24: Warwick's Outlook

Shenzhen, Huawei's consumer business department, finally got on track after a series of internal adjustments.

The company's founder overcame all objections to push Yu Chengbei into the position of head of the consumer business. Upon taking office, Yu Chengbei began drastic reforms. After learning that carriers would gradually cancel subsidy policies, Yu Chengbei followed Red Star's approach and directly cut 80% of carrier-channel phones.

Unlike Red Star's direction, Yu Chengbei decided to push Huawei full force toward the high-end market to reshape the Brand image. As for the low-end, weren't there still the remaining 20% of carrier channels?

Huawei had the capital to abandon low-end phones and transition to high-end because, aside from the consumer business, the company's other businesses could provide a steady stream of funding.

Otherwise, how much money could be made just by selling mobile phones and other terminal devices?

Could it support a chip team of hundreds?

Huawei has an absolute global advantage in telecommunications technology. At the beginning of the 21st century, it thrived in the mobile phone market thanks to its strong communication technology.

Although it couldn't compare to major international companies like Nokia and Motorola, it was still somewhat well-known.

Relying on the strength of its communication base station technology, Huawei also formed an alliance with carriers in China. Among the so-called "Zhonghua Kulian" four major domestic Brands, Huawei was one of them.

While Huawei's mobile phone business was still enjoying the huge profits from cooperating with carriers, the mobile phone market had already undergone earth-shaking changes.

First, feature phones were replaced by smartphones, and second, the popularization and promotion of 3G in China.

Huawei's executives and founder also quickly noticed the market changes and rapidly began to change the company's strategy. In the past, the first thing people looked for when buying a phone was the signal and call quality.

But in the current smartphone era, communication technology is no longer the primary focus for people seeking a phone.

In the smartphone era, Huawei still relied on cooperation with carriers to continuously launch new smart products. However, as subsidies and underwriting gradually decreased, this development model was no longer suitable for the current mobile phone market.

In the plan to advance into the high-end market led by Yu Chengbei, the P1 and P1s were two very important products.

Unfortunately, the market acceptance of these two phones was not high, and their cumulative global sales did not exceed one million.

The first attempt to enter the high-end market ended in failure.

"President Ren, I am willing to resign to take responsibility for the losses caused to the company, and I hope to give the company an explanation."

Facing the founder, Yu Chengbei spoke with a dejected expression.

Now the P1 series has completely withdrawn from the market, and the sales of the P2 continue to be sluggish.

Facing internal voices within the company, Yu Chengbei decided to resign to appease public anger.

Huawei's founder, Old Ren, also rarely slammed the table:

"It's not that easy. You want to resign just because you failed? Do I have to pay the tuition for the next person in charge?"

"No, if you want to resign, you must first make the mobile phone business successful before I'll let you!"

Then, Old Ren said calmly:

"What are you afraid of after one or two failures? It's only a loss of less than 200 million. It's not like our company can't survive or will go bankrupt if your mobile phone business fails."

"President Ren, I..."

Yu Chengbei looked at the founder who trusted him so much and was speechless for a moment.

"Don't be afraid of failure. I experienced more failures than you before I founded Huawei. Did I back down? Was I afraid? I still built Huawei to its current scale step by step."

"I believe there is no problem with your strategy. Go ahead and do it boldly, try it out. The company will back you up. High-end phones don't succeed in just one or two tries."

Listening to the founder's words, Yu Chengbei regained his confidence. President Ren was right; transitioning to the high-end market wouldn't be successful so easily.

"President Ren, I know what to do. I'll go back and continue to lead the development of our new models."

"Tell me your thoughts."

"It's like this, President Ren. Samsung is planning to launch large-screen phones with screen sizes expected to be over 5 inches. I'm thinking, while we continue to develop the p series, can we also make a new model with a large screen and long battery life?"

"I've already thought of the name; it'll be called the mate series!"

"And among the mobile phone manufacturers currently in the spotlight in China, besides Red Star, it's Xiaomi. Their internet phones are also very popular with consumers. Since the mobile internet is rising, Huawei can also create a separate internet Brand. We can spin off the Brand series and establish the Honor brand."

"This Brand will focus on the internet, becoming Huawei's own internet Brand!"

After listening, President Ren nodded repeatedly and, after some thought, said to him:

"Aren't you full of ideas! I think there's no problem with your ideas. Since you've chosen the track, stick to it. With Huawei's technical strength, we'll soon catch up with these manufacturers."

"I'll handle things inside the company; you just go ahead and do it!"

Walking out of Huawei's headquarters building, Yu Chengbei felt a sense of relief.

As long as President Ren supports it, with Huawei's strength, there is nothing Huawei cannot accomplish.

My skills, Yu Chengbei's, finally have a place to be used.

However, thinking about the Huawei P6 series currently under development, he still felt a headache.

The development progress of the entire device can be said to be very fast; after all, Huawei is an old manufacturer that has been making phones for many years.

It's just this chip. President Ren insists on the mobile phone department driving the chip department. Huawei's Kunpeng Chip Company has only recently made progress, and the chips produced are mainly supplied to the mobile phone department.

"I hope the Kunpeng chip with the new process will be more effective."

After saying that, he opened the car door and left Huawei headquarters.

Meanwhile, Chen Chen looked at the message from Dr. Lu and also felt a headache. The chip tape-out failed, and the next attempt will have to wait until a month later.

Now Red Star's next-generation model is basically developed, still waiting for the chip to return for adaptation.