Reinventing the Millennium.

Chapter 992 Progress (4k)

"Following the ITC's initial ruling that Echo infringed on two Nokia patents, on the morning of April 4, the ITC ruled that Apple also infringed on a key Nokia patent."

"Apple and Nokia appealed at the same time, with the former insisting there was no infringement and the latter arguing that Apple had infringed more than one patent."

"On Thursday evening, April 4, Apple shares fell 2%."

"If Nokia's appeal is finally supported, Echo and Apple will become the second and third mobile phone manufacturers to be banned since the beginning of the year."

"Considering the litigation process between LG Electronics and Yike in the second half of last year, Motorola, which was newly sued this year, may also step into the ban."

"At the same time, even Nokia has to face up to the problem that LG and Motorola are facing: how to bypass the patent layout of Yike and Apple on capacitive screens."

"In 2009, more and more mobile phone manufacturers were involved in what could be called a tragic patent war. Winners such as Nokia may not win in the end, and losers such as Eke may not necessarily lose to the end."

"This can't help but make us reflect on why there is such a crazy situation in the direction of mobile phone product progress, and whether there are still imperfections in the current patent-related laws."

Tick.

In the President's Office of Yike USA, Fang Zhuo clicked the mouse, closed the browser page, pondered for a while, and said to Secretary Liu Zonghong: "This press release seems a bit too formal."

This is a press release to sort out the patent competition of mobile phone manufacturers this year.

But it sounds too routine.

What Fang Zhuo wanted was the kind of public opinion that could spread spontaneously.

Or, if Summers, who is currently in charge of the NEC in the United States, reads the manuscript in person, that is because the characters have their own weight, and the ordinary press releases are not very exciting.

Liu Zonghong's general opinion needs to be conveyed to lobby leader Zhao Zhishan and NYE.

As the frequency of interaction between Yi Keduo and Kong has decreased, the creation of public opinion by patent trolls has returned to the forefront of the case.

This is an all-round public opinion. Now the level of competition between manufacturers is quite chaotic. Almost all well-known manufacturers are out, each has its own camp, and giants like Microsoft and Oracle are mixed in. Different information appears almost every day.

Fang Zhuo will be working part-time on Twitter for Fake News at a fixed evening time these two days, and he has also seen the power of some media resources, and "Nokia" and "Eco", two companies that are fighting each other, have been branded as patents. rogue.

To be impartial is to be fair.

Another report manuscript jumped out from the lower right corner of the computer.

Fang Zhuo couldn't stand it after reading the beginning.

"Regardless of the outcome of Yike's long-short confrontation this time, Sina has become the biggest loser, and its stock price has fallen by more than 15% in three days."

He shook his head, nodded, and sighed: "Sina is not up to the mark, no wonder the pledged shares don't amount to much money, the banks are afraid of Sina's price drop, so it really will drop for you to see."

Liu Zonghong did not express his opinion. The financial market does not believe in tears, and Mr. Fang does not believe in tears either.

As long as Yi Ke can win this time, everything will be fine later.

Fang Zhuo continued to quickly browse through several report emails, and gave some of his thoughts and opinions in a targeted manner.

Just as today's public opinion work was about to end, Liu Zonghong received a call from lobbyist Zhao Zhishan, and he immediately reported the emergency to President Fang.

"Motorola suddenly held a press conference to accuse us of abusing patents!"

"It also said that we violated the SEP and FRAND principles, and will sue us in the federal court for abusing patents and suspected of monopoly!"

Liu Zonghong relayed what happened just now, observed Mr. Fang's expression, and said, "The press conference is still going on. I asked Mr. Zhao to send something related to the SEP and FRAND principles."

Fang Zhuo waved his hand: "I know this. In our words, SEP is a matter of standard essential patents. The principle is to follow fairness, reasonableness, and non-discrimination. There is no need for her to sort it out. The angle Motorola is looking for is also very innovative. , is worthy of our study, find its press conference.”

Liu Zonghong didn't expect the boss to know two technical terms. He read it silently in his heart while searching for Motorola's press conference with his notebook.

This is a press conference hosted by Motorola's new CEO Sanjay Jaa. There is no live broadcast of the TV channel, and only a personal account using the YouTube live broadcast function is found at the end.

With all the explanations and prosecution decisions already explained, the press conference ended on an emotional note.

Sanjay Jia was jumped from Qualcomm to the CEO of Motorola. He used many emotional words such as "shocked", "disappointed", "shameless" and "violating industry norms". By the way, he also expressed his determination to lead Motorola out of the predicament.

Fang Zhuo looked at this passage, and happily said to Liu Zonghong: "That's the taste, Sanjie's press conference is very good."

Liu Zonghong knew that Yi Ke was not afraid of lawsuits and this kind of press conference, but that the scene was not big enough and lively enough.

He reminded: "Mr. Fang, Sanjay had good communication with Google and us when he was at Qualcomm. He is so tough this time..."

"Maybe there is a certain element of performance, right? After all, I just arrived in Motorola not long ago, and it's a mess over there. Image is very important." Fang Zhuo nodded slightly, guessing what the secretary meant, "Get our business done first, Motorola Not urgent."

He thought for a while, and said with emotion: "We also have a day when the defendant monopolizes it, which is considered an achievement."

Because of the anchoring of Nokia, the common opponent, the cooperation between Yike and Apple has really blocked the key patents that are difficult to bypass in a short period of time, forcing HTC's size to submit, and Samsung's size to be exchanged conditionally. Nokia's size is the first to strike first.

Motorola was busy with Jiebao before, but this time it was pulled into the battlefield purely because of Yi Ke's intention.

Because this is a purely American company, and it is also the overlord of the previous version, which is very benchmarking.

Liu Zonghong recorded his boss' experience in disturbing the muddy water for a while, and then poured a cup of tea for Mr. Fang before leaving the office.

Public opinion discussions about "patent trolls" are gradually rising. This is not only related to the real market situation, but also companies such as Motorola, Blackberry, and Echo are happy to see and contribute to the flames.

In the financial market, bulls and bears face off against each other, the survival of the fittest in mobile phone competition, and intrigues in the battlefield of public opinion.

Let's mess up, stir up.

……

At the beginning of April, Yike continued the unusual quietness at the end of last month in the stock market. The stock price fluctuated around $4 for the first two days. As the stock repurchase continued, the stock price was completely stable above $100. .

On Monday, April 4, Yike’s stock price closed at US$6, and its market value exceeded US$105.13 billion.

Because of the iconicity of such an integer, many media observing the situation made similar headlines.

ended?
The bears lost?
The short-selling institutions are very quiet, the stock price has risen steadily, the market value has repeatedly hit new highs, and even out-of-print machines are selling well on various channels.

Does this mean that Paulson and his ilk are retreating?
Whether it is long or short, the financial media are still paying attention to Yike's performance, and more media are attracted by various hot events in the world.

On Tuesday, April 4, there were only eight days left before Nasdaq disclosed its short positions again.

At noon that day, Kong Yu came to meet Mr. Fang and talked about the information that the Chicago vest agency had obtained this month. The market value of 300 billion US dollars was indeed more attractive with the company of the ITC ruling.

And, he was very puzzled, the information sent by the ice core on the 3rd of this month did not seem to be captured by everyone.

From the 3rd to the 7th, in four days, there was no news.

Considering the position disclosure on the 15th, Kong Yu was already very patient.

"Could it be that Goldman Sachs is too professional this time?" Kong Yu sat in the office thinking about it, "Will Goldman Sachs be extra nice and keep it strictly confidential this time because it charged us a service fee for repurchasing stocks?" .”

This time, Fang Zhuo contacted Goldman Sachs personally. When it came to the value of 10% of the shares, the other party also agreed very well, and would evaluate or help find the capital as soon as possible.

Because Goldman Sachs itself is a shareholder, such contacts are logical.

Fang Zhuo thought for a while: "Could it be that Goldman Sachs is still Goldman Sachs, and it is indeed keeping such news strictly confidential, but the reason for keeping it secret is that it wants to eat a big one?"

Kong Yu: "..."

Eat the service fee, and then eat short profit.

In addition to considering Goldman Sachs too maliciously, it is quite in line with the current situation.

Kong Yu immediately said: "Then contact other companies immediately. Even if it is Goldman Sachs who wants to sell maliciously, it is because it is really tight-lipped. Our time is very tight."

Fang Zhuo nodded slightly, agreeing to the gasoline man's arrangement.

He also said: "Now I am not afraid of malicious shorting, but I am afraid of malicious not shorting. If Goldman Sachs really joins in, I am afraid that the appetite will not be small. Maybe it has filled up the position by now."

It's just that this is hard to prove.

Goldman Sachs has hedge funds, but hedge funds only need to disclose the main positions according to the regulations. Those like Paulson and Andrew who voluntarily disclose the amount of Yike's short positions are to hit the stock price.

However, that kind of behavior is only scratching the surface.

What hedge funds do is put options and related financial derivatives. The United States can exercise their options in advance. They are all waiting for the final ruling of the ITC. At that time, except for options, they will desperately smash Yike in the secondary market. share price.

Just when Kong Yu was about to leave the office, the landline rang quickly.

Kong Yu stopped in his tracks and saw that the boss's face became obviously serious with the content of the call.

Soon, he learned the latest news.

On April 4, at one o'clock in the afternoon, Verizon, one of the four major telecom operators in the United States, announced that in order to protect the rights and interests of consumers, it would remove the two mobile phones of Yike Mars7 and Mars1 from the shelves.

There is no doubt that this message is heavy and powerful.

In the afternoon, Yike’s stock price plummeted 6%, closing at US$98.7, falling below the 100 mark, and the 300 billion market value just acquired disappeared in less than a day.

Verizon had previously shown signs of teaming up with Samsung, which also made Fang Zhuo consider it a less reliable partner.

However, neither he nor Yu Hong or anyone else thought that Verizon's attack would be so decisive.

The ITC is only a preliminary ruling. Even before the final ruling and the two-month landing period, Verizon removed the product from the sales channel on the grounds of protecting consumer rights, shaking the confidence of the financial market and the mobile phone market.

Fang Zhuo held an emergency meeting as soon as he received the call. Instead of contacting Verizon, who didn't say hello, he contacted his hard-core ally T-Mobile to ensure that there was no shake.

To say that the Audio-Technica is worthy of being the Audio-Technica, it did not lose the chain at the critical moment.

T-Mobile once again reiterated the basis of cooperation between the two parties, and will not remove products from the shelves in advance like Verizon. However, it also said that it can only abide by relevant regulations on the last day.

Fang Zhuo expressed his understanding and thanks for this.

At the same time, it is confirmed that T-Mobile will announce a new cooperation strategy tonight. The latest generation of Mars this year will have a discount compared to the previous two years, which will attract more customers for the operator.

After confirming the cooperation with T-Mobile, Fang Zhuo contacted AT&T again, but AT&T's attitude was ambiguous. It owns Apple and is willing to take another look at the development of the incident, and also wants to wait for the new conditions from Yike.

Fang Zhuo also expressed his understanding and welcomed the further negotiation and contact between the two parties.

From the afternoon to the evening, Yike, which lost an important channel partner, also officially released the news on its official website after T-Mobile announced a greater cooperation-this year's Yike conference will be brought forward to May 5, and A family of products named "Selfy" will be enabled.

The word Selfy was created by Fang Zhuo when he first took a selfie, and then spread on the Internet. It has fully represented the meaning of "selfie" and has been registered by Yike.

This year, Yike will release two mobile phone products, the third-generation Mars and the first-generation Selfy.

Many things were urgently arranged and executed.

Fang Zhuo's last phone call was to Google CEO Schmidt.

As a result, the phone didn't work.

Fang Zhuo felt that Verizon's action this time probably came from the internal competition of the Android camp. He thought that Schmidt might be able to mediate a little bit, as long as it was delayed, but...

To say that the Audio-Technica is worthy of being the Audio-Technica, it is not too surprising to lose the chain at a critical moment.

On April 4, Yike's stock opened, and it was still in a downward trend. This time, it was obvious that the confidence of ordinary investors was hit.

The main force took the order, and finally maintained a stock price of around US$95.

In addition to being a little worried about the risks in the next week, the cost of raising funds for the two lines of Yike Company and Fang Zhuo has been reduced.

However, on this night, Paulson, who had been silent for a long time, tapped Rich's Fang Zhuo on Twitter.

"I heard that someone is selling shares in their semiconductor company? Is this also fake news?"

Fang Zhuo didn't return.

Paulson teased again: "I'm pretty optimistic about your ice core, are you willing to sell me that 10% of the shares?"

Fang Zhuo still didn't return.

Paulson himself sighed: "We will soon witness the fall of a dark horse in the mobile phone industry."

Fang Zhuo remained silent.

Paulson is still very rich, and I am afraid that he may not be able to witness his downfall just by eating it once.

There is not much time until the middle of the month, and the return to China will be very soon. I hope to meet Paulson face to face again in Shencheng.

(End of this chapter)