476: Chapter 476 Intercepting Lu Weibin

"If one day we push things too far and open up all our technology to those partners, the entire Chinese tech sector will be further elevated by then."

"By then, the entire United States won't have a chance to compete."

"Who will bear that consequence?"

This statement instantly left Richard unable to retort, and it also ignited a small spark in Cook's heart.

Perhaps he should move the headquarters to Shenzhen. Although every inch of land there is worth its weight in gold, he believed they would still be willing to squeeze out a few hundred acres for Apple to build its headquarters.

As for Richard, he was still there contemplating a counterargument. After all, he was very clear that the previous sanctions were not just thunderous warnings with little rain, but were truly executed with full power.

They had even come close to a real conflict!

But the bit of strength China displayed ultimately turned all those sanctions into a joke—all thunder and no rain!

So, it wasn't that they didn't want to strike a fatal blow; it was that they truly couldn't?

All of Transsion's core technologies were in its own hands, not in the hands of the United States. Every move they made felt like punching cotton.

After a standoff that lasted a while, Richard finally deflated.

"We will report this matter to the President."

...

The action was swift; that afternoon, the US Department of Commerce website quietly released an announcement.

"After a comprehensive and prudent national security assessment, this cooperation between Apple and Transsion has been specially approved. This is also a model of upholding the principle of an open market and promoting global fair competition."

Although it was written in high-sounding language, everyone knew clearly that this was by no means an open market.

This was clearly a case of being unable to win and having to bow one's head.

Under absolute technological hegemony, it didn't even count as a fig leaf.

...

On the other side, at Transsion headquarters, Shen Fei was listening to Dave Burke's onboarding report.

This former second-in-command of Android had brought Shen Fei a huge gift the moment he arrived!

He didn't come to take office alone; he also brought over 20 core deputies, essentially hollowing out their middle management.

Moreover, he hadn't forgotten his work during these days; he had already developed an overseas Full-screen Display ecosystem adaptation plan, and the results were quite good!

At this moment, Huang Tianya pushed the door open and walked in with a sly grin on his face.

"Boss, I just received some news. The final payment from Xiaomi has arrived, this time it's 2 billion USD. Lei Jun has posted another Weibo, stating that they will go all-out in the mid-to-high-end market."

"And he has already commissioned a headhunter to contact Gionee's Lu Weibin, wanting to poach him to take charge of the Redmi and Xiaomi phone businesses, while Lei Jun shifts his focus entirely to car manufacturing and smart home businesses."

Shen Fei's attention immediately shifted from Dave Burke to Huang Tianya's report. Lu Weibin—he had a deep impression of this man, or rather, he really appreciated this talent.

He had thought about poaching him before, but had forgotten after getting busy!

However, Lu Weibin was indeed worth keeping in mind. As the president of Gionee and the operator of its overseas business, he had a deep understanding of emerging markets and strong execution capabilities; he was a rare talent for leadership.

Furthermore, he loved to spar with Xiaomi! He often scolded Lei Jun to the point where he couldn't retort!

Unfortunately, he was trapped on Gionee, a sinking ship, unable to put his skills to use.

"Lu Weibin is a talent; he cannot fall into Xiaomi's hands." Shen Fei put down his pen. "Make arrangements for tomorrow; I will go to Gionee's headquarters myself to meet him."

"We absolutely cannot let Xiaomi get him!"

"Understood, I'll go right away!" Huang Tianya also smiled instantly; it seemed the two of them had thought of the same idea again.

...

Futian, Shenzhen, Gionee headquarters building. Unlike the bustle at Transsion, it seemed a bit desolate here.

Although there was a receptionist at the front desk, when Shen Fei arrived, the receptionist was looking down, clearly busy scrolling on her phone.

The corporate promotional posters on the wall featured a few more Smartphones, but they mostly emphasized the partnership with China Unicom.

After all, aside from the carrier channels, Gionee really didn't have much say in the online and offline markets!

In the top-floor president's office, Lu Weibin had just hung up on some suppliers calling to demand payment.

After all, these guys knew clearly that Gionee was on the verge of collapse, so they were all thinking about getting their money back.

The ashtray on Lu Weibin's desk was already piled high with cigarette butts, and a heavy smell of smoke permeated his desk.

Once upon a time, Gionee was also the leader in the era of domestic Feature phones.

He joined Gionee in 2010, hoping to use this platform to do something big, lead the company through its transformation into Smartphones, and make a name for himself.

But reality slid step by step into the abyss: there was constant infighting among the management, and the boss, Liu Lirong, had a wandering mind—one moment investing in real estate, the next dabbling in finance, while the R&D budget for the main business was slashed again and again.

By the time the company realized it needed to go all-out on Smartphones, the domestic market had long been taken by Honor and Transsion; as for the offline market, the stores had long been swallowed up by Blue and Green.

As for expanding overseas... many markets were swallowed up by Transsion, coerced by their force! [Shen Fei: Don't slander people; that was free trade!]

Now he also had thoughts of running away, not because of the news Xiaomi released about poaching him, but because of last month's financial report!

The company had a net loss of over 1 billion in a single quarter, the longest supplier payment term had been delayed for half a year, and three bank loans were due next month, totaling about 1.5 billion.

With Gionee's current cash flow, it was impossible to fill this hole. As the nominal president of the group, he was actually no longer promoting new products, but running around putting out fires everywhere.

Just as he was worrying, his secretary knocked lightly on the door.

"President Lu, President Shen from Transsion is here!"

"Shen Fei?"

"Yes, he made an appointment yesterday in advance, but logistics forgot to tell you!"

Lu Weibin stood up hurriedly. This bunch of idiots was truly hopeless; after all, they could treat such a big event as a friendly competitor coming to visit as nothing. It showed just how rotten Gionee had become.

"I will go down to welcome him personally!" Suppressing the excitement in his heart, Lu Weibin hurried up. Meanwhile, Shen Fei and his group had already headed to the reception room, while Huang Tianya's occupational disease flared up again. He planned to take a look to see how much residual value this company still had. If nothing else, he would just acquire them directly.

"President Lu, come and sit!"

When Lu Weibin pushed the door open and entered, he saw such a magical scene: Shen Fei was sitting casually, brewing tea, as if he were the owner of this company, and he, Lu Weibin, was the one visiting today.

"President Lu, sorry for the intrusion. Have a cup of tea first and taste my brewing skills!"

"Thank you, President Shen!"

The status between the two was thus inexplicably settled.

But before long, Shen Fei suddenly mentioned the incident from two years ago.

"Regarding the Southeast Asia market back then, I only saw the report later. That person in charge of yours was indeed not very clean!"

This instantly evoked Lu Weibin's memory. Saw it later? If he wasn't mistaken, Shen Fei had personally gone to inspect that market at the time, right?

"President Shen is right!"