213: Chapter 213 With the economy in a slump, shouldn't family members be understanding?

"Nakamura-san, what do we do?"

"We are still the biggest player in this industry. Should we consider..."

Nakamura Koji understood the implication: audit the patents and sue them.

Nip it in the bud!

That would inevitably lead to bad blood. He thought for a long time, considered various plans, and finally said with great reluctance: "Notify the HR department to re-evaluate the salaries of the employees in China?"

"But our headquarters here..."

"I will handle it." He stood up. "The economy is not doing well here right now, so our own people should be a little understanding. Also, find out exactly who Transsion is poaching. If they have core technology, keep them at all costs. As for those doing odd jobs..."

He hesitated for a few seconds and finally sighed.

"Let the ones doing odd jobs go. Give Transsion a favor and don't block their contracts."

Yamada Ichiro was also very surprised, but soon felt helpless.

A huge pressure weighed on his heart.

After all, there was no clear line between what constituted odd jobs and what constituted core staff.

If he really claimed that everyone going to the China market was just doing odd jobs, but then let China Star poach them, that would be aiding the enemy.

Another matter was equally important: if these rookies' salaries exceeded those of the technical talent at the Japan headquarters, it would inevitably make the employees at headquarters dissatisfied.

[Transsion Excavator Activated...]

He suddenly remembered the scene of going to China to work hard a few years ago. At that time, he had been to the Huaqiangbei market in Shenzhen, looking at the copycat phones filling the streets, and his heart was full of superiority.

No matter how much those phones imitated the exterior, the inside was still a pile of garbage.

They were miles apart from products made in Japan, right?

But now?

China had long stopped making copycat phones. They had started independent research and development, and... their semiconductor and communication sectors, which they prided themselves on, had all been crushed.

They still held some advantage in the lens industry, but now...

He suddenly remembered something an uncle of his had said.

Although that uncle had looked down on the Chinese people his whole life.

He had said: "They will catch up, and they will do it no worse than us."

Back then, he had taken those words as a joke, but now he believed it.

Meanwhile, on the other side at Transsion headquarters, in the HR department.

"Sister Meng. There are 15 people coming for interviews today. 12 are from Sony/Motorola, and three are from the Japan headquarters."

Liu Meng picked up the coffee cup on the table and swirled it.

"Have the terms been negotiated?"

"Negotiated. 2.5 times the salary. The ones from the Japan headquarters get three times the salary, and we help solve their residency permit issues."

Liu Meng nodded, took a sip of coffee, and asked:

"Those three from the Sony headquarters are absolute GGs. As long as Sony can't treat everyone fairly, the next opportunity is ours."

The poaching team leader who came to report asked with some hesitation: "Sister Meng, it's just that we don't have that much funding left. Should we apply for a special fund again?"

Liu Meng laughed heartily. She thought it was something major that made him so hesitant... It turned out to be a funding issue.

"Don't worry, the boss said to poach as many as possible; the funds are sufficient." Liu Meng smiled. "The boss said, as long as the HR department writes a requisition, no matter how much money it is, it's fine. If you have the ability to poach all of Sony's engineers, he can afford this money! And he will give you a big red envelope as a bonus."

Wang Song chuckled and silently bowed to Sony in his heart.

Look at how sincere MediaTek is, taking the initiative to offer shares. You, Sony, have been in the supply chain for so long, don't you know your own status?

"General Manager Liu, the boss's idea... is a bit ruthless!"

Liu Meng just smiled. This was fair competition; they hadn't used any underhanded tactics.

Meanwhile, those three people had already sent their employment terms back.

That's right, these three were indeed the first batch.

They had their own mission: to test the waters, to find out the authenticity of the "campaign," and to see if the benefits were real or just pie in the sky.

After all, some big shots in the department had already leaked the news after the meeting ended.

Why give those rookies in China a raise just to keep them, while here at headquarters... the real technical talent has to suffer?

Just because they are Japanese?

So... many specialized engineers were writing resumes overnight.

This place isn't even fit for a dog to stay!

...

Three days later, after Sony China announced a 10% salary increase for all engineers, a riot immediately broke out at the Japan headquarters.

37 core engineers resigned en masse.

On the same day, the Transsion Suzhou sensor factory officially made an announcement.

The 2-megapixel CMOS image sensor was now accepting bulk orders.

Transsion's announcement was issued at 10:00, and Big Mouth Yu's Weibo post was sent at 10:01:

"The honor 3 series, not just K3v1, but also brand new technology debuts."

"The honor 3 series is named this, who is it targeting? So hard to guess, right?"

"Could it be priced at 1999 again this time?"

"The honor play 2 price of 2299 made me hesitate several times. Although it has a self-developed chip and the performance improvement is very obvious, my honor play 1 is still usable..."

"The one above, this time it's the same model, the price should be back to normal!"

There was a lot of discussion on the internet, but it also made Lei Jun feel immense pressure.

Their Xiaomi 2s series had just been released not long ago, and the honor play 2 side had announced a price cut...

The two sides had barely managed to compete synchronously for a few days, and now this...

Meanwhile, Big Mouth Yu had already started rehearsing for the press conference.

The honor 3 was indeed a product benchmarking against the Xiaomi 2s and even the Xiaomi 3, but its mission did not stop there.

Its real mission was to complete the price closed loop.

The 1999 digital standard version, the 2200 honor play series, the 2500-ish digital Pro, and the 3000-yuan mate series.

There was also a P series specifically targeting the female market.

For higher price segments, Transsion would step in, and then the true price closed loop could be completed.

...

On July 8th, the honor 3 press conference was held at the Shenzhen Bay Sports Center.

At 2:00 PM, the 12,000-seat venue was completely full. This was the drawing power of Huawei today.

The entrance was surrounded by scalpers trying every means to persuade the security guards, hoping to bribe them to let some people sneak in.

The security guards were unmoved.

After all, it was easy to distinguish between quick money and a job.

However, this was something never seen before in the 2011 Chinese mobile phone circle; Honor seemed to want to make history once again.

Big Mouth Yu stood backstage, looking at the sea of heads in the audience, and a smile appeared on his face involuntarily.

This was a press conference he was about to hold...

Standing next to him was Honor President Liu Jiangfeng. Both were wearing formal suits. Liu Jiangfeng also needed to go on stage to introduce several ecosystem products at this conference.

"Old Yu, do you think Lei Jun will go crazy once this price is released today?"