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Chapter 1193: Chapter 1051: Making a Move (Please Subscribe!)
When Steve Jobs launched the first iPhone,
it was already close to midnight for Tang Qing.
With respect that rivals deserve,
as a witness to this historic moment,
Tang Qing finished watching the entire Jobs’s press conference, and he had to admit, Jobs was a genius. For that era, the iPhone was truly a masterpiece in industrial history.
The first to fourth generation Apple devices all looked very similar, all with 3.5-inch screens.
Their appearance was very good.
The feel was not bad either.
It was just a pity.
The shortcomings of the first generation were quite apparent.
First, it lacked the functionality to cut, copy, and paste.
Second, it operated on 2G networks.
Third, it could take photos, but it could not record video.
Fourth...
From the perspective of later generations,
this thing was just weak. Aside from making calls and some basic built-in functions, it didn’t even have a decent app, and you had to connect to a computer to change settings.
But in 2007,
it was synonymous with cutting-edge technology,
a symbol of technological innovation, the beginning of the smart era. However, Jobs probably didn’t anticipate that in just four months, Tang Qing’s mobile phone would turn the iPhone into a mere stepping stone.
In the past life,
the greatness of Apple Inc. lay in its continuous product innovation, redefining the limits and quality of smartphones time and again, negating its past achievements to keep all imitators trailing behind—that was what Tang Qing admired.
In this life,
whatever Apple could do, he could do.
What Apple couldn’t do, he could do as well.
Now,
domestic parts that couldn’t be produced had already found suppliers.
The final assembly was decided to be done by Foxconn.
Although Tang Qing wasn’t quite fond of this "sweatshop" factory, given its capacity, equipment, punctuality, and quality, its overall score was far beyond that of the second place.
As for non-core components,
Tang Qing had already made his choice. The plastic parts were produced by a factory in the Myanmar Economic Zone. The metal parts were given to an old acquaintance—Zhang Dongqing—who worked in precision processing in Qingyan City.
Zhang Dongqing’s business had expanded significantly.
He had borrowed over twenty million RMB from Fenghua Asset Management Company and, with the help of some friends, was swamped with orders. His business was booming, and his assets rapidly inflated.
He became quite the boss in Qingyan City.
Tang Qing was a person who valued old relationships.
Zhang Dongqing was his second loan client. This man was decent, complied with rules, and was worth cultivating.
...
In Qingyan City,
Morning.
Tang Kai woke up from his sleep.
After washing up,
he routinely logged into his Sky Eye account.
As a premium user of Sky Eye,
he received important news from various countries every day. Since he had this service, Tang Kai hadn’t gotten his news from portal sites or media for a long time.
He searched the catalog for topics of interest to him.
Suddenly,
he saw Apple’s smartphone launch and was shocked. Smartphones—that was a direct conflict with his own nephew’s industry, wasn’t it? Tang Kai immediately clicked to find out more details.
After watching the launch event,
after seeing Jobs introduce the iPhone,
Tang Kai’s face was full of bemusement.
He couldn’t help but ask himself, "This thing is called a smartphone?"
Remembering the smartphone Tang Qing had let him try out, Tang Kai’s face broke into a relaxed smile. This device wasn’t worthy of being a contender against his nephew’s company’s mobile phones.
They weren’t on the same level at all.
If they launched simultaneously,
Jobs would probably cry, wailing loudly.
With that thought,
Tang Kai laughed out loud.
"What are you laughing at?" Youman asked with curiosity, hearing her husband laugh like that.
"Nothing, I’m just happy today."
...
At Qingyuan Technology,
Luo Qiang also watched Jobs’s press conference video and became even more resolute that Qingyuan Technology’s phone was the true future. As for the iPhone on the screen, heh.
However, they couldn’t be overconfident.
Once their phone made its debut, it would surely be heavily imitated, so the burden on Luo Qiang was still huge. If they started out leading and got overtaken later, that would be a real slap in the face.
Luo Qiang called his assistant in.
"President Luo," the male assistant entered.
"Get Apple Inc.’s iPhone data organized for the R&D and Design Department for them to study," Luo Qiang instructed. No matter what, there was no such thing as a completely useless product.
The iPhone indeed had some aspects worth considering.
"Yes."
After getting the materials,
exclamations of surprise came from the R&D department.
Their phone was still at the development stage.
Now a company in the United States had already released a product, and the pressure on them was immense. Although Qingyuan Technology’s mobile phone data was impressive, it was just data—the prototype hadn’t even been made yet.
Whether it could be better than the iPhone was still an unknown.
Their mood
became anxious.
...
In the United States,
San Francisco,
after the launch of the iPhone, Jobs got busy with various shows and media invitations that left him feeling exhausted, but he couldn’t turn them all down; he personally did not like appearing on TV.
He hoped people would love his products instead.
Once home,
he received a call from the deputy CEO.
"How is it going?"
The deputy CEO said, "We found out that Qingyuan Technology’s phone screen is large, and the partner is Samsung, but it seems they also have a deal with Sony—might be preparing to use two suppliers."
"Two? Heh, that indeed fits the Huaxia people’s way of doing things, always keeping a backup plan. But it’s not certain, it could also be to drive down supply prices," Jobs speculated.
Before long,
he received a fax, which was data about screen sizes acquired by the deputy CEO.
Jobs looked at the data in his hands.
He furrowed his brow.
His OCD wouldn’t allow him to accept such a notch on the screen.
"Heh, they plan to place the earpiece here, interesting."
Jobs’s opinion was just that it was interesting. When doing the exterior design, their Design Department had considered hundreds of forms, including this plan, but it was ultimately rejected by him.
"We don’t have anything about the casing, with Tang Qing’s nature, I think it’s very likely he outsourced non-core parts to other domestic factories, so we don’t have that information," analyzed the deputy CEO.
Jobs pondered for a while.
"It’s okay. Since Tang Qing wants to hide it, we can’t just sit back. Get someone to do an exterior design for this phone and claim it’s a leak of Qingyuan Technology’s product, let’s see their reaction."
"Good idea," the deputy CEO praised.
Once it hit public opinion,
more curious people would not just be them, and journalists’ digging abilities were also not weak. Even if Tang Qing didn’t take the bait in the end and stubbornly covered up, they wouldn’t have lost anything.
"By the way, make it look a bit ugly," Jobs added.
"Understood."
