Those Years When I Was Forced to Top the Forbes List

Chapter 82 The Speed ​​of the Times
Ask away.

But when Lu Mingyu gave a definite "yes," Chen Xuebing still felt a little flustered.

He realized that opening a factory was not the only way to ensure cost savings. Instead, he had to break down the word "open a factory" into countless cost details and control the purchase price throughout the entire production chain.

Otherwise, if a phone is made with high quality but no cost advantage, all his distribution channels would be wasted.

MediaTek's integrated solution is too powerful, and may even be stronger than most regular mobile phone manufacturers. After they develop in Huaqiangbei for a few more months to half a year, some manufacturers that assemble their own garbage chips will be eliminated by MediaTek's customers and will have to follow suit.

The rise of MediaTek-affiliated companies in Huaqiangbei will inevitably impact legitimate manufacturers.

The price transmission from Huaqiangbei to the whole country will affect the overall price of mobile phones within six months.

Price competition will inevitably be fierce in the future, and this "future" is not far off.

With this in mind, Chen Xuebing asked Lu Mingyu when he would return to Shenzhen.

Lu Mingyu stated that the main battleground is still in Shenzhen, and he will return to Shenzhen once Huaqiangbei gradually reopens on the sixth or seventh day of the Lunar New Year.

Chen Xuebing arranged to meet him at his room on the evening of the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, and then left in a hurry.

……

I booked a room at the Southern Mansion.

Go to an Internet cafe.

In the following days, Chen Xuebing entered a state of self-discipline where he had no thoughts of women.

I lived a simple life, going back and forth between internet cafes and hotels, researching various aspects of mobile phones, and practicing coding problems according to Ren Ying's schedule in my spare time.

Benefited a lot.

The development of key mobile phone technologies has, to date, actually revolved around a few companies and institutions.

In 1973, Motorola, which started with car radios, invented the mobile phone, also known as the "Big Brother," using cellular networks, thus mastering the development of the first generation of analog signals (1G).

This also established a general direction for the development of mobile phone technology.

Mobile signals require base station coverage to function.

The name "Honeycomb" comes from a mathematical deduction.

With the same coverage radius, the coverage efficiency is highest when the base station is located at the center of the hexagon. Therefore, the base station coverage is distributed in a hexagonal pattern, which looks very much like a honeycomb.

In this 1G era, mobile phones were Motorola, and Motorola was mobile phones.

Later, the European Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Commission led Europe to break free from Motorola's monopoly and develop the next-generation communication standard based on TDMA, namely the GSM network.

The world has entered the 2G era.

The United States, of course, also wanted its own 2G standard, so it gradually abandoned Motorola, which was resting on its laurels and waiting to die, and supported the ambitious small workshop Qualcomm, which created a 2G standard based on CDMA.

However, CDMA started late, and Qualcomm had many patents in it, so most 2G manufacturers adopted the TDMA standard.

2G was used for a long time, and in the late 90s, 2.5G and 2.7G were developed.

Technologies such as HSCSD, WAP, and EDGE ushered in the 2.5G era, and mobile phones began to have more and more functions, while chips also gradually developed.

The most important baseband chip and radio frequency chip were gradually integrated to form Baseband Chip II.

With the gradual increase in mobile phone functions, two processing solutions emerged: single-processor and dual-processor.

The single-processor solution involves adding a coprocessor to the baseband chip, turning it into a multi-functional baseband chip that runs communication protocols as well as operating systems and applications. Its advantage is that it is cheap, but its disadvantage is that it has poor performance.

The dual-processor solution involves adding an application processor in addition to the baseband chip. This application processor integrates more and more modules. This solution has good performance, but it is expensive.

MediaTek is currently working on a single-processor solution.

And the dual-processor solution...

Chen Xuebing initially thought he knew nothing about mobile phones, but after a few days of learning, the more he delved into the subject, the more he realized he knew far too much.

The dual-processor solution is just what later became known as the SoC.
The application processor was transformed into a system-on-a-chip, and later the baseband chip was also incorporated into it.

CDMA, which was once not favored, became the communication foundation of the 3G era. Qualcomm has been working alone in this field for many years and has formed a technological monopoly. All 3G mobile phone baseband chips have to pay patent fees to Qualcomm, hence the term "Qualcomm tax".

Because of this, the 3G era had a very short lifespan, and nobody wanted to pay Qualcomm's tax. When the 4G era arrived, everyone started to actively develop 4G.

all in all.

The 1G era belonged to Motorola. In the 2G era, the mobile phone industry in various countries began to develop rapidly. Therefore, starting from the 3G era, the iteration time of mainstream networks in different countries around the world has diverged significantly.

China only started 3G testing in 08 and issued licenses in early 09, while Japan started in 01.

Huawei has accumulated a wealth of technology in 3G base stations, but it can only build 3G base stations for others overseas.

Chen Xuebing has been researching a wider range of materials these past few days, and his understanding goes far beyond what he has already done.

The more he learned, the more he realized how valuable his prophetic information was. What he had comprehended in the past few days was completely different from his previous ideas, a difference that was like the difference between technique and principle!

To succeed in any field, you not only need foresight, but also a deep understanding of the subject matter!

Choosing the mobile phone path was definitely the right decision.

The path in his heart became clearer and clearer.

The old infrastructure is already being laid out; the new infrastructure will begin here!
……

A towering building rises from the ground.

On the evening of the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, Chen Xuebing received a new booklet from Lu Mingyu and consulted about several chips that were compatible with the Java system.

After all, Java games are still a trendsetter for young people.

In addition, it supports MP3 and webcam.

Chip technology is indeed being updated very quickly; the prices shown in the new brochure are generally one-third cheaper.

Moreover, Lu Mingyu gave him an important message: In just the last few days, MediaTek has decided to abolish the previous basic service fee for integrated solutions after the New Year, and instead provide a tiered free service based on the amount of chips purchased.

The basic service is system software installation. Different chips have compatible systems to choose from, or you can choose function code from their operating systems and do it yourself. There are two hundred ready-made function codes to choose from, which can shorten the system development time by several times.

If your annual purchases reach 30, you'll receive a free system upgrade; if they reach 50, you'll receive on-site guidance and training from a dedicated engineer; and if they reach 100 million, you can enjoy the full range of services previously included for the 25 annual fee, such as motherboard repair services.

The service threshold has been lowered instantly.

Moreover, another wave of price cuts is coming soon. Lu Mingyu said with a smile that you are lucky to have opened your factory late.

Chen Xuebing, however, found this combination of punches to be truly terrifying.

MediaTek seems to think it has too few customers, so it has reduced the mesh size of its original three-centimeter mesh to the thickness of a finger. The Huaqiangbei market, which was calm before the Lunar New Year, will probably be a bloodbath after the New Year.

MediaTek is aggressively acquiring chips, and a large number of second-hand chips will be phased out.

At the very least, prices should be drastically reduced.

Chen Xuebing could easily imagine that some people who were desperately accumulating chip inventory and dreaming of getting rich a few years ago would find their world collapsing when they returned home after the New Year.

This is the speed of the times; even someone with a prophetic ability like him would find it terrifying.

However, this is clearly good news for him. With lower factory costs, more and more people can afford to make mobile phones, production volume increases, and his sales channels become more valuable.

Lower the price!

……

9:30 p.m.

"That milk tea shop".

"It tastes better than last time, right?"

Xin Mengzhen sucked on her straw, her eyes crinkling with laughter.

Chen Xuebing recognized the familiar packaging and knew where the "zombie milk tea" that had been frozen for days came from. "Of course! Fresh ones are never the same! My stomach was growling all night!"

After saying that, he handed a folded letter paper to Xin Mengzhen, who was laughing heartily.

"I'm going back to Shenzhen tomorrow morning, that's what I promised you."

Xin Mengzhen took it and opened it.

There were two paintings, with many annotations next to them.

"XXXX reading machine, just point to where you don't understand..." Xin Mengzhen asked with a curious look.

Chen Xuebing nodded: "It's a machine that uses an optical scanning pen to read and translate English and Chinese textbooks for elementary, middle, and high school students. When you turn it on, there's an English phonetic symbol and dictionary keyboard, and a small screen and function buttons next to it... Anyway, the design is all there, you can see for yourself. I also designed a pet-raising game, an electronic pet machine, you should know what that is, right?"

A few years ago, Digimon was quite popular, and they released a hit electronic product, a small square box, that allowed you to raise an electronic pet.

"Yeah, I've seen it."

"It's that game. With a little tweaking, kids will like it. As for the rest... since your company can manufacture PDA learning machines, the technology shouldn't be a problem. It's just low-tech. The main thing is the marketing strategy. I've already thought of the advertising slogan for you. It's that line you just read. Cooperation... I think we should find Blue Cat. Combine it with TV advertising and marketing, and that's enough to create a hit product. For a brand to rise, one hit product is enough."

The BBK e-reader was the first school supplies Chen Xuebing bought for Chen Xuejin in his previous life in 09 when he had money. He drew it almost exactly as it was.

It sold very well at the time. I heard a salesperson mention that it was a new product released in 08, which gave Xin Mengzhen enough time to develop it.

"You can ask your grandfather to have the product department look into it. He can ask me anytime if he encounters any problems."

This isn't a particularly outstanding product, but it's a product that can make money, and it can be sold for many years.

Xin Mengzhen only glanced at it, but she felt that the design was gimmicky enough.

Moreover, Chen Xuebing did an excellent job, not only with the functions but also with the catchy advertising slogans.

"Thank you."

Xin Mengzhen pursed her lips, unsure how to express her gratitude more deeply. She felt that simply speaking was too empty and that she should make some promises of profit, but she couldn't make that decision herself.

"I won't thank you enough." Chen Xuebing smiled faintly: "If you can convince your grandfather to produce this product, then all the time I spent drawing it will have been worth it."

"Yes, I won't thank you enough." Xin Mengzhen smiled slightly, a hint of determination in her eyes: "I will definitely make it happen."

"Then I wish you success, and I wish myself success too."

Chen Xuebing knew this process would probably not be easy, so he raised his milk tea and clinked it against her's as encouragement.

Looking into Chen Xuebing's eyes, Xin Mengzhen felt her heart pounding for the first time, unlike any time before.

"He's so handsome."

The aloof girl's thoughts when she falls in love for the first time are very simple.

……

Chen Xuebing returned to Shenzhen and, in the apartment rented by Huo Xiaowen, the two roughly did some accounting.

They started arguing while calculating.

"You're saying a single lens costs 120, plus the PCB board, mount, sensor, color filter, CCD sensor, and the total cost of a camera system is no more than 300? How much does a 100-megapixel CCD camera cost? Have you even asked?"

Huo Xiaowen was surprised that Chen Xuebing suddenly knew so much. After thinking about it for a while, he frowned and clicked his tongue: "I really don't know! I only heard about the price of a single lens by chance when I was checking second-hand phones."

Chen Xuebing slammed his hand on the table.

"No, that's definitely not right. The cost is too high. The chip that's compatible with the camera costs over 200, the camera itself costs 300, and then there's the screen, keyboard, earpiece, speaker, casing, and labor. The cost of a high-quality phone is over a thousand! Even if we sell it for two thousand, how much profit would we make?"

Huo Xiaowen was completely exhausted from listening to it.

"Holy crap, isn't a 100% profit margin enough?"

"Distribution fees! This is the profit from our own sales. If production increases and we ship to others to sell, how much profit can we make? We have to calculate the costs of inventory and debt, and prices will drop in the future. Can this little profit sustain us? We must cut costs. We need to find someone who is familiar with parts procurement to guide us!"

After Chen Xuebing yelled at him, Huo Xiaowen quieted down.

He really hadn't expected so many costs to be incurred in doing business.

Actually, there was something else Chen Xuebing didn't say.

This hasn't even been taxed yet!

Sometimes you hear others say that a product's cost is so much or that there are unscrupulous manufacturers, but you only know how much profit you actually have when you do business yourself.

Chen Xuebing scratched the back of his head and suddenly thought of someone: "You find a way to dig up the tall tree for me!"

……

The following day, at a Cantonese restaurant near Huaqiangbei.

The situation has reversed.

Chen Xuebing's struggle with accounting in his rented room became someone else's struggle.

Yu Jie, the bald boss introduced by Liu Tao, the boss who was hiding from debt, was holding a price list with a deep frown.

Chen Xuebing leaned back in his chair with a relaxed expression.

"Mr. Yu, I'm not lying to you. I just met with people from MediaTek a couple of days ago. You'll see in two or three days at most. Your days of being high and mighty are over. In two or three months at most, phones with MediaTek chips will be everywhere. I order at least 300 units a month, and I get paid on the spot. Where can't you find them?"

Setting up a factory takes time, and before that, suppliers are still needed, but he's going to aggressively push down prices.

"Brother, you're offering such a low price right off the bat, 10% lower than my pre-Chinese New Year price. You should ask around..."

Before Yu Jie could finish speaking, Chen Xuebing raised his hand.

"Mr. Yu, I don't need to ask around. Let's just consider this a friendship. If you regret it in a month, come back to me. I'll still buy from you, but 10% is definitely not going to do. Give me another three percentage points off. Boss, check out!"

"Come right away!"

An eerie silence fell over the waiting period before the bill was paid.

Chen Xuebing's phone suddenly rang.

He looked down and a smile appeared on his face.

He then picked up the phone, held it up to Mr. Yu's face, and waved it.

Zhao Wanping called.

Before Jie could speak, Chen Xuebing answered the call, put it on speakerphone, and placed it on the table.

"Mr. Zhao, what is it?"

The other person's tone was slightly arrogant: "I've already started working. Are you sure you're not going to come and pick up the machine from me?"

Chen Xuebing looked at Yu Jie across from him.

Yu Jie's expression was conflicted; he wasn't sure if the voice on the other end was Zhao Wanping's.

The voice... doesn't quite sound like it.

However, their tone of voice is very similar.

Chen Xuebing, sitting opposite him, didn't give him much time to think. He stood up and reached for his phone.

Yu Jie slammed his phone on the table and hung up.

"I'll do it! But it's agreed that there will be no outstanding payments!"

Chen Xuebing's smile widened, and he extended his hand holding the phone toward Yu Jie.

"Mr. Yu, it's a pleasure to cooperate with you."

(End of this chapter)