Top of the Great Era

Chapter 2924 No Charge

Zhou Buqi is very confident about this trip to the EU.

If this cannot be negotiated, all his strategic focus on Europe over the past few years will be in vain.

Even if it does a poor job, it’s still better than the American tech giants, right?

Taking Qualcomm as an example, it has reached the point where both humans and gods are angry.

Other companies aren't much better.

For example, Apple has a profit of hundreds of billions of dollars in Europe each year, but the corporate income tax they paid to Europe last year was only a negligible few million dollars. This is because American legal experts have created a fantastic tax avoidance system based on loopholes in European laws.

Apple can cleverly transfer profits from European countries to tax havens through legal means, where there is no corporate income tax.

As a result, Apple saves tens of billions of dollars in Europe every year.

From a big picture perspective, Europe and the United States are actually one family.

The relationship between them is very harmonious.

If Europe was not forced into a corner, with its traditional culture of appeasement and pacification, it would be impossible for it to change its mindset and introduce a series of non-market actions administratively to restrict America's technology giants.

It is against this backdrop that Huawei and ZTE were able to quickly flourish and take root in Europe.

Boss Zhou has an advantage in this regard.

He is not only the boss of Manchester United, but also founded a European Internet giant, Ziweixing Digital Media - a technology company engaged in "Internet + Football", which now has an increasing influence in European football.

His "football diplomacy" is much better than those of the Middle Eastern tycoons in Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

When they arrived in Switzerland, Zhou Buqi and his party were mainly received by three big men.

One is Juncker, President of the European Commission, one is Ansip, the Vice President in charge of digital markets, and the other is Carrel, the Vice President in charge of fair competition.

Carell was the first to go into battle.

He is in charge of fair competition in the market.

As expected, after just a few words, the other party was eager to turn the topic to Qualcomm.

Zhou Buqi smiled and said, "Qualcomm has indeed been in some trouble recently."

Carell smiled and asked, "Many media outlets are reporting that Qualcomm's current predicament was planned by Tim Cook. He teamed up with Samsung's Lee Jae-yong and found you while watching an NBA basketball game. That's why China and South Korea are jointly taking action now, and Apple is also complaining about Qualcomm's current situation in its home country."

Zhou Buqi said: "Yes, it was planned by Cook, and I am his thug."

"No way?"

Carell couldn't help laughing.

Several other EU decision-makers were also amused and confused.

Zhou Buqi said: "Cook did play a very important role in this matter."

Carell said: "I have recently communicated with Cook about the Qualcomm issue. He said that what the outside world said was not true, and the real operator was you. He originally had a series of plans, but they were all disrupted by you. The current situation is developing according to your plan."

"Not really, not really!" Zhou Buqi laughed and waved his hands, "I am a pragmatist. What I hate most is making plans. The meaning of planning is to break the plan."

"Qualcomm's various behaviors have become a global problem, and someone has to stand up. Monopolistic behavior is restricting the progress of the global technology industry. Whoever can stand up will be the hero of this world."

Carell was a little confused.

In his opinion, this is a good thing.

  The first one to stand out can become a respected leader in the industry!

This is a bit like saying it is easy to talk without any pain in the waist.

If you don't charge, then of course you are not afraid of charging.

Anyway, you don't have to die.

Just like in ancient times when marching and fighting, in order to boost morale, there would be a reward mechanism before the battle, saying that the first one to reach the top of the city wall could be promoted ten levels and become a general!

Then, the soldiers charged forward enthusiastically.

The royal family and the children of wealthy families would not rush forward.

They are already in high positions and have great power. Why should they charge?

If they rushed up and succeeded, there would not be much reward for their personal power; if they failed, they might even lose their lives, dying under the city wall.

  The benefits and risks are disproportionate!

However, for some ordinary soldiers from poor peasant families, it was a good opportunity to exchange their lives for wealth.

If you die, you will die.

Anyway, being alive is the lowest level.

But once you succeed, it will be a game-changing change in your life!

This is actually entrepreneurship.

In the business world, everything is written.

For example, scientific and technological research and development is the vast ocean, so let's rush forward... In fact, only the poor people in the society will respond to the call to charge forward. Only the children of officials who truly control the most resources and wealth in society will not take this risk.

For example, college students should go to the most difficult places to struggle, young people should not lie down, there is a vast market space in the countryside, young people in big cities should return to their hometowns to start businesses, A-share investment has huge potential, come quickly, US stocks will eventually be a bubble, don't go, trade with Russia has huge market prospects, come quickly, the United States is very chaotic and dangerous, don't go...

In the years since Zhou Buqi started his business, he has been somewhat cautious.

Because he had never been barefoot.

He himself is a rich second-generation from a wealthy family.

  There is no need to be like those ordinary people who have nothing and come from the bottom of society, who have to give their all for a chance...even their lives. For ordinary people, just living is exhausting. If they want to achieve something, don't they have to fight for it?

Zhou Buqi had never been in such a dilemma before.

The way of thinking is also different.

The same is true for the current Qualcomm incident. Zhou Buqi is already a leader in the global technology industry. Why did he have to stand out and confront Qualcomm? As long as he does not overturn the table and does not force the issue, he will have a lot of room for maneuver in the future.

EU Vice President Carrel obviously does not understand the strategic deficiency of the domestic mobile phone industry in the chip field.

Apple and Samsung can completely overturn the table and fight Qualcomm, but the domestic mobile phone industry is not qualified to do so.

This is the most essential difference between Asda and Apple and Samsung.

Carell narrowed his eyes and said slowly, "Whether it is you or Cook, it may be a little unclear to us outsiders. But Qualcomm is in the middle of the situation, and I believe they can make a very accurate judgment."

Zhou Buqi smiled and said, "Yes, Qualcomm can't be fooled."

This was an open conspiracy.

It's like two people who hate each other and can't stand each other.

But when we meet each other in normal times, we will still greet each other warmly.

Just like old friends.

No one should lift the veil.

Keep each other respectable.

If the fig leaf is torn off, the two will openly fall out and treat each other coldly when they meet next time. There will not even be any false greetings and they will completely cut off any contact.

Zhou Buqi further said: "Cook must take the lead in this matter. Whether it is China, South Korea or the European Union, they are in similar situations. These are Qualcomm's overseas markets. Only by making Qualcomm's domestic market feel huge pressure can Qualcomm be truly shaken. When choosing between internal and external troubles, we must give priority to solving internal troubles and stabilizing the basic situation."

With this said, the leaders of the EU will understand.

Carell laughed and said, “So it doesn’t matter whether it’s you or Cook who’s leading this, because as long as Cook shows up, Qualcomm will definitely target Apple.”

Zhou Buqi smiled but said nothing.

That's what I mean.

Carell pondered and said, “It seems that if the EU also complies with the situation and launches an antitrust investigation into Qualcomm, it will have a great chance of success.”

Zhou Buqi smiled and said, "If that's the case, I believe it will be difficult for Qualcomm to get through this predicament smoothly. In the past few years, Qualcomm has done all kinds of evil and seriously damaged the ecological structure of the global chip industry. If we let it go, the damage will only get worse."

Carell sighed, "We have received at least hundreds of complaints against Qualcomm for monopoly in the past few years. Almost all competitors that have business dealings with Qualcomm have such complaints. Even many of Qualcomm's partners have such dissatisfaction."

Zhou Buqi said in a deep voice: "In my opinion, it is not just Qualcomm. Many American technology giants are taking advantage of their monopoly position in the industry to engage in some monopolistic behaviors. Qualcomm is the worst, but other companies are not much better."