479: Chapter 479 Gionee's Rumors

"Can you do it?"

Department Head Liu De hesitated slightly. After all, this was a drone; if something went wrong, it could crash, and then it would become a joke.

But Lei Jun had approved a budget of 2 billion for him. If he couldn't build it without money, that was one thing, but if he couldn't build it with money, wouldn't that make him a failure?

So, he nodded seriously.

Seeing his reaction, Lei Jun continued:

"In that case, let's set a small goal: within a year, we will exceed DJI in sales and capture half of the domestic consumer drone market.

I want everyone to know that Xiaomi isn't just capable of following behind Transsion; we can open up new battlefields and define the rules ourselves."

Applause erupted in the conference room. All the executives wore relaxed smiles; without Transsion, that troublemaker, how could they not succeed?

Among everyone present, only Lin Bin frowned, feeling a faint sense of unease in his heart.

He had read the industry reports; DJI had accumulated technology in flight control, gimbals, and image transmission for a long time, held over 30% of the global market share, and possessed patents.

The technical barriers were high; it wasn't something that could be easily shaken just by stacking specs and fighting a price war.

However, Old Lei had finally returned to the state he was in during the early days of his startup, and Lin Bin didn't have the heart to speak out, so he ultimately swallowed his words.

...

Meanwhile, at Transsion headquarters, Li Qing walked into Shen Fei's office with a report.

"General Manager Shen, according to reports from our people, Xiaomi has established a drone division and is preparing to enter the consumer drone market."

Drones? Hearing this familiar name, Shen Fei suddenly grinned.

He knew very clearly that in his previous life, the consumer drone market had been very quiet, but ever since a certain competitor entered, things started to get chaotic.

It made DJI extremely annoyed!

Later, during a live stream held by Lei Jun, their drone performed an 'iconic scene of the century.' It seemed this final startup attempt would be quite entertaining.

"General Manager Shen, should we enter the market too?"

Although Li Qing didn't know what Shen Fei was laughing at, he knew clearly that Xiaomi's startup attempt this time would likely add another pile of jokes to the industry.

"Let's not enter for now. Just send this news to DJI. Also, have Huang Tianya invest a bit more money! In addition, pull a team from your side to help DJI with their marketing! Their marketing is truly unwatchable."

After saying this, Shen Fei displayed a look of disdain.

Although technology can conquer everything, but... before Xiaomi's drone crashes, it's best to help them as much as possible.

"Understood, I'll arrange for people to go right away."

Li Qing also wore a smile identical to Shen Fei's; after all, DJI's marketing was indeed prone to putting them at a disadvantage.

Just as Shen Fei learned that Xiaomi was about to launch a new round of startup ventures, at the Gionee headquarters building in Futian, Shenzhen, Liu Lirong sat in what used to be Lu Weibin's chair, flying into a rage.

After all, his chief steward was gone, and he had no way to siphon off money!

After he finished venting his anger, the PR director on the side finally said with a worried expression:

"General Manager Liu, now that General Manager Wu has left, the mobile phone business is completely unmanaged, and things overseas are even more chaotic. The suppliers are pressing for payments again, and three bank loans are due next month. We are currently..."

"What are you panicking about?"

Liu Lirong interrupted him, stubbed out his cigar in the ashtray, and suddenly laughed:

"Lu Weibin leaving is not a bad thing! It's a good thing."

"A good thing?"

The PR director hadn't kept up with his line of thought and asked, somewhat confused.

"What do you know?"

Liu Lirong stood up, looking at the resignation letter, his eyes filled with a hint of calculation.

"This mess that Gionee is in right now, even a god couldn't save it. Instead of waiting to be liquidated, it's better to make one last haul. I was already trying to figure out a way. Now, the opportunity has come."

"Transsion has poached our group president and our core employees. What is this? This is unfair competition; this is malicious headhunting."

He turned around, his tone carrying a hint of excitement.

"We will use this pretext to make a big scene. We can gain sympathy, sway public opinion, and demand a settlement fee from Transsion. If that doesn't work, we can package the company as a victim, find some sucker to take it over, and sell it for a good price."

The PR director originally wanted to say that Transsion had connections and the plan probably wouldn't work, but upon hearing the subsequent arrangements, he felt it seemed feasible!

So what if Shen Fei had a father-in-law and leaders watching him? Unfair competition should be punished.

So he hurriedly began to flatter Liu Lirong:

"Brilliant! General Manager Liu is brilliant. I'll go arrange the press conference for this afternoon and notify all the media to attend."

...

That afternoon, Gionee held an impromptu press conference.

Liu Lirong specifically found a wrinkled black suit, wore a haggard expression on his face, stood in front of the conference stage, and spoke tearfully to all the media in the audience.

"Members of the media, thank you for coming. I've troubled you all to make this trip because of some matters at our company. But I have no choice; I am truly heartbroken today. Gionee Mobile has been in business for over 10 years and is considered a senior in the industry, but we have never used our position to suppress others; instead, we have done business honestly. But I never expected that the other party would use their capital and connections to launch an unscrupulous crackdown on us."

At this point, he raised his hand to wipe the corner of his eye, his voice filled with choked sobs:

"As early as two years ago, they were maliciously dumping at low prices in overseas markets, stealing our channels, and targeting our supply chain. We never publicized these things because our skills were inferior, and that was something we had to endure. We thought our weakness would let this matter pass! But the enemy did not stop because of our retreat; instead, they became even more aggressive."

Seeing this, he broke down in tears instantly.

At the same time, a reporter at the scene immediately called Li Qing.

"Sister Li, is this true? Should we publish..."

"Pure rumor! We will issue an official statement later. Whether you publish it depends on your leadership, but Transsion will definitely hold them accountable."

"I understand!"

After hanging up, Li Qing's PR department and legal department immediately began to coordinate.

Meanwhile, at the scene, Liu Lirong had finished wiping away his tears and continued:

"Yesterday, they not only poached our group president but also poached all our diligent R&D personnel. They are trying to force Gionee to its death, trying to form an industry monopoly, and trying to destroy the entire ecosystem of the domestic mobile phone industry."

"I am calling on regulatory authorities to intervene and investigate, and I call on our peers to unite. We cannot let Transsion become the sole dominant power and do whatever it wants."

After the press conference ended, the reporters did not investigate; they directly published the press release because Liu Lirong fit the image of a victim!

They needed to help such a person uphold justice.

Besides, the gossip-loving public loves this kind of drama, and of course, they could take the opportunity to collect another payment.