145: Chips and New Energy

"You must remember, Red Star is currently at a critical moment in its development!"

"We must guarantee quality and maintain strict quality control in our production this year."

"The customer service department has reported to me more than once that there are quality control issues with our smart devices."

"Whether it's our spare parts or the assembly, we must ensure our quality control even if we have to pay the foundries a bit more."

Red Star's previous after-sales policy was mainly based on 'National Warranty,' meaning you would send the product to Red Star Company for repair.

With the expansion of Red Star Home, the construction of offline after-sales service outlets was also accelerating frantically. Chen Chen's goal for the after-sales department was to ensure that by 2014, there would be Red Star after-sales service outlets in all first-tier cities across the country.

Of course, this year, after-sales service would also be opened up to franchises as they opened up to distributors.

To put it bluntly, it was being outsourced.

Red Star didn't have the energy to spread after-sales service to every city in the country. Only by managing it well and outsourcing could they build up quickly.

As for those smart devices and smaller products, Red Star followed a policy of replacement instead of repair, directly sending out a new one to the customer.

Netizens now joked that you could say Red Star's device quality control was mediocre, but you couldn't say Red Star's after-sales service was bad.

"Rest assured, Mr. Chen. Our procurement department will definitely control the quality. If our suppliers have subjective issues, they will be blacklisted and never allowed to enter the Red Star supply chain again!"

Tang Mang stood up and spoke with conviction.

"Mr. Chen, I will strictly focus on quality and quality control this year!" Zhang Feng also stood up to state his position.

Chen Chen saw the remaining few people about to stand up and waved his hand, signaling them that there was no need to speak further.

"In short, we need to do a good job with quality control and maintain quality this year."

"This year, I also plan to build a mobile phone factory belonging to Red Star near the Beijing."

"We will strive for independent production of our high-end phones after it goes into operation next year, which will take our quality control to the next level."

Chen Chen had always had the idea of building his own factory. He hadn't acted on it before entirely because the company's strength didn't allow it and the uncertainty of the high-end phone market, so he had delayed moving forward.

Now that the Kunpeng mobile phone had established a firm foothold in the high-end market, Red Star was fully capable of building a factory itself. One must know that true high-end phones must have the strictest quality requirements.

If problems kept cropping up in high-end phones like they did with Xiaomi, it would be a huge blow to the brand.

There were also the lithography machines and Wafer fabrication plants. Chen Chen wanted to build these chip industries, but looking at the balance in the account, he could only shake his head and suppress the idea for now.

Red Star's total revenue for the entire year of 2013 hadn't even reached 100 billion. Throwing this little money into the chip production industry—let alone researching lithography machines—would be difficult even for investing in a single Wafer fabrication plant.

"Manager Lu's main task this year is still to recruit and poach people. Now we don't just need talent for the chip industry, but also talent for chip production."

"At the same time, Aunt Zhou needs to coordinate and inspect Wafer fabrication plants within China. It would be best if we could invest in and take a stake in one."

Lu Weibing was a bit confused about Chen Chen wanting to poach talent for lithography machines and chip production.

Could it be that Mr. Chen also wanted to dabble in chip production?

Was this something our Red Star could handle?

Moreover, trade was globalized now. Red Star had enough capability to design excellent chips and then have Samsung or TSMC manufacture them, right?

Why spend a huge amount of money to set up their own layout?

Chen Chen also saw the confusion on everyone's faces and couldn't help but sigh.

Time waits for no one.

"Everyone might be a bit confused about why I want to recruit talent for chip production."

"As you know, the American imperialists' desire to destroy us never dies, and those Western countries are unreliable."

"They have always been wary of China in terms of high-tech equipment and technology."

"What if—and I say if—they one day blockade and sanction Red Star?"

"If the USA doesn't allow foundries to produce chips for us and then restricts our wafer purchases..."

"...then wouldn't Red Star be completely at their mercy?"

In his mind, Chen Chen even saw the image of Yu Chengbei from his previous life, saying with a choked voice to the camera: 'We just believed in trade globalization too much!'

2018!

2018 was a hurdle!

Chen Chen scanned the crowd. Although there was confusion on their faces, no one spoke up in opposition. The early-stage layout wouldn't cost too much money. Even if tens of billions went down the drain, Red Star could still afford it with its current development.

At worst, they could sell the company headquarters building and go out to rent a place.

The Red Star Industrial Park occupied such a large area in the Beijing, and with real estate prices starting to skyrocket in recent years, Red Star wouldn't die just by selling the buildings.

"This year, Red Star has initially opened up the high-end market situation internationally. Next, Shen Yiren will take over from Lu Weiqi to be in charge of Red Star's international business. I hope Mr. Shen can make persistent efforts and strive to make our Red Star phones No. 1 in the high-end market."

"Rest assured, Mr. Chen, I will not let down your trust!"

Shen Yiren stood up excitedly. Since joining Red Star, he felt that his skills had nowhere to be used. Marketing was handled by Yang Tuo, and international business was being handled by Lu Weiqi; he could only assist them.

"Mr. Chen, I, Yiren, have drifted for half my life, only regretting that I hadn't met a wise master. If you do not cast me aside, I am willing to..."

"Alright, alright, stop right there."

Chen Chen said to Shen Yiren with annoyance, not having realized this guy was such a character.

A burst of laughter immediately rang out in the conference room, and the atmosphere was no longer as serious as before.

"Finally, I want to talk about the next stage of Red Star's development goals."

"Tesla's first experience center officially opened in China at the end of last year. I'm afraid they will fully enter the Chinese market this year."

"Our government is also vigorously promoting our new energy vehicle industry. Currently, Chinese car companies haven't deeply laid out their plans for new energy vehicles, which is why the government introduced Tesla, likely with the idea of a 'Catfish Effect.'"

"In the future, new energy vehicles will definitely be another pillar industry for China. Right now, we are almost at the same starting line as major car manufacturers, so I have decided that Red Star should also layout for the new energy vehicle industry."

"To prepare for future development."

Everyone could hardly keep up with the speed of Chen Chen's topic shifts. Just a moment ago, he was talking about Red Star's layout for chip production, and now he was preparing to enter the automotive industry.