Chapter 646: Intercepting MEIZU
When asking this question, Zhong Youxiang was actually very conflicted.
If Lu Yiming made an excessive request, he didn't know how to refuse. After all, Lu Yiming could be said to be the adopted parent of Maomao Electronics. He had already prepared the materials and could go to America to get the money right away.
Moreover, Zhong Youxiang quickly went through all the factory's business in his mind, and for a moment he didn't know what kind of cooperation Lu Yiming was planning to discuss with Maomao Electronics.
After all, Lu Yiming had publicly stated that he had no interest in making televisions.
However, Maomao Electronics' business is basically the manufacturing of complete television sets and the production of spare parts.
It's impossible that Lu Yiming is not interested in making the whole machine, but is instead interested in accessories?
Lu Yiming said: "I heard that the mobile phones produced by your company have not performed well in the market recently. If Mr. Zhong doesn't mind, I think I can help."
As for other things, Zhong Youxiang might have to think about it, but when it comes to the cat phone, Zhong Youxiang really does not hesitate.
It is true that Maomao Electronics has a long history and was once quite prosperous, but now Maomao is a company that has been eliminated by the times.
Not only is the TV business performing poorly with its market share decreasing year by year, but other businesses are also in a mess now, and the mobile phone business is no exception.
Zhong Youxiang originally wanted to expand his ideas for the mobile phone business, but he didn't expect Lu Yiming to come uninvited, which made him overjoyed.
He quickly said, "What a coincidence. Our Maomao Electronics Group is indeed looking for candidates for the mobile phone business, intending to make up for the shortcoming of sales. Why, Mr. Lu, are you interested?"
In fact, at this time, Panda Electronics had already found a suitable candidate - Ma Zhiping, a former Jinling suburban post office employee and mobile phone seller.
Ma Zhiping, 36 years old, started his business 12 years ago and is known as "Old Ma who delivers goods in a Lexus ." He is currently the largest mobile phone distributor in Jiangsu Province. It is widely rumored in the industry that Ma Zhiping sold about 260,000 units of the Kejian 6388 model in 1999.
In comparison, the 3.3 million mobile phones produced and sold by Maomao Electronics seems to be a lot, but in fact 2.8 million of them are Ericsson brands, and Maomao mobile phones only sold less than 500,000 units.
You can imagine how crappy the sales department of Maomao Electronics is.
That's why Zhong Youxiang had to find someone to cooperate with and set up a joint venture to develop the Maomao mobile phone brand.
Otherwise, it would be too embarrassing if you can't make money even if you have a money printing machine.
Originally, Zhong Youxiang had his eyes on Ma Zhiping, and the matter was also being discussed within the company. But now that Lu Yiming had taken the initiative to come to him, naturally there was no room for Ma Zhiping.
Are you kidding? The richest man comes to me and asks for cooperation. Who can refuse?
Before coming, Lu Yiming had analyzed the current predicament of Maomao Electronics, so he was confident when facing Zhong Youxiang: "Mr. Zhong, I won't say any more nonsense. Maomao Electronics has technology and products, and I understand marketing and channels. Mingyuan Technology's achievements are also obvious to all. If we can reach a cooperation, it will be extremely beneficial to both of us."
Mingyuan Technology's USB flash drives and MP3 players are the best-selling products in the United States, and they have beaten local North American brands to a pulp. Therefore, Zhong Youxiang was instantly attracted. The two quickly talked about the details of the specific cooperation and planned to jointly establish a new company called Maomao Mobile to be responsible for the production and sales of Maomao phones.
Due to the special status of Maomao Electronics, Zhong Youxiang insisted that Maomao Electronics must control 51% of the shares of the new company.
Lu Yiming didn't care about this. After all, in the 2G era, all he needed was to accumulate technology. It was already 2001, and when the 3G smartphone era arrived in six years, all the achievements of the 2G era would become a thing of the past. Even a dominant company like Nokia would fall from the altar and be crushed into mud.
So Lu Yiming didn't care about the shares at all. This thing might be worthless in a few years, so there was no need to waste time fighting for it.
"Mr. Zhong, you own 51% of the new company's shares. I have no objection at all, but I have one condition. The Maomao mobile phone brand must belong to me."
Zhong Youxiang's face suddenly changed when he heard this, and he said, "It is impossible for us at Maomao Electronics to sell the mobile phone license. Mr. Lu, you have to understand me. Even though I am the chairman, I don't have the power to do so."
Lu Yiming smiled and said, "Boss Zhong, look at what you said. Why should I take your license? I want the Maomao mobile phone brand. You see, I put in money and effort, manage channels and sales, and you get the majority of the shares in the new company. It would not be appropriate if I don't take anything. Don't you think so?"
At present, domestic companies do not have a deep enough understanding of brands, but Lu Yiming is an experienced person and has witnessed the classic case of Wanglaoji’s brand dispute with his own eyes. Naturally, he knows the weight of the word "brand".
Therefore, he is determined to acquire the Maomao mobile phone brand.
Zhong Youxiang insisted for a while, then decided to give in. Maomao mobile phones are not well-known in China now, and are not worth much at all. He thinks it is worth giving it to Lu Yiming in exchange for Maomao Electronics' equity advantage in the new company.
However, Zhong Youxiang was unwilling to give in just like that. After all, there is an old saying that goes, "If someone shows kindness without any reason, he is either a traitor or a thief." Lu Yiming took the initiative to treat him to a meal and gave up his shares in exchange for brand ownership. Although Zhong Youxiang could not see what Lu Yiming was trying to do for the time being, he was sure that there must be great benefits involved, otherwise Lu Yiming would not have gone through so much trouble.
They are all from the same industry, so of course they are all easy to deal with. Lu Yiming is willing to spend so much money to change the brand. Zhong Youxiang doesn't believe that there is no trick in this. So with the mentality of playing two shots, he asked: "Mr. Lu, can we adopt the authorization model? You can use the brand of Maomao Mobile Phone at will, but the ownership belongs to us at Maomao Electronics. Everyone can take what they need."
However, Lu Yiming's goal was clear. He didn't care about the current petty gains, but he would never discuss the most basic and fundamental things with anyone. He immediately said in a tough attitude: "No, the brand of Maomao Mobile must belong to me. This is the premise of all cooperation."
The Jiaduobao Group had suffered a setback at the hands of the Guangdong Pharmaceutical Group. At the beginning, the Wanglaoji herbal tea brand was not valuable, and Jiaduobao easily obtained the authorization of the Guangdong Pharmaceutical Group.
But when Jiaduobao made the Wanglaoji brand extremely popular and its products were sold all over the country, Guangdong Pharmaceutical Group suddenly turned against it, ignored the commercial contract, and directly took back the Wanglaoji brand, intending to produce it themselves. No matter how Jiaduobao sued, it was useless.
Lu Yiming didn't want to repeat the same mistake. Even if the authorization was written in black and white in the contract, it would be useless. He had to get the Maomao mobile phone brand.
Seeing Lu Yiming's insistence, Zhong Youxiang weighed the pros and cons and finally agreed.
After all, the Maomao TVs were going to be sold to America, and he couldn't afford to offend the leader, Lu Yiming. Of course, the most important thing was that the Maomao mobile phone brand was not valuable. Although Lu Yiming's insistence made Zhong Youxiang feel uneasy, he still chose to get the current benefits first.
The most important thing is that Lu Yi made it clear that he would not take the license, and the license is still in Maomao Electronics.
In Zhong Youxiang's view, the license should be the basis of everything. Whoever holds the license has absolute dominance. Now the license is in Maomao Electronics. Even if Lu Yiming gets the brand of Maomao mobile phone, it should be useless. Won't he still have to cooperate with Maomao Electronics?
But he never imagined that in a few years, the access system for mobile phone licenses would be cancelled, and the value of a mobile phone brand that was operating would be so astonishing.
All I can say is that each other's vision and knowledge are not on the same level at all.
While Zhong Youxiang was still coveting a little bit of profit, Lu Yiming was already wielding a hoe to dig up his foundation.
Seeing Zhong Youxiang agree, Lu Yiming was very happy. He took the initiative to pour a glass of wine for Zhong Youxiang and said, "Mr. Zhong is a straightforward person. Come, let me toast you first. Let's choose an auspicious day and officially sign the cooperation agreement!"
Two days later, Jinling Maomao Electronics and Yixun Technology under Lu Yiming jointly established Maomao Mobile, which was responsible for the production and sales of Panda mobile phones. Lu Yiming became the chairman of Panda Mobile with a 49% stake.
This move directly shocked the entire domestic mobile phone industry.
Although the Maomao phone doesn't sell well, it has a solid foundation after all, and Lu Yiming is well-known for his marketing skills and his ability to create miracles. If the Maomao phone really makes a comeback, wouldn't it take away some of the original market share?
Foreign mobile phone brands are fine, they have technological advantages, so there is no need to worry too much.
But domestic mobile phone brands were completely panicked. Beneath the calm atmosphere, there were undercurrents.
After the new company's founding meeting, Li Yiwen couldn't wait to ask Lu Yiming in the backstage: "Who are you going to let run Maomao Mobile?"
Lu Yiming looked at Li Yiwen, and Li Yiwen's face suddenly turned dark: "I'm warning you, I won't do it. I want to get married and have children. I don't have time. And I don't understand this thing either."
Lu Yiming smiled as if he had pulled off a successful prank and said, "I didn't say anything. Why are you so nervous? Don't worry. I have already chosen the person who will be in charge of Maomao Mobile."
He pulled out a profile and said, “That’s him.”
"Who is it?"
Li Yiwen took the information and looked at it, then asked in confusion: "Huang Zhang? How come I have never heard of this person? Is he very capable?"
At that time, Huang Zhang was still an unknown person. No one could have expected that such a dropout who was expelled from school in his first year of high school and never went to college would create MEIZU a year later and occupy a place in the fragmented power of Xia Country in the 3G era.
After reading Huang Zhang's information, Li Yiwen was also a little dumbfounded: "By the way, is this person you are looking for reliable?"
According to the information, Huang Zhang's photo looks so young.
In fact, he was indeed very young, only twenty-five years old.
When Huang Zhang was sixteen, his father "kicked him out" of the house because he was too obsessed with electronic appliances and asked him to start his own business. Huang Zhang then went to Shenzhen to work alone, starting his miraculous life of grassroots counterattack.
Before entering the electronics industry that changed his life, Huang Zhang even worked low-paying jobs, such as hard labor like dock porter, and even worked as a chef for a while and studied Cantonese cuisine.
At present, Huang Zhang is just an ordinary employee of Aegean Electronics, a joint venture in Singapore. How could Lu Yiming choose such a young man to take charge of Maomao Mobile?
Li Yiwen even suspected that Lu Yiming was crazy.
"Are you sure you want a high school student who is a screw in the factory to be in charge of Cat Mobile?"
Lu Yiming smiled and said, "Don't you believe in my judgment of people?"
Even so, Li Yiwen still found it outrageous. After all, the resume of a worker like Huang Zhang was too sparse and ordinary, and there was no sign of anything outstanding about him.
However, Lu Yiming knew that according to the original historical trajectory, Huang Zhang, who was just an ordinary employee of Aegean Electronics at this time, would become the general manager of the joint venture next year and own 49% of Aegean's shares.
All I can say is that the world of genius is too outrageous in the eyes of ordinary people, making it difficult for them to understand.
In the conference room of Weijian International in Pengcheng, Huang Zhang, a special commissioner of Aegean Electronics, is discussing new plans for MP3 products with Bai Yongxiang. As a product engineer of Weijian International, Huang Zhang admires Bai Yongxiang's professional ability. The two of them hit it off at first sight and felt that they had met too late, which immediately sparked the passion between science and engineering men.
Compared to Huang Zhang, a "grassroots" technician who changed his career late, Bai Yongxiang can be said to be from a "famous and upright family". He graduated from Chengdu University of Electronic Science and Technology, majoring in mechanical electronics. He was one of the 600,000 college students admitted nationwide that year and had an outstanding talent in mathematics.
It's a pity that Bai Yongxiang is not very lucky. Until now, he still feels that his talent is not appreciated. He has been struggling in society for many years. First, he worked with the boss of Pengcheng to make audio tube amplifiers, and then worked as a quality manager in Dongguan Delta for a year with a monthly salary of 1,300 yuan. In addition, he also worked in Pengcheng Panda Gold Card, taught himself assembly C language, sold Panda brand color TVs for half a year, and fired ceramics in Henan Province. His resume is very rich.
The two were chatting happily when Huang Zhang's cell phone rang. Huang Zhang didn't want to answer it, but the ringing of the cell phone was really awkward in this situation, so he had to say to Bai Yongxiang: "Mr. Bai, excuse me, I have to answer the call."
Although Bai Yongxiang felt a little resentful, he still said sympathetically, "It's okay, you answer it."
Huang Zhang opened his flip phone and said softly, "Hello, I'm Huang Zhang from Aegean Electronics. May I ask who you are?"
A young girl's voice came from the other side: "Hello, I'm from the chairman's office of Future Capital."
Future capital?
Although Huang Zhang is currently screwing screws in the factory, he is not someone who has never seen the world. He is certainly familiar with the famous Future Capital.
But Huang Zhang was a little suspicious.
She is just an employee, working in the sales of electronic products. Why would a financial company want to poach her?
Invest in her screw?
Isn't that pure nonsense?
With a suspicious look in his heart, Huang Zhang asked, "Hello, what can I do for you?"
The person who called Huang Zhang was Yu Jiayi. She said, "It's like this. Yixun Technology, which is invested by Future Capital, has joined hands with Panda Electronics to establish Maomao Mobile. We would like to invite you to be the general manager. The salary can be discussed in person."
Huang Zhang did not agree immediately, but said: "I am negotiating an investment now. Can I call you back when I am free? We can talk then."
"OK."
After hanging up the phone, Huang Zhang said to Bai Yongxiang with an apologetic look on his face: "Boss Bai, I'm so sorry. Future Capital just called me."
"Future Capital?"
Bai Yongxiang was surprised as expected and asked quickly, "Why did they come to you?"
Huang Zhang smiled and said, "They want me to be the general manager of their new company."
Bai Yongxiang sighed, "This is the company owned by Mr. Lu, the richest man in the country. I heard the benefits are very good, and many graduates from prestigious universities are trying their best to get in."
Later, Bai Yongxiang expressed his confusion: "That's not right. Why would Future Capital suddenly contact you? Did you get scammed?"
Huang Zhang said: "Actually, I had the same thought just now. After all, who am I? What is Mr. Lu's identity? We are not related at all. But the person who called me said that I could go to Future Capital for an interview."
Bai Yongxiang asked, "I still think it's a little bit abnormal. Do you plan to go? Do you want me to go with you to take a look?"
After all, Huang Zhang is only 25 years old, and Bai Yongxiang is afraid that he will be deceived.
Huang Zhang was naturally more than happy to have someone accompany him, and the two of them immediately set off for Future Capital's temporary headquarters in Baiyun City.
The thirty-six-story building, a full 108 meters high, gave the two men a huge shock.
Yu Jiayi, who had received the news earlier, was already waiting at the door. When she saw Huang Zhang, she took the initiative to greet him and said, "Mr. Huang, here."
Huang Zhang walked over, and Yu Jiayi introduced herself. Huang Zhang quickly said, "This is Bai Yongxiang, Bai Jishu. I asked him to come with me and take a look."
Yu Jiayi didn't say anything, but smiled and said, "Welcome to visit."
Huang Zhang couldn't help but ask curiously: "Ms. Yu, how much is the monthly rent for opening a company here?"
Yu Jiayi said: "I don't know about this. This place has been bought by Mr. Lu as the temporary headquarters of Future Capital. After the headquarters building in Zhujiang New Town is completed, the company will move there."
Huang Zhang, Bai Yongxiang: "..."
Alas, I can’t even afford an apartment in a residential area, but Mr. Lu even bought a skyscraper as his temporary office.
Is this the power of the richest man?
What Huang Zhang couldn't understand even more was, wouldn't such a skyscraper be enough to be the headquarters of Future Capital? And it could only be temporary.
I don’t know what the headquarters building in Zhujiang New Town will look like.
For a moment, the two of them actually felt a little bit of anticipation.
Yu Jiayi said to Huang Zhang, "Boss Huang, Boss Lu is waiting for you upstairs now. He said he wants to talk to you in person. Please come with me."
"Mr. Lu? Mr. Lu, the richest man?"
Huang Zhang's heart immediately boiled. He felt as if he was dreaming, and couldn't figure out why Lu Yiming would be interested in him.
