139: Chapter 139 Google Exits China, Rice Enters India?

After leaving the hotel, Mr. Adebayo sat in the car, once again feeling the importance of a platform.

It only took him half a year to go from a penniless small merchant to the President of the Africa region. Now, even the largest internet platform in the United States was taking the initiative to collaborate with them.

He took out his phone and sent a message to Shen Fei: "Mr. Shen, the people from Facebook are here. They are preparing to set up a joint venture with us. I have already sent the documents over."

A minute later, Shen Fei replied: "Got it. Wait for my word."

March 22, 2010.

Beijing, Google China headquarters. The workstations, originally orderly, were now in disarray.

The few people occasionally sitting at their desks had no mood for work; they were simply staring blankly at their computer screens, while others were packing up their personal belongings.

In the middle of the hallway, however, employees were gathered in small groups, cigarettes in hand, whispering about something.

Two hours ago, Google's United States headquarters officially announced: withdrawing from the mainland China market.

All search services would be redirected to Hong Kong, and the offices would cease operations.

Upon hearing the news, they were like ants on a hot pan, completely at a loss.

As for the internet circle, it was equally explosive. Baidu was greatly encouraged and prepared to seize the market, while Tencent was also preparing to increase investment in the search market, pushing out their original PPT project—QQ Browser.

Guangzhou, Transsion headquarters.

Shen Fei was in a meeting when Huang Tianya pushed the door open and walked in, a look of excitement on his face.

"Mr. Shen, Google has withdrawn from China."

Everyone in the conference room looked at Huang Tianya. This news was too sudden; there hadn't been any official word beforehand.

"How is that possible? Didn't rumors just start last month?"

"It's true. The Beijing headquarters has already started the procedures."

Shen Fei put down the documents in his hand, recalling this important moment.

In his previous life, it seemed that Google also announced its withdrawal from the Chinese market in March 2010.

They even found some high-sounding excuses. The core reason was that Google's revenue was too low and they were unwilling to operate under the supervision of China's legal system.

In reality, they just couldn't compete and ran away in a sorry state, eventually splashing dirty water on the Chinese regulators. However, this was an opportunity.

"Turn on the projector!"

On the big screen, the news of Google withdrawing from the Chinese market had already hit the top of the Weibo trending list, and the search index was rising rapidly.

Google's official statement, employee interviews, expert commentary... all versions pointed to one answer:

The hacker attacks in January were conducted under the guidance of relevant departments; this was malicious suppression of Google. In terms of operations, they also favored local enterprises. We aren't lacking in technology; we just can't adapt to this "human sentiment" society.

This withdrawal from the Chinese market is absolutely not because we couldn't compete, but a righteous protest. Google will not swallow this humiliation.

"They can really be this shameless."

"Eating the food while cursing the cook, and smashing the pot before leaving—is that any way to behave?"

Huang Tianya nodded. He was also a bit angry, but fortunately, three months ago, he had already laid an ambush in the stock market.

He had to harvest some leeks properly to vent his anger.

"The Android ecosystem has changed."

"Not just Android, but all manufacturers that rely on Google services," said Shen Fei.

He looked at the people present, then paused beside Liu Zhihong.

"How much Android code is still left in our Taishan OS 2.0 version?"

Product Manager Liu Zhihong stood up: "Version 1.0 was based on the Android open-source community, and the 1.5 version released last year has already been gradually removing it.

The progress of version 2.0 is far ahead of expectations; we have already removed 65% of the Android code. To get rid of it completely, we expect to reach that in the 3.0 era.

Their withdrawal this time will definitely have a major impact on the Android system, but it is definitely not fatal. They are only shutting down GMS services, which we weren't using anyway. The underlying code cannot be banned, so the impact on us is almost zero, though other Android phone manufacturers might be affected."

Shen Fei nodded: "I remember you reported two days ago that version 2.0 has been packaged."

"We are currently working on adaptation."

"Liu Zhihong, I trust your technical skills. Starting now, pull a group of personnel and immediately begin R&D for 3.0. Shift the focus to completely getting rid of Android code by the end of the year."

He looked at the number of native software again: "Compatibility must reach over 85%, meaning that 85% of Android software on the market can run on Taishan OS without changing a single line of code."

Liu Zhihong took notes quickly: "Boss, is there a specific timeline?"

"Release the beta version in December, and start public testing in January."

Liu Zhihong gasped. The time was still a bit tight. He stretched out his hand and did a quick calculation; it was already March, and there were only 9 months left until the end of the year... This time had to cover development, testing, and adaptation...

"Mr. Shen, this schedule..."

Shen Fei looked at him: "Can't do it?"

Liu Zhihong gritted his teeth, thinking of the group of people Big Mouth Yu had sent over a while ago, and did a quick mental calculation.

"It's doable. If we can hire a few more people, the schedule will be more secure."

"After the meeting, go find Mr. Huang and give him your talent requirements. He will help you solve all your worries, but I have one requirement: it must be completed on time. Do you have confidence?"

"Yes."

Shen Fei nodded and looked at Professor Li Jiahui again.

"Professor Li, how are things with the chips?"

Professor Li Jiahui stood up: "The Taishan BB1 is already being used in the Mates, just with a limited frequency. So far, the results look very good. The Taishan 900 has also been tested for some time; as our first dual-core chip, there are absolutely no major issues. It's not that there are 0% issues, but these problems are all very minor and can be adjusted through software."

"Mr. Shen, there's no need to talk about performance; it is absolutely the best in the world."

Shen Fei smiled: "Good."

"Google has left; it is both a crisis and an opportunity. Previously, everyone used Android because there was no choice in systems. Now that Google has left—and didn't leave very gracefully—and we have an alternative, we cannot miss this market share."

At the same time, Beijing, Yingu Building. The conference room downstairs was also in a meeting, and the atmosphere was much more tense than at Transsion.

"Google has left, what do we do?" someone asked.

He remembered the Xiaomi 1 launch event...

He had managed to get 80,000 chips from Qualcomm with great difficulty, preparing for a big launch, and now the system side had messed up again. It was truly pouring when it was already raining... Was he really not suited for making phones, or was it really as Shen Fei said... go and try his luck in the India market.

Shen Fei shouldn't be entering that market in the short term; the more he emphasized it, the less likely it was. Should he give it a try?

"Hong Feng, how is the independence of MIUI?" Looking at the contemplative Lei Jun, Lin Bin asked first.