132: Minister Sam Sang-puk

"President Park, in the first quarter of 2014, our sales in the European market declined by 1.7 percentage points, with Galaxys3 and note3 sales experiencing a more severe drop."

"In the Chinese market, overall sales declined by 4% over the past year, with our mid-to-low-end models experiencing the most severe decline in their price segments."

2013 had passed, and Park Yitien, the newly appointed president of the Samsung mobile phone division, was listening to his subordinates' market report on Samsung phones from the past year in his office. In his view, Nokia had completely collapsed, HTC was about to be finished, and in the future mobile phone market, Samsung would only have one competitor: Fruit Company.

In 2013, Samsung's market share in Europe had reached 36%, and its market share in the USA was also not low. In China, it even reached 23% market share.

Just as he was fantasizing about completely catching up with Fruit Company, last year's market report unexpectedly dealt him a blow.

Samsung's market share in Europe had always been very stable, with fluctuations only within a few tenths of a percentage point. He didn't expect sales in this first quarter to drop by 1.7%.

"Galaxys3 and note3 were more severely affected?"

"Does Fruit Company have any special offers, or is there a problem with the models I bought? Why haven't I received any relevant reports?"

Park Yitien's face was displeased as he asked Manager Cui, who stood before him.

"President Park, it's not that there's a problem with our models, nor has Fruit Company made any moves. It's because a Chinese mobile phone company called Red Star has emerged in the European market, and their first model, the ROC Phone, is extremely popular there."

"The price segment we are affected in is precisely that of the ROC Phone."

"Red Star?" Park Yitien muttered the awkward name. "Why have I never heard of this brand?"

"They are a mobile phone company that re-emerged in China last year. Its founder is Chen Yunlong. Red Star was established in 1998 in the Imperial Capital of China and originally made knock-off phones."

"In 2011, Chen Yunlong passed away, and his son, Chen Chen, took over Red Star Company. After Chen Chen took over Red Star Company, several models he launched were well-received by the market. In 2012, he launched Red Star's Kunpeng brand, and the ROC Phone in the European market is China's Kunpeng brand."

"They have made significant breakthroughs in mobile phone fast charging technology. Currently, the fast charging equipped in the ROC Phone has reached a charging power of 50 watts."

"How much? 50 watts!?" Park Yitien was startled by this number. Samsung's own charging power had just reached 10 watts this year. How could a Chinese company's charging power already reach 50 watts?

Choi Jae-seok, who was diligently reporting on Red Star Company's information, was also startled by his boss's voice. This fellow, with his big head and ears, somehow managed to secure the position of head of Samsung's mobile phone division, though no one knew through whose connections.

He didn't even know anything about the recent changes in the mobile phone market.

Now, not only were netizens in the USA eager to experience Red Star's super fast charging, but even in Samsung's home base of Korea, many netizens hoped that Red Star would quickly launch in Korea.

He didn't expect Park Yitien to be completely unaware.

"Yes, President Park, Red Star's current maximum charging power has indeed reached 50 watts. Not only that, Red Star also has a new battery called Yangtze River, whose energy density is much higher than LG's High-Voltage Battery."

"It's probably like..." Choi Jae-seok, unsure how to explain, simply took out his phone, removed the back cover, pointed at the battery, and said to Park Yitien, "A Yangtze River Battery of the same volume as our Galaxy note3 has a capacity of 5500mah."

"Hiss~" Park Yitien took a sharp breath.

He knew about LG's latest High-Voltage Battery, which achieved a maximum voltage of 4.4v. For the same capacity, their High-Voltage Battery could be made smaller. As a competitor, Samsung had also started R&D work on new batteries internally.

He didn't expect a Chinese enterprise to be even more powerful than LG.

"What about the screens used in their phones? Have they chosen to purchase screens from our Samsung?"

Park Yitien's mind began to stir. Samsung's screens were world-leading, and many Chinese enterprises used Samsung screens in their phones. If Red Star's phones also used Samsung screens, then by leveraging his connections in the display division, could he perhaps exert some control over this Red Star?

Could he perhaps make Red Star "share" their battery and fast charging technologies?

Choi Jae-seok gave him a strange look and said, "President Park, their screens are all produced in China, and they even used 1080p screens earlier than us, the year before last."

"Uh~" Park Yitien couldn't maintain his composure. What the hell, Red Star didn't even purchase screens from our Samsung?

Don't you, Red Star, know that my Samsung's screens are the best in the world?

No longer dwelling on this, Park Yitien changed direction and continued to ask, "What is the reason for the decline in the Chinese market? Have our high-end models been affected?"

"The most severely affected price range is 1000 to 2000 yuan. Several Chinese manufacturers, including Xiaomi, Huawei, and Red Star, fought a fierce battle in this price segment last year, and now this price range is firmly controlled by Chinese manufacturers."

"Our high-end models haven't been significantly affected yet; we still hold the second position in China."

Hearing that high-end models hadn't been affected, Park Yitien also felt relieved. Let the low-end models decline; how much money do low-end models make anyway? He'd eaten the meat of the high-end market, so he had to leave some soup for those Chinese manufacturers, right?

"You can go out now. Report any news about Red Star to me immediately in the future."

After Choi Jae-seok left, Park Yitien took out his phone and made a call. "Minister Jin, this is Park Yitien. Is Secretary Zheng, who was transferred to you last month, working out well?"

"I want to ask you a favor."

"If Red Star comes to our Samsung to purchase screens, please let me know."

"No problem, no problem. I'll send Miss Li over another day."