Chapter 475: Being Backward Doesn't Necessarily Mean Getting Beaten, It's Just That Today I Don't Want to Beat You

Hearing about the central media's interview team, Ren Yuefeng, Hu Zixian, Xie Zhichang, Gao Zhiyuan, and others all cast their gazes towards Li Dongling.

The central media did not go to Shenzhou Storage but came straight to the Dongling Gao Ke headquarters, clearly aiming for Li Dongling, the head of the company.

One could imagine that this time, the central media wanted to do a complete report on the lawsuit between Shenzhou Storage—or rather, Dongling Gao Ke—and Lianxiang, and the scale of the questions asked would probably be quite large!

"Invite the central media interview team in!"

Li Dongling thought for a moment and said, "For something like the right to speak, if you don't speak up, others will speak for you. As for who is right and who is wrong this time, and which side is correct, perhaps history will only have the answer after ten or twenty years!"

Currently, it was the hottest period of globalization, with various overseas accusations that the domestic market was not open, tariffs were too high, and so on, because from Philips to cars, ships, high-end computers, and high-end home appliances, as well as machinery and chemicals, overseas were all leading.

Various products produced in America, old Europe, Japan, and the Korean peninsula were almost dumped into the country. The countries producing these products naturally touted globalization, wanting to occupy the entire domestic market.

Then they would throw a few bones to the country, transferring industries like OEM that relied on large-scale manpower to earn low profits but required huge energy, resources, and environment to the country, calling it "letting the country enter the global industrial chain" and "letting the mainland become the world's factory."

It looked like good intentions, and there were quite a few media outlets touting that this was America, old Europe, Japan, etc., giving the country food to eat.

But looking at the world, as almost the only region in the world that possessed a complete light and heavy industrial system and had enough personnel to support this huge industrial system, while striving to popularize compulsory education to provide the necessary talent for this complete industrial system.

That group of America, old Europe, and Japan, who were being dragged down by high labor costs and seeking to transform into high-end industries, wanting to transfer low-end production capacity overseas—if they didn't put the production capacity in the country, where else could they put it?

Even if some people said they had to rely on others for food, why didn't they think about why Siam, Cochin, India, the old Maozi, Africa, and other places couldn't eat this bowl of rice, but it had to be the country that ate it?

In the past life, some people and media touted that the country's OEM industries like mobile phones, clothing, and shoes were going to be snatched away by India, Cochin, or even Africa. But the production lines moved to these places were all debugged in the country before being pulled over. Why did they have to be debugged in the country before being pulled over? Because those overseas places simply didn't have engineers who could debug them!

Additionally, raw materials, components, etc., were also processed in the country, pulled over there for assembly, and then labeled with a local brand to be sold. Even the electricity to run the machine production lines had to be supplied by the country!

This kind of globalization led and touted by America was not without limits. When the country also began to impact high-end machinery, electronics, home appliances, chemicals, and other industries, let's see if America would still be willing!

Today, using the pretext of globalization, that group of companies supplying "high-quality and inexpensive" computer systems, chips, graphics cards, and LCD screens to Lianxiang, Great Wall, Founder, and a host of other computer manufacturers—when the country also began to produce these high-profit products, would they continue to supply them?

When the Anglo-Saxon bandits and the Hebrews showed their daggers and used all kinds of means to target the country, wanting to lock the technical level of the country's technology industry, it was estimated that by then, the public opinion war between Dongling Gao Ke and Lianxiang would completely come to an end.

But regardless of how public opinion would be in the future, Li Dongling had to make a statement this time. Whether it was right or wrong was something for future generations to judge by history. Now, Dongling Gao Ke needed to make its own voice heard and show its attitude!

"Manager Xie!"

Letting Su Chicheng arrange for the central media's interview team, as everyone left, Li Dongling called out to Shenzhou Storage General Manager Xie Zhichang.

"How is the new product research and development going?" Li Dongling asked Xie Zhichang.

This time, why did those few in the U-disk alliance—IBM, Philips, Toshiba, PNY—support Shenzhou Storage so strongly?

Of course, signing the agreement was one aspect. This time, if they didn't help Shenzhou Storage, once U-disk patents were abused without authorization, the U-disks they produced would also face increased competitive pressure, and their profits would also suffer losses.

But, besides this superficial agreement, the most important thing was that after the U-disk, Shenzhou Storage brought out a sample of another storage product, letting companies like IBM and Toshiba see that there were greater profits in cooperating with Shenzhou Storage!

For companies like IBM and Toshiba, any damn agreement or promise could be broken. The key was still to see if there was profit to be made.

If there was, they would shout and cheer; if not, they would probably play dumb and pretend to be stupid.

If they hadn't brought out that storage product sample, it was estimated that this time, companies like IBM, Toshiba, Philips, and PNY would at most shout a few times, or even put in no effort, and then stand there watching the show, never putting in such desperate effort as they were now!

"SD cards, the process is still being improved. It might take quite a bit of time before mass production."

"But, with the technical support of IBM and Toshiba, and the addition of the engineering team, the R&D progress is much faster. If things go ideally, we can try mass production by the end of this year!"

Xie Zhichang said. Shenzhou Storage's new product was the SD memory card!

The SD card project was initiated in the Dongling Gao Ke Technical Department at the same time as the U-disk project, but the R&D difficulty was much greater than that of the U-disk, to the point that the U-disk was already on sale, and technically, it had been upgraded several times, starting to impact 256M memory, while the SD card was still in R&D.

However, although mass production couldn't be done yet, if they spared no cost, they could make an SD card sample in the laboratory. Additionally, Shenzhou Storage was taking the lead, registering the main patents of the SD card all over the world, preparing to set up a patent wall!

And it was precisely this SD sample card that made the U-disk alliance companies like IBM and Toshiba start to support Shenzhou Storage with all their might, desperately fighting Lianxiang, and even stopping technical authorization and stopping the supply of components. Everything was because supporting Shenzhou Storage was more profitable than supporting Lianxiang!

U-disks were currently highly profitable, it was true, but their uses were limited after all. However, the scope of use of SD cards was much larger than that of U-disks.

The technical teams of Toshiba and IBM companies, just seeing the SD card brought out by Shenzhou Storage, could immediately think of how large the market for this thing was. Mobile phones, laptops, video cameras, and tablet computers and MP3s that hadn't appeared in the world yet, etc., could all use it.

Visibly, the global revenue of SD cards was estimated to be much larger than that of U-disks. As long as companies like IBM and Toshiba weren't stupid, they all knew how to choose.

The global U-disk alliance formed by Shenzhou Storage would not only hold U-disk patents in the future but would also control SD card patents. Under these circumstances, would IBM and Toshiba dare not put in effort for Shenzhou Storage?

In the past life, the four major global technology alliances—SD, Bluetooth, WiFi, and the Android system alliance—as long as it was a modern electronic product, it was estimated that they couldn't bypass these four brothers. Companies producing mobile phones, computers, MP3s, tablets, etc., also couldn't bypass them.

When America targeted the Chrysanthemum Factory, these four major technology alliances all took action. It seemed that they didn't do much to the Chrysanthemum Factory, and the Chrysanthemum Factory still sold like hotcakes in the country and even developed its own storage card technology, which was even more advanced.

But, it wasn't without a price. Why could SD, WiFi, and Android become global technologies? It was because they mastered the right to set standards!

What was called the right to set standards? It meant that if they said you were compliant, you were compliant; if they said you weren't, you weren't. If they said you were unqualified, you were unqualified; even if you were qualified, you were unqualified. The right of interpretation was in their hands.

In the past life, the Chrysanthemum Factory could still sell in the country, but after being tossed around, it was completely crippled in the overseas market, almost losing the old European market that it had worked so hard to win.

Now, the patent for the SD card, one of the four major global technology alliances, was held in the hands of Shenzhou Storage, and the SD card alliance would also be formed by Shenzhou Storage.

In the future, it wouldn't be certain companies targeting Dongling Gao Ke, but Dongling Gao Ke seeing which company it didn't like and threatening to kick it out of the SD alliance.

Although everyone hated the great powers, what if the overbearing great power that woke up from a dying dream was oneself?

In the future, for the Bluetooth alliance and WiFi alliance, Dongling Gao Ke would definitely be involved. Not to mention using Bluetooth and WiFi standards to manipulate anyone, at the very least, they couldn't be manipulated!

"The R&D progress of SD cards must be tightened. I heard that Infineon, the semiconductor company under Siemens, and SanDisk are also developing similar SD cards. Shenzhou Storage must be careful not to be intercepted by SanDisk!"

Li Dongling looked at Xie Zhichang and said, "Before the solid-state drive project is developed, U-disks, SD cards, and corresponding storage cards will be the most important revenue for Shenzhou Storage."

"I understand!"

Hearing the solid-state drive project, Xie Zhichang's face wrinkled with worry.

Speaking of which, Shenzhou Storage's revenue was quite good now. With the help of the previous U-disk alliance, U-disks did not flood the world's major regions, and the profits were quite good.

If they developed SD cards again, with U-disks in the left hand and SD cards in the right, Shenzhou Storage would likely be one of the most profitable companies in the storage industry in the future!

However, Shenzhou Storage currently had a "heavenly pit" project, which was the solid-state drive. IBM hadn't figured this thing out, and Toshiba hadn't produced it either. Now, globally, there were clearly only two companies that were still developing solid-state drives: one was Shenzhou Storage, and the other was Samsung...

Whether solid-state drives could succeed, to be honest, Xie Zhichang himself had no bottom in his heart. But Li Dongling was going all-in on solid-state drives, so he could only bite the bullet and lead the team to continue R&D.

Meng Liang walked into the Dongling Gao Ke headquarters. As a reporter in the financial industry, he didn't look old, but his experience was quite rich. After graduating from Yanjing Media University, during his internship, he went straight into the training center under the Development and Reform Commission.

He had also worked in banks and securities companies, and later entered the central media's financial channel, serving as the host of multiple financial programs, and had also interviewed many famous people in the domestic economic and technology industries.

Looking at the Dongling Gao Ke office in front of him, the decoration of the Dongling Gao Ke headquarters a few years ago was considered modern, quite eye-catching, and could even be said to carry a bit of luxury.

But in the past few years, the level of office decoration in the country had also risen, and the decoration and supporting facilities of the Dongling Gao Ke headquarters were no longer so eye-catching.

Meng Liang couldn't imagine that it was this office in front of him that earned 6 or 7 billion US dollars in revenue a year, setting a new record for annual revenue for a private company in the country.

It was even the most profitable technology company in the country. Not to mention a host of private companies, even among state-owned enterprises, there were few that could compare with Dongling Gao Ke. As for the ability to earn foreign exchange, it was even more out of reach.

Even though Dongling Gao Ke's executives accepted interviews from time to time, and the Hanxi Provincial Station had reported on Dongling Gao Ke and its founder comprehensively a few years ago, the outside world was still quite curious about Dongling Gao Ke, and this included Meng Liang himself.

"Reporter Meng, please this way!"

Su Chicheng invited Meng Liang, the photographer, and others into a conference room.

"Please wait a moment, Li Zong is in a meeting. After this meeting ends, he will accept the interview from the central media finance!"

Hearing that Li Dongling was in this conference room accepting his interview, Meng Liang couldn't help but be a bit surprised. "Right here?"

"Dongling Gao Ke... doesn't need to check the interview content with us, or have any special requirements?"

This conference room wasn't simple, but in the past, those people Meng Liang interviewed who had a bit of fame and achievement were quite solemn when accepting central media interviews, desperately trying to show the best side of their company.

Before the interview, they would communicate with the interview team, and even stuff huge red envelopes to the interview team, just to avoid damaging their image in the interview. Additionally, the interview content was strictly limited, requiring no sensitive questions, etc.

When Meng Liang came this time, he had even prepared to not interview anything at all.

To be honest, with Dongling Gao Ke's current influence, if Li Zong didn't want to answer a question, Meng Liang wouldn't be able to ask it. Even if he asked, it would be edited later. Even the central media had to consider Dongling Gao Ke, or rather, the rice bowls of the hundreds of thousands of people who relied on Dongling Gao Ke for food, and also had to give face to various departments and units such as the Economic and Trade Commission, the Foreign Exchange Department, the Pingyang Municipal Government, and the Hanxi Municipal Government.

"Reporter Meng, why you are here this time, Li Zong and Dongling Gao Ke are both clear!"

"For Reporter Meng's interview, there is only one requirement, and that is to tell the truth. Li Zong does not hope that the interview content appearing on the central media will be edited to have deviations. This is the only requirement!"

After Meng Liang heard this, he couldn't help but be silent for a moment. He wanted to interview some large-scale questions, but what Li Zong gave him this time might be even larger than he imagined.

For media outlets that always liked to make trouble, of course, they wanted to make a big deal. But if the trouble made was too big, it wouldn't be something he could handle.

"I will convey Li Zong's requirements to the main station!"

Meng Liang said. He was responsible for the interview, it was true, but the final decision on the content released in the finished film still had to be made by the central media.

"Reporter Meng, right? Sorry to keep you all waiting!"

Meng Liang and the interview team didn't wait long in the conference room before seeing a figure walk into the conference room and then warmly greet Meng Liang and others, shaking hands one by one.

Meng Liang felt a feeling of being bathed in a spring breeze, not to mention the interview team. The photographer, lighting engineer, and others all had a feeling of surprise. One had to know that at this moment, Li Dongling was basically the richest man in the country and also one of the top 20 richest people in Asia!

People interviewed in the past might also be polite to members of their interview team, but the feeling Li Dongling gave them was more like treating them as equals. This feeling was completely different from politeness.

"Li Zong, thank you very much for accepting our team's interview. I presume you are clear about the purpose of the interview team's visit this time!"

Seeing Li Dongling nod, Meng Liang glanced at the photographer, signaling the start of the interview, and then asked directly, "At this very moment, Shenzhou Storage under Dongling Gao Ke is in a lawsuit with certain companies. I presume Li Zong is clear about this point?"

This wasn't just asking if Li Zong knew about the lawsuit, but asking if Li Zong knew about it before Shenzhou Storage sued Lianxiang.

Li Dongling accepted this interview today without thinking about shirking responsibility. "Before Shenzhou Storage sued, General Manager Xie Zhichang asked the Dongling Gao Ke headquarters for instructions, and I agreed to this lawsuit!"

Meng Liang was surprised. He didn't expect the interview to be so explosive from the beginning. Li Dongling was too lazy to even pretend, directly stating that he wanted to finish off Lianxiang company!

"In this lawsuit, public opinion is very loud now. Who is right and who is wrong between the plaintiff and the defendant needs to be judged by the law!"

"But there is a voice that believes Shenzhou Storage is making a mountain out of a molehill. As a domestic company, Shenzhou Storage's move is hindering the development of domestic companies. For the sake of a product's patent, destroying a domestic brand that finally gained some fame, it is very likely that personnel employed by this company will lose their jobs. Is this worth it?"

Meng Liang asked. This was also the place where public opinion was most controversial currently, believing that Shenzhou Storage had gone too far. For the sake of a "mere" patent, they wanted to kill a domestic brand, which made many people puzzled.

"The earth turns regardless of who leaves. Don't think of yourself as too important!"

"No one can create an era; only the era can achieve a company. Of course, this sentence also applies to Dongling Gao Ke!"

Li Dongling laughed and said. But when he said the first sentence, Meng Liang clearly felt that Li Dongling's expression carried a bit of disdain. This was clearly Li Dongling's true feeling about a certain company.

"The invention of a product and patent is an accidental event, not an inevitable event. No one can guarantee that they will definitely be able to develop a certain product."

"However, if a product developed with painstaking effort is abused by other companies without permission, will any company continue to invest huge amounts of money in R&D in the future?"

"If cheating and plagiarism are indulged, as long as you copy each other, you can get first place. In the long run, who would be willing to study hard? For those who study hard, is this fair?"

Li Dongling said with a calm face. Meng Liang heard this and wanted to say something, but couldn't. Currently, the country didn't attach importance to patents, and various counterfeit products were rampant. But this didn't mean that this matter could really be put on the table to talk about. Pulling what was wrong with protecting patents—as long as it was a normal person in a country with a normal system, it was impossible to say this.

"But now, domestic technology is insufficient, R&D funding is seriously short, and the level of technical personnel is not enough."

"Technologies like servers, chips, graphics cards, and computer screens cannot be independently completed or manufactured by the country. If domestic brand computers don't purchase components from overseas for assembly, the domestic computer industry might be completely occupied by overseas brands!"

Meng Liang said, "Now is an era of globalization and internationalization. Moreover, the quality of components purchased from overseas exceeds that of the country, and the cost is lower than that of the country!"

"Even Boeing needs to purchase hundreds of thousands of components from over a hundred countries around the world. Boeing also cannot produce all components itself!"

"In fact, domestic computer brands have always been developing technology. The 'Trade-Industry-Technology' technical route is for domestic companies to first purchase components from overseas, then sell products to earn money, and then use the money earned to develop their own technology and components."

"Of course, this process might be a bit slow. Not all companies can have Dongling Gao Ke's profits and invest so much funding in R&D!"

"Now is of course an era of globalization, but will it continue forever? Will it never stop?!"

Li Dongling didn't pull on whether they should or shouldn't purchase components from overseas, but directly asked a soul-searching question.

Meng Liang suddenly heard this question, and his brain didn't react for a while. In the past few years, it was indeed various overwhelming touting of globalization, but whether it would stop one day, no one mentioned it, or rather, no one dared to think about that question.

"It shouldn't, right?" Meng Liang said with a numb scalp. "Globalization, the global village, is something that America, old Europe, Japan, and other parts of the world are all touting. How could it give up halfway?"

Li Dongling looked at Meng Liang and laughed meaningfully. "I also hope that day will never come!"

"But if one day, the other party is unwilling to sell you a certain product, even if you act as a dog for the other party, they won't sell it. What should you do then?"

"Every father starts from being a grandson, but who wants to be a grandson forever?"

"Being backward doesn't necessarily mean getting beaten; it's just that today I don't want to beat you." ===== CHAPTER 476 =====