136: Trip to South Korea 4

"Manager Tang, Manager Zhou, sorry to keep you waiting."

A few minutes later, Park Yitien and Kim Jae-se returned to their seats. "I just spoke with Minister Kim, and we can make a slight concession on the price."

"90 billion won for 3 million units," Kim Jae-se said.

"Minister Park, Minister Kim, we at Red Star have come with genuine sincerity. We hope the two of you can offer a more reasonable price."

He knew these two Koreans were definitely up to no good. Although the price had dropped from 140 billion to 90 billion, Tang Mang still felt it was expensive; it wasn't like he didn't know their approximate production costs.

Currently, the factory price of Samsung's C-grade screens for mid-range phones was similar to that of LCD screens, around 300 rmb. Even if their top-tier screens were more expensive, doubling that would still be less than 700 rmb.

Even with a 50% profit margin added, the total price should be within 1,000 rmb.

Now, at 300,000 won per unit, it still converted to 1,600 rmb. (The exchange rate is still calculated at 1:189.16).

"Manager Tang, Samsung is being very sincere with this price. We are willing to establish a long-term cooperative relationship with Red Star and hope our two companies can become partners," Park Yitien said.

"Minister Park, I truly appreciate your help, but Red Star still cannot accept this price. I'm afraid we won't be able to cooperate with Samsung."

"I hope we have the opportunity to cooperate in the future. We won't disturb you any further." After saying this, Tang Mang stood up to leave.

Kim Jae-se's expression shifted. In reality, Samsung's headquarters placed great importance on this cooperation, and the minimum guided price for sale was actually 1,000 rmb. One had to realize that Red Star's shipment volume in China had already surpassed Samsung's, making them number one in the Chinese market.

Even globally, Red Star's shipment volume ranked in the top three, second only to Samsung and Fruit.

Samsung's headquarters naturally valued such a large client.

The reason Kim Jae-se wanted such a high price was entirely because Park Yitien wanted to use Red Star's screen procurement as leverage to obtain Red Star's Yangtze River Battery technology.

Obtaining the complete technology directly was unrealistic, so Park Yitien didn't even consider it. What he wanted was to get a patent license from Red Star so that Samsung could produce the battery themselves.

As for purchasing Yangtze River Batteries?

Why purchase them?

Wouldn't it be better to get the license and produce them ourselves?

Buying from Red Star might lead to a situation just like this one—whether they'd even sell is one thing, but being overcharged would be unavoidable.

"Manager Tang, don't be in such a hurry. We can discuss the price further. If you are willing to license the Yangtze River Battery patents to Samsung, then I can guarantee to Manager Tang that the price will not exceed 200,000 won."

"There will be no restrictions on the quantity you purchase either."

"Even if you only buy ten thousand units, we'll give you this price."

After Park Yitien finished, he stared straight at Tang Mang. Seeing Tang Mang sit back down, his expression brightened, and he added more chips to the table. "Furthermore, during the licensing period of your Yangtze River Battery, we can sell you all of Samsung's top-tier screens. You know that generations of OLED screens change very quickly nowadays."

Top-tier? Would what they sell you actually be top-tier?

Park Yitien had a beautiful plan, but Samsung truly did not sell its real top-tier screens to outsiders. Anything available for sale was never the best.

So this guarantee was practically nonsense, a complete attempt to get something for nothing.

"Minister Park, I'm afraid I can't make the call on this. I need to consult with headquarters."

"Of course, of course. Then I'll await Manager Tang's good news."

After leaving Samsung's screen department, Tang Mang immediately started cursing in the car. "Damn it, those two fat pigs are completely planning to get their hands on our Yangtze River Battery technology."

"What 'selling us every generation of top-tier screens'—that's total bull!"

The others traveling with him were also full of indignation. These Samsung guys were putting on such high airs, not taking Red Star seriously at all.

They just had their eyes on Red Star's Yangtze River Battery.

"Let's go. To LG headquarters."

Seeing everyone in the car turn to look at him, Tang Mang said crossly, "What are you looking at me for? I contacted the people at LG yesterday. I figured if the cooperation with Samsung succeeded, I'd find an excuse to cancel the LG procurement plan. If things didn't work out with Samsung, we'd have some room to maneuver."

Last night, Tang Mang had called Chen Chen to express his concerns. Normally, when a company like Red Star comes to Samsung to buy screens, Samsung wouldn't leave them hanging for several days.

Since the Samsung guys had done this, the procurement was bound to be far from smooth.

The result was exactly as he expected. Samsung didn't take them seriously at all, only thinking of overcharging them and getting the Yangtze River Battery.

"These guys are totally dreaming if they think they're getting the license for the Yangtze River Battery. Dr. Zhou, what do you think these Samsung people are thinking?"

"What are they thinking? They're just bullying us because China's OLED screen industry is just starting out. What else? I even suspect that Minister Park is the one behind all this, despite his 'good guy' facade."

Tang Mang calmed down and thought it made sense. It was likely that Samsung's mobile division wanted the Yangtze River Battery technology and teamed up with the screen department to set a trap for him.

Whatever. Let's see what LG says first. If we really can't reach a deal, we'll discuss it again back home.

In South Korea, the LG chaebol is a top-tier conglomerate just like Samsung. They also produce their own mobile phones, though their market share isn't very high.

In terms of influence in South Korea, there's a significant gap between LG and Samsung, but their technical level isn't much inferior. Compared to Samsung's OLED screens, their production technology and overall visual experience are slightly behind, which is why they were Tang Mang's second choice.

However, compared to the nascent technology back home, LG's technology is relatively mature.

Arriving at LG headquarters, Zheng Dongxiu, the head of LG's business department, received Tang Mang and his group.

"Hello, Mr. Tang. I've heard much about you."

"After receiving news from General Manager Zhao in China, we have been eagerly awaiting your arrival."

Zheng Dongxiu was over forty, but he showed no contempt for the group before him, especially after Zheng Guangwei's instructions.

The connection with LG headquarters was facilitated by Zheng Guangwei from LG's China branch. After Tang Mang contacted him yesterday, Zheng Guangwei reported Red Star's interest in cooperating with LG to the headquarters.

LG's Board of Directors held a discussion overnight. Ultimately, the board felt that cooperating with a company like Red Star would bring nothing but benefits to their own company.

Furthermore, Red Star was now the mobile manufacturer with the largest shipment volume in China and one of the top companies globally in 2013 shipments, so they naturally couldn't be ignored.