Reinventing the Millennium

Because of Sogou's independent operation and the intervention of Yike Department, Baidu launched a decisive counterattack, directly cutting off the source of Yike Department's search traffic, and even prepared the press release in advance.

However, many media did report on this situation, and Zhihu, which was implicated, was also furious, mostly criticizing Baidu for its unreasonable competition. However, Yike was very quiet, with only a brief official statement saying We have noticed the relevant situation and will communicate and resolve it.

Is this still the same Yike who frequently files lawsuits abroad, dragging LG to ban sales, naming Nokia, angrily criticizing Microsoft, and refuting ITC?

It's too gentle.

Mr. Fang, stop pretending and come out quickly!

However, for two consecutive days, Yike remained calm and calm. It promoted business when it should be promoted, connected resources when it should be connected, and invested in promotion when it should be invested in promotion.

Yi Ke, who remained quiet, did not dissuade his opponent's attack. Instead, news came out on Tuesday night that Penguin had adjusted Penguin Weibo's personnel levels and increased its budget. This was almost regarded as a joint attack by BTA against Y.

A new question appears on Zhihu - Why is BAT besieging Y?

Soon, this question was revised - Why did Y besiege BAT?

Finally, it was revised back, and many smart people appeared in the answer area.

On Wednesday, Google CEO Schmidt ended his trip to Beijing and flew to Shanghai to visit his old friend Fang Zhuo.

By the way, he also brought a gift to Mr. Fang - a copy of Time magazine, with the cover of Fang Zhuo, the head of Yike.

Long time no see, even miss you.

When Schmidt and Fang Zhuo finished greeting and everyone else left the office, Schmidt took out the gift and asked: "Mr. Fang, why are you being shorted and sued in the United States, but still being prosecuted in China?" Siege? Whose problem is it?"

"Long time no see, Schmidt, you are still so..." Fang Zhuo looked through the gift, "Well, so outspoken."

"So, Google may have to withdraw from the Chinese market." Schmidt shrugged, "Look at the difference. The United States can tolerate Yike and can overturn the ITC's ban on Yike."

Fang Zhuo put down Time magazine, which had both criticized and criticized him, and pointed at his secretary: "Xiao Liu, you go out first, I want to have a fight with Schmidt."

Liu Zonghong was slightly stunned. Seeing that his boss was serious, he gave the guest some tea and turned to leave the office.

Then, he really vaguely heard the strong wind and rain inside.

When he was called into the president's office again, Liu Zonghong noticed that the gift brought by the CEO of Google had been thrown on the sofa, and there was still an end to the relationship between the two.

"How dare I ask you to help? It's okay if you, surnamed Fang, don't do anything to cause trouble." Schmidt mocked, "You are really to blame for yourself. If Google develops smoothly, how can you be so confidently interrupted by Baidu?"

Fang Zhuo retorted: "You Schmidt don't support Li Kaifu, the server is not good, and the budget is not enough. No wonder Li Kaifu has to leave, no wonder he can't do localization well. Isn't this the right thing? I really don't know who is to blame." .”

Liu Zonghong passed between the two people's sight silently and added hot water again.

The harmonious exchange between Fang Zhuo and Schmidt ended.

Schmidt's main purpose for coming here is really to see his friends. Since the Yike Financial War, although the phone calls have been smooth, Mr. Fang really doesn't seem to be going to the United States.

"Mr. Fang, if you don't come to the United States, we won't be able to communicate in time on many things. Although it's a little dangerous for you there, if you do a good job of security, you won't have to stay here in Shanghai." Schmidt shouted. He took two sips of tea that didn't quite suit his taste and said with a smile.

"I am planning to complete Yike's mobile services in China, fill the gap of Google's Android system for users, and then have a good rest. It happened that a friend gave me... a yacht and I will take it when the time comes. Travel around the world." Fang Zhuo also smiled.

Liu Zonghong, who was standing next to him, was listening to the conversation. He wondered if there was something wrong with his own mentality. He always felt that the two men were still talking with guns and sticks.

“It’s not easy to provide mobile services well.” Although Schmidt hasn’t met Mr. Fang for a while, he is still used to communicating with him like this. “However, China’s 3G market has just begun. With Yike’s experience in the global market and It’s really possible to make Google’s templates.”

Fang Zhuo joked: "Wait until Yike completes China's market well, and then go overseas to join forces with Google."

Schmidt smoothly pointed out the caution of the person in front of him: "We have to wait until you dare to fly abroad."

"It's just that it's not convenient for me to go to the United States for the time being." Fang Zhuo said disapprovingly, "I just came back from Germany yesterday. You guys in the United States are so unpredictable. Should I go to the head office somewhere else?"

Schmidt was startled and didn't see any news. Did Mr. Fang just come back from abroad?

Liu Zonghong silently learned from his boss's nonsense.

Schmidt digested the news for a while, then frowned and said, "I heard that Yike is negotiating with Qualcomm for next year's chip procurement?"

"The news is quite good. This is indeed the case." Fang Zhuo confirmed the news, "We hope to continue our cooperation with Qualcomm and continue to install its chips on the S series."

"Where's Apple?" Schmidt heard Mr. Fang talk about the chip projects that Yike, Apple, and Samsung had cooperated with. Previously, Yike and Apple had each acquired chip design companies, and coupled with Samsung's consistent chip design capabilities, it seemed that It is a collaboration between the three most dynamic mobile phone companies in the world.

He looks forward at this point in time. With the development of 3G smartphones, these three companies have unanimously chosen to enhance the strength of their chip departments in the past period of time.

"You should ask Steve Jobs about this. Didn't he come back to take charge of the work?" Fang Zhuo pondered, "If nothing else happens, Apple will definitely install a new chip next year. Samsung will use Android to transform, and Apple is very eager to reduce Proportion of purchasing at Samsung.”

He took the initiative and continued: "As for Samsung, I really can't say for sure. It can develop self-developed chips, but it may also continue to deepen cooperation with Qualcomm. You, the CEO of Google, should know this."

The relationship between the three mobile phone companies is somewhat complicated. Samsung is an important parts supplier to Apple and a competitor of Android and Apple systems respectively. Yike has patent licensing cooperation with Samsung. Samsung covets Yike's status as the king of Android phones. Yike It competes most directly with Apple, but this year it just joined forces with Nokia...

Schmidt sat in Yike's office and expressed caution: "Mr. Fang, the development momentum of Yike's mobile phones is very good. Maybe you don't have to be so anxious to reduce cooperation with Qualcomm."

"Selfy's sales are very good. We think it can bring out the performance of Qualcomm's flagship chip in the future. If Yike only has one mobile phone, we will continue to cooperate with Qualcomm without hesitation." Fang Zhuo said with a smile, "But , as the company expands in scale, it will still have to take advantage of its upstream and downstream cost advantages in the future to continue to remain competitive."

He thought for a while and gave another reason: "After all, Android is open source and parts can be purchased. As the top brand of our Android camp, Yike mobile phone needs to be better."

This year, Yike launched Selfy, which is positioned as the sub-flagship of imaging. It has also achieved very good sales due to its leading algorithm and technical cooperation with Sony.

As long as the 45nm mass production of Ice Core in the third quarter goes smoothly, the Sony CMOS sensor of Shanghai Factory 2 will be further optimized, thus continuing to boost Selfy’s image performance.

Yike's internal analysis of product positioning shows that imaging demand may not be a long-term demand for a mobile phone, but in the future, multimedia applications based on 3G or even 4G will greatly promote the sales of products with this positioning.

When Schmidt heard this reason, although it was high-sounding, he was really amazed that the other party could always plan and develop the current situation. He thought for a while and sighed: "Mr. Fang, you really want to become China's three-star Yes."

Apple will not think about integrating and developing the semiconductor foundry link. Samsung’s industry chain in this area is more complete.

"According to local conditions, Samsung is indeed good. I'm just looking for a development path suitable for Yike." Fang Zhuo said with a smile, "After all, Apple doesn't have to worry about OEMs. It can use whoever is good. Maybe, it depends on us in the future. The ice core technology and price are acceptable, and the order will be placed with me.”

Schmidt was surprised when he heard this: "Has Steve Jobs contacted you?"

"Schmidt, we are just friends reunited, let's chat casually, don't let the wind be the rain, don't be so arrogant." Fang Zhuo shook his head, "Even if Apple launches self-developed chips next year, the level of self-research will not be too high. If you rely on Samsung as an OEM, why would you want to talk to me at this time?"

He thought for a while and then said: "We are actually talking about a joint acquisition, which is about baseband."

For the chip project that the three companies collaborated on, the chip design basis is Samsung's S5PC100 - which is also the CPU of Apple's iPhone 3GS this year. Some of the core technologies come from Yike's Hummingbird team, and some of the magic modifications come from Apple's Intrinsity team.

Such successive cooperation started before Hummingbird was acquired by Yike. It has been more than two years since then, and some technical verification was carried out on S5PC100 before it was finally considered a success.

Currently, Samsung has internally named the new generation chip Exynos 4210.

Apple will continue to polish the chip to make it more suitable for the next generation iPhone. If nothing else, this chip will be Apple's A4.

Within Yike, the name of this chip that also needs to continue to be polished is "Zhurong", with the English code name ZR 001.

The cooperation between the three companies on chips has ended, but Yike has launched a new cooperation proposal based on Infineon's baseband business, and wants to invite Apple and Samsung to package and acquire Infineon's chip business and continue to develop in this field.

Because of the financial crisis, Infineon has always wanted to package and sell the wireless solutions department WLS, which is its wireless chip department, mainly involving baseband processors, power management integrated circuits and other solutions.

Yu Hong talked with Infineon for a long time on behalf of Yike. The other party initially offered 2 billion euros, then cut it to 1.5 billion, and then 1.4 billion, but Yike quoted 1.15 billion.

The two sides have been unable to reach a consensus, and the negotiations have dragged on and gone silent.

However, Infineon shopped around the world and never found an interested buyer, so it sat down again and cut off another 100 million, bringing the price to 1.3 billion euros.

Yike hopes to negotiate this deal, but the purpose of the acquisition is still technology research. It would be better if it can attract partners to commit to joint research and development.

Both Apple and Samsung are hesitant. The former is using Infineon's baseband, and the latter is also doing the same for some of its mobile phones. However, whether it needs to be acquired and then invested in research and development... this is still a question.

Samsung used Qualcomm’s flagship chip this year and found the effect to be quite good. It is not particularly eager for Infineon’s technology.

In comparison, Apple is more enthusiastic.

The three companies both cooperate and compete, and the relationship is relatively delicate, because brands such as Nokia, Motorola, and Sony Ericsson still have a large market. Fang Zhuo hopes to promote an important cooperation again based on this situation.

However, because of Infineon's touting, Qualcomm also knew the situation and had euphemistically expressed dissatisfaction.

Fang Zhuo really wanted to go to the United States to talk to Qualcomm about this dissatisfaction in person, but due to his special situation, he could only ask his partners to forgive him.

Schmidt didn't know everything about this kind of thing behind the scenes. However, Google's relationship with Samsung has gradually become closer in the past few months, and he also vaguely knew the outline.

Today, he wanted to know some more precise behind-the-scenes information about the mobile phone from Mr. Fang, and there was also a consideration related to Google - whether to make the mobile phone himself, and how to make the mobile phone.

On the way here, Schmidt was still hesitating whether to talk to Mr. Fang about this plan, but now he felt that this person was still honest to a certain extent, not to mention the vicious vision.

"Mr. Fang, what do you think about Google's end of making mobile phones?" Schmidt said while drinking tea.

Fang Zhuo was stunned for a moment, this question was really surprising at this time.

It is not difficult to understand that Google wants to make mobile phones. The software system wants it. Now that Android phones are booming, the hardware also wants it. However, it has not been successful in history.

Now put this question in front of yourself...

Fang Zhuo changed his mind and asked: "Do you still want to OEM? Yike can provide products based on Google's requirements, so Google won't have to build another factory of its own, right?"

He took advantage of the situation and promoted: "Schmidt, if Google is willing, I think there is a very good entry point now. Google can get involved in our joint acquisition of Infineon baseband. This will have a great impact on the future of Google and Android." There’s a bonus to influence.”

Schmidt frowned, not yet sure whether to make a mobile phone. President Fang directly pointed the issue to the baseband input, which is another direction.

"Google can do it, you can design it yourself, and Yike can help with the manufacturing and quality control." Fang Zhuo didn't help make the decision, "Google can do it, and if you don't do it, Android is still developing well."

However, he noticed Schmidt's look and continued: "Android is open source, and every manufacturer will make modifications. If a native Android appears on the market, consumers will be better aware of the original nature of the Android system. His appearance doesn’t seem to be a bad thing.”

"Google can use it as a showcase for native systems and as a showcase for software development."

Schmidt concentrated, thought noncommittally for a while, and then said: "We will discuss it internally. As for the baseband you just mentioned, forget it."

Fang Zhuo was a little regretful: "You can talk to Larry when you go back. I think baseband will be more and more important to manufacturers in the future. Google has such a choice in its mind, which is also beneficial to cooperation with many manufacturers."

Schmidt smiled and did not respond to this.

He put aside his official duties and chatted with Yi Ke, the leader who was already somewhat of a myth on Wall Street, about his reaction after being exposed to the financial war...

Without exception, they were all shocked.

In addition to the ups and downs of financial market stimulation, many people have also noticed that Yike's patent problems seem to have been solved.

Let’s not talk about the looming behind-the-scenes power and money transactions. Let’s just say that if Mr. Fang had planned Yike’s patent as a purpose in the financial battle from the beginning... that would be amazing.

Schmidt curiously asked the head of Yike this time on behalf of a group of people: "Mr. Fang, the patent problem Yike faced before was very serious. Did you consider solving this from the beginning of the financial war in March and April? ?”

When Fang Zhuo heard such a question, he laughed: "How is that possible? Schmidt, you think of me too much."

He shook his head and sighed: "It's just luck, or maybe Yike represents the advanced nature of Android and is destined to sweep out the lagging Nokia from the market. This time it is an inevitable accident."

Schmidt nodded slightly. He also felt that how could a person be so terrifying?

"Xiao Liu, pour tea for Teacher Shi." Fang Zhuo saw that the secretary seemed a little distracted.

Liu Zonghong hurriedly stepped forward to offer some tea to the CEO of Google, and also to the leader of Yike, who had a heart full of dangers and a deep understanding of the city.

He has many opinions on this matter, but he is destined to keep it in his heart, or he can go to Zhihu to do it anonymously.

Oh, no, no, no, Mr. Xiong has already tricked Mr. Wang into the capital. Zhihu probably won’t die this time. It’s not safe to speak on his own there.