SWDnovel Chapter 478 Rice's New Business: Drones
Chapter 478 Rice's New Business: Drones
"Lu Weibin definitely used to be in charge of the mobile phone business, and they are highly likely to create a brand like Honor, just like Huawei did!"
Upon hearing this, everyone present turned their eyes.
Nobody's a fool. After all, rice's market share in China appears to be around 10%, but in reality, it has dropped to around 7%.
If Transsion were to create a sub-brand focused on cost-effectiveness, they could truly find a new way forward.
Seeing everyone like this, Lei Jun's anger flared even more.
What upset him even more was that this wasn't the first time Shen Fei had snatched the prize from him.
Every time he thought he had seized an opportunity, he would be betrayed by telepathy early on.
"Let's not talk about people for now."
Lei Jun suppressed his anger and turned to look at the crowd.
"Tell me about the current state of our business."
How's the full-screen technology for mobile phones coming along? When will Google's new framework be available?
Hong Feng looked troubled, stammered for a long time, and finally said:
"Although we acquired 4.5% of the equity from Google, we've been arguing a lot these days, holding numerous meetings and votes, but there haven't been any updates to the code."
The current Android full-screen display is just a PowerPoint presentation; it's already been delayed until April 2015!
"What's the point of playing this game if it's in April next year?"
If Lei Jun is not mistaken, Transsion's sub-brand is coming this year, and even if it has a full-screen display by then, it won't matter!
"That feature is just icing on the cake; in the end, performance is what matters. Honor has already learned all our tricks in lighting!"
I estimate that the level of criticism against Lu Weibin will only increase after he leaves the country!
What will we play then?
The meeting room erupted into another round of lively discussion.
The direction of the discussion made Lei Jun so angry he almost vomited blood.
At first, it was fine; rice is now a commodity. But as time went on, it became all about rice. Even with money, you can't buy core technology. It would have been better if... we had started with research and development from the beginning; our status might be better now.
Now... half of this money will probably go to Chuanyin to pay patent fees, after all, their product development pace is always one step behind... Rice has long lost its pricing power.
Lei Jun's face darkened even more. This group of people actually said things that boosted the morale of others while diminishing their own. He really wanted to replace them all.
Why can't rice companies conduct their own research and development? This is over 40 billion US dollars, or over 200 billion Chinese yuan!
If you really invest in rice research and development, how could you possibly achieve nothing? And then pay all the patent fees? How is that possible?
Of course, what Lei Jun least wants to admit is that these people are questioning his initial decisions...
After a while, he tapped on the table, and the group that had been discussing immediately fell silent.
"Okay, let's put this matter aside for now!"
Let's talk about the automotive business.
After finishing his sentence, Lei Jun looked at the head of the newly established Automotive Affairs Department.
"How are the talks with Hu Zhengnan on Geely's side going?"
"Hu Zhengnan has already agreed to bring his core team to join us for joint research and development."
Wang Xiaoyan spoke up, saying that although it was good news, she didn't feel confident.
"However... the car manufacturing cycle is long, taking at least three years from research and development to mass production."
However, Transsion's fifth new energy vehicle is about to be launched, and their cumulative sales have exceeded 130 million units, making them a solid first-tier player among domestic new energy vehicle startups.
Once our cars are on the market, the market structure will basically be set.
"So what if it's three years?"
Lei Jun slammed his fist on the conference table, trying to rouse their fighting spirit, and then launched into a tirade:
"Before, we didn't have money, so it was fine if we couldn't keep up with cell phones or cars."
With over 40 billion US dollars in hand, how could we not catch up?
There are ways to play when you're broke, and there are ways to play when you're rich.
"Can't you just buy like Transsion?"
Everyone in the conference room suddenly realized, "Yes, they have the money, they can buy it too!"
Money power is never the exclusive technology of any one company; anyone with money can achieve it.
If they run out of money, they can raise funds; after all, they are the front men in the American tech industry. Everyone's minds immediately started working.
Just then, Liu De, who was in charge of the production chain, called you to get up:
"Mr. Lei, investing 100 billion in the automotive sector is about right. After all, Transsion has already made too many investments in this sector, and we simply can't catch up!"
Why not choose a market segment that Transsion hasn't explored before? Besides, there's only one major player in the domestic market, so the potential is significant.
"Mr. Liu is right. We must take a path that Transsion has never taken before in order to prove our technological prowess."
Lei Jun's eyes lit up, but he quickly fell into dejection, after all, Transsion's investments had already taken over various industries.
"Tell me quickly, what industry is it?"
With Lei Jun's change of attitude, the atmosphere in the meeting room became much more relaxed.
"Consumer-grade drones!"
Liu De also went to the projector and searched for relevant information.
The discovery of the information was immediately seen by everyone as the key to breaking the deadlock.
"In the current consumer drone market, DJI accounts for more than 70% of the market share."
This company is purely technical, and its products are indeed high-quality, but its marketing is terrible and its prices are high. Even the entry-level models cost several thousand yuan, close to 1 yuan, which is simply unaffordable for ordinary consumers.
More importantly, Transsion has never entered the drone market; it's a completely uncharted territory for them.
As soon as he said that, the meeting room became lively.
"Yeah, drones! How come I didn't think of that?"
"It's just a few batteries, a complete algorithm, and some cameras."
The bulk of the cost is in the algorithm; the rest is basically pure profit.
"Looking at this information, it seems like this is just a tech-savvy company that only focuses on R&D and doesn't understand users or marketing at all."
"Once we go through the main gate, as long as we bring our mobile phone setup in, taking down DJI will be a piece of cake."
"Back in the day, Honor and we relied on cost-effectiveness to crush traditional manufacturers when making phones. How difficult can drones be?"
"Hire some engineers, add some specs, and drive the price down to half that of DJI; sales will definitely explode."
The crowd chattered excitedly, each person speaking their own opinion, as if they could already see the drones selling like hotcakes and rice finally taking off.
Lei Jun sat there, constantly pondering this direction.
While they can't compete with Transsion in other areas, drones represent a completely new arena.
As for the local power brokers in the industry...
DJI may have strong technology, but what does it matter? Consumers want something cheap, easy to use, and prestigious. Xiaomi understands this best.
Transsion hasn't stolen this method of relying on cost-effectiveness to win the market, then relying on distribution channels, and relying on marketing to generate buzz.
Moreover, he believed that by the time Transsion reacted, rice would have already taken over the market, and at that point, they might be able to turn the tables and acquire DJI.
The more he thought about it, the more feasible it seemed. His pent-up frustration vanished instantly, and his eyes were filled with fighting spirit.
"It's settled then. We'll immediately set up a drone project team, led by Liu De, with an initial investment of 20 billion Chinese yuan."
"Hire the best flight control engineers for me, match the supply chain directly to DJI's specifications, develop a prototype in three months, and achieve mass production within six months!"