Chapter 155: Mountains Crumbling and Earth Splitting

Unlike when he arrived, when Zhou Hualiang left, it was Atlantic Bell CEO Lei Mengde who personally saw him out. Both were all smiles, wearing expressions of having had a very pleasant conversation, which left the people at Atlantic Bell feeling quite astonished.

After getting into the car, Zhou Hualiang couldn't help but clench his fist and wave it forcefully. Upon returning to his lodging, he immediately called Li Dongling, "Boss, Lei Mengde has agreed to the cooperation!"

"Hard work. Proceed with the follow-up according to the plan!"

Inside the Dongling High-Tech office, Li Dongling, Ren Yuefeng, Hu Zixian, Zhang Ao, and Gao Peng, who had already been promoted to General Manager of the Dongling High-Tech Logistics Department, were all waiting for news.

After the start of the year, Li Dongshan had resigned from Dongling High-Tech to begin busying himself with matters regarding the shopping mall, and Gao Peng officially took over the position of Logistics Department Manager at Dongling High-Tech.

"It's done!"

After hanging up the phone, Li Dongling announced to the group in the office. The expressions on the faces of Ren Yuefeng, Zhang Ao, and the others relaxed instantly.

"It's time to send Ximen a big gift!" Zhang Ao's tone carried a hint of malice, with a feeling of sharpening one's sword.

Since the Shenzhou phone went on sale in America these past few days, Dongling High-Tech hadn't just been watching; they had been preparing the whole time.

"Contact Shougang NEC over there; the production volume of the Sirius chip must be guaranteed!" Li Dongling looked toward Ren Yuefeng. In this war against Ximen in North America, the Sirius chip was the key to victory or defeat.

Ren Yuefeng nodded, "I know. Not just Shougang NEC, but Huajing and other domestic manufacturers capable of foundry production for chips—we have placed orders with all of them. If necessary, we can place orders with TSMC and other chip foundries!"

Currently, major global chip manufacturers, from Intel and Motorola to Toshiba, Texas Instruments, Hitachi, Philips, Ximen, Fujitsu, and others, all had their own chip factories, handling everything from design and production to testing and packaging in-house.

The chip foundry industry had only emerged for about ten years or so. TSMC was the pioneer of this trade, and domestic firms like Huajing and Shougang NEC were also following this path. However, this trade wasn't considered mainstream yet; Intel had its own chip production plants and didn't need TSMC at all.

"Li Zong, there is a reporter from the Yanjing Business Daily who wants to interview you. She has been waiting for a few days now. Should we meet with that reporter?"

As he was about to leave the office, Ren Yuefeng asked Li Dongling in an inquiring tone. This period was the busiest time for Dongling High-Tech, and they had declined all media interviews. However, since Feng Miaoyu arrived in Pingyang, she had been waiting persistently, which left Ren Yuefeng feeling somewhat helpless.

"Let her in!"

Li Dongling thought for a moment before saying this. For the past half-month, Dongling High-Tech hadn't had much of a reaction. With Ximen's continuous rapid progress, many media outlets had begun to lean toward acknowledging that Ximen was winning this war.

This made a host of Dongling High-Tech's component suppliers feel somewhat anxious. Previously, Dongling High-Tech had placed a large number of orders with suppliers in the component industry chain. If the Shenzhou, Coolpad, and Simon phones couldn't be sold, and if Shenzhou Phone no longer wanted the components those suppliers had produced, they would be stuck with them, and bankruptcy might even be possible. How could they not be anxious?

At a time like this, it was still necessary to release some news to stabilize morale. They couldn't let the Shenzhou component suppliers quit. Although there were backup suppliers for these components when the supply chain was rebuilt last time, it would still take time to replace them. Right now, what Shenzhou Phone needed most was to increase production capacity!

"Ximen phone sales continue to be a hit, with single-day sales repeatedly hitting new highs!"

"Multiple retail channels in America, including Best Buy, Target, and Costco, have all announced cooperation agreements with Ximen and have begun stocking and selling Ximen phones!"

"Multiple media outlets hold a pessimistic attitude toward the sales of Shenzhou, including its sub-brands Coolpad and Simon digital cordless phones, in America!"

"Encountering overseas difficulties again—why is Shenzhou, which swept the European market, suffering from 'acclimatization' issues in America?!"

Feng Miaoyu, who had already been in Pingyang for a few days, flipped through the news in her hands. Among them were reports from domestic media as well as reprints of foreign reports, but basically, they all held a pessimistic attitude toward Shenzhou Phone in America.

For several consecutive days, Ximen had been suppressing Shenzhou Phone. At its peak, single-day sales once exceeded 400,000 units. In contrast, the combined daily sales of Shenzhou, Coolpad, and Simon in America didn't even exceed 150,000 units at their peak. Even if one counted the North American markets of Mexico and Canada, daily sales were only 210,000 units. One could imagine how important the American market was!

If she only looked at the news in the papers, Feng Miaoyu would have begun to develop a pessimistic attitude, feeling that Shenzhou's defeat in America was already a foregone conclusion and that the scenario of a comeback like in Europe could no longer happen.

But during these days in Pingyang, although she hadn't been able to interview Li Dongling yet, Feng Miaoyu, who was conducting research on Dongling High-Tech and gathering overall data, had a different feeling.

The entire Dongling High-Tech seemed not to have been affected by the situation in America. The Dongling High-Tech Electronic Industrial Park was in the midst of intense production. The road leading to the entrance of the Dongling High-Tech Electronic Industrial Park was lined every day with trucks delivering component materials and picking up goods, to the point that this road had become the most "congested" road in Pingyang City.

Feng Miaoyu's research found that Dongling High-Tech was currently still mass-producing Silver Mink mice, producing electronic pets for Japan's Wan Dai, and producing digital cordless phones.

Feng Miaoyu even discovered that the Dongling High-Tech Electronic Industrial Park seemed to be preparing to produce a certain new product, and the second phase of the Dongling High-Tech Electronic Industrial Park project was also in full swing.

"Losing" the American market seemed not to be unacceptable to Dongling High-Tech, Feng Miaoyu thought to herself. At the very least, in the digital cordless phone market, Dongling High-Tech still had the markets in the mainland, Hong Kong, and other parts of Asia and Europe...

Feng Miaoyu wrote down the data she had researched on Dongling High-Tech over these past few days in her notebook. There was also Dongling High-Tech's massive investment in scientific research, the establishment of the Qilin Award, the He Zun Award, and so on. Although there was no specific data yet, Feng Miaoyu felt that Dongling High-Tech was currently the private enterprise with the highest R&D investment and the company that earned the most foreign exchange!

Unknowingly, her notebook was already densely packed with a large amount of data related to Dongling High-Tech. In Feng Miaoyu's mind, the image of Dongling High-Tech had vaguely transformed into that "high-tech" company in the impression of countless people.

Just as she was thinking this, the door to her rented hotel room was knocked on. A service staff member shouted to her, "Reporter Feng, there is a call for you. It's from Dongling High-Tech..."

"I'm coming right away!"

Hearing this, Feng Miaoyu's face lit up with joy. She stuffed her notebook into her bag, shouldered the bag containing her interview equipment, and ran out in a hurry.

"Li Zong, I'm very sorry to disturb you at this time!"

After arriving at the Dongling High-Tech headquarters, Feng Miaoyu entered Li Dongling's office with curiosity.

Feng Miaoyu used her peripheral vision to size up Li Dongling's office. She saw that Li Dongling's office was very simple; apart from a computer on the desk, there was only a wall cabinet holding books. There was even a dartboard, which was far less luxurious than the offices of those company bosses she had visited.

Hearing Feng Miaoyu's words, Li Dongling just smiled gently, "What would you like to drink?!"

"Water is fine!"

After taking the water Li Dongling had poured for her personally, Feng Miaoyu thanked him and said to Li Dongling, "I have been following Dongling High-Tech for a long time. The electronic pet project was reported by me domestically for the first time!"

Feng Miaoyu recounted the story of how, when she was on the phone with her younger sister Feng Miaoyu, who was studying in London, they had inadvertently talked about the explosive popularity of electronic pets in Europe, and she had reported it in the Yanjing Business Daily.

Li Dongling hadn't expected that there was such a story behind this, which made him unable to help but laugh dumbly.

Seeing that the atmosphere was about right, Feng Miaoyu seized the opportunity to say, "Li Zong, the electronic pet project is still selling hotly globally now. Why did you suddenly sell this project? I think many people are curious about this matter!"

Looking at Feng Miaoyu, who had opened her notebook to prepare to record, Li Dongling pondered for a moment and said, "Too much is as bad as too little. I have always believed in not earning the very last penny!"

"Too much is as bad as too little?!"

Hearing this answer, Feng Miaoyu was clearly stunned for a moment, and then she reacted, "Li Zong, do you think that there will be a change in the electronic pet industry?!"

"But right now, Japan's Wan Dai company claims that in the new quarter of this year, electronic pet sales will hit a new high globally..."

Li Dongling just smiled and didn't argue with Feng Miaoyu. Feng Miaoyu stopped her pen and asked Li Dongling, "Li Zong, can I publish this statement of yours in the Yanjing Business Daily?!"

"Please feel free!"

Li Dongling wouldn't mind what impact his saying this would have on the electronic pet industry or on Japan's Wan Dai. Even if Japan's Wan Dai were to have bad luck because of the electronic pet project, that would be the most beneficial thing for Dongling High-Tech. Perhaps he could even take something else away from Japan's Wan Dai!

Feng Miaoyu asked Li Dongling a few more questions, such as his views on giants in the tech industry like Boss Shi and other celebrities, as well as industries like computers that were struggling against foreign brands, before asking Li Dongling the most important question of this trip to Hanxi.

"Li Zong, right now, the situation of Shenzhou Phone in America doesn't seem very ideal. What are your views?"

Hearing this question, Li Dongling didn't give it much thought and said directly, "The victory in this war in America will definitely belong to Dongling High-Tech!"

Feng Miaoyu clearly felt that when he said this, the gentle and scholarly temperament on Li Dongling disappeared without a trace. Instead, a spirit of pressing forward undauntedly rose up abruptly, and his words were full of confidence, as if what he said would definitely be realized!

This transformation made Feng Miaoyu stunned for a moment, and then she reacted. She had also seen this kind of confidence in the bosses of other top companies. In this era, those who dared to venture into business were, without exception, extremely confident, even carrying a hint of arrogance. Without this kind of conviction, it was fundamentally impossible to reach where they were today. Sometimes, people just lived by a single conviction!

"But right now, it seems the situation is unfavorable for Shenzhou Phone. Thomas, the general manager of Ximen America, claims that he will drive Shenzhou completely out of America, or even North America, within three months!"

Feng Miaoyu looked at Li Dongling and said. During this period, Thomas had been acting quite high-profile and hadn't released few wild words before the media. Apart from promoting Ximen phones and making major American electrical retailers take Ximen's side, Thomas's approach also had the meaning of testing Shenzhou Phone's bottom line.

"One cannot know the present without learning from history. The German philosopher Hegel once said that the only lesson history teaches is that people have never learned any lessons from history!

Ximen, which originated in Germany, is clearly the same as those empires that once appeared in Germany; it has also never learned the lesson of popping the champagne at halftime!"

Li Dongling's words could be described as very impolite, directly stating that Ximen was popping the champagne at halftime and was about to suffer a crushing defeat.

Feng Miaoyu's eyes lit up, "Does Li Zong mean that Dongling High-Tech and Shenzhou Phone have a new plan in America?!"

Li Dongling didn't say much, "I think it won't be long before Manager Thomas will be able to receive the gift sent by Shenzhou Phone. I hope he will like it!"

After ending the interview, Feng Miaoyu exchanged contact information with Li Dongling. After returning to her lodging, she organized the news from today's interview and then headed straight to the provincial capital to fly to Yanjing.

Li Dongling looked at the phone number Feng Miaoyu had left behind. After thinking for a moment, he kept that business card. Yanjing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou were the three major media camps in the country. Who knew when he might need to use Feng Miaoyu's side.

Feng Miaoyu, who returned to Yanjing, quickly reported that interview in the Yanjing Business Daily. For a time, it attracted quite a lot of attention from the tech and economic industries.

Especially upon seeing the opening, Li Dongling's "not earning the very last penny," many people sneered, thinking this was an excuse for selling off the electronic pet project last year.

And what followed, Li Dongling's claim that Ximen was just popping the champagne at halftime, attracted even more countless people's attention. They didn't know what kind of backup plan Li Dongling and Dongling High-Tech had prepared.

But once this interview report came out, the component supply chain suppliers of Dongling High-Tech, led by BYD, temporarily set their minds at ease. As long as the boss hadn't fallen, the little brothers who were waving flags and shouting behind them to charge into battle naturally wouldn't be cowardly. For a time, the factories of one Dongling High-Tech component supplier after another began to work overtime in full swing.

"People should face reality and shouldn't live in delusions. Admitting failure is harder than succeeding!"

Yan Lixiang, a senior media commentator who had been holding back for a long time, finally couldn't help it at this time and published his own commentary in a column through several newspapers.

"How many multinational companies in the world have encountered 'acclimatization' issues? How many giant companies have suffered heavy losses when entering the global market, including those American, Japanese, and other companies that entered the mainland? Those excellent companies have also encountered failure. Why should Dongling High-Tech be able to sail smoothly?!"

"The courage to admit failure is more important than success. Just like companies such as Japan's Toyota, Toyo Tire, and Mitsubishi, they have all bowed and apologized for their mistakes and eventually stood up again."

"Instead of being like some companies that blindly avoid failure and hold onto unrealistic fantasies, this kind of self-deceiving approach will not only bring disaster to themselves but will also drag more companies down the cliff!"

"I am not trying to dampen the confidence of domestic brands in impacting the overseas market, but I want to remind some digital cordless phone manufacturers to face up to the gap with foreign companies. Temporary luck does not represent true technological leadership. Companies like Panasonic, which are about to launch digital cordless phones, are the companies that truly possess the technology!"

After writing it all out, Yan Lixiang still felt somewhat unsatisfied. If it weren't for the limited space, he would have wanted to list the advantages of companies like Panasonic.

He had been holding back this report for a long time, and finally, it was written. He hadn't used digital cordless phones from brands like Ximen, Panasonic, Philips, or General Electric, but in his view, how could Shenzhou, which had to rely on importing chips from Toshiba, be technically better than those brands that truly possessed technology?!

Once the Yanjing Business Daily's interview report on Li Dongling came out, it caused quite a lot of debate. Coupled with reports from various media outlets and the commentary from media figures like Yan Lixiang, the matter was blown up into a huge uproar.

And Li Dongling's commentary on electronic pets was also reprinted by Hong Kong and Japanese media, reaching Wan Dai company.

Hearing Li Dongling say that there would be a change in the electronic pet project, Wan Dai's marketing manager, Chi Zemiao, couldn't help but feel somewhat worried. Li Dongling was the person who launched the electronic pet; his views couldn't help but make Chi Zemiao worry.

"President Yamashina Makoto, should we temporarily reduce the production of electronic pets?!" Chi Zemiao found Yamashina Makoto and said.

Yamashina Makoto, who had recently walked out of the haze of the huge losses from game consoles, sneered, "Manager Chi Zemiao, I hadn't discovered before that your courage would be so small!"

"That Li Dongling saying this is nothing more than unwillingness and complaints after selling the electronic pet project to Wan Dai!"

"Although piracy and counterfeiting are indeed a trouble, electronic pets are still selling hotly all over the world. The co-branded electronic pets we launched have hit new highs in sales in Japan. At this time, just because of one sentence from Li Dongling, we are going to reduce production?!"

Yamashina Makoto looked at Chi Zemiao and said, "Don't care about what he says. Continue to expand production capacity. Wait until this year's revenue for Wan Dai; it will break all the doubts of the doubters. As for him, he should care more about whether Shenzhou Phone can be sold in America!"

"Yes, President!"

After hearing Yamashina Makoto's words, Chi Zemiao didn't dare to say more. He stood up and went out, preparing to continue increasing production capacity.

In America, inside the Ximen office building, Thomas irritably asked Compton, a consultant from the A. T. Kearney consulting firm, "What do you mean by not being willing to cooperate exclusively with Ximen?!"

"We have already given Best Buy, Target, and Costco enough revenue sharing. Ximen now only has 15% profit left on one phone. What else do they want?"

Ximen digital cordless phones sold for $120 in North America, with production costs around $45. Ximen's phone chips were produced by Infineon, a chip factory under its own umbrella, but the high labor costs in Western Europe made the cost of Ximen phones quite high.

There were also transportation fees, warehouse management fees, sales, advertising, and other expenses, plus the commissions given to retailers like Walmart, Best Buy, Target, and Costco. In the end, what fell into Ximen's hands was only about $11 in profit.

Looking at the irritable and restless Thomas, Compton also felt his scalp go numb, "Calm down, Thomas. Our consulting firm is negotiating with retailers like Best Buy, Target, and Costco to have them push Ximen's machines primarily. But these shopping malls are not willing to give up Shenzhou Phone. There must be something in this that we don't know!"

"Those bitches, those greedy sons of bitches. How much commission and fees can Shenzhou Phone give them? We have already given enough. If the commission Shenzhou Phone gives them is more than ours, then Shenzhou Phone must be selling at a loss..."

Speaking of this, Thomas and Compton were both stunned, and then both felt a shock in their hearts. Thomas's eyes turned red, "What is the cost for Shenzhou, Coolpad, and Simon over there now?"

Compton hurriedly picked up the phone, preparing to call the A. T. Kearney consulting firm headquarters to have the headquarters investigate clearly exactly how many dollars it cost Shenzhou to produce phones.

But just as Compton pressed the number, the office door was pushed open. The person in charge of Ximen's marketing department ran in, covered in sweat, and said to Thomas, "Coolpad and Simon phones have started to lower prices, and Atlantic Bell has started selling Shenzhou phones on their behalf and has also launched an activity..."

Thomas didn't have time to finish listening. He snatched the document from the marketing department head's hand. After seeing the new pricing for Coolpad and Simon on it, his whole person collapsed onto the chair in an instant.

Compton braced himself, took the document, and looked at it. Just one glance made his blood pressure soar. It was clearly written on it that the price of Coolpad phones had been lowered from $100 to $70, and the price of Simon phones had been lowered from $72 to $45. The selling price of the Simon brand was the same as Ximen's production cost. How could this be fought!

"Crazy, they are crazy!"

Thomas muttered to himself. He knew human psychology too well. What kind of bullshit promotion and advertising? In the face of absolute price, it was almost not worth mentioning!

After entering the American market for nearly half a month, Shenzhou finally began to take action. As a high-end brand, Shenzhou still kept the selling price of $150 unchanged.

But the two major brands, Coolpad and Simon, had all-line major price cuts. On the other side, Atlantic Bell, the largest telecommunications company in America, which possessed 21 million household users and served two million companies and merchants from Maine to Virginia, also launched an activity in its stores: open a new account, pre-deposit phone bills, and get a Coolpad or Simon phone as a gift!

The digital cordless phone industry, which had been reported by the Huaerjie Journal, the New York Times, the American Electronic News, and other media outlets and was publicly recognized as having been won by Ximen, changed overnight, suddenly undergoing mountains crumbling and earth splitting changes!

"Shenzhou and its sub-brands Coolpad and Simon have carried out major price cuts today. Affected by the price cuts, the Shenzhou series of phones hit sales of over 410,000 units today!"

The Huaerjie Journal reported that day that in just one day, Shenzhou had reversed the situation against Ximen in sales, telling everyone that price was the eternal king!

"Relying on the activity of getting a digital cordless phone as a gift for topping up phone bills, Atlantic Bell attracted over 51,000 new registered users in two days, attracted over 240,000 users to participate in the activity, and collected over $70 million in pre-deposited phone bills!"

"Atlantic Bell's stock price rose 9.8% today, hitting a historical high since the breakup of the Bell company!"

"Shenzhou series phones hit single-day sales of over 640,000 units, setting off a phone storm in America. Digital cordless phones are replacing wired phones!"

"Multiple telecommunications operators in America, including Sprint, WorldCom, Pacific Bell, Chicago Bell, Southwestern Bell, Western Telecom, Pacific Bell, and Canada Bell, have all successively announced their willingness to cooperate with Shenzhou Phone..."

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 156 =====