued: Nandu, I came to see you this time, mainly to learn about the situation of the domestic mobile phone supply chain.

Mobile phone supply chain? Chen Nan was stunned for a moment, and then asked, Are you an assembly plant for mobile phones?

This time, Li Weidong was a little overwhelmed. Chen Nan was a little prince of copycat machines, and Huaqiangbei was the leader of copycat machines, but he didn't even know what a supply chain was!

So Li Weidong said: Let's talk about the assembly plant of the mobile phone!

This mobile phone assembly factory is everywhere in our Pearl River Delta, especially in Dongguan. If you see the brand of a certain electronic factory hanging on the roadside, it is a mobile phone assembly factory. Chen Nandu replied.

Do they all make copycat machines? Li Weidong asked.

There are also OEMs for regular brands. Chen Nandu continued: But they are all small brands, such as big brands like Nokia, which have their own production plants, and they are also big exporters!

Is Nokia's factory also doing assembly? Li Weidong asked again.

The main business is assembly, but also the production of some simple parts. For example, mobile phone cases, mobile phone buttons, etc. Chen Nandu replied.

They are the lowest-end components in the supply chain. Li Weidong frowned slightly.

In the era of feature phones, mobile phone giants such as Motorola and Nokia all have production plants in China, and some manufacturers also undertake their OEM business.

However, these production plants are mainly engaged in the assembly business of products, and the supply chain of parts and components is not located in China. Even if it is placed in China, it is only the lowest-end components such as mobile phone cases and keyboards.

At that time, Nokia's Dongguan factory was one of the top exporters in the city, but since all parts were imported from abroad, China could only earn one labor fee for assembly. split profit.

And Motorola entered China much earlier than Nokia. When it was still using pagers, Motorola began to set up assembly plants in China. Of course, they did not bring the high-tech core component business to China.

Li Weidong went on to ask: For foreign brands, the main components are shipped from abroad. What about domestic brands of mobile phones, where do their components come from? For example, screens, motherboards, processors, memory and so on.

In terms of screens, high-quality color screens still have to be imported. Japan's screens are of the best quality and high definition, while South Korea's ones are worse. Poor quality color screens, as well as black and white screens, can also be produced by domestic manufacturers.

Chen Nandu paused, and then said: As for the motherboard, processor, memory, etc., you can directly purchase a complete set, that is, buy a complete set, all of which are installed together.

You mean a whole module? Li Weidong asked.

Yes, most of the components are on the motherboard. After they are shipped, connect the battery and screen, and put on a mobile phone case to use it. Chen Nan nodded.

It's so convenient! It's not like inserting building blocks. Li Weidong nodded suddenly, and then asked: The module you're talking about is made by a special company, right?

It's all supplied by MediaTek, and they just do it! A motherboard has everything on it, and it can be used directly. Not only do we use theirs for brand mobile phones, we make copycats, and we also buy from them. I heard that MediaTek first It can sell more than 100 million such mobile phone motherboards every year! Chen Nandu replied.

MediaTek? The name of the father of this cottage mobile phone is really not for nothing! Li Weidong nodded silently.

In later generations, MediaTek was known as Qualcomm's biggest competitor. In fact, MediaTek started out as a copycat mobile phone.

In 1997, Cai Mingjie established MediaTek. At that time, MediaTek was doing DVD chips, and later began to specialize in the field of mobile phones and digital TVs.

In the field of mobile phone chips, MediaTek is not a competitor of Qualcomm, so MediaTek has taken a different approach. While reducing the price, it also concentrated various components on the motherboard of the mobile phone.

Buyers only need to buy this set of modules, and then connect the battery, display, camera and other hardware to assemble a mobile phone directly.

This is undoubtedly the biggest benefit for the manufacturers of cottage mobile phones.

Those copycat mobile phone manufacturers don't have much technology in the first place, and they may not be able to assemble a mobile phone if they give them parts and components. Now that there are ready-made modules, assembling a mobile phone becomes a matter of connecting a few wires, which is extremely simple.

It is also because of this wave of operations by MediaTek that domestic copycat phone manufacturers have been created, so the head of MediaTek, Cai Mingjie, is also known as the father of copycat mobile phones.

However, in the field of smartphones, MediaTek has made a mistake. They have not been slow in the business of smartphones.

The peak period of copycat phones lasted until 2009. After 3G coverage was gradually opened, functional mobile phones began to spread rapidly.

MediaTek is also a kind of dividend from copycat machines. It was not until 2010 that MediaTek joined Google's mobile phone open alliance, and in 2011, it launched the MT6573 mobile phone chip for functional mobile phones.

The chip industry has always said that one step is slow, one step is slow, and MediaTek has taken this step slowly, resulting in Qualcomm's continued pressure in the future. The chip is inferior to Qualcomm in terms of price and performance.

After some inquiries, Li Weidong realized that none of the core components of mobile phones can be produced by Chinese companies.

Even the battery of the mobile phone, the quality of the domestic battery is much worse than the imported battery, the service life is short, and it is easy to be damaged.

There is no component industry chain for feature phones, and it is simply a fantasy to want to make smart phones!

It seems that it is impossible to make a smartphone at this time. There is no such supply chain in China at all. Li Weidong sighed, and then asked: Nandu, Apple in the United States has released a new type of mobile phone. It's called the iPhone, you know?

I heard my colleagues say that it is a high-tech product, and the price is several times that of other mobile phones. It is estimated that few people can afford it! Chen Nandu said.

Do you think we can make this kind of mobile phone? Even if it is a copycat product. Li Weidong asked again.

We can't copy this high-tech product. Chen Nandu shook his head decisively.

It seems that with the domestic supply chain level, it is still impossible to make a smartphone in a short time. If you want to develop a smartphone, you still have to rely on the foreign supply chain. Li Weidong secretly thought.

For the first generation of iPhone, the supply chain, in addition to American companies, mainly came from Japan and South Korea. For example, the 3.5-inch multi-touch screen comes from Japan's Sharp, and the 90-nanometer chip is produced by Samsung in South Korea.

The big cake of the smartphone will not be eaten in two or three years, so Li Weidong has to make other plans.

Since a smartphone can't be built yet, it's better to start from another angle. Maybe I can make a mobile phone system first!

Thinking of this, Li Weidong took out his mobile phone and called his assistant.

Help me make an appointment with Mr. Lei from Kingsoft. He said that I have a project related to software, and I want to talk to him.

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Thank you for your subscriptions, and thank you for your concern. My eyes are already in good condition. Although it is still a little red, I can look at the computer and should be able to return to normal work.