Chapter 694: Intelligent Era

A video was playing on the computer. In the center of the video was a thin man wearing rimless round glasses, holding a small cuboid in his hand.

This thin man is Jobs of Apple, and the cuboid in his hand is Apple's first-generation smart phone iphone.

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

Alas!

The audience in the audience suddenly burst into exclamation, followed by continuous applause.

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

But it’s normal to think about it carefully. The poor 3.5-inch screen of the first generation of iPhones, people with bad eyesight really have to zoom in to see the photos clearly, and this function is really needed.

The emergence of smart phones will not only bring about a communication revolution, but also an information revolution, which will completely change people's lives.

Functions such as landline phones, cameras, video cameras, televisions, PCs, newspapers and magazines, etc. are gradually replaced by smart phones, and functions such as online shopping, takeaway, and taxis have completely changed the way people live.

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

So Jobs' press conference, which was recorded in history, only caused some waves in the technology industry, and the attention was far less than the next few Apple product conferences.

At that time, Chinese netizens did not pay much attention to Apple's press conference. After all, the country was dominated by traditional mobile phone brands such as Nokia and Motorola at that time.

At that time, what Chinese netizens paid most attention to was probably the news of 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 it was not until 2007 that the Aviation Industry Corporation 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 conference on the other side of the world.

However, Li Weidong knows how much the world will change with the emergence of smart phones.

Smartphones,

This is a big cash cow! Li Weidong showed an expression ready to move.

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

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

When the United States restricts Huawei, it mainly targets the mobile phone business, which is also to hit Huawei's cash flow.

Huawei's mobile phone business continuously provides financial support for Huawei's research and development. Once the cash flow is limited, it is tantamount to restricting Huawei's continued investment in research and development in communication technology, which can slow down the pace of Huawei's technology research and development.

iphone has just been released, smartphones are just getting started, maybe we can try to enter this industry.

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

...

In the 2G era, smartphones were still inferior to feature phones. It was not until entering the 3G era that the advantages of smartphones gradually emerged, and more and more functions became available, so feature phones were gradually eliminated.

In 2007, it was the era when a hundred flowers of feature phones were blooming. Tablet, clamshell, slider, large screen, dual screen, high pixel camera, clear sound quality, all kinds of styles.

And when it comes to making mobile phones, Huaqiangbei, a special zone, is naturally the first in China.

In the era of feature phones, Huaqiangbei is the base camp of counterfeit mobile phones. Huaqiangbei not only imitates mobile phones of big brands such as Nokia and Motorola, but also many small brands that assemble their own mobile phones, and even many brands have the ability of self-innovation.

Li Weidong quickly got in touch with an individual owner who was in Huaqiangbei's counterfeit machine business, and he was considered a relatively large business.

This person's name is Chen Nandu, and he is a young man in his twenties.

Chen Nandu was born in the countryside of Jiangxi. 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 shop in Huaqiang North As an apprentice, learn how to repair and flash your phone.

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

From a small store selling counterfeit phones, to a general agent, then to a large agent, and finally got the exclusive agent of the manufacturer, Chen Nan has saved hundreds of millions of net worth by selling counterfeit phones. In Huaqiangbei alone, there are There are more than a dozen shops, and many colleagues who sell counterfeit phones in Huaqiangbei will come to Chen Nandu to pick up the goods.

But Chen Nan was not satisfied with all of this. He opened an electronics factory and started a one-stop production and sales process.

In his twenties, with a net worth of hundreds of millions, it is also a very remarkable thing in today's world. In Huaqiangbei, Chen Nandu is also known as the little prince of copycat machines.

It's just that in front of a top industrial tycoon like Li Weidong, Chen Nandu is still a small shrimp. To have the opportunity to befriend Li Weidong, a business leader like Li Weidong, is even more what Chen Nan could only wish for.

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

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

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

You can just call me Xiao Chen. Chen Nandu said quickly.

Li Weidong smiled, and said, I'm falsely 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 slightly taken aback, and then asked, Are you an assembly plant for mobile phones?

This time, Li Weidong was a little at a loss. Chen Nan is a little prince of counterfeit mobile phones, and Huaqiangbei is the leader of counterfeit mobile phones. He doesn't even know what a supply chain is!

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

The mobile phone assembly factories are everywhere in our Pearl River Delta, especially in Dongguan. You can see that there are such and such electronic factory brands hanging on the roadside, and they are all mobile phone assembly factories. Chen Nandu replied.

Are they all counterfeit phones? 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!

Does Nokia's factory also do assembly? Li Weidong asked again.

The main business is assembly, but also the production of some simple parts. Such as mobile phone cases, mobile phone buttons and the like. Chen Nandu replied.

They are all 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 have production plants in China, and some manufacturers undertake their OEM business.

However, these factories are mainly engaged in the assembly of products and the supply chain of parts and components, which are 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 best export companies in the city, but because the components were all imported from abroad, China could only earn a labor fee for assembly, and it was really exporting products worth a few hundred dollars, earning a few dollars. share of profits.

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 their high-tech core component business to China.

Li Weidong then asked: Foreign brands, the main components are shipped from abroad. What about domestic brands of mobile phones, where do their components come from? Such as screens, motherboards, processors, memory and so on.

In terms of screens, good-quality color screens still have to be imported. Japan's screens are the best in quality and have high definition, while South Korea's screens are worse. Domestic manufacturers can also produce poor-quality color screens, as well as black and white screens.

Chen Nandu paused, and then continued: As for motherboards, processors, memory, etc., you can directly purchase them as a set, that is, you buy a whole set, and they are all 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 phone case to use. Chen Nan nodded.

It's so convenient! It's not the same as inserting building blocks. Li Weidong nodded suddenly, and then asked: Is there a special company that makes this module you are talking about?

All are supplied by MediaTek, and they just make this directly! There is everything on a motherboard, and you can use it directly. Not only brand mobile phones use theirs, but we also buy from them for counterfeit phones. I heard that MediaTek It can sell more than 100 million such mobile phone motherboards every year! Chen Nandu replied.

MediaTek? The name of the father of the fake mobile phone is really not in vain! Li Weidong nodded silently.

In later generations, MediaTek was hailed as Qualcomm's biggest competitor. In fact, MediaTek started as a counterfeit mobile phone.

In 1997, Cai Mingjie established MediaTek. At that time, MediaTek was making 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 an opponent of Qualcomm, so MediaTek has found another way to lower the price while concentrating various components on the main board of the mobile phone.

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

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

Those counterfeit mobile phone manufacturers do not have much technology, and they may not be able to assemble a mobile phone even if they are given parts. Now that there are ready-made modules, assembling a mobile phone becomes just connecting a few wires, which is extremely simple.

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

However, in the field of smartphones, MediaTek made a mistake. They did not slow down in the smartphone business.

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

MediaTek is also a bonus for eating copycat phones. It was not until 2010 that MediaTek joined Google's Open Mobile Phone Alliance. In 2011, it launched the mobile phone chip mt6573, which is a functional mobile phone.

The chip industry has always said that one step is slow, every step is slow, and MediaTek is slow by this step, which will lead to being under pressure from Qualcomm in the future. The chip is inferior to Qualcomm in terms of price and performance.

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

Even for mobile phone batteries, the quality of domestic batteries is much worse than that of imported batteries, not to mention the short service life, and they are easily damaged.

There is no industry chain of parts and components for feature phones, and it is simply a fantasy to want to make smartphones!

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

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

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

This kind of high-tech product, we can't copy it. Chen Nandu shook his head decisively.

It seems that with the level of the domestic supply chain, smartphones will not be produced in a short period of time. If you want to manufacture smartphones, you still have to rely on foreign supply chains. Li Weidong thought to himself.

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

The big cake of smartphones may not be available in two or three years, so Li Weidong had to make another plan.

Since we can't make a smartphone 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 dialed the assistant's number.

Help me make an appointment with Mr. Lei of Jinshan Company, and tell me that I have a project, which is related to software, and I want to talk to him.

－－－－－Off Topic－－－－－

Thank you parents for subscribing. Thank you for your concern. My eyes are almost healed. Although they are still a little red, I can watch the computer and should be able to resume normal work.