4: How about you take charge of the African operations?

The next day, Chen Chen was dressed in a formal suit with the help of the butler, Uncle Chen.

As he walked into the company conference room, the buzzing sound stopped instantly.

Everyone turned their heads to look at this young company CEO.

"Once he puts on a suit, he actually looks the part!"

Lu Weibing stood up and muttered softly, then faced the crowd and said:

"Let us welcome CEO Chen."

Applause rang out; whether it was sincere or fake, Chen Chen heard it was quite loud.

"Thank you all very much for sticking with the company over the past year. Due to some personal circumstances, I haven't been coming to the company to understand the situation."

"From today onwards, I will be returning to the company. I hope we can work together to make our Red Star Company better and better."

"Regarding the recent decline in performance and future development, if you have any views or ideas, feel free to speak up today and we'll discuss them."

"CEO Chen, I suggest we increase our cooperation with the carriers to continue increasing shipment volume."

Xu Guangyi was originally responsible for coordinating with carrier channels, but after hearing yesterday that carriers were going to cancel subsidies and underwriting, his position became awkward, which gave him other thoughts.

"CEO Chen, the focus now isn't the performance decline, but the transformation of Red Star in the face of the smartphone wave. I suggest we abandon low-end channel phones and go all out to develop high-end flagships."

A relatively young executive stood up and said.

"You're right, your name is..."

"CEO Chen, my name is Cui Yichen. I joined Red Star the year before last."

"Alright, write up a proposal later and bring it to my office."

"This year's flagship phones lost so much money we're practically broke, and you still want flagships?"

Chen Chen saw that Xu Guangyi had a different opinion and immediately called him out:

"Xu Guangyi, it seems you have some different thoughts. Speak up so we can discuss them."

"CEO Lu, CEO Chen, I don't have many thoughts, I'm just thinking that our high-end flagships this year failed so miserably. If we do flagships again, I'm afraid we'll..."

Xu Guangyi didn't finish his sentence, but everyone understood what he meant. If they failed again, the financial pressure would be unbearable.

In the past, failure was just failure because the company's revenue and performance were trending upwards. Now, overall performance was declining; another failure would be... "Well, Manager Xu has a point."

"But I think we should work on flagships, and we can't completely abandon low-end phones either."

"As for those carrier channel phones, stop them if they need to be stopped."

After Chen Chen finished, Xu Guangyi immediately stood up in opposition:

"Young Mr. Chen, carrier channel phones account for 80% of our shipments. How can you say stop just like that? If we stop these models, what about Red Star's revenue? No, I object."

Hearing someone stand up to object, Chen Chen was very decisive.

He immediately rebuked: "Since Manager Xu says so, let's first cut some of the carrier channel phones in Mainland China. As for overseas business, especially in Africa and India, we won't touch them for now."

"Manager Xu, why don't you work hard and take charge of the carrier channel business in Africa for a while?"

After Chen Chen finished, Xu Guangyi's face immediately turned the color of pig liver.

What the hell, the business in Africa hasn't been stopped yet!

Do we even have business in Africa?

Chen Chen was ruthless. If he returned to the company and his first opinion was pushed back, no one would listen to him in the future.

"The Marketing Department will now suspend TV and offline marketing and wait for new instructions.

The Market Department should collect more information on other companies' products and bring it to my office later."

"Since I, Chen Chen, have returned today, I will definitely be responsible for this company. From now on, the R&D Department will report directly to me."

"Department Head Xu, if you have any further objections, I suggest you go to the Africa Business Department for a few years of study before reporting to me again."

"Alright, that's all for today. The phone development and R&D Departments stay behind, the rest of you are dismissed."

Chen Chen's first meeting wasn't exactly a success, but it wasn't a failure either. His serious expression when telling the one named Xu to go to Africa served as a display of authority.

Even if these people didn't respect him for the time being.

So what?

He was the boss, the one in charge.

If you dared to be compliant in public but defiant in private, he would dare to send you to Africa for some 'experience'.

If it weren't for the fact that the company's operations couldn't do without these people for now, Chen Chen would have wanted to replace everyone from top to bottom.

Forget it, he'd investigate later and fire whoever needed to be fired, especially this guy named Xu.

Get the hell out!

As everyone filed out of the conference room, Chen Chen sat back in his chair and let out a sigh of relief.

"Uncle Lu, what's the deal with this Xu Guangyi?"

"Hmph, I've wanted to deal with this Xu Guangyi for a long time. Not only does he take kickbacks, but he's also been flirting with other companies lately. He thinks I don't know."

Turning around, Lu Weibing said to Dr. Lu of the R&D Department:

"Old Lu, I've already spoken to the finance department about the funds for your chip tape-out; it'll be ready soon. Contact the folks in Taiwan first and get ready for the tape-out."

"Alright, CEO Lu."

"Let's go to my office to talk. I have a new idea I want to share with everyone; I'll need your help."

Several people followed Chen Chen to his office. After taking their seats, Chen Chen took out a design drawing from his drawer.

"These are two phones I designed. One is a low-end hundred-yuan phone, and the other is a mid-range phone around 2,000 yuan. I want the company to go all out on developing these two phones and then sell them online at cost price."

Several people looked closely at the design drawings. The level of completion was quite high, though some internal component stacking might need the development department to redesign.

"CEO Chen, our company's current product line already has hundred-yuan phones like this. There's no need to open a new mold."

Speaking of this, Chen Chen clutched his head. There were hundred-yuan phones, but what were they like? They would lag to death after opening two apps, with only 256MB of RAM, and they were basically all generic public molds with no design whatsoever.

"I want to give this hundred-yuan phone 1GB of RAM, use MediaTek's latest MT6725 processor, have both front and rear cameras, and a battery over 2,000 mAh. Only then will such a phone be competitive in the market."

"As for the price, push it as low as possible for me. I can even accept losing money in the early stages!"

*Hiss.*

Several people gasped. Accepting losing money?

This Young Mr. Chen really has quite the boldness.

They just didn't know how the market would accept this phone.

If they messed up again...

That would truly be adding insult to injury.

"Dr. Zhou, our charging technology, lens technology, batteries, and everything else need to be restarted. If funds aren't enough, come to me and I'll approve them.

I want to release them alongside the phones. Can it be done?"

"Don't worry, CEO Chen. Our charging solution will definitely be finished in line with the phone's progress. It can be done!"

Chen Chen smiled and clapped his hands. At least the people in the old man's company hadn't completely lost heart, and their strength was still formidable.

"Uncle Lu, go and call the person in charge of our mobile OS later. I want to have a chat with him."