234: Chapter 233 AfriLink is going public

"Next month, we are preparing to launch the Southeast Asia version of the Power3.

Currently, our distribution channels are mostly built; our direct-operated stores have exceeded 1,250, and we have also diverted some of their channels, totaling about 1,500.

After work resumes, we will divert another 200.

By the end of this year, I am confident that I will knock Samsung off its pedestal."

Shen Fei didn't say anything else, only nodding slightly.

There was nothing much to report regarding the United States market; sales of the Motorola S2 had exceeded 27 million units, and it had already entered the end of its life cycle, beginning price reductions and promotions.

As long as the United States didn't ban it, the Motorola shell could continue to harvest leeks in the United States.

The last one to report was Mr. Adebayo, who had flown to China specifically yesterday.

This guy had shaved his head, was wearing a floral shirt, and looked a size bulkier than he had before the New Year.

"Boss, the Africa market has not let you down; our market share has exceeded 40%."

He held up four fingers, smiling to reveal a mouthful of white teeth.

"The specific number is 42.5%; Nokia still has 20.21% left, Samsung has about 8% left, and other brands are carving up the rest.

In Africa, we are already the absolute leader."

Shen Fei nodded, but Mr. Adebayo's expression made him feel like there was more to come.

"However..."

Sure enough, Mr. Adebayo's tone changed again.

"There is a new development."

"Speak."

Everyone in the conference room looked toward Mr. Adebayo, wanting to know what followed.

"Those software companies are starting to get ambitious again."

A set of logos appeared on the screen: T-pay, Konnect, AfriLink, and some other companies.

After Huang Tianya sold off the majority of shares in these companies, they welcomed a large batch of new strategic investors; their market share hadn't shrunk at all; on the contrary, it was growing more and more.

As the largest social media platform, AfriLink now has over 150 million registered users and has currently initiated the process of going public.

Other investors, seeing that AfriLink was going public, were also green with envy.

They teamed up to negotiate pre-installation agreements with Mr. Adebayo, using bundling methods to seize the entry point.

Of course, the most generous was Facebook, which even offered a subsidy of five dollars per phone to have Transsion pre-install their mobile version in a prime location.

After Mr. Adebayo finished speaking, the conference room was silent for a few seconds.

Pre-installation was the most important source of profit for mobile phone manufacturers.

Whoever controlled pre-installation controlled the user entry point.

The reason AfriLink was able to reach 150 million users in Africa was due to the pre-installation advantage of Transsion phones.

Now, this free GG had finally reached the moment of harvest.

"How many have you signed so far?"

"20; in order to grab users in a short period, they have dumped a massive amount of capital into pre-installation."

A hint of joy appeared on Mr. Adebayo's face.

"After all, AfriLink is going public soon. If they succeed, they can have a sip of soup; if they fail, all their investments will be in vain, so they are all competing very fiercely right now.

This has all worked out in our favor."

Mr. Adebayo's laughter became even less restrained, as a striking set of numbers appeared on the big screen.

Transsion's pre-installed software revenue in the Africa market alone was 2.78 billion US dollars.

Shen Fei also gasped; these new investors were indeed wealthy, and these people were ruthless enough.

In less than half a year, they had dumped so much money.

He just didn't know if it would affect AfriLink's valuation; although a drop in valuation wouldn't affect Huaxin's reputation—after all, they were only a small shareholder—any drop would mean a loss of real money.

Huaxin Investment still held a 16% stake; for every 100 million the valuation dropped, Huaxin's assets would shrink by 16 million.

"If they want to play, let them play to their hearts' content."

A scheme flashed through Shen Fei's mind.

"Mr. Adebayo, for GG and pre-installed software, open it up completely.

As long as they don't lose their minds fighting, then don't worry about it."

Huang Tianya immediately understood what Shen Fei meant and quickly added, "Since they want to play, we'll take a big cut.

Our main task right now is to help AfriLink complete its listing; if the results are good, we'll increase GG revenue by 30%.

By then, we can harvest a profit from the stock, and then harvest another profit from GG.

High-quality leeks are meant to be harvested twice."

Mr. Adebayo's eyes lit up: "Boss, you're about to put them on the fire to roast."

"Not roast." Shen Fei laughed. "It's stewing; slow-cooking them over a low flame until their bones are tender."

"Buying them out is harvesting leeks, but you're digging up the leek roots entirely."

"That's where you don't understand; some small companies can just be discarded."

"You all are still too shallow; you haven't grasped the Boss's meaning.

The market is mature now; how much more money can we make? We control the entry point; we can make whoever we want rise.

It's better to just cash out beautifully now, and then continue to harvest leeks from the entry point."

Laughter erupted in the conference room.

After the meeting ended, just as Shen Fei returned to his office, Professor Li Jiahui called again.

"General Manager Shen, there's some good news."

"Speak."

"The production line has been debugged almost completely; production of the Taishan 910 is going smoothly, and the current yield rate has reached 83%, half a month ahead of schedule.

At this rate, we can reach full capacity next month."

Shen Fei nodded: "Not bad."

The two production lines provided by the New Year system once again demonstrated their power, being installed directly in the original factory.

Professor Li Jiahui only needed simple debugging to start production.

"There is one more thing."

Professor Li Jiahui's voice became excited.

"I discussed it with the team, and since we have a direction, let's stop Production Line No. 3 for a while to perform a technical upgrade.

We'll skip the 20nm and 24nm intermediate nodes and go straight to 14nm."

Shen Fei considered it for a moment.

Skipping these few generations of major processes to go straight to 14nm; this decision was bold enough.

Originally, he had wanted to discuss it with Professor Li Jiahui, but he didn't expect... Truly worthy of being a Transsion employee.

"Are there any major technical problems?"

Shen Fei asked patiently; although he had seen the proposal, a proposal was one thing, and practical implementation was another...

"It's feasible."

Professor Li Jiahui's tone was very certain.

"General Manager Shen, this immersion Lithography Machine supports 14nm by default.

The document also provided multi-exposure technology; we just hadn't fully mastered the process before.

Now that the 28nm process has been run successfully, the path for 14nm has also been figured out.

As long as you give it to us, it won't be a problem."

Shen Fei considered it for a while longer.

14nm was a process that Intel only mass-produced in 2014; if Transsion could pull it off in 2012, that would be leading the world by another two years.

It's the end of the month, taking a day off!