167: Chapter 167: A Vanmi 2 Phone Appears on the Battlefield?

California, the top-floor conference room of Google headquarters.

The long mahogany table was filled with board members in suits, each with a sales data report for the fanmi 2 spread out in front of them.

Eric Smith stood before the floor-to-ceiling window, his fingertips tapping unconsciously against the glass; his face reflected on the windowpane was so grim it could drip water.

"Three million units sold in twenty-four hours!!" The Chief Strategy Officer pushed a tablet to the center of the table, the red numbers pulsing on the screen like thorns stabbing into everyone's eyes. "Our market share in the China region has been eroded by Fanmi to 37%, and our android licensing revenue has plummeted by 41% year-on-year."

A collective gasp echoed through the conference room.

Since the launch of android, such data had never appeared before...

In their view, it was simply inconceivable!

Someone pressed their pen heavily onto a notebook, the ink bleeding into an ugly black blotch: "This is impossible! Their supply chain was clearly cut off; we watched the supply termination agreement with TSMC being signed with our own eyes!"

"The trouble goes deeper than that." Eric turned around and projected an announcement from Haicheng Microelectronics onto the wall.

"The Chinese have developed a 45nm Lithography Machine, and their first completely domestically manufactured chip has already been produced!"

"Boom—"

The conference room instantly erupted into chaos.

Someone stood up abruptly, the legs of their chair screeching against the floor: "This is absolutely a rumor! Are ASML's patented technology barriers made of paper? How could they possibly jump from 90nm to 45nm in half a year?"

"The technical evaluation team has already confirmed it." Google's chief technology officer adjusted his glasses, his voice filled with unconcealable surprise.

"The yield rate of that 'Qiankun' chip is said to have reached 85.3%, and there are no issues with circuit integrity. What's even more terrifying is..." He paused, his tone becoming incredibly serious, "The technology they used is almost entirely self-developed; for instance, their composite ceramic bearings have completely independent technology patents!"

Eric turned around suddenly, his tone not exactly pleasant.

"Patent barriers? The technological moat we spent decades building has now been pierced by an obscure Chinese company?"

"At least I thought it shouldn't have been that easy for them?"

Eric suppressed his inner anger, though his tone remained incredibly grave.

"What should we do now? Just watch them snatch away the entire market? With their current popularity, if they open up distribution channels, it would be easy for them to open a store in the US, or even right across from our company, wouldn't it?"

"We must come up with a way to curb their development!!"

Eric hadn't paid much attention to Fanmi initially; after all, it was just a small Chinese company that didn't warrant his personal intervention. But the situation was different now; the popularity of the fanmi 2 made him feel threatened. Most importantly, the successful development of the Chinese 45nm Lithography Machine meant that his previously infallible methods were now ineffective.

Fanmi would be completely uncontrollable from here on out.

What was fatal was that they seemed to have no better way to restrict them!!

"Perhaps we can start with equipment; they still have to use our country's components, right..." the Sales Director sitting at the end of the table suddenly spoke up.

"Not enough!" Eric interrupted him, his eyes sharp as an eagle's. "We must make those gentlemen at the White House understand that this isn't a commercial competition, but a war of technological sovereignty. I want to see a comprehensive ban against Fanmi Technology on the Department of Commerce's desk."

He turned back to scan the board members, who all wore grim expressions.

"Remember, we are not suppressing a company; we are preventing the Chinese from holding the key to the Fourth Industrial Revolution. By tomorrow morning, we had better see all our allies follow suit with sanctions. If we don't put in the effort now, we might not have another chance later!"

The mahogany door slammed shut. Some frowned, while others muttered to themselves, "He's crazy. Is he trying to go to all-out war with Fanmi..."

"I have to admit, that small company called Fanmi is indeed very impressive; Eric's concerns are not without reason..."

"But in such a short time, it will be very difficult to persuade the higher-ups to issue a sanctions order!"

"We can only try now; maybe the head of the Department of Commerce just happens to be waiting for someone to bring this up?"

"..."

After a brief exchange, the conference room fell silent once more.

...

Inside the white building, the office of the Department of Commerce.

Carlos Reis pushed a thick stack of documents to the corner of his desk.

These covers were all stamped with the word "URGENT." The names of Silicon Valley giants like Likely a semiconductor company name, Intel, and Google appeared in a cluster like flies, but the content was identical: a demand to place Fanmi Technology on the entity list and prohibit any technical exchanges related to mobile phone manufacturing.

"Another small Chinese company?" He picked up the briefing his secretary had just delivered, a sneer curling his lips.

"These people are truly insane. Do they want us to sign a ban order over a mobile phone?"

"That's making too much of a fuss!"

Just then, the encrypted phone on his desk rang suddenly; the special ringtone made Carlos's expression instantly turn grave.

He pressed the answer button, and the urgent voice of a CIA special agent came through the receiver: "Mr. Secretary, an emergency situation has arisen on the front line, and I think it's necessary for you to know!"

"What's the situation? Which road was bombed this time?" Carlos rubbed his temples; recent war reports always gave him a headache.

He also found it strange; he was in charge of the Department of Commerce, so how could news from the battlefield reach him?

It was quite a rarity.

"Our people found some mobile phones on the battlefield. The signal is excellent, and the enemy seems to be using these phones as communication devices now. Our jammers often fail to work, so the Commander-in-Chief wants to know what exactly is going on with this phone?"

"Please investigate which manufacturer produced this phone and give them a little warning!"

Carlos frowned, a bad premonition suddenly rising in his heart. "What phone?"

"It should be called the fanmi 2." The special agent took a deep breath.

"Clang!" The pen in Carlos's hand dropped to the floor.

"The fanmi 2 phone has appeared on the battlefield?" He hurriedly confirmed again.

"That's correct!"

"...Understood!"

Carlos fell silent, and it was a good while before he spoke in a deep voice.

After hanging up the phone, he immediately picked up the documents that had been pushed to the corner, his eyes filled with gravity.

"Fanmi Technology... fanmi 2... it has actually already affected the battlefield? What exactly does this company want to do? Are they delusional enough to want to interfere in the war?"

When the secretary pushed the door open, she happened to see Carlos looking through the documents with a solemn expression.

"Mr. Secretary, it looks like something very important has happened?" The secretary asked cautiously, seeing Carlos's serious expression.

"Call the Presidential Palace." He was silent for a moment before speaking, his voice somewhat hoarse.

"Yes!" The secretary was startled. It was serious enough to require consulting with the Presidential Palace; it must be a big deal... She quickly picked up the phone on the desk.