18: Chapter 18: Another Move – Cutting Off the Battery Supply!

"No problem." Huang Tianya nodded and made a note; these issues were trivial to him.

Just then, Li Qing pushed the door open and walked in: "General Manager Shen, back home... someone has already noticed us, and public opinion is starting to take a turn for the worse."

Shen Fei opened his laptop and pulled up a few news reports.

"Transsion Technology: Not attending to proper business? Or finding a new path?"

"Playing with beauty filters in Africa, the downfall of a Chinese mobile phone manufacturer."

"Moving from the domestic market to Africa, Transsion's dead end."

These articles came from a few third-rate domestic media outlets. They didn't rank on a national level, but they had decent influence in the south, especially in Transsion's home base and primary sales market...

Although the starting points of these articles differed, the writing style was identical: poor sales, collapsing profits; transitioning only because they couldn't survive; this was just them failing to hold on and looking to cash out.

At the end, they even urged everyone not to be fooled, claiming that the guarantees for buying phones were only valid while the company was still alive, and once it went bankrupt...

Heh.

Then Li Qing pointed to another piece of news: "Yesterday, when Bird's General Manager Xu accepted an interview, he said that a certain company coming up with a trade-in program was indeed a good way to serve the people, so they also chose to follow suit."

"But he also said that when a certain enterprise encounters difficulties, it wants to run away, which is not the attitude of running a business. Now many users are doubting whether our trade-in program is just clearing inventory to prepare for running away."

Besides that, a boss of a shanzhai phone factory in Guangzhou also said: "Transsion can't make it anymore, they've gone to that godforsaken place in Africa to scrape for food; they're probably going bankrupt soon."

Shen Fei looked at these reports and laughed instead.

"Let them laugh," he said. "The happier they laugh now, the harder their faces will be slapped in the future."

"Should we handle public relations?"

"No need." Shen Fei waved his hand: "Our main focus is not in the domestic market right now. In two years, most consumers won't even remember."

"This entertainment is useless; just treat it as watching a joke."

"Pour all our resources into products and market expansion. Once we hit annual sales of ten million units in Africa, and our technical barriers become so high they can't even comprehend them..."

Shen Fei closed the webpage: "Public opinion will naturally shift. Some 'smart' media might even write about foreign enterprises aggressively entering the Chinese market, and wonder if domestic manufacturers will be able to withstand it."

"That group of people writes whatever is trending; don't worry about them."

Just then, Liu Fang, who was in charge of procurement, called: "General Manager Shen, something else has happened." Liu Fang's voice sounded a bit anxious.

"The batch of T1s we planned to mass-produce next month—the battery supplier suddenly notified us that their production capacity has been fully booked, and they can't supply us."

"Which supplier?"

"Desay Battery in Guangzhou. They said an important client has booked their entire production capacity for the next three months, and they've even paid the breach-of-contract penalties."

Shen Fei's expression turned cold. An important client? There aren't many companies in the country that could book Desay's capacity at this time. Could it be that Huaxing Investment is pulling strings again?

But what does Transsion have that's worth them coveting? Aside from those factory buildings, what else is there? In his memories, the old man didn't leave behind anything good either!

"Got it, I'll handle it."

After hanging up the phone, Shen Fei said to Huang Tianya and Li Qing: "It seems someone doesn't want us to live too comfortably."

"Should we investigate who it is?"

"No need to investigate, I already know." Shen Fei sneered: "It's either Huaxing Investment, or those few third-rate mobile phone manufacturers in the country just like us, or perhaps even more powerful opponents."

"Everyone was having a hard time, and we at Transsion were practically dead, yet we made a strong comeback... If we really take off abroad and return to the domestic market strongly, it won't be a good thing for them."

"After all, for people nowadays, foreign products are indeed considered better."

"Tianya, activate the backup plan immediately. Acquire a battery factory, and be quick about it. Don't worry about technical issues; Feature phone models don't need advanced batteries."

"Understood."

After Huang Tianya left, Shen Fei continued working in the conference room.

In 2008, the Smartphone was just getting started. Domestic high-end chips were nowhere to be seen, that event was still far off, and there was still a chance to catch up with the Lithography Machine.

Although every step forward required overcoming thorns, it was still much easier compared to struggling with R&D while being choked by others. With him and the system, in this lifetime, the one getting choked will be the United States.

Of course, the urgent priority now is to contact Huawei and acquire their terminal division.

But it's December; they've probably already negotiated most of it. But the financial crisis...

Yes, the financial crisis. In the previous life, it seems that because those two companies drove the price down, Huawei finally gave up the sale plan, chose to weather the winter on their own, and from then on, never mentioned selling the terminal division again.

He couldn't let these losers ruin his plans.

Just as he was preparing to find a friend to make contact, his phone vibrated. It was a call from his mother, Zhang Ruyue.

"Xiao Fei, your father was able to speak today, he could speak in complete sentences. He asked where you are."

Shen Fei took a deep breath: "Mom, I'll come back to see Dad tomorrow."

...

Longgang Industrial Zone, Guangzhou, Desay Battery's Third Factory.

The factory manager's office was filled with smoke. The 50-something Manager Wang was smoking one cigarette after another, with Liu Fang and Li Qing sitting in front of him, their faces livid.

"Manager Wang, we have been cooperating for three years, and Transsion has never been late on payments, right?" Liu Fang tried her best to keep her tone steady, even though she really wanted to curse.

"Now you suddenly say you're cutting off supply starting next month, and we have to wait at least three months? This isn't compliant, is it?"

Manager Wang put on a bitter face, but Liu Fang and Li Qing weren't fools... his acting was terrible.

"Liu Fang, it's really not that I'm making things difficult on purpose. It's just that I have to listen to the shareholders. You know that back then, in order to develop quickly... now, rather than being a boss, I'm more like an employee."

"The other party went directly to the major shareholders and booked the factory's entire production capacity for the next three months. They prepaid 30% of the payment, and even paid the breach-of-contract penalties."

"I am just a... sigh... what can I do?"

"Who is the other party?" Li Qing finally spoke, getting straight to the point.

"This..." Manager Wang's eyes darted away. "I signed a non-disclosure agreement and can't say."

Li Qing stared at him for a few seconds, then suddenly asked: "Nokia, Motorola, Coolpad, Bird, or all of them together?"

Manager Wang's hand shook, and cigarette ash fell onto the table. The answer was self-evident.

"Understood." Liu Fang stood up: "Manager Wang, Transsion has ordered no less than 5 million batteries from Desay every year for these past years; we could say our cooperation has been smooth."

"But I'll remember this incident today."

"General Manager Liu, General Manager Li, I really couldn't help it!" Manager Wang pretended to want to stand up to explain, but his legs seemed to have thousand-pound iron weights attached; they didn't move an inch.

After they left, Manager Wang spat in disdain.

"With that young master speaking up personally, it'll be a miracle if Transsion even survives."

Back in the car, Liu Fang said anxiously: "It's bad, this is really bad."

"The T1's battery is a custom-made 1600mAh large battery, and there's no replacement on the market. If Desay cuts off supply, next month's production plan will have to come to a complete standstill..."

"The offensive in Africa is in full swing; if we can't produce the goods, aren't we finished?"

Li Qing also sighed slightly. This move was indeed ruthless; they had directly choked off the supply chain. Even if Transsion rose to prominence in Africa, they wouldn't be able to deliver goods, and the situation they had opened up would collapse.

All the early investment would go down the drain, and they might as well just drop dead.

But there are so many shanzhai phones in the country; killing off one Transsion... doesn't seem to serve much purpose. Could it be that the higher-ups are planning another big move?