Chapter 1701

Zhou Andong smiled. "I do have a bit of interest."

He wasn't interested in hard drive heads, but rather in a person currently at the Xinke Electromagnetic Factory: Wang Laozeng from Ningde.

The Xinke Electromagnetic Factory, a subsidiary of Japan's TDK in Xiangjiang, was the world's king of computer hard drive heads.

It supplied over 70% of the world's hard drive heads, with annual revenue reaching as high as 1 billion USD.

Laozeng was a person with a strong gambling streak, which was vividly displayed in his very first job after graduating from university.

After graduating from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, he was assigned to work at a state-owned enterprise in Fuzhou.

This was absolutely an "iron rice bowl," but after working for three months, he made a decision that shocked everyone.

He resigned and headed south to Guangdong Province, joining the Xinke Electromagnetic Factory in Dongguan, and as a mere ordinary technician at that.

His main work was making hard drives and read-write heads, which had absolutely nothing to do with batteries, and naturally, nothing to do with his major either.

This was definitely a massive gamble. Compared to the stable, guaranteed income of a state-owned enterprise, choosing to enter a foreign-owned company was, in most people's eyes, a path only a fool would take.

However, the path of life is just like that; you don't know if what lies ahead is a smooth road or thorns until you walk forward.

In the second half of this year, 1994, his first benefactor, Zhang Yujie, parachuted into the Xinke Electromagnetic Factory and became Laozeng's superior.

His rich experience and profound knowledge made Laozeng thirsty for wisdom, and the two became master and apprentice.

By 1995, Laozeng's other master, Chen Danghua, arrived at Xinke.

In terms of work, Laozeng had more contact with Chen Danghua, and it was also because of his high level of recognition.

Laozeng was able to go to the United States for an inspection, where he learned about various cutting-edge battery technologies.

Furthermore, under Chen Danghua's repeated promotions, Laozeng became the youngest engineering director at the Xinke Magnetic Electric Factory, and also the first technical director from the mainland in the factory.

Generally speaking, starting as a director and gradually becoming a senior executive in a foreign company is basically the established growth trajectory in the workplace, and this is also the normal choice for most people.

But Laozeng's gambling addiction flared up again. In 1999, not long after becoming a director, he made another surprising decision: to resign and start his own business.

That year, the consumer electronics craze swept the globe, and many people saw business opportunities in it.

Chen Danghua's superior, SAE CEO Liang Shaoyou, had proposed as early as 1997 that consumer electronics batteries would have great potential, and he strongly pushed for Xiangjiang Xinke to expand its battery business, but this suggestion was rejected by the Japanese parent company.

Consequently, Liang Shaoyou, Chen Danghua, and Zhang Yujie discussed setting up their own shop, establishing a company specializing in the battery business, and then Laozeng was talked into joining the venture by his three old superiors.

They then went to Xiangjiang and established the Amperex Technology Limited (ATL), and their product direction was the emerging lithium battery technology.

Compared to Xinke's monopoly on computer hard drive heads, lithium battery technology was an unknown ocean.

The vast majority of people saw the risks, while a very small minority saw the opportunities.

Not only that, but at the time, it was at the peak of the first wave of internet entrepreneurship, and emerging venture capital also began to enter our country.

ATL relied on its connections to obtain 2.5 million USD in Series A financing and also secured the patent authorization for lithium batteries.

It was just unexpected that the patent bought at a high price had a major defect. Batteries made according to this technology would develop swelling problems after being charged and discharged a few times, to the point where they could no longer be used.

They contacted Bell Labs, and the people there spread their hands, saying they couldn't solve this problem either.

Having spent a huge amount of money to buy a product that had problems was something no one could accept, so Laozeng ran back to the United States to question the parties involved.

As a result, the other party didn't care, simply stating that battery swelling had always existed and no one could solve it, including the twenty-plus authorized companies nationwide.

This rogue attitude left Laozeng feeling powerless, and he could only return home.

At that time, the lithium battery market was almost monopolized by Japanese-funded enterprises, and on top of that, the internet bubble burst.

Seeing that the newly established company was about to collapse, the few of them were unwilling to give up. Through repeated research, they finally discovered the root of the problem and solved the battery swelling issue.

Then, relying on a high price-performance ratio, they opened up the mobile phone lithium battery market, and later obtained 25 million USD in Series B financing.

The following year, with the help of the release of Apple's iPod, they entered the Apple supply chain and eventually became the king of lithium batteries for consumer electronics products.

However, fate played a joke on them; the first venture was very successful, but their founding team didn't make much money.

Moreover, ATL was fully acquired by Japan's TDK in 2005 for 100 million USD, which was equivalent to Laozeng and the others becoming employees under their former boss again after six years of hard work starting the business.

Of course, the gambling-loving Laozeng wouldn't be willing to accept such a result, so in 2008, he established the power battery department and began the research and development of automotive lithium battery technology, which later led to the story of Ningde Wang.

And as for CATL, which broke the world record for power battery holdings, broke the range record, broke the listing speed record, broke the fundraising record, and broke the ChiNext market value record, how could Zhou Andong possibly let it go?

After finishing the meal, Jian Zhengrong and Yang Mulin left, and they left in a hurry, obviously to go back for a meeting.

Zhou Andong wanted to go to RT-Mart, and because it wasn't far, they didn't take a car; the few of them just strolled along the street, walking leisurely.

As they walked, Zhou Andong suddenly stopped his steps and looked up at the opposite side. That was an entertainment city called Dongtai Entertainment City (later the New Dongtai).

"Wentian, have you heard of Dongtai Entertainment City?"

Wang Wentian secretly glanced at Huang Yali and shook his head vigorously. "Never heard of it."

"I've heard of it." Zhou Andong looked at the opposite side, very yearning. "It's said that it's very fun inside, with food and drinks, and you can even take a bath. Let's go take a look tonight."

Wang Wentian kept his mouth shut and didn't speak, while Huang Yali said happily, "You can even take a bath? It's just right to find an auntie to scrub my back."

Wang Wentian said in a muffled voice, "There are no back scrubbers here."

"Ah?" Huang Yali didn't believe it. "Such a big bathhouse, how could there be no back scrubbers?"

Zhou Andong said with a smile, "Southerners don't scrub their backs."

Just at this moment, three luxury cars stopped in front of the Dongtai main gate, and immediately after, a group of people got out of the cars.

"Hmm?" A very familiar figure appeared in Zhou Andong's eyes.

"Wentian, take a look at that guy wearing the plaid shirt and long hair. Is that Zhang Sihe?"

"Yes!" Wang Wentian just took a glance and confirmed it.

"Heh!" Zhou Andong let out a laugh. "Damn, this kid lives more freely than me. Let's go, no need to wait for tonight; we'll go take a look right now.

Yali, you go stroll around that mall yourself. Buy whatever you want, and I, your boss, will reimburse you. When you're tired of strolling, go to RT-Mart and wait for us."

Huang Yali said with dissatisfaction, "Why can't I go?"

"Because this is a men's bathhouse." Wang Wentian snorted. "So women can't enter."

Huang Yali looked at Zhou Andong with a face full of suspicion. "Boss, really?"

"If Wentian says so, then it is." Zhou Andong held back his laughter and stepped toward the other side of the street.