Reinventing the Millennium

One o'clock in the morning.

Negotiations between BOE and the LCD Alliance are nearing completion.

Since December last year, BOE has contacted Mr. Fang, who intends to take the lead in leading domestic TV manufacturers. After many discussions, no framework has been formed. This plan made progress at the end of February this year due to mysterious fires in the factories of Samsung and other panel manufacturers.

Until April, with the fifth-generation TFT-LCD production line independently built by BOE in Beijing close to being put into production, coupled with the promotion of certain leadership wishes, BOE-TV Alliance and Tianjin basically finalized the project intention of building another fifth-generation line.

However, Samsung came out strongly at this time and used its hugely advantageous 6th generation line planning to destroy the project. Then an invisible LCD monopoly alliance emerged and pursued and intercepted it in Shanghai, Luzhou and Lin'an.

The local government has changed its mind, the TV alliance has become disoriented, and BOE itself is also disheartened.

At this time, Mr. Fang is here!

Hooking up with Sony, introducing Panasonic, bleeding Changhong, and connecting with the administration, they performed a double act!

Finally, in the early hours of today, the first formal contact was made with the LCD Alliance at the negotiation table.

Negotiation of 6th generation line!

Wang Dongsheng looked at Samsung Prince Li Zaiyong who was talking eloquently, and then glanced at the quiet Mr. Fang, and suddenly realized that the next time he wanted to ask Mr. Fang to take action, the situation would be messed up!

"We at Samsung are very sincere, and this is beneficial to all parties."

"We need partners to jointly cultivate the LCD market. BOE needs more advanced technology. TV manufacturers such as TCL, Hisense, and Changhong can also get low-cost screens, and Chinese consumers can also use low-price and high-quality screens." product."

“This partnership is a match made in heaven for this era.”

In the early morning, Lee Jae-yong was still very energetic to summarize the negotiations between the two parties.

It has to be said that the young prince is definitely better than the old general in this regard.

Fang Zhuo glanced at the translator and nodded approvingly. The idiom "a match made in heaven" was well translated. .

Seeing Mr. Fang nodding, Li Zaiyong felt more confident. Ever since Mr. Wang from BOE started communicating, he listened more and spoke less, which made people feel particularly unsure.

"I really like what Mr. Li just said." Fang Zhuo spoke slowly, attracting everyone in the conference room to listen, "This will allow Chinese consumers to use low-price and high-quality products. It is worthy of being the successor of Samsung." Man, this sentence shows the pattern."

There were a few people from the Television Alliance who cheered up and nodded slightly.

Fang Zhuo continued: "The business theory is not surprising, and everyone here can talk about it, but the decision-making in the face of critical moments is what sets Mr. Li apart. I have been a close friend of Mr. Li Jianxi for a long time, and I met Mr. Li today. He has quite the father-like style."

"No matter whether the negotiation can be concluded this time, it is still a worthwhile trip."

Fang Zhuo stood up: "It's too late. Let's talk about this today. Regarding the willingness and method of cooperation, Mr. Wang and Mr. Zhou will continue to talk tomorrow."

He named the two heads of BOE and Hisense. Panasonic still needs someone to deal with it, and it just so happens that Changhong Ni, who announced the patent, and himself will take over.

Both sides have to talk and keep the pressure down.

At the end of the two-hour negotiation, business leaders on both sides of the conference table shook hands.

At around one o'clock in the morning, Fang Zhuo and Wang Dongsheng were still riding in the same car.

"Mr. Wang, what do you think of Samsung and the others?" Fang Zhuo asked Wang Dongsheng's judgment.

Wang Dongsheng carefully reviewed the late-night negotiation and replied cautiously: "Judging from the performance of these four companies, they should want to talk. As for the extent to which they want to talk, it depends on the subsequent contact. "

Fang Zhuo nodded silently.

Seeing that he didn't give any advice, Wang Dongsheng asked, "Mr. Fang, what do you think? Are they sincere this time?"

"I may be more optimistic than you. From Li Jianxi's perspective, the most ideal situation for Samsung is to defeat the plasma industry while forming a monopoly on the Chinese market." Fang Zhuo lit a cigarette and handed it to Mr. Wang. One team, "But how can competition and development be the most ideal?"

"If you take it from above, you will get it from within; if you take it from it, you will get it from below; if you take it from below, you will get nothing."

"Samsung can't get the best, but it's good to get a mid-to-upper level. It can accelerate the reduction of LCD costs, defeat the plasma industry, and get very good profits in the Chinese market."

"The worst-case scenario is that the demand for plasma and the Chinese market converge, and the strength and weakness of plasma are reversed."

"In that case, the LCD alliance headed by Samsung will not have to spend a little more effort to win the plasma."

"From this perspective, it is acceptable for Samsung to give up one point and two points at this time. They still get the biggest share."

Fang Zhuo lowered the window and said thoughtfully: "But for Li Jitai who is executing the strategy, he must try his best to squeeze out what we want and maintain Samsung's lead in LCD technology as much as possible. LCD is not the end, profit is The more you have, the faster your technology will upgrade, and you will be in a leading position on more advanced tracks.”

Seeing that Mr. Fang did not comment on the Samsung Prince, Wang Dongsheng asked: "What about Li Zaiyong?"

"Practice well and take over the position well." Fang Zhuo said simply, "Handle the big project in every possible way. Maybe after this time, you will be the vice president of Samsung Electronics. As for the future, we will talk about it later."

Wang Dongsheng: "..."

He thought for a while: "In other words, even if Lee Ki-tae did not return to South Korea due to illness as Lee Jae-yong said, it is likely that he is not hiding behind it, but has been deprived of power and cannot actually affect this cooperation. Negotiation? Lee Jae-yong and Lee Ki-tae had a falling out?"

Fang Zhuo guessed: "It's very possible, but it's not necessarily a falling out. Lee Jae-yong is the recognized successor, why should Lee Ki-tae fall out? Lee Jae-yong doesn't have Li Kunxi's favor, why should he fall out? As long as Lee Kunxi is here Samsung's prestige means that it only takes one sentence to remove Lee Ki-tae, and there is no need to go through a 'falling out'."

Wang Dongsheng said excitedly: "No matter what, it's a good thing that we have one less experienced opponent!"

Fang Zhuo said "hmm", thinking about his recent research on Samsung.

There are now voices in the Samsung Group proposing to be a "young Samsung" and "return to a young Samsung." I am afraid that it is Lee Kun-hee who is paving the way for his son to further rise to the top. And Lee Ki-tae, the nearly 60-year-old president, is currently sitting in the group. on the core business.

If a successor wants to inherit, he must start from the core business. For example, Li Jianxi's daughter is either responsible for the hotel or the clothing. Although they seem to be beautiful, they are all excluded from the core business early.

The car drove for a while in the night of Beijing.

Fang Zhuo suddenly spoke again: "Mr. Wang, if this cooperation with Samsung is really concluded, you need to pay attention to the monopoly on LCD panels."

Wang Dongsheng smiled and said: "Don't worry, as long as BOE obtains the 6th generation line technology and the development of the domestic TV market, the monopoly will be completely broken."

"What I mean is that you have to cooperate with Samsung's monopoly." Fang Zhuo explained.

Wang Dongsheng's thoughts changed and he hesitated: "For other markets?"

The world's LCD production capacity is basically concentrated in Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan. If you add the mainland, it is still in Asia. Mr. Fang obviously will not talk about domestic monopoly, then it can only be in Europe and the United States.

Fang Zhuo nodded: "Since you join the LCD camp, you must have cooperation in this area. Please pay attention, and then collect evidence. When your wings are strong, you can become a tainted witness and shake out the monopoly matter."

"This... um, this..." Wang Dongsheng hesitated, "Isn't this killing a thousand enemies and damaging yourself eight hundred?"

"The year before last, in 2002, the U.S. Department of Justice conducted a monopoly investigation into four DRAM manufacturers: Samsung, Hynix, Micron and Infineon." Fang Zhuo cited an example from recent research, "Micron quickly admitted and turned into a tainted witness. Sold the other three.”

“It wasn’t until October last year that Infineon pleaded guilty and was fined US$160 million.”

"Then there's Hynix, which pleaded guilty last month and will be fined $185 million."

"Samsung is the only one left to carry the burden now, and it probably won't be able to carry it for long. Moreover, its delaying behavior will definitely result in heavier fines."

"But Micron is fine. It doesn't have to pay a penny as a tainted witness."

Fang Zhuo said: "Monopoly can never be hidden, but everyone still wants to do it because it is really profitable. Therefore, you must surrender as early as possible, not only to stab your competitors, but also to reduce your own losses."

He vaguely remembered that Samsung often did this kind of betrayal of teammates later on, and he wondered if it was affected by the betrayal by Micron this time.

In business, you betray me and I betray you, and you get used to it as you continue to sell.

Wang Dongsheng was silent for a while and had a slight objection: "This, this is a bit of a breakthrough to the bottom line of business."

Fang Zhuo said in surprise: "Mr. Wang? Are you okay?"

He said solemnly: "You are facing a competitor that has developed ten or twenty years earlier than you. It will even be your most important competitor in the future. You have to work hard and you have to be a bully!"

"Samsung will never be your partner, it is your opponent and your competitor!"

"The first lesson I learned when I entered business was that business competition is ruthless. Don't pity your opponents. What's more, do you have to pity Sanxinglun?"

"The instigator has no consequences, and this is how we treat Samsung."

Wang Dongsheng digested it for a while and couldn't help but make a small comment: "Mr. Fang, it seems that in the example you gave, Samsung is the victim and the one who was betrayed. The initiator..."

Fang Zhuo was stunned for a moment, oh, there was a mistake, and the vague memory of Samsung was substituted into the present.

He nodded: "Let's just treat this as the instigator and wait for Samsung to accuse us like this one day in the future."

Wang Dongsheng hesitated, as this was somewhat inconsistent with his business philosophy.

"I discussed this matter with the leader that day." Fang Zhuo said calmly, "This LCD monopoly headed by Samsung has gone too far. The fire in the factory must be recorded, but it is not the time yet. It just so happens that Mr. Wang, you can be the As a peripheral member of their alliance, when the time comes, we can first ensure that our country will exempt you from prosecution if you come forward to provide evidence."

"As for foreign countries, there will be no big problems. If they deal with the tainted witnesses this time, who will dare to be the witness next time?"

Wang Dongsheng nodded and said, "Best regards, Mr. Fang!"

The leader and Mr. Fang are very happy!

If a fire breaks out, a knife will be inserted to retaliate.

…

Two o'clock in the morning.

The president didn't sleep.

Lee Jae-yong met Lee Ki-tae.

Li Jitai didn't seem to be unhappy at being deprived of power today. He carefully asked about the contact situation between the two parties in the evening, and finally said with regret: "Next time, remember to bring a voice recorder and record everything for file. You can study it again and again."

Li Zaiyong smiled slightly and did not respond.

After studying at Keio University in Japan and further studies at Harvard Business School, he believes that his business thinking is more modern and scientific.

"If I were here, Fang Zhuo would not make a request for the 7th generation line. This is his lion's opening." Li Jitai said regretfully, "There is a famous Chinese writer who once said that the room is too dark and the windows need to be opened. , everyone doesn’t allow it, but if you remove the roof, you will be dissuaded from compromising to achieve the purpose of opening windows.”

He shook his head: "You have been opened up by Fang Zhuo, how can you cooperate with the 6th generation line?"

Lee Jae-yong said calmly: "BOE has independently built a 5th generation line. Is it still far away from the 6th generation? Once BOE, China TV Alliance and Panasonic are allowed to cooperate, the situation will change extremely adversely."

"But now, we are still ahead, President, and our biggest goal is to defeat Panasonic's plasma technology."

Li Jitai said calmly: "I think more and more now that everything in front of me is a bargaining chip used by Fang Zhuo to blackmail us, and Panasonic is just used to confuse us."

"I don't think so." Li Zaiyong disagreed. "No company will use the publication of patents as a bargaining chip to deceive. If you change the president, would you do the same? Can the chairman of Changhong risk his company and him?" Do you want to promote it in your own interests?”

He added: "Even if I am wrong, LG, Chimei and Sharp, are they also wrong?"

Li Jitai couldn't answer for a moment. Changhong's actions really shocked him. If it were him, he really wouldn't be able to make such a decision, but it can be analyzed purely from the perspective of interests.

However, in reality there are always fetters and obstacles that are difficult to overcome on paper.

This kind of insurmountable difficulty is like being unable to disobey the president's order.

Li Jitai suddenly felt bored when he thought of this. He stared at the Samsung successor in front of him for a long time, suddenly raised his voice and said angrily: "We are not LG, not Chimei, not Sharp!"

"We are Samsung!"

"Because we are Samsung, we must do our best to squeeze the air they can breathe! Every breath of air!"

"Do your best!"

"Can't relax!"

"Once you give them space like this and let them breathe fresh air greedily, this huge market will wake up and burst out with power!"

Lee Jae-yong was shocked by the president.

Li Jitai looked at the Samsung successor in front of him with disappointment, straightened his tie with his hand, and lowered his voice: "What you are facing will not be the current Chinese market, your Samsung will be facing a giant with huge energy. "

"The person you will fight against will be Fang Zhuo, a figure like your father."

"Your competitors are now able to combine the power of a country's industry, even if it is only for a moment, which is terrifying enough."

He shook his head: "I'm going to fly back to Seoul to see the president tomorrow, but before I go back, I want to see Fang Zhuo."

Li Zaiyong instantly thought of his little lie that "the president returned to China for medical treatment", but was frightened by his senior's extraordinarily firm decision at this time, and still nodded silently.

Li Jitai gathered his emotions and explained: "BOE has finally opened the window from you. I am afraid that Fang Zhuo, the trader, is very satisfied. I want to invite him to a private small dinner, so I will open the call with you. Let's listen together. If he can reveal his fault, I will report everything truthfully when I meet the president."

Li Zaiyong opened his mouth, but still didn't speak.

Li Jitai glanced at the Samsung Prince and sighed: "Sometimes small tricks can have a big effect."