76: Chapter 76: Sanxing and Pingguo Join Forces, the Vanmi Threat Theory!

Kyoto, a private room in a high-end restaurant.

Piao Qianshu and Lu Qun sat opposite each other; as competitors, it was rare for them to gather, and the atmosphere was somewhat heavy.

"The sales figures for the fanmi mobile phone are out—600,000 units in the first month, with a 20% market share in the high-end smart device market. These numbers are a bit terrifying!" Piao Qianshu glanced at Lu Qun, his voice slow yet serious.

"Heh, more than 600,000 units? That's likely just one week's sales. They've been out of stock this whole time. If their supply chain hadn't failed to keep up, those numbers would definitely be several times higher!" Lu Qun gave a self-deprecating laugh; though loath to admit it, the truth was that they had both lost.

Losing to a mobile phone company founded only half a year ago—the emergence of Fanmi was a resounding slap in the face to all the major manufacturers in the smartphone industry!

"Now their supply chain has returned to normal and they've started increasing production. Over the next six months, phone sales will likely see explosive growth, and their market share will continue to climb. I'm afraid we won't have a chance this year..."

"It's likely not just this year. As their Second-generation Fast Charging Technology and self-developed system continue to gain traction, it's predictable that the next phone's impact won't be any less than the current one. Next year's new model will still be our strongest rival!"

Piao Qianshu shook his head with a bitter smile; he was still framing this in terms of the best-case scenario. In reality, following the current trend, the popularity of the fanmi mobile phone would surely reach an even higher peak next year. By then, it was uncertain whether Samsung or Apple would even have the chance to be its competitor.

The technological gap is too wide; as long as nothing goes wrong with the technical team behind Fanmi, there's nothing they can do!

It wasn't that he hadn't thought about poaching from Fanmi, but poaching ordinary technicians wouldn't mean much, and poaching core technical personnel was simply impossible given the current trend.

Apple is fine since they have their own self-developed system, but we at Samsung don't. The gap in systems is massive, not to mention the Second-generation Fast Charging Technology.

"We must find a way, otherwise the fanmi mobile phone will truly dominate the market alone, and our products' competitiveness will continue to decline!" Lu Qun's expression grew increasingly grim.

"Do you have any ideas?" Piao Qianshu looked at Lu Qun, his tone serious.

The reason the two were gathered here was something they both understood perfectly. They had been competitors in the past and still had reservations, but now they truly had to unite to oppose Fanmi.

"Their strongest competitive advantages are cost-effectiveness and the iteration speed of their core technology. Only by finding a way to counter these two points will there be a glimmer of hope! My idea is to suppress their chips..." Lu Qun also looked at Piao Qianshu, not hiding the plan he had been pondering.

"Chips? You mean, regarding Likely a semiconductor company name..." Piao Qianshu's gaze narrowed slightly. "With our influence, it will be difficult to sway them!"

Currently, for high-end smartphone chip processors, besides Samsung and Apple having their own self-developed chip architectures, only Likely a semiconductor company name remains. Since Fanmi's chips are also from Likely a semiconductor company name, if they want to suppress the chips, they clearly have to start with Likely a semiconductor company name.

"It is indeed difficult. To put it bluntly, Likely a semiconductor company name isn't someone we can influence. Moreover, to them, Fanmi isn't a competitor but a partner. Normally, the more fanmi mobile phones sell, the more chips they sell. It's impossible for them to cooperate with us to suppress Fanmi, but the situation is different now!"

"You mean... their self-developed system?" Piao Qianshu was a smart man; hearing Lu Qun speak, he immediately caught the key point.

"Exactly. Although Apple has its own self-developed system and chips, the core architecture is still based on RAM design, so it doesn't affect the interests of that biggest giant! Fanmi is different. Not only is their self-developed system not based on the RAM architecture, but they've even developed their own Instruction Set Architecture called Lingxi. Tell me... what would that biggest giant think?"

Lu Qun smiled for the first time tonight, and a hint of ease crept into his voice.

He had long noticed that Fanmi's current development strategy was close to affecting the interests of the biggest Western giants; it just hadn't drawn their attention yet.

Sometimes... the best way to get a massive interest group to take something seriously is to make them perceive a loss of interest. Naturally, they will take action.

"You mean... a Public Opinion War!"

A light gradually flickered in Piao Qianshu's eyes as he instantly understood Lu Qun's idea. A Public Opinion War can be a double-edged sword, just like when they previously launched a campaign to suppress Fanmi, only to end up suffering the consequences themselves.

But he knew this time was different!

"Exactly. What we need to do is very simple: just stir up a Threat Theory about Fanmi against the Western giants!"

"Once the plan succeeds, no matter how much technological innovation Fanmi's second-generation phone has, it won't matter; whether it can even be released will be a question! Even the Fanmi 1 will face a chip supply cutoff. At that point, they will naturally be beyond saving!"

Lu Qun spoke with full confidence, as if he could already see that day arriving.

"But what if they develop their own chips?" A smile also appeared on Piao Qianshu's face, though he still cautiously raised another possibility.

"Then they'll only die faster!" Lu Qun sneered.

Hearing this, Piao Qianshu also smiled and shook his head.

He also knew that was impossible. If Fanmi truly developed its own chips along with its own system, that would be a direct challenge to the authority of the Western giants. The ensuing technological blockade would absolutely ensure they could never recover.

"This strategy is good, but whether Fanmi will develop its own chips is unknown, and the reaction from the Western giants likely won't be that fast. We still need to take some preventive measures and not let them develop so easily!" Piao Qianshu had always been a cautious man, and he immediately spoke in a low voice.

"Aren't they working on Second-generation Fast Charging Technology? We'll start from other directions. Your camera technology is currently leading, especially since Fanmi lacks an advantage after you cut off their supply. We can use this as an entry point to suppress the hype for their second-generation phone!"

"Mm, this method is good. Additionally, they only have online sales right now. We can target them with offline activities; reclaiming some market share won't be a problem!"

"..."

The two discussed a series of specific plans to suppress Fanmi further.

"Then, here's to our success!" As the meal came to an end, Piao Qianshu stood up and raised his glass.

"Only by going with the flow can one become strong. Fanmi is too arrogant!" Lu Qun smiled.

The two clinked glasses and drained the red wine in one gulp.