Top of the Great Era

Chapter 2894: Not a Chess Piece

With Zhou Buqi's identity, he certainly cannot tell some nonsensical lies to deceive everyone.

However, the whole truth will not be told.

No specific details were disclosed, including plans for development in the international market.

They just said that within half a year, the problem of supply chain unsold goods, which is causing great trouble to the current smartphone industry, will be completely solved.

End of the meeting.

Very smooth.

What was originally planned to be a two-and-a-half-day project was completed in just one day.

Zhou Buqi wanted to go home quickly.

I had sex with Wang Yihuan last night, and when I woke up in the morning, I was in tears. I had to go back and be gentle with her and take care of her emotions. But Lei Jun insisted on taking him out for a drink, just to get him to tell me his secrets and understand his big plan.

There was no choice but for Zhou Buqi to be dragged to a pub-style, wine-themed bar in a five-star hotel.

Just the two of them.

Not even a female companion.

Zhou Buqi was a little helpless. "Xiaomi is not troubled by any unsold goods. Why are you worrying about it?"

Lei Jun is a regular customer here. He ordered two bottles of Australian red wine of an unknown brand and said with a smile, "I usually don't like to drink dry red wine. I'm not used to it, but this wine is okay. You can try it."

Zhou Buqi said sternly: "Try to stay away from alcohol and sex."

"Uh……"

Lei Jun twitched the corner of his mouth.

He was in the circle of Mr. Zhou, so he had heard some rumors. With the frequent changes of beautiful female secretaries, he could basically guess what was going on. But he was a workaholic and didn't like to participate in discussions on such topics.

After pouring the wine and sitting down, Lei Jun started talking about work. "The Qualcomm issue should be fine, right?"

Zhou Buqi nodded. "That's about right! If this doesn't get the authorities to launch an antitrust investigation into Qualcomm, then I really don't know what to do."

Lei Jun raised his glass and clinked it with his, lowering his voice, "How about America? How is it?"

"America?" Zhou Buqi guessed what he meant. "Apple?"

Lei Jun said: "South Korea has already launched an antitrust investigation, and China may also take action next. If Qualcomm and Apple go to war again in the United States, then Qualcomm will be in trouble both internally and externally, and will be attacked from all sides."

Zhou Buqi is Xiaomi's second largest shareholder, and the two have had a personal relationship for many years, so there is nothing to hide. "I'm not sure when Apple and Qualcomm will go to war. But one thing is certain, they will definitely go to war."

Lei Jun said: "The news in the United States reported that Qualcomm and Apple seem to have torn their relations."

"Is it true?" Zhou Buqi glanced at him, "Why haven't I heard of it? With your English level, can you understand American news reports?"

Lei Jun said angrily, "If reading is not okay, reading should be okay, right? For so many years, I have always had the habit of reading Yahoo News."

"It's news from Yahoo..." Since this is his own company, Zhou Buqi couldn't say much. "If that's the case, it could be true. However, it's only a matter of time before Qualcomm and Apple fall out."

Lei Jun said: "It seems that Samsung's Lee Zairong talked about the patent dispute with Qualcomm in an interview and mentioned Apple, which further intensified the conflict between Qualcomm and Apple. It's similar to your interview."

"Oh?" Zhou Buqi's eyes lit up. "Li Zairong accepted an interview? That's pretty efficient!"

Lei Jun laughed and said, "It turns out you are behind this."

Zhou Buqi said: "As long as China launches an antitrust investigation against Qualcomm, it will definitely be able to impose penalties before South Korea. I don't want to fight Qualcomm to the death. There is no need for this."

Lei Jun laughed and said, "So we have to find a way to drag Apple into this?"

"If the sky falls, we need to find someone tall to hold it up."

"You're the tall one."

"Then I'll sit back and let Apple stand up." Zhou Buqi snorted. "Cook is a little clever. He's doing bad things behind the backs of China and South Korea. How can I let him succeed? We must drag Apple into the water before the punishment of Qualcomm is made in China, so that Apple and Qualcomm will go to war head-on. Qualcomm can't afford to overestimate its own strength and start a war on both the east and west fronts, right?"

Lei Jun said: "I feel it's almost time, the situation is quite tense."

Zhou Buqi smiled and said, "Qualcomm just changed its CEO, and the situation is already quite chaotic."

Lei Jun pondered and said, "But no matter how chaotic it is, Qualcomm has the most core technology in the field of communications. Whether it is the previous 3G chips, the current 4G chips, or the future 5G and 6G chips, it is difficult to bypass the technical moat formed by Qualcomm in intellectual property rights. In the long run, Qualcomm still has real competitiveness, and processor chips and baseband chips are a hurdle that cannot be avoided."

"Hmm?" Zhou Buqi was a little surprised. "What do you mean by beating around the bush?"

Lei Jun said: "I think we should have a backup plan." "What backup plan?"

"Xiaomi is the backup."

"You are even more cunning than Cook." Zhou Buqi couldn't help but laugh. "Just tell me, what are your plans?"

Lei Jun drank the half glass of red wine in his glass, and then slowly said: "Whether Apple can enter the market or not, and whether it can help you share the firepower, you have already made a feud with Qualcomm, and you represent Astar. Qualcomm will not do anything to you, and may be more restrained in its cooperation with Astar."

"and then?"

Zhou Buqi had no such worries.

He has very clear judgment.

Qualcomm's current CEO is expected to step down soon.

Not only does the CEO step down, the board of directors also has to be reorganized.

In fact, something even more serious happened later.

Qualcomm's board of directors and management were sued by shareholders, who believed they had made false statements and deceived shareholders, which led to a series of antitrust penalties against Qualcomm around the world and a sharp drop in its stock price.

Qualcomm's statement is that the intellectual property business and chip business are completely independent.

Through this statement, the company proves that it will not facilitate the development of its own chip business because of its monopoly position in the field of intellectual property.

But in reality, there is no independence at all.

The two businesses have been forced to be bundled.

Although Qualcomm is in a mess now, it is now the most glorious period of Qualcomm. Its market value exceeds that of Intel, making it the world's most valuable chip company. After this wave of war between Qualcomm and the mobile phone industry is over... even if Apple is defeated by Qualcomm, Qualcomm's overall appearance will also plummet. From then on, it has been continuously investigated for antitrust and fined heavily.

Zhou Buqi never worried that Qualcomm would do anything to Estar.

After this battle, even if Qualcomm beats Apple to a pulp, Qualcomm's morale will be dampened and it will have to keep a low profile.

Lei Jun analyzed and said, "I told you last time that although Qualcomm is doing so well now and is the largest company in the chip industry, it is actually facing many crises. It is in chaos internally and even more chaotic externally. This chaos is definitely not just at the financial and management levels. All chaos will be reflected in the products. No company is exempt from this."

"Oh?"

Zhou Buqi's eyes lit up.

Such a point of view is quite clear, and the angle of looking at the problem is quite tricky, which is indeed the perspective of Lei Jun.

Lei Jun said: "Although Qualcomm has not received any substantive antitrust penalties yet, its reputation has long been tarnished. Many EU lawmakers have come out to condemn Qualcomm's various actions, which have seriously damaged Europe's chip industry. I don't believe that Qualcomm's scientists and technical teams are unaware of this. Qualcomm makes high-tech products with hard-core technology. The mentality of its technicians has been destroyed. I don't believe they can develop perfect products."

Zhou Buqi glanced at him, a little surprised, "Did you hear any rumors?"

Lei Jun said: "There are some rumors that Qualcomm's next-generation chips may not be as good as expected in some performance indicators. Either MediaTek is so anxious recently that it has started contacting domestic mobile phone manufacturers before the product has even reached the testing stage. I guess it also saw such an opportunity and wanted to take advantage of Qualcomm's illness to grab a wave of market share."

"Well, it's possible!"

After a simple analysis, Zhou Buqi felt that Apple CEO Cook probably thought the same way.

Kill you while you are sick.

Cook must have heard some confidential information, and then contacted Samsung behind the scenes to launch an antitrust investigation against Qualcomm in South Korea. Then, he contacted Zhou Buqi and planned to make a move in China.

Cook is, after all, a master of supply chain management.

  In the supply chain of Apple products, Apple has always been the core. They have to do whatever Apple tells them to do, and they are not allowed to resist! They have to have priority, and they have to do it if they can, and they have to do it if they can't!

There is only one link that Apple has always lost control of.

This is the chip field where Qualcomm dominates.

Listening to what Lei Jun said, it is possible that this is really a chess game played by Cook behind the scenes. He wants to take the lead in attacking through the relationship between China and South Korea and set off a peripheral battlefield. After winning the external war, Apple will make another move and compete head-on with Qualcomm in the US market for a decisive battle.

  Ah!

This is very possible. I heard that Apple has placed a large order for their A-series chips with Samsung for foundry production.

It is probably this kind of exchange condition that made Lee Zairong decide to go to war with Qualcomm in the Korean market.

But now some unexpected things have happened.

Zhou Buqi is the biggest uncertainty factor.

  He will not be a pawn of Tim Cook!

He wants to play chess behind the scenes?

Come on!

Zhou Buqi will not give him this opportunity. He must be brought to the fore and let him play chess with Qualcomm as the main force. Let Apple and Qualcomm compete against each other, and Asda will have a better and larger living space in the cracks.